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serum as evidence for BBB breakdown. These methods however,
do not allow dynamic measure of BBB permeability nor in specifi c
vessels. While NIRS is a noninvasive method allowing continuous
measurements, it does not give absolute quantifi cation and is lim-
ited to cortical brain structures. The use of sensitive-high resolu-
tion imaging methodologies, such as MRI becomes more available
but it is not yet common in most laboratories and different quan-
tifi cation methods for BBB permeability measurements are still
under development and evaluation. We presented here an alterna-
tive dynamic method, based on real-time fl uorescent imaging and
image analysis, which recently developed in our laboratory.
Although invasive, the method is sensitive and allows detection
and quantifi cation of small changes in both blood fl ow and vessels
permeability. The wide range of methodologies suggest that despite
the general interest in the scientifi c community there is still a great
need for the development of noninvasive, sensitive, quantitative,
and reliable method for evaluating BBB permeability during the
development and progression of brain diseases.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Sonderforschungsbereich TR3,
the Israel Science Foundation (566/07), the Binational US-Israel
Science Foundation (BSF 2007185), and the National Institute for
Neurological Disorders and Stroke (1RO1N5066005).
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