%0 Journal Article
%T A Voxel-Map Quantitative Analysis Approach for Atherosclerotic Noncalcified Plaques of the Coronary Artery Tree
%A Ying Li
%A Wei Chen
%A Kaijun Liu
%A Yi Wu
%A Yonglin Chen
%A Chun Chu
%A Bingji Fang
%A Liwen Tan
%A Shaoxiang Zhang
%J Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/957195
%X Noncalcified plaques (NCPs) are associated with the presence of lipid-core plaques that are prone to rupture. Thus, it is important to detect and monitor the development of NCPs. Contrast-enhanced coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) is a potential imaging technique to identify atherosclerotic plaques in the whole coronary tree, but it fails to provide information about vessel walls. In order to overcome the limitations of coronary CTA and provide more meaningful quantitative information for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), we proposed a Voxel-Map based on mathematical morphology to quantitatively analyze the noncalcified plaques on a three-dimensional coronary artery wall model (3D-CAWM). This approach is a combination of Voxel-Map analysis techniques, plaque locating, and anatomical location related labeling, which show more detailed and comprehensive coronary tree wall visualization. 1. Introduction Noncalcified plaque (NCP, referred to as ¡°soft plaque¡±) [1] usually shows lower attenuation values than calcified plaque in a CT image, which has been associated with the presence of lipid-core plaques [2]. Retrospective studies have shown an association between plaques containing non-calcified components and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) [3, 4]. Therefore, it is important to detect and monitor the progress of NCPs. According to whether or not the body has to be injured during detection of a lesion, the imaging techniques for detection and quantitative analysis of NCPs are classified into two categories: invasive methods and noninvasive methods [5]. Imaging techniques, such as intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), provide detailed visualization of luminal and plaque morphology and reliable quantification of the atheroma burden and its composition [5]. Although intravascular techniques have good discriminability for NCPs, they are invasive and expensive and can only be performed in proximal vessel segments [6]. Therefore, they are not appropriate to monitor the progress of NCPs of the whole coronary tree over a short time interval. Compared with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), contrast-enhanced coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) has the advantages of being noninvasive, convenient, and economical and offers excellent diagnostic accuracy for coronary plaques [6¨C10]. The potential of these imaging techniques to identify atherosclerotic plaques in the whole coronary tree has raised the interest of radiologists [11]. The range of attenuation relevance to different types of plaque in CTA has been
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cmmm/2013/957195/