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. 2023 Mar 19;10(3):130.
doi: 10.3390/jcdd10030130.

An All-in-One Tool for 2D Atherosclerotic Disease Assessment and 3D Coronary Artery Reconstruction

Savvas Kyriakidis  1 , George Rigas  2 , Vassiliki Kigka  2 , Dimitris Zaridis  2 , Georgia Karanasiou  1   2 , Panagiota Tsompou  1   2 , Gianna Karanasiou  2 , Lampros Lakkas  3 , Sotirios Nikopoulos  3 , Katerina K Naka  3 , Lampros K Michalis  3 , Dimitrios I Fotiadis  1   2 , Antonis I Sakellarios  1   2
Affiliations

An All-in-One Tool for 2D Atherosclerotic Disease Assessment and 3D Coronary Artery Reconstruction

Savvas Kyriakidis et al. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis. .

Abstract

Diagnosis of coronary artery disease is mainly based on invasive imaging modalities such as X-ray angiography, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) is also used as a non-invasive imaging alternative. In this work, we present a novel and unique tool for 3D coronary artery reconstruction and plaque characterization using the abovementioned imaging modalities or their combination. In particular, image processing and deep learning algorithms were employed and validated for the lumen and adventitia borders and plaque characterization at the IVUS and OCT frames. Strut detection is also achieved from the OCT images. Quantitative analysis of the X-ray angiography enables the 3D reconstruction of the lumen geometry and arterial centerline extraction. The fusion of the generated centerline with the results of the OCT or IVUS analysis enables hybrid coronary artery 3D reconstruction, including the plaques and the stent geometry. CTCA image processing using a 3D level set approach allows the reconstruction of the coronary arterial tree, the calcified and non-calcified plaques as well as the detection of the stent location. The modules of the tool were evaluated for efficiency with over 90% agreement of the 3D models with the manual annotations, while a usability assessment using external evaluators demonstrated high usability resulting in a mean System Usability Scale (SUS) score equal to 0.89, classifying the tool as "excellent".

Keywords: 3D reconstruction; CTCA; IVUS analysis; OCT analysis; coronary artery disease (CAD).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Architecture of the 3D coronary artery reconstruction and plaque characterization tool.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Case example for the evaluation analysis. The red points represent all the OCT-detected borders used for the reconstruction. The black points represent the cross-sections of the 3D model, which is presented as the grey surface.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of area and diameter between the 3D model cross-sections (orange line) and the 2D OCT frames (blue line) for the number of patients we processed. The cases (A–H), represent the analysis of the respective eight patients.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Regression and Bland–Altman plots for the lumen area for the number of patients we have processed. The cases (A–H) represent the analysis of the respective eight patients.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Results from SUS score [23].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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