Fig. 2: MRI studies on rats with implanted SCEAs.

a Schematics showing anatomical MRI and DCE-MRI measurements. b T2-weighted MRI images of a rat at different time points after the implantation of a mesh SCEA through minimally invasive surgery (1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 weeks postimplantation). The dotted red line indicates the position of the SCEA. Scale bar, 5 mm. c T2-weighted MRI images and quantification of the cortical signal enhancement during DCE-MRI measurements. The time on top of the MRI images shows the time when the MRI images were acquired during each measurement. Baseline T2 images were acquired at 1 min. The bolus injection of the CA at 2 min was associated with a reduction in signal intensity throughout the brain. The dotted red line shows the position of the SCEA which was determined from the implantation position and the geometry of the array. The yellow arrows point to locations with meningeal enhancement. The bar charts demonstrate the signal intensities of the ROIs under the SCEAs (green circle), which were normalized to those of ROIs on the collateral control side without any implant (yellow circle). n = 8 from 2 rats. The error bars in c represent the SEM. Scale bar, 5 mm. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.