P-06 New approach for statistical shape analyses in human fetal brain using geometric morphometrics

摘要

Morphological analyses of the human fetal brain contribute various purposes, such as understanding the mechanisms underlying neurodevelopment and advancing fetal brain ultrasound assessments. Geometric morphometrics (GM), a statistical shape analysis based on the landmark coordinates, is the preferred method for evaluating spatial information of shape. Therefore, GM has been used widely in the fields of anthropology, genetics, and evolutionary biology and has more recently emerged in the medical fields. Though this technique is often used in research of child or adult brain, the analysis of developing fetal brain using GM has not been reported previously. This study aimed to analyze morphological change of developing human fetal brain by using GM analysis. At the Congenital Anomaly Research Center, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, over 45,000 human specimens of embryo and fetus are stored as the Kyoto Collection. First, 25 formalin-fixed human fetal specimens suitable for this study were selected ranging from 23.4 to 225 mm in crown rump length from the Kyoto Collection. Second, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were obtained by using 7-T and 3-T MRI at Kyoto University. Next, the three-dimensional models of the fetal brain was reconstructed by using FIJI and Amira software and 23 landmarks were registered around the models by using software Checkpoint. Finally, GM analysis was conducted by using MATLAB. As the results, the major patterns of morphological changes were the significant expansion of the posterior part of cerebral hemisphere, and moreover, we could visually observe shape changes of the fetal brain.