Basic Science and Instrumentation Scientific Session 3
Characterizing the coronary artery environment with a simultaneous ARFI/SWEI/Doppler sequence for forward-viewing IVUS
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
4:02pm – 4:14pm
Location: 412
Authors: Amauri Assef, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University Travis Singh, Georgia Institute of Technology Stephan Strassle Rojas, Georgia Institute of Technology Brooks D. Lindsey, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
More than 1 million patients visit cardiac catheterization labs in the U.S. each year. It can be challenging to determine which patients should be stented vs. deferred. Using currently-available technologies, approximately 12% of patients who are not stented require a stent within 2 years following their first visit to the cath lab. Intravascular ultrasound imaging with a forward-viewing array could provide simultaneous assessment of coronary artery geometry, plaque stiffness, and hemodynamics. In this study, we describe the development of an imaging sequence using plane wave imaging, Doppler and elasticity imaging (ARFI and SWEI) to characterize the coronary artery environment with a forward-viewing intravascular array. The imaging sequence was implemented on a programmable ultrasound system and evaluated in a coronary artery phantom. A peak displacement of 1.58 ± 0.26 µm was estimated with a corresponding shear wave speed of 1.87 ± 0.10 m/s and a shear modulus of 10.52 ± 1.14 kPa. The estimated maximum blood flow velocity was 17.74 ± 2.53 cm/s, while the mean velocity was 11.64 ± 1.33 cm/s (error: 8.97%). The developed combined imaging sequence could be used with an IVUS array to characterize the morphological, elastic, and hemodynamic properties in the coronary artery environment.