Depth resolved detection of lipid using spectroscopic optical coherence tomography

Christine P Fleming,Joseph A Gardecki,Guillermo J Tearney,Jocelyn Eckert,Elkan F Halpern

doi:10.1364/boe.4.001269

Abstract

Optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) can identify key components related to plaque vulnerability but can suffer from artifacts that could prevent accurate identification of lipid rich regions. In this paper, we present a model of depth resolved spectral analysis of OFDI data for improved detection of lipid. A quadratic Discriminant analysis model was developed based on phantom compositions known chemical mixtures and applied to a tissue phantom of a lipid-rich plaque. We demonstrate that a combined spectral and attenuation model can be used to predict the presence of lipid in OFDI images.

Highlights

1.1 Coronary artery disease (CAD)Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a progressive condition where lipid-containing plaques build up in the coronary artery wall, potentially leading to myocardial infarction or heart attack
Previous studies by our group and others have shown that OCT can identify key components related to plaque vulnerability such as lipid pools, macrophages [4,5], calcium [6], and cap thickness [7,8]
We present the use of spectroscopic OCT (SOCT) for automated classification of lipid through morphological and depth resolved spectroscopic analysis of optical frequency domain images

Summary

Introduction

1.1 Coronary artery disease (CAD)Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a progressive condition where lipid-containing plaques build up in the coronary artery wall, potentially leading to myocardial infarction or heart attack. It has been shown that a large percentage of plaques that are prone to rupture and cause acute coronary syndromes have thin fibrous caps and large necrotic lipid pools, a high density of macrophages, and intraplaque hemmorage [2]. There is a great need to identify these high-risk plaques to predict which plaques that may go on to a myocardial infarction and prevent coronary events from occurring. Fiber-based OCT systems can be incorporated into catheters to image internal organs. Previous studies by our group and others have shown that OCT can identify key components related to plaque vulnerability such as lipid pools, macrophages [4,5], calcium [6], and cap thickness [7,8]. A method for independently detecting the presence of lipid is highly sought after

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion