Multi-Channel Multi-Scale Fully Convolutional Network for 3D Perivascular Spaces Segmentation in 7T MR Images

Perivascular spaces (PVSs) or Virchow-Robin spaces are the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-filled cavities around the penetrating small blood vessels in the brain (Zhang et  al., 1990). As a part of the brain’s lymphatic system, the PVSs play a significant role in clearing interstitial wastes from the brain (Iliff et al., 2013; Kress et al., 2014), as well as in regulating immunological responses (Wuerfel et al., 2008). Increasing number of studies demonstrates t hat the dilation of PVSs indicates neuronal dysfunctions, and strongly correlates with the incidence of multiple neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (Chen et al., 2011), small vessel diseases (Zhu et al., 2010), and multiple sclerosis (Etemadifar et al., 2011).

Source: Medical Image Analysis - February 26, 2018 Category: Radiology Authors: Chunfeng Lian, Jun Zhang, Mingxia Liu, Xiaopeng Zong, Sheng-Che Hung, Weili Lin, Dinggang Shen Source Type: research