Micro to macro scale anatomical analysis of the human hippocampal arteries with synchrotron hierarchical phase-contrast tomography

To date, no non-invasive imaging modality has been employed to profile the structural intricacies of the hippocampal arterial microvasculature in humans. We hypothesised that synchrotron-based imaging of the human hippocampus would enable precise characterisation of the arterial microvasculature.

Two preserved human brains from, a 69-year-old female and a 63-year-old male body donors were imaged using hierarchical phase-contrast tomography (HiP-CT) with synchrotron radiation at multiple voxel resolutions from 25.08 μm down to 2.45 μm. Subsequent manual and semi-automatic artery segmentation were performed followed by morphometric analyses. These data were compared to published data from alternative methodologies.

HiP-CT made it possible to segment in context the arterial architecture of the human hippocampus. Our analysis identified anterior, medial and posterior hippocampal arteries arising from the P2 segment of the posterior cerebral artery on the image slices. We mapped arterial branches with external diameters greater than 50 μm in the hippocampal region. We visualised vascular asymmetry and quantified arterial structures with diameters as small as 7 μm.

Through the application of HiP-CT, we have provided the first imaging visualisation and quantification of the arterial system of the human hippocampus at high resolution in the context of whole brain imaging. Our results bridge the gap between anatomical and histological scales.