Deng Fengbin, Mu Changping, Yang Ling, Yi Rongqi, Gu Min, Li Kang
North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China.
Department of Radiology, Chongqing General Hospital, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, China.
Front Physiol. 2021 Apr 16;12:645438. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.645438. eCollection 2021.
Carotid plaque morphology and tissue composition help assess risk stratification of stroke events. Many post-processing image techniques based on CT and MR images have been widely used in related research, such as image segmentation, 3D reconstruction, and computer fluid dynamics. However, the criteria for the 3D numerical model of carotid plaque established by CT and MR angiographic image data remain open to questioning. We accurately duplicated the geometry and simulated it using computer software to make a 3D numerical model. The initial images were obtained by CTA and TOF-MRA. MIMICS (Materialize's interactive medical image control system) software was used to process the images to generate three-dimensional solid models of blood vessels and plaques. The subsequent output was exported to the ANSYS software to generate finite element simulation results for the further hemodynamic study. The 3D models of carotid plaque of TOF-MRA and CTA were simulated by using computer software. CTA has a high-density resolution for carotid plaque, the boundary of the CTA image is obvious, and the main component of which is a calcified tissue. However, the density resolution of TOF-MRA for the carotid plaque and carotid artery was not as good as that of CTA. The results show that there is a large deviation between the TOF-MRA and CTA 3D model of plaque in the carotid artery due to the unclear recognition of plaque boundary during 3D reconstruction, and this can further affect the simulation results of hemodynamics. In this study, two-dimensional images and three-dimensional models of carotid plaques obtained by two angiographic techniques were compared. The potential of these two imaging methods in clinical diagnosis and fluid dynamics of carotid plaque was evaluated, and the selectivity of image post-processing analysis to original medical image acquisition was revealed.
颈动脉斑块形态和组织成分有助于评估中风事件的风险分层。许多基于CT和MR图像的后处理图像技术已在相关研究中广泛应用，如图像分割、三维重建和计算机流体动力学。然而，由CT和MR血管造影图像数据建立的颈动脉斑块三维数值模型的标准仍有待质疑。我们使用计算机软件精确复制几何形状并进行模拟，以制作三维数值模型。初始图像通过CTA和TOF-MRA获得。使用MIMICS（Materialize的交互式医学图像控制系统）软件处理图像，以生成血管和斑块的三维实体模型。随后的输出被导出到ANSYS软件，以生成有限元模拟结果用于进一步的血流动力学研究。使用计算机软件对TOF-MRA和CTA的颈动脉斑块三维模型进行模拟。CTA对颈动脉斑块具有高密度分辨率，CTA图像边界明显，其主要成分是钙化组织。然而，TOF-MRA对颈动脉斑块和颈动脉的密度分辨率不如CTA。结果表明，由于三维重建过程中对斑块边界识别不清，颈动脉中TOF-MRA和CTA斑块三维模型之间存在较大偏差，这会进一步影响血流动力学模拟结果。在本研究中，比较了通过两种血管造影技术获得的颈动脉斑块二维图像和三维模型。评估了这两种成像方法在颈动脉斑块临床诊断和流体动力学方面的潜力，并揭示了图像后处理分析对原始医学图像采集的选择性。
