Vascular Optical Imaging

椅子程序的目标是追求创新的光学成像技术和最先进的模拟状态的发展，以调查血管功能障碍在脑损伤的病因作用。血管形成一个管道网络，用于使用红细胞作为运输工具将氧气运送到组织。从较大动脉节段中的简单网络到毛细血管床的复杂拓扑结构，血管系统在将氧分子输送到细胞中起着重要作用。随着年龄和疾病的增长，系统中较大的管道会退化，变得更加坚硬，对血液动力学压力的反应更小，而较小的管道（小动脉，毛细血管）则会看到连接和功能变化，从而改变其组织足迹和输送氧气的能力。首先，受损的氧气输送会影响大脑，因为需要在每个时间点满足恒定的代谢需求以避免损伤。该项目旨在开发新技术，以测量和准确建模微血管功能，氧气输送以及在复杂和现实环境中与神经损伤的潜在关联。我们将利用2/3光子和光学相干断层扫描（OCT）显微成像仪器相结合，以评估在体内，血管特性如何调节神经组织的氧合和神经死亡。利用来自体内测量和离体结构信息的基础事实，我们将构建和验证全脑第一原理血管机制模型，基于O2平流/扩散原理量化组织的血流和氧气输送。这些模型将用于模拟与血管功能障碍相关的条件，并允许模拟其对氧输送和磁共振成像（MRI）测量的宏观信号的影响。这将提供一个独特的工具来模拟微血管功能障碍的影响，并确定血管疾病的签名。通过这项研究计划，我们希望开发的技术，将有助于阐明血管和微血管网络功能障碍在脑损伤中的作用。随着建模的发展，我们的目标是评估这些变化的表现/生物标志物的签名时，测量大型临床成像仪器。最后，为实现我们的目标而开发的新成像技术预计将提供可以在计划的调查之外传播和使用的工具。

The objective of the chair program is to pursue the development of innovative optical imaging technologies and state of the art simulations to investigate the causative role of vascular dysfunction in brain damage. Blood vessels form a plumbing network used to carry oxygen to tissue using red blood cells as a transporter. From a simple network in larger arterial segments to the complex topological structure of capillary beds, the vascular system plays a fundamental role in the delivery of oxygen molecules to cells. With age and disease, larger pipes in the system degrade both becoming more rigid and less responsive to hemodynamic stress while the smaller pipes (arterioles, capillaries) see connections and functional changes modifying their tissue footprint and their ability to deliver oxygen. First and foremost, impaired oxygen delivery affects the brain due to constant metabolic demand that needs to be met at every point in time to avoid damage. This chair program aims to develop novel technology to measure and accurately model microvascular function, oxygen delivery and potential associations with neural damage in complex and realistic environments. We will exploit combined 2/3-photon and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) microscopy imaging instruments to assess in vivo, how vascular properties modulate neural tissue oxygenation and neural death. With ground truth from in-vivo measures and ex-vivo structural information, we will then build and validate whole-brain first-principles vascular mechanistic models quantifying blood flow and oxygen delivery to tissue based on O2 advection/diffusion principles. These models will serve to simulate conditions associated with vascular dysfunction and allow modelling its impact on oxygen delivery and macroscopic signals measured with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This will provide a unique tool to model the impact of microvascular dysfunction and to identify signatures of vascular diseases.With this research program we hope to develop technology that will help elucidate the role of vascular and micro-vascular network dysfunction in brain damage. With modelling developments, we aim to assess the manifestations/biomarker-signatures of these changes when measured with large clinical imaging instruments. Finally, new imaging technology developed to reach our goals is expected to provide instruments that can be disseminated and used beyond the investigations planned here.