Modeling of cerebral oxygen transport based on in vivo microscopic imaging of microvascular network structure, blood flow, and oxygenation
Date
2016
Authors
Gagnon, Louis
Smith, Amy F.
Boas, David A.
Devor, Anna
Secomb, Timothy W.
Sakadžić, Sava
Version
Published version
OA Version
Citation
Gagnon L, Smith AF, Boas DA, Devor A, Secomb TW and Sakadžić S (2016) Modeling of Cerebral Oxygen Transport Based on In vivo Microscopic Imaging of Microvascular Network Structure, Blood Flow, and Oxygenation. Front. Comput. Neurosci. 10:82. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2016.00082
Abstract
Oxygen is delivered to brain tissue by a dense network of microvessels, which actively control cerebral blood flow (CBF) through vasodilation and contraction in response to changing levels of neural activity. Understanding these network-level processes is immediately relevant for (1) interpretation of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) signals, and (2) investigation of neurological diseases in which a deterioration of neurovascular and neuro-metabolic physiology contributes to motor and cognitive decline. Experimental data on the structure, flow and oxygen levels of microvascular networks are needed, together with theoretical methods to integrate this information and predict physiologically relevant properties that are not directly measurable. Recent progress in optical imaging technologies for high-resolution in vivo measurement of the cerebral microvascular architecture, blood flow, and oxygenation enables construction of detailed computational models of cerebral hemodynamics and oxygen transport based on realistic three-dimensional microvascular networks. In this article, we review state-of-the-art optical microscopy technologies for quantitative in vivo imaging of cerebral microvascular structure, blood flow and oxygenation, and theoretical methods that utilize such data to generate spatially resolved models for blood flow and oxygen transport. These "bottom-up" models are essential for the understanding of the processes governing brain oxygenation in normal and disease states and for eventual translation of the lessons learned from animal studies to humans.
Description
License
Copyright © 2016 Gagnon, Smith, Boas, Devor, Secomb and Sakadžić. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.