The effect of the mechanical micro-environment on spinal cord injury (SCI) and treatment effectiveness remains unclear. Currently, there are limited imaging methods that can directly assess the localized mechanical behavior of spinal cords in vivo. In this study, we apply new ultrasound elastography (USE) techniques to assess SCI in vivo at the site of the injury and at the time of one week post injury, in a rabbit animal model. Eleven rabbits underwent laminectomy procedures. Among them, spinal cords of five rabbits were injured during the procedure. The other six rabbits were used as control. Two neurological statuses were achieved: non-paralysis and paralysis. Ultrasound data were collected one week post-surgery and processed to compute strain ratios. Histologic analysis, mechanical testing, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography and MRI diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were performed to validate USE results. Strain ratios computed via USE were found to be significantly different in paralyzed versus non-paralyzed rabbits. The myelomalacia histologic score and spinal cord Young’s modulus evaluated in selected animals were in good qualitative agreement with USE assessment. It is feasible to use USE to assess changes in the spinal cord of the presented animal model. In the future, with more experimental data available, USE may provide new quantitative tools for improving SCI diagnosis and prognosis.

机械微环境对脊髓损伤（SCI）和治疗效果的影响仍不清楚。目前，能够直接评估体内脊髓局部机械行为的成像方法有限。在这项研究中，我们应用新的超声弹性成像 (USE) 技术在兔子动物模型中评估受伤部位和受伤后一周时的体内 SCI。11只兔子接受了椎板切除术。其中，有5只兔子的脊髓在手术过程中受伤。其他六只兔子用作对照。达到两种神经状态：非麻痹和麻痹。手术后一周收集超声数据并进行处理以计算应变比。进行组织学分析、机械测试、磁共振成像 (MRI)、计算机断层扫描和 MRI 扩散张量成像 (DTI) 以验证 USE 结果。通过 USE 计算得出的应变比在瘫痪兔子与非瘫痪兔子中存在显着差异。在选定的动物中评估的骨髓软化组织学评分和脊髓杨氏模量与 USE 评估具有良好的定性一致性。使用 USE 来评估所提出的动物模型的脊髓变化是可行的。未来，随着更多实验数据的出现，USE可能为改善SCI诊断和预后提供新的定量工具。