Animal Model - Investigation of Laser Speckle Flowgraphy for Early Carotid Artery Stenosis Detection

This study aims to develop a common carotid artery (CCA) stenosis animal model by ameroid constrictor (AC) implantation measured through ocular blood flow (OBF). The use of experimental animal model has open doors to great exploration. Existing atherosclerosis animal model provides a good platform, however, the implementation of higher order animal is important in order to be translatable scientifically for practical applications. This study was conducted on three rabbits. AC was implanted on right CCA (n= 3). Using laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG), ocular blood flow in optic nerve head were measured over time for more than 60 days through mean blur rate (MBR), an important biomarker of OBF. Finding shows decreasing of MBR values in right eyes and increasing of MBR values in left eyes in all three rabbits. These results demonstrate LSFG as a platform for early carotid artery stenosis detection.