P-OT008. Non-invasive 3-D image analysis of microcirculation vascular integrity in asymptomatic cerebral small vessel disease

Abstract

Introduction. Today, people worldwide are living longer than before. The pace of population aging is also increasing dramatically in the world. Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is a neurological disease resulted from pathological aetiologies affecting small vessel (microcirculation) in the brain parenchyma and often diagnosed in the old generation. Alarmingly, CSVD causes dementia, risk of incident stroke, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and depression. Image analysis plays a pivotal role, which gives a clue in identifying the different manifestation of CSVD. This study intended to explore the microcirculation vascular integrity of individuals with and without CSVD. Methods. A neural tracing software neuTube was used to accurately reconstruct the blood vessel network of brains from noninvasive 3D-time-of-flight Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) images. The quantitative analysis of the reconstructed blood vessel network provides potentially valuable information for the diagnostic and monitoring of CSVD. Results. neuTube provides a set of functions that enable us to delineate and reconstruct the fine details of the blood vessel network. With ten human MRA images, the microcirculation vascular integrity of individuals with and without CSVD was explored. Further quantitative analysis will aid future clinical studies using this method for patients with CSVD. Conclusion. This study opens a window to provide a non-invasive technique assessing the integrity of small vessel in the brain.