Single fiber curvature for muscle impairment assessment: Phase contrast imaging of stroke-induced animals.

There are technical challenges in imaging studies that can three-dimensionally (3D) analyze a single fiber (SF) to observe the functionality of the entire muscle after stroke. This study proposes a 3D assessment technique that only segments the SF of the right stroke-induced soleus muscle of a gerbil using synchrotron radiation x-ray microcomputed tomography (SR-μCT), which is capable of muscle structure analysis. Curvature damage in the SF of the left soleus muscle (impaired) progressed at 7-day intervals after the stroke in the control; particularly on the 7 days (1 week) and 14 days (2 weeks), as observed through visualization analysis. At 2 weeks, the SF volume was significantly reduced in the control impaired group (p = .033), and was significantly less than that in the non-impaired group (p = .009). We expect that animal post-stroke studies will improve the basic field of rehabilitation therapy by diagnosing the degree of SF curvature. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Muscle evaluation after ischemic stroke using synchrotron radiation x-ray microcomputed tomography (SR-μCT). Curvature is measured by segmenting a single fiber (SF) in the muscle. Structural changes in the SF of impaired gerbils at 7-day intervals were assessed.
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