Huntzicker Steven, Shekhar Himanshu, Doyley Marvin M
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA.
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA.
Ultrasound Med Biol. 2016 May;42(5):1167-81. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2015.12.024. Epub 2016 Feb 26.
Model-based intravascular ultrasound elastography visualizes the stress distribution within vascular tissue-information that clinicians could use to predict the propensity of atherosclerotic plaque rupture. However, there are concerns that clusters of microvessels may reduce the accuracy of the estimated stress distribution. Consequently, we have developed a contrast-enhanced intravascular ultrasound system to investigate how plaque microvasculature affects the performance of model-based elastography. In simulations, diameters of 200, 400 and 800 μm were used, where the latter diameter represented a cluster of microvessels. In phantoms, we used a microvessel with a diameter of 750 μm. Peak stress errors of 3% and 38% were incurred in the fibrous cap when stress recovery was performed with and without a priori information about microvessel geometry. The results indicate that incorporating geometric information about plaque microvasculature obtained with contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging improves the accuracy of estimates of the stress distribution within the fibrous cap precisely.
基于模型的血管内超声弹性成像可显示血管组织内的应力分布，临床医生可利用这些信息预测动脉粥样硬化斑块破裂的倾向。然而，有人担心微血管簇可能会降低估计应力分布的准确性。因此，我们开发了一种对比增强血管内超声系统，以研究斑块微血管结构如何影响基于模型的弹性成像性能。在模拟中，使用了直径为200、400和800μm的血管，其中后者代表一簇微血管。在体模中，我们使用了直径为750μm的微血管。在有和没有微血管几何形状先验信息的情况下进行应力恢复时，纤维帽的峰值应力误差分别为3%和38%。结果表明，结合通过对比增强超声成像获得的斑块微血管几何信息，可精确提高纤维帽内应力分布估计的准确性。
