FIG. 1.

Anesthetized mice are secured within a foam rubber sleeve (A, B) in a narrow polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe with a 2.0-cm opening in one wall (C), and slid into a just-wider PVC pipe with a 7.5-mm hole bored into its wall (D). The two pipes are aligned so that the small outer hole exposes the parietal-squamosal region of the mouse skull between ear and eye (the overlying fur is shaved, and a centering white spot marked on the skin). The foam rubber sleeve cushions the nonblast side of the mouse (A, B). The foam rubber is secured on a plastic sled, and the sled has a tab by which the mouse holder can be pulled into the tube. The mouse is secured to the holder with several rounds of surgical tape, red in A and B, but white in C and D. The overpressure air blast in our model is delivered by a horizontally mounted modified paintball gun (E). No mouse is present in the tube in E. The blast from the gun is regulated by adjustment of input from a pressurized air tank, and desired blast intensity is calibrated using a pressure gauge (inset in E). The inset shows the pressure transducer to the right, with its barrel passing through the region otherwise occupied by the mouse and mouse holder tubes. Color image is available online at www.liebertpub.com/neu