Gottwald Martin, Matuschek Anna, von der Emde Gerhard
Department of Neuroethology/Sensory Ecology, Institute of Zoology, University of Bonn, Bonn 53115, Germany.
Bioinspir Biomim. 2017 Jan 27;12(1):015002. doi: 10.1088/1748-3190/12/1/015002.
Coronary artery disease-currently one of the most frequent causes of death-is characterized by atherosclerotic plaques grown in the wall of blood vessels and inhibiting blood flow. Preventive assessment focusses on critical sizes of structural plaque parameters like relative lipid core area and cap thickness to identify high-risk plaques called thin cap fibroatheromas. Although state-of-the-art catheter systems were successfully applied in invasive plaque diagnostics, the high costs induced by these devices inhibit usage in daily clinical practice. To overcome this shortcoming, we follow a biomimetic approach to construct a prospective low-cost catheter system that adapts the active electrolocation principles of weakly electric fish Gnathonemus petersii. Only a few and simple parameters relevant for plaque detection and characterization are estimated from plaque-evoked electric images which are projected on the surface of the catheter. Two prototypical electrolocation catheter systems were tested. The first catheter system featured a ring electrode catheter and was used to obtain dynamic 1D electric images of synthetic plaques in an agarose atherosclerosis model. Our proof of concept showed that synthetic plaques could be reliably detected from 1D electric images. Based on a cluster analysis of selected key image features, synthetic plaques could be categorized into four plaque conditions, predefined from thresholds for critical structural parameters, representing high to low risk plaques. In the second recording approach, plaque-evoked dynamic and static spatial electric images were obtained by a multi-electrode catheter system. Based on these recordings, a synthetic plaque with a critical cap thickness could be detected and localized in a pig coronary artery.
冠状动脉疾病——目前是最常见的死亡原因之一——其特征是血管壁上生长的动脉粥样硬化斑块会阻碍血液流动。预防性评估聚焦于结构斑块参数的关键尺寸，如相对脂质核心面积和帽厚度，以识别被称为薄帽纤维粥样瘤的高危斑块。尽管最先进的导管系统已成功应用于侵入性斑块诊断，但这些设备带来的高成本限制了其在日常临床实践中的使用。为克服这一缺点，我们采用仿生方法构建一种前瞻性低成本导管系统，该系统采用弱电鱼彼得氏裸臀鱼的主动电定位原理。仅从投射在导管表面的斑块诱发电图像中估计出几个与斑块检测和表征相关的简单参数。测试了两种原型电定位导管系统。第一个导管系统采用环形电极导管，用于在琼脂糖动脉粥样硬化模型中获取合成斑块的动态一维电图像。我们的概念验证表明，可从一维电图像中可靠地检测出合成斑块。基于对选定关键图像特征的聚类分析，合成斑块可分为四种斑块状况，根据关键结构参数的阈值预先定义，代表从高风险到低风险的斑块。在第二种记录方法中，通过多电极导管系统获取斑块诱发的动态和静态空间电图像。基于这些记录，可在猪冠状动脉中检测并定位具有临界帽厚度的合成斑块。
