In Vivo Imaging of Animal Models: Stroke

Animal models play an important role for the understanding of disease mechanisms and treatment approaches but also for the validation of new methods in disease diagnosis. Molecular and other non-invasive imaging tools provide the means for monitoring the temporally resolved development of the disease and correlate major aspects like pathophysiology, behaviour, structural, metabolic and functional findings. This book provides a comprehensive summary of major molecular imaging modalities and their application to stroke animal models. Basic aspects of working with animal models and the translation into clinical research are provided. The book comprises aspects of various stroke animal models, disease progression and treatment approaches (from conventional approaches to the assessment of cell-based therapy) and on the other hand an introduction in modern imaging methodology such as MRI, PET and optical imaging. It is the aim of this book to provide an introduction into pathophysiological aspects of stroke animal models to scientists and into molecular imaging methods to clinicians and scientists in basic and clinical research. The chapters link imaging, pathology and clinical research.