# Investigation of Brain Elasticity in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Enabled by Optical Coherence Elastography

> **NIH NIH F30** · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · 2020 · $50,520

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The rapidly advancing field of “elastography” has had some major successes in answering basic science
questions and improving clinical diagnostics and therapies. For example, increased liver stiffness is strongly
correlated with advanced liver disease such as fibrosis, increased aortic stiffness has been linked with
cardiovascular disease, and multiple cancers can be assessed with viscoelastic heterogeneity. Other studies
have used the physical properties of tissue to investigate the relationship between structure and function, such
as muscle contraction and corneal refraction of light. However, changes in the local and global biomechanical
properties of brain tissue associated with aging and neurodegenerative diseases have not been extensively
studied and quantified. These changes could serve as potential biomarkers for the onset and progression of
disease. Pathology and autopsy case studies have provided some qualitative insight, and magnetic resonance
elastography (MRE) studies have demonstrated some general patterns. However, current techniques require
technical refinement and much remains to be elucidated about the relationship between the evolution of brain
biomechanics and these complex processes. There are several approaches that employ optical coherence
tomography (OCT), a high-resolution imaging modality, to obtain the mechanical properties of biological tissues.
These techniques are generally referred to as optical coherence elastography (OCE), and have demonstrated
promising applications with studies in cornea, breast, muscle, heart, and skin.
In this project, recent advances in OCT and elastography techniques are applied to advanced murine
neuropathology models. OCE will be performed in mice ex vivo / in situ and in vivo to study the aging process
and Alzheimer’s disease. Shear waves are introduced into brain tissue via transducers, and an OCT imaging
system captures volumetric data with lateral and axial resolutions of a few microns. Variations in the softness
and stiffness of cortical brain tissue with respect to time will be quantified. Specifically, the use of reverberant
shear wave fields for elastography, which takes advantage of inevitable reflections from boundaries and tissue
inhomogeneities, allows for estimation of the shear wave speed, which is directly related to the elastic modulus
of soft tissues. The project requires precise engineering design, which presents an addressable experimental
challenge. The goal of this project is to quantify how shear wave speeds (related to stiffness of tissues)
change with aging or the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease using mouse models, with direct
implications to future human studies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10064951
- **Project number:** 1F30AG069293-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Gary Ruian Ge
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $50,520
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2024-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10064951

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10064951, Investigation of Brain Elasticity in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Enabled by Optical Coherence Elastography (1F30AG069293-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10064951. Licensed CC0.

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