Cerebral Blood Flow of the Rat Under Hyperbaric and Hyperbaric Oxygen Conditions

Eric R. Muir¹, Damon Cardenas¹, Guang Li¹, John Roby¹, Timothy Duong¹, ²

Understanding brain physiology and function under hyperbaric-oxygen could be useful since hyperbaric-oxygen has been used as treatment for various neurological diseases. Under hyperbaric conditions, there will be more oxygen, which is vasoconstrictive on cerebral vasculature, so cerebral blood flow (CBF) may be reduced. The aim of this study was to use arterial spin labeling MRI to study the effect of hyperbaric-oxygen on CBF in rats. A hyperbaric chamber was built that could be put in the MRI scanner, allowing MR acquisition during hyperbaric conditions.