Journal
CIRCULATION
Volume 107, Issue 24, Pages 3018-3021Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1161/01.CIR.0000078633.31922.8A
Keywords
atherosclerosis; elasticity; plaque; ultrasonics
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background - Knowledge of the physical properties of atherosclerotic plaque is essential when evaluating its vulnerability in a clinical setting. Such knowledge, however, is still difficult to obtain with the various approaches developed to date. Methods and Results - This article describes a noninvasive method for evaluating the regional elasticity ( the elastic modulus in the circumferential direction) of tissue surrounding atherosclerotic plaque in which a novel phased tracking method is applied to measure minute changes in thickness of each of the multiple layers of the arterial wall during one heartbeat. By comparing the pathological findings with the distribution of elasticity, average elasticity of lipid and that of a mixture of smooth muscle and collagen fiber can be determined. On the basis of these reference parameters, each point is statistically categorized as lipid, mixture, or other. Thus, the plaque is electronically stained using transcutaneous ultrasound. By applying the method to the common carotid arteries, the presence of thin collagen fiber was clarified along the arterial axis for normal subjects, whereas soft inclusion of lipid was found for every plaque in subjects with hyperlipidemia. Conclusion - This novel method offers potential as a diagnostic technique for detection of plaque vulnerability with high spatial resolution.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available