High resolution atlasing of the venous brain vasculature from 7T quantitative susceptibility

The vascular organization of the human brain has many consequences for neurological and neurophysiological function, yet it has thus far not been systematically mapped. In this work, the first atlas of the venous vasculature using quantitative susceptibility maps (QSM) acquired at 7T with a 0.6 mm isotropic resolution is presented. The VENAT (Venous Neuroanatomy) atlas was created from 5 separate measurements of 20 young and healthy volunteers using a two-step registration method based on 3D segmentations of the venous vasculature. This cerebral vein atlas includes the average vessel location and diameter from all participants and provides a first measure in vivo of the angio-architectonic organization of the human brain and its variability. This atlas can be used as a basis to understand changes in the vasculature during aging and diseases, as well as vascular and physiological effects in neuroimaging.