ENCOMPASS – Evaluation of Neuronal COunting Methods in PreclinicAl StudieS

The objective of the ENCOMPASS research project is to quantitatively evaluate the performance of several neuronal counting methods based on advanced image processing techniques with reference stereology method (optical dissector).

Taking advantage of the latest advances in machine learning and high-performance computing (HPC), a complete software environment will be developed to perform these investigations on a large scale. After detection of individualized neurons, a modeling of their organization in the form of a network will be investigated to explore new approaches to perform anatomical segmentations and to identify new biomarkers of neuronal death.

The objective of the targeted biological application will be to study for the first time the number of neurons in a NHP model with HIV infection and AIDS. This exploratory study will include the treatment of 15 macaque hemibrains for which histological section series will be produced throughout the brain.

A technology transfer of these software developments to an industrial partner will be considered at the end of the project.