QUANTIFICATION OF LOCAL VESSEL WALL AND PLAQUE VOLUME CHANGE FOR ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS OF THERAPIES ON CAROTID ATHEROSCLEROSIS BASED ON 3-D ULTRASOUND IMAGING

developed a new method to measure the voxel-based vessel-wall-plus-plaque volume (VWV). In addition to quantifying local thickness change as in the previously introduced vessel-wall-plus-plaque thickness (VWT) metric, voxel-based VWV further considers the circumferential change associated with vascular remodel- ing. Three-dimensional ultrasound images were acquired at baseline and 1 y afterward. The vessel wall region was divided into small voxels with the voxel-based VWV change (AVVol%) computed by taking the percentage volume difference between corresponding voxels in the baseline and follow-up images. A 3-D carotid atlas was developed to allow visualization of the local thickness and circumferential change patterns in the pomegranate versus the placebo groups. A new patient-based biomarker was obtained by computing the mean AVVol% over the entire 3-D map for each patient (AVVol%). AVVol% detected a significant difference between patients ran- domized to pomegranate juice/extract and placebo groups (p=0.0002). The number of patients required by AVVol% to establish statistical significance was approximately a third of that required by the local VWT bio- marker. The increased sensitivity afforded by the proposed biomarker improves the cost-effectiveness of clinical studies evaluating new anti-atherosclerotic treatments. (E-mail: bcychiu@cityu.edu.hk)(c) 2022 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A new method for measuring voxel-based vessel-wall-plus-plaque volume (VWV) was developed, taking into consideration both local thickness change and circumferential change associated with vascular remodeling. The proposed biomarker, AVVol%, detected a significant difference between patients randomized to pomegranate juice/extract and placebo groups, with a sensitivity approximately three times higher than the local VWT biomarker.