HDEFONE · Novel algorithmic frameworks for functional neuroimaging using hybrid high density speckle contrast optical tomography and high density diffuse optical tomography

Novel algorithmic frameworks for functional neuroimaging using hybrid high density speckle contrast optical tomography and high density diffuse optical tomography

Infants with severe CHD undergo complex surgical procedures in the early days of life; a critical period when the neuro-vascular networks in the brain are developing and maturing. Complications arising out of CHD can delay these developments and affect brain function, and are typically observed as developmental delays and learning deficits. These can have significant impact on the quality of life of the patients and their families. A better understanding of the microvascular origins of impaired brain function is possible by examining cerebral oxygenation and blood flow in the peri-operative period to assess functional status of the neuro-vascular networks via neurovascular coupling (the physiological mechanism that manages the complex of interplay of neuronal activation, blood flow and oxygenation). Established functional neuroimaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), require complex equipment and are non-portable and as such cannot be easily deployed in challenging environments such as the intensive care unit or the surgical room. There is a scientific and clinical need for non-invasive functional neuroimaging techniques that can be deployed in clinical environments and enable probing brain function of challenging populations at the cot-side. Hybrid diffuse optical tomography methods, that provide images of cerebral oxygenation and blood flow, are well-poised to meet this need and are increasingly finding their way in clinical environments. However, infants are not merely small adults. Carefully designed adaptations are essential to allow development of an effective tomographic setup that adapts well to the infant head and provides high resolution images of brain function. The HDEFONE project has supported the development of hybrid high density diffuse correlation tomography and diffuse optical tomography (HDDCT/DOT), a new tool for non-invasive neuroimaging that can provide concurrent and colocalised estimates of cerebral oxygenation and blood flow, with a focus on neonates with CHD under critical care. The ability to assess brain-function in these infants has the potential to support early detection of impairments and corrective interventions. Going beyond the CHD patients, HDDCT/DOT can be deployed in paediatric research as well as clinical environments to further our understanding of the developing infant brain, and plan supportive or corrective actions in earnest to minimise the impact of impairments.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union