Cardiac Computed Tomography Radiomics for the Non-Invasive Assessment of Coronary Inflammation

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Radiology
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Coronary artery disease (CAD) characterization relies on imaging, but subtle plaque features remain challenging to assess.
• Understanding atherosclerosis pathophysiology requires detailed plaque and adipose tissue analysis.
• Current imaging analysis methods have limitations in fully characterizing coronary plaques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the potential of radiomics for enhanced characterization of coronary plaques and surrounding adipose tissue.
• To investigate radiomics' ability to uncover imperceptible imaging biomarkers for atherosclerosis.
• To assess radiomics' utility in improving diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic decision-making in CAD.

Main Methods:

• Extraction of quantitative features from conventional radiologic images (radiomics).
• Application of radiomic analysis to coronary atherosclerotic plaques and perivascular adipose tissue.
• Comparison of radiomic characterization accuracy against conventional imaging analysis techniques.

Main Results:

• Radiomics successfully identifies imaging biomarkers not perceptible with standard analysis.
• Radiomic analysis demonstrates comparable or superior accuracy in characterizing coronary atherosclerotic plaques.
• The approach aids in unraveling the underlying pathophysiology of atherosclerosis.

Conclusions:

• Radiomics offers a promising tool for advanced imaging phenotyping of coronary artery disease.
• Quantitative radiomic features can significantly improve the characterization of coronary plaques.
• Further development is needed for clinical integration, but radiomics holds potential for CAD management.