New approach to analysing perivascular spaces developed

Congratulations to Lucia Ballerini (Research Associate), Professor Joanna Wardlaw (both Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences) and colleagues on the publication of a paper detailing a new method for analysing enlarged perivascular spaces. These have recently been recognised as an important feature that indicates impaired brain circulation and inflammation, and a marker of small vessel disease.

The new method is a segmentation approach for quantifying enlarged Perivascular Spaces (PVS) on Magnetic Resonance Images, that can be used widely in current clinical research and practice to understand the significance of enlarged PVS in neurological disorders. PVS are a recently recognised, but important, feature indicating impaired brain circulation and inflammation and a marker of small vessel disease for which there is currently no computational measure. Hence this new method is not only a novel approach to segment PVS, but it will also enable measurement and assessment of an important and novel brain feature itself.

This publication arises from the Foundation Leducq Transatlantic Network of Excellence led by Prof Joanna Wardlaw.