Q-VAT: Quantitative Vascular Analysis Tool

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2023 Jun 2:10:1147462. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1147462. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

As our imaging capability increase, so does our need for appropriate image quantification tools. Quantitative Vascular Analysis Tool (Q-VAT) is an open-source software, written for Fiji (ImageJ), that perform automated analysis and quantification on large two-dimensional images of whole tissue sections. Importantly, it allows separation of the vessel measurement based on diameter, allowing the macro- and microvasculature to be quantified separately. To enable analysis of entire tissue sections on regular laboratory computers, the vascular network of large samples is analyzed in a tile-wise manner, significantly reducing labor and bypassing several limitations related to manual quantification. Double or triple-stained slides can be analyzed, with a quantification of the percentage of vessels where the staining's overlap. To demonstrate the versatility, we applied Q-VAT to obtain morphological read-outs of the vasculature network in microscopy images of whole-mount immuno-stained sections of various mouse tissues.

Keywords: density; immunohisthochemistry; morphometric analysis; quantification; vasculature.

Associated data

  • figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.21820515

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 project “CRUCIAL”, (grant number 848109) and a KU Leuven financing grant (grant number C14/20/095).