Biography

Although BOLD fMRI is widely used to examine brain activation in adults, technical and logistical challenges frequently limit the ability to perform fMRI scans readily and longitudinally in infants, particularly in those at greatest risk for adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes and developmental delays.  My research is focused on the development of a transcranial near-infrared optical imaging system, called Cap-based Transcranial Optical Tomography (CTOT) able to image whole brain hemodynamic activity in an awake child.  The long-term goal of this research is to develop a safe, non-invasive, non-ionizing clinical imaging tool that will provide reliable quantitative prognostics for brain network dysfunction in infants.

In a second collaborative project with Drs Sevick at CMI and Shah at the Pediatric Neurosurgery, we adapted fluorescence measurements to the CTOT imaging system, called fCTOT (fluorescence-based CTOT), to assess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) ventricular dynamics and extracranial outflow in similarly sized, intact non-human primates following microdose of indocyanine green (ICG) administered to the lateral ventricle.  Currently, we are translating fCTOT into the clinic to image ventricular ICG-CSF dynamics in infants with progressing post-hemorrhage hydrocephalus (PHH).  This study will be the first to identify CSF-lymphatic outflow as a therapeutic target to devise future strategies to treat or even prevent PHH.

Areas of Interest

Research Interests

  • Development of a fast CTOT for mapping whole brain hemodynamic activity in infants
  • Assessing CSF flow dynamics in pediatric hemorrhagic hydrocephalus

Publications

  1. Zhu, B., Hendricks, J., Janelle E. Morton, Christopher Janssen, Manish N. Shah, and Eva Marie Sevick-Muraca, “Near-infrared fluorescence tomography and imaging of ventricular cerebrospinal fluid flow and extracranial outflow in non-human primates”, IEEE Transaction on Medical Imaging, DOI: 1109/TMI.2023.3295247 (2023).
  2. Rasmussen, J.C., Zhu, B., John R. Morrow, Melissa B. Aldrich, Aaron Sahihi, Stuart A. Harlin, Sheila Coogan, Caroline E. Fife, Thomas F. O’Donnell Jr, and Eva M. Sevick-Muraca, “Degradation of Lymphatic Anatomy and Function in Early Venous Disease,” Journal of Vascular Surgery: Venous and Lymphatic Disorders, 9(3):720-730 (2021).
  3. Zhu, B., and Sevick-Muraca, E. M., Nguyen R., and Shah, M. N., “Cap-based Transcranial Optical Tomography in an Awake Infant,” IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 39(11), 3300-3308 (2020).
  4. Zhu, B., Kwon, S., Rasmussen, J. C., Litorja, M., and Sevick-Muraca, E. M., “Comparison of NIR versus SWIR fluorescence imaging of indocyanine green using SI-derived metrics of image performance,” IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 39(4), 944-951 (2019).
  5. Kwon, S., Moreno-Gonzalez, I., Taylor-Presse, K., Edwards, lii G., Gamez, N., Galderon, O., Zhu, B., Velasquez, F. C., Soto, C., and Sevick-Muraca, E. M., “Impaired CSF outflow and weakened peripheral lymphatic function in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease,” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 69, 585-593 (2019).
  6. Guenther, C. M., Brun, M., Bennett, A., Ho, M. L., Chen, W., Zhu, B., Lam, M., Yamagami, M., Kwon, S., Evans, A. C., Voss, J., Sevick-Muraca, E. M., Agbandje-McKenna, M., and Suh, J., “Protease-activatable adeno-associated virus vector for gene delivery to damaged heart tissue,” Molecular Therapy, 27, 611-622 (2019).
  7. Gutierrez, C., Karni, R. J., Naqvi, S., Aldrich, M. B., Zhu, B., Morrow, J. R., Sevick-Muraca, E. M., and Rasmussen, J. C., “Head and neck lymphedema: treatment response to single- and multiple-treatment sessions of advanced pneumatic compression therapy,” Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, 160(4); 622-626 (2019).
  8. Alvarez-Urena, P., Zhu, B., Sonnet, C., Henslee, G., West, J., Sevick-Muraca, E. M., Davis, A., and Olmsted D. E., “Development of a Cell-based Gene Therapy Approach to Selectively Turn off Bone Formation”. Cell. Biochem. 9999: 1–8 (2017).
  9. Zhu, B., and Godavarty, A., “Near-infrared fluorescence-enhanced optical tomography,” BioMed Research International, 5040814 (2016).
  10. Zhu, , Rasmussen, J. C., Litorja, M., and Sevick-Muraca, E. M., “Determining the Performance of Fluorescence Molecular Imaging Devices Using Traceable Working Standards with SI Units of Radiance,” IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 35(3), 802-811 (2016).
  11. Rasmussen, J. C., Aldrich, M. B., Tan, I., Darne, C., Zhu, , O’Donell, T. F., Fife, C.E., and Sevick-Muraca, E. M., “Lymphatic transport in patients with chronic venous insufficiency and venous leg ulcers following sequential pneumatic compression,” Annals of Vascular Surgery: Venous and Lymphatic Disorder, 4(1), 9-17 (2016).
  12. Zhu, B., Robinson, H., Zhang, S., Wu, G., and Sevick-Muraca, E. M., “Longitudinal far red gene-reporter imaging of cancer metastasis in preclinical models: a tool for accelerating drug discovery,” Biomedical Optics Express, 6(9), 3346-3351 (2015).
  13. B., and Sevick-Muraca, E. M., “A review of performance of near-infrared fluorescence imaging devices used in clinical studies,” British Journal of Radiology, 88:20140547 (2015).
  14. Zhu, B., Rasmussen, J. C., and Sevick-Muraca, E. M., “Non-invasive fluorescence imaging under ambient light conditions using a modulated ICCD and laser diode,” Biomedical Optics Express. 5(2):562-572 (2014).
  15. Zhu, B., Wu, G., Robinson, H., Wilganowski, N., Hall, M. A., Ghosh, S. C., Pinkston, K. L., Azhdarinia, A., Harvey, B. R., and Sevick-Muraca, E. M., “Tumor Margin Detection using Quantitative, NIRF Molecular Imaging Targeting EpCAM Validated by Far-Red Gene Reporter iRFP,” Molecular Imaging and Biology, 15:560-568 (2013).
  16. Zhu, B., and Godavarty, A., “Functional connectivity in the brain in joint attention skills using near infrared spectroscopy and imaging,” Behavioural Brain Research, 250:28-31 (2013).