Abstract #1582

Comparing Results of Median Nerve Stimulation between Healthy & C7 Donor Rats Utilizing BOLD fMRI at 9.4T

Jack B. Stephenson, IV¹, Rupeng Li², Patrick Hettinger¹, Matthew Runquist², Christopher P. Pawela², Ji Geng Yan¹, Hani Matloub¹, James Hyde²

¹Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States; ²Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

It is unclear how the brain is affected after C7 root coaptation in brachial plexus nerve transfer procedures. In this 9.4T BOLD-fMRI rat survival study, the cortices of healthy and donor C7 rat brains are compared using images and voxel counting. Preliminary results show early decreased activation in donor rats' sensorimotor cortex.