A functional ultrasound brain GPS for automatic vascular-based neuronavigation.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Ultrasound Technology
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Functional ultrasound (fUS) imaging offers high-sensitivity neurovascular mapping but lacks precise anatomical identification during experiments.
• Current methods for identifying brain structures in fUS are challenging, limiting the modality's broader application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a whole-brain neuronavigation system, the vascular brain positioning system (BPS), for on-the-fly anatomical identification in fUS imaging.
• To enhance the accuracy and standardization of fUS experiments by enabling automatic brain navigation and structure localization.

Main Methods:

• The BPS system employs automatic on-the-fly alignment of ultrafast transcranial Power Doppler ultrasound images to a reference vascular atlas (Allen Mouse Brain Common Coordinates Framework).
• Registration accuracy was quantified using Ultrasound Localization Microscopy, comparing BPS performance against manual landmark recognition by experts.

Main Results:

• The BPS achieved high accuracy in vascular registration, with positioning errors of 44 µm (intra-animal) and 96 µm (inter-animal).
• BPS significantly outperformed manual landmark recognition, which had errors of 215 µm and 259 µm.
• The system successfully demonstrated automatic positioning over anatomical structures and acquisition of functional activation maps, even in oblique planes.

Conclusions:

• The vascular brain positioning system (BPS) provides an accurate and automated solution for brain navigation in fUS imaging.
• BPS facilitates rapid identification of brain structures and acquisition of functional data, paving the way for standardized neuroimaging protocols.
• This automated neuronavigation approach has the potential to become a crucial tool for both expert and non-expert researchers in neuroscience.