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Multiscale modeling of human cerebrovasculature: A hybrid approach using image-based geometry and a mathematical algorithm
- Source :
- PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Computational Biology, Vol 16, Iss 6, p e1007943 (2020)
- Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- The cerebral vasculature has a complex and hierarchical network, ranging from vessels of a few millimeters to superficial cortical vessels with diameters of a few hundred micrometers, and to the microvasculature (arteriole/venule) and capillary beds in the cortex. In standard imaging techniques, it is difficult to segment all vessels in the network, especially in the case of the human brain. This study proposes a hybrid modeling approach that determines these networks by explicitly segmenting the large vessels from medical images and employing a novel vascular generation algorithm. The framework enables vasculatures to be generated at coarse and fine scales for individual arteries and veins with vascular subregions, following the personalized anatomy of the brain and macroscale vasculatures. In this study, the vascular structures of superficial cortical (pial) vessels before they penetrate the cortex are modeled as a mesoscale vasculature. The validity of the present approach is demonstrated through comparisons with partially observed data from existing measurements of the vessel distributions on the brain surface, pathway fractal features, and vascular territories of the major cerebral arteries. Additionally, this validation provides some biological insights: (i) vascular pathways may form to ensure a reasonable supply of blood to the local surface area; (ii) fractal features of vascular pathways are not sensitive to overall and local brain geometries; and (iii) whole pathways connecting the upstream and downstream entire-scale cerebral circulation are highly dependent on the local curvature of the cerebral sulci.<br />Author summary Cerebral autoregulation in the complex vascular networks of the brain is an amazing achievement. We believe that numerical analysis of the cerebral blood circulation using an anatomically precise vascular model provides a powerful tool for evaluating the direct relationships between local- and global-scale blood flows. However, there is a lack of information about the overall vascular pathways in the human brain, preventing a monolithic model of the human cerebrovasculature from being established. This paper presents a multiscale model of human cerebrovasculature based on a hybrid approach that uses image-based geometries and a newly developed mathematical algorithm. One important argument of this paper is the validity of the cerebrovasculature represented in the model, which reflects anatomical features of major cerebral vasculatures and brain shape, and has strong similarities with available data for human superficial cortical vessels. Investigations of the reconstructed model allow us to derive some biological insights and associated hypotheses for the cerebral vasculature. The authors believe the present cerebrovascular model can be applied to numerical simulations of the entire-scale cerebral blood flow.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Computer science
Physiology
Cerebral arteries
Cerebral circulation
0302 clinical medicine
Mathematical and Statistical Techniques
Cortex (anatomy)
Blood Flow
Medicine and Health Sciences
Biology (General)
Cerebral Cortex
Ecology
Mathematical Models
Simulation and Modeling
Human brain
Arteries
Multiscale modeling
Body Fluids
medicine.anatomical_structure
Blood
Fractals
Computational Theory and Mathematics
Modeling and Simulation
Cerebrovascular Circulation
Physical Sciences
Anatomy
Algorithm
Algorithms
Research Article
Optimization
QH301-705.5
Geometry
Research and Analysis Methods
Models, Biological
Veins
03 medical and health sciences
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Arteriole
medicine.artery
Genetics
medicine
Humans
Molecular Biology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Venule
Mathematical Modeling
Microcirculation
Biology and Life Sciences
Blood flow
Cerebral Arteries
030104 developmental biology
Cardiovascular Anatomy
Blood Vessels
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Mathematics
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15537358
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS computational biology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....cafa3f3b647447b97f095e5e799f516e