I'm planning a project to study the peri-infarct region of a stroke using brain slices made post-MCAO. Is there any reliable way of assessing the peri-infarct in live brain slices - i.e., how far from the edge of the core can be called the peri-infarct and when would the 'unaffected' tissue begin? Are there any tell-tale signs in the tissue that would help identity it? Could this region be live-stained in any way? Of course TTC staining is the gold standard of defining the stroke infarct, but the stained tissue then cannot be used in live physiology experiments.. So some other way of knowing where the core, peri-infarct and normal tissue are in slices made from brains exposed to transient stroke in vivo would be very useful.
Any suggestions would be helpful - thanks in advance!