Acquisition and Analysis of Microcirculation Image in Septic Model Rats

Area of Science:

• Physiology
• Medical Imaging
• Sepsis Research

Background:

• Microcirculation is crucial for oxygen and nutrient delivery, essential for life.
• Sepsis significantly disrupts microcirculatory function.
• Current treatments for sepsis-induced microcirculatory dysfunction exist but require quantitative assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively detect sepsis-induced variations and recovery in microcirculation.
• To assess the potential of non-contact imaging for clinical diagnosis and therapy guidance in sepsis.
• To evaluate the efficacy of thrombomodulin (TM) therapy in restoring sepsis-affected microcirculation.

Main Methods:

• A non-contact imaging setup was employed to capture microcirculation images in rat models.
• Rats were divided into sham (control), sepsis (cecum ligation and puncture - CLP), and sepsis with TM therapy groups.
• Blood velocity was estimated using robust principal component analysis (RPCA) and U-net, while blood vessel diameter was determined by contrast differences.

Main Results:

• A continuous degradation of blood velocity and blood vessel diameter was observed in the CLP group.
• The CLP+TM group showed recovery of blood velocity and blood vessel diameter after initial degradation.
• Quantitative observations demonstrated the impact of sepsis and TM therapy on microcirculatory parameters.

Conclusions:

• Non-contact imaging provides a quantitative method to assess microcirculation changes in sepsis.
• Sepsis significantly alters blood velocity and vessel diameter.
• Thrombomodulin (TM) therapy shows potential in recovering sepsis-induced microcirculatory dysfunction.