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NeuRegenerate: A Framework for Visualizing Neurodegeneration
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Recent advances in high-resolution microscopy have allowed scientists to better understand the underlying brain connectivity. However, due to the limitation that biological specimens can only be imaged at a single timepoint, studying changes to neural projections is limited to general observations using population analysis. In this paper, we introduce NeuRegenerate, a novel end-to-end framework for the prediction and visualization of changes in neural fiber morphology within a subject, for specified age-timepoints.To predict projections, we present neuReGANerator, a deep-learning network based on cycle-consistent generative adversarial network (cycleGAN) that translates features of neuronal structures in a region, across age-timepoints, for large brain microscopy volumes. We improve the reconstruction quality of neuronal structures by implementing a density multiplier and a new loss function, called the hallucination loss.Moreover, to alleviate artifacts that occur due to tiling of large input volumes, we introduce a spatial-consistency module in the training pipeline of neuReGANerator. We show that neuReGANerator has a reconstruction accuracy of 94% in predicting neuronal structures. Finally, to visualize the predicted change in projections, NeuRegenerate offers two modes: (1) neuroCompare to simultaneously visualize the difference in the structures of the neuronal projections, across the age timepoints, and (2) neuroMorph, a vesselness-based morphing technique to interactively visualize the transformation of the structures from one age-timepoint to the other. Our framework is designed specifically for volumes acquired using wide-field microscopy. We demonstrate our framework by visualizing the structural changes in neuronal fibers within the cholinergic system of the mouse brain between a young and old specimen.<br />Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.2202.01115
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2021.3127132