Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Cardiovascular and neural systems are intimately connected since neurons receive nutrition and oxygen from red blood cells in capillaries. Direct damage to these systems can lead to significant downstream effects, as in ischemic stroke can lead to capillary stalling-temporary blockage of capillaries by leukocytes-increasingly recognized as an important biomarker. Thus, being able to image and study these biomarkers have significant implications for clinical diagnosis and precision healthcare. Current neuroimaging methods for patients are either invasive (e.g., two-photon microscopy), low resolution for imaging capillaries (e.g., MRI), or limited in depth penetration (e.g., OCT). Dynamic Ultrasound Localization Microscopy (dULM) is a super-resolution, contrast-enhanced ultrasound neuroimaging technique that achieves unparalleled imaging of the angioarchitecture throughout the whole brain at the microvascular level. This technique provides an opportunity to study pulsatility, capillary mesh flow distribution, and, more recently, Single Capillary Reporters (SCaRe), a method I developed to probe individual capillary function. Therefore, the objectives of this proposal is to investigate dULM within the context of ischemic stroke. I will 1) develop graph representations of the super-resolved microvasculature for computational-assisted simulation of stroke conditions and capillary stalling and 2) engineer spatiotemporal relationships between neurovascular biomarkers for monitoring and predicting ischemic stroke outcomes. Expected outcomes include the development of advanced imaging and analytical methodologies that enable characterization of microvascular changes in ischemic stroke. I anticipate improvement in the early detection and monitoring of stroke, ultimately advancing precision healthcare for ischemic stroke patients.