Abstract
Intravascular optical coherence tomography (IV-OCT) allows evaluation of atherosclerotic plaques; however, plaque characterization is performed by visual assessment and requires a trained expert for interpretation of the large data sets. Here, we present a novel computational method for automated IV-OCT plaque characterization. This method is based on the modeling of each A-line of an IV-OCT data set as a linear combination of a number of depth profiles. After estimating these depth profiles by means of an alternating least square optimization strategy, they are automatically classified to predefined tissue types based on their morphological characteristics. The performance of our proposed method was evaluated with IV-OCT scans of cadaveric human coronary arteries and corresponding tissue histopathology. Our results suggest that this methodology allows automated identification of fibrotic and lipid-containing plaques. Moreover, this novel computational method has the potential to enable high throughput atherosclerotic plaque characterization.
Highlights
Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death and morbidity
The accumulation of collagen forming a fibrous plaque can lead to progressive stenosis, while in a vulnerable plaque, the build-up of lipids and necrotic core can lead to sudden thrombosis and heart attack [1]
Most vulnerable plaques are characterized by having a large necrotic core covered by a thin inflamed fibrous cap, the hallmarks of the thin cap fibroatheroma
Summary
Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death and morbidity. The different stages involved in atherosclerotic plaque formation must be studied and characterized in order to develop new therapies for atherosclerosis. Most vulnerable plaques are characterized by having a large necrotic core covered by a thin inflamed fibrous cap, the hallmarks of the thin cap fibroatheroma. A standard nomenclature has been generated to provide a consensus in the usage guidelines, measurement methodology, and visual image interpretation criteria for IV-OCT image characterization [6]. Under this consensus, the normal vessel wall or intimal thickening is characterized by a highly backscattering or signal-rich intima layer, a low backscattering and signal-poor media layer, and a heterogeneous and highly backscattering adventitia layer. A calcific plaque is usually surrounded by fibrous tissue, and present a signal-poor region with sharply delineated borders. Macrophage accumulations are characterized as signal-rich regions with high standard deviation, distinct, and/or confluent punctate spots that surpass the intensity of background speckle noise
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