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Updated: May 22, 2026
Intravascular Ultrasound Image-Based Finite Element Modeling Approach for Quantifying In Vivo Mechanical Properties of Human Coronary Artery
Published on: December 6, 2024
Construction of healthy arteries using computed tomography and virtual histology intravascular ultrasound
Hong Sun Ryou1, Seungwook Kim, Sang Wook Kim
1School of Mechanical Engineering, Chung-Ang University, 221 Heukseok-Dong, Dongjak-Gu, Seoul 156-756, South Korea.
Insights
This study developed a method to virtually reconstruct healthy arteries from medical imaging. This model predicts sites prone to plaque formation by analyzing blood flow characteristics like low average wall shear stress (AWSS).
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computational Fluid Dynamics
Background:
- Medical imaging (CT, MRI, IVUS) is crucial for hemodynamic analysis of vascular disease.
- Predicting plaque formation requires understanding both diseased and healthy artery hemodynamics.
- Current methods often focus on diseased states, limiting prediction of initial lesion sites.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop criteria and a method for constructing virtual healthy vessels from patient imaging data.
- To analyze geometric and flow differences between healthy and diseased arteries.
- To create a numerical model for predicting sites of atherosclerotic plaque formation.
Main Methods:
- Performed CT and virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) on three patients.
- Developed criteria for virtual healthy vessel reconstruction by virtually removing plaque.
- Compared lumen geometry from CT and VH-IVUS.
- Analyzed plaque components and lumen cross-sectional areas.
- Conducted computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to compare flow characteristics.
Main Results:
- Established criteria for healthy vessel construction from medical imaging.
- Identified low average wall shear stress (AWSS) in areas where plaque was virtually removed.
- Observed a high oscillatory shear index (OSI) proximal to previously diseased sites.
- Demonstrated that low AWSS and high OSI are indicators of plaque formation/progression.
Conclusions:
- The healthy vessel construction method effectively simulates pre-lesion states.
- The developed numerical model accurately predicts lesion-prone sites based on hemodynamic factors.
- This approach advances the understanding and prediction of atherosclerotic lesion development.
Abstract:
Vessel geometry for numerical analysis is generally obtained by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). Most medical imaging is obtained from patients for hemodynamic analysis due to the properties of vascular disease and the difficulties in angiography. To predict the site where plaque occurs and understand the progression of the lesion, however, it is necessary to take into consideration not only the diseased artery, but also the blood flow characteristics of healthy artery. In order to simulate healthy vessels prior to lesion formation, we performed CT and virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) on three actual patients and this data was used to develop criteria for healthy vessel construction, a method that virtually removes all intravascular plaque. The lumen of a vessel generated by CT and the lumen from VH-IVUS were compared, and the cross-sectional areas of plaque components (fibrous, fibrofatty, dense calcium, and necrotic) and the lumen from VH-IVUS were analyzed. Geometric differences in the healthy vessel and diseased vessel were analyzed, and flow characteristics of the healthy vessel and diseased vessel were compared through computational fluid dynamics simulation. Low average wall shear stress (AWSS) was distributed in the site where plaque was removed from the healthy vessel, and a high oscillatory shear index (OSI) was observed in the region proximal to the site where plaque previously existed. Low AWSS and high OSI are widely accepted indicators of plaque formation or the direction of plaque progression. A numerical model that effectively predicts lesion forming sites was also generated based on the healthy vessel construction method presented in this study.
