Vascular network analysis

Fluid Mechanics Institute of Toulouse (2003-2006)

Context:

I have been Ph.D. student at the Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse, France) - Fluid Mechanics Institute of Toulouse (IMFT,Toulouse ) between September 2003 and April 2007. My Ph.D. work was integrated in a project also involving researchers from the Brain and Cognition Research Center (CerCo, Toulouse), the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, Grenoble), the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA, Sophia-Antipolis), and the University Paris 1 (Sorbonne, Paris).

Illustration: 3D representation of a microvascular network sample.

My PhD work was applied to the quantitative analysis of images of the intra-cortical microvascular network. The images, having a resolution of about 1 micron per voxel, were obtained using synchrotron tomography at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (Plouraboué & al., J. Microscopy 215(2), pp.139-148). Importantly, this imaging technique made possible the visualization of entire vascular networks on volumes as large as 8 mm^3.

My work mainly focused on two tasks:
(1) I first denoised, improved, and segmented the images. Their huge size (sometimes more than 1024^3 voxels) led to the choice of algorithmicaly efficient treatments. Due to their robustness, quickness, and adaptability, morphologic operators were used in most of the treatments. However, discontinuities found in the imaged microvascular networks required more advanced treatments. Hence, a gap closure algorithm based on the tensor voting formalism was developed. The description and tests of this algorithm are published in Risser et al., TMI, 2008.
(2) The second part of my work has been the quantitative analysis of the networks. In particular, the topology and geometry of the vascular networks were analysed. A paper dealing with the distribution of vessels in normal and tumoral vascular networks has been published in Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. Another paper furnishing quantitative results, significant for the elaboration of therapeutic strategies against the cancer, has also been published in International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience. This paper also gives a better comprehension of the consequences of ischemia and improves the knowledge on the phenomena underlying functional MRI.

Prize:

French national prize "La recherche" 2008 - human health mention. Prize obtained with the team members Franck Plouraboué, Caroline Fonta, Peter Cloetens and Xavier Descombes. This prize rewards pluridisciplinary research works.

Journal papers:

Guibert R., Fonta C., Risser L., Plouraboué F.: Coupling and robustness of intra-cortical vascular territories NeuroImage. Accepted 13.04.12 (link).

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Cloetens P., Fonta C. A 3D-investigation shows that angiogenesis in primate cerebral cortex mainly occurs at capillary level. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience. 27(2), pp. 185-196, 2008, (link).

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Descombes X. Gap Filling in Vessel Networks by Skeletonization and Tensor Voting. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. 27(5), pp. 674-687, 2008, (link).

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Steyer A., Cloetens P., Le Duc G, Fonta C. From homogeneous to fractal normal and tumorous micro-vascular networks in the brain. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. 27, pp. 293-303, May 2006, (link).

Conference proceedings:

Bates R., Risser L., Irving B., Papiez B., Kannan P., Kersemans V., Schnabel J.A.: Filling Large Discontinuities in 3D Vascular Networks using Skeleton- and Intensity-based Information International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI'15 - conditionally accepted) - LNCS. Munich, 2015.

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Descombes X. Vascular network topology extraction from 3D high resolution X-ray images using tensor voting. 3rd International Conference on Approximation Methods and numerical Modeling in Environment and Natural Resources (MAMERN). Pau, France, 2009

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Fonta C. Angiogenesis in brain : a comparative study of local and organizational vascular structures. Neuroscience'08. Washington, USA, 2008.

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Fonta C. Micro-vascular maturation in cerebral cortex: a quantitative high resolution study. Forum of European Neuroscience. Geneva, Switzerland, 2008.

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Fonta C., Steyer A. Cortical micro-vascular inhomogeneities: a high resolution 3D investigation 13th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (HBM). Chicago, USA, 2007.

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Descombes X. Gap Filling in D Vessel Like Patterns with Tensor Voting. 2nd International Conference On Computer Vision Theory and Applications (VISAPP). Barcelona, Spain, 2007.

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Cloetens P., Steyer A., Fonta C. Maturation of marmoset cortical cerebral vascular networks : high-resolution 3D investigations. 35th annual meeting Society for Neuroscience. Washington, DC, 2005, 370.17.

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Fonta C., Cloetens P., Steyer A. Volumes élémentaires représentatifs dans les réseaux microvasculaires. 7èmes Journées d'Etude sur les Milieux Poreux. Bordeaux, France, 2005.

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Cloetens P., Steyer A, Leduc G., Renaud L., Fonta C. Normal and tumoral cerebral vascular networks: high resolution 3D investigations. Novel targeting drugs and radiotherapy. Toulouse, France, 2005, p39

Fonta C., Risser L., Plouraboué F., Renaud L., Cloetens P., Steyer A. X-Ray high resolution vascular network analysis in the cerebral cortex. 4th Forum of European Neuroscience. Lisboa, Portugal, 2004, AO17.8

Seminars and talks:

Risser L., , Analyse quantitative de réseaux micro-vasculaires intra corticaux Laboratoire de Mathématiques et de leurs applications, Université de Pau et des pays de l'Adour.. Pau, France, November 2014

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Descombes X., Présentation du tensor voting. Neurospin, CEA Saclay. Saclay, France, November 2007

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Cloetens P., Fonta C., Steyer A. Analyse quantitative de réseaux micro-vasculaires intracorticaux. Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition de Toulouse. Toulouse, France, March 2007

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Fonta C., Cloetens P., Renaud L., Steyer A. Analyse et structure des réseaux micro-vasculaires. Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse. Toulouse, France, June 2005

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Fonta C., Cloetens P., Renaud L., Steyer A. Extracting vascular network from 3D microtomographic images. Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse. Toulouse, France, February 2005

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Cloetens P., Fonta C., Renaud L., Steyer A. Analyse quantitative du réseau micro-vasculaire intracortical. European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. Grenoble, France, September 2004

Risser L., Plouraboué F., Cloetens P., Fonta C., Renaud L., Steyer A. Analyse du réseau vasculaire intracortical du marmousset. Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition de Toulouse. Toulouse, France, June 2004