Ethics of Modeling of Cerebral Ischemia in Small Animals

Animal models of cerebral ischemia have deepened our insight into the pathophysiology of ischemic brain damage. Success rates in translation to the bedside, however, are low. This fact entails unmet hopes for patients and ineffective deployment of money and time. It also highlights the important ethical issue of the quality of animal experiments in stroke research. Attention to this issue should start with the planning phase. This chapter will help researchers to design studies at a high ethical level and thus provide important arguments for obtaining permission from regulatory authorities.