A Four-Criterion Selection Procedure for Atherosclerotic Plaque Elasticity Reconstruction Based on in Vivo Coronary Intravascular Ultrasound Radial Strain Sequences

Plaque elasticity (i.e., modulogram) and morphology are good predictors of plaque vulnerability. Recently, our group developed an intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) elasticity reconstruction method which was successfully implemented in vitro using vessel phantoms. In vivo IVUS modulography, however, remains a major challenge as the motion of the heart prevents accurate strain field estimation. We therefore designed a technique to extract accurate strain fields and modulograms from recorded IVUS sequences. We identified a set of four criteria based on tissue overlapping, RF-correlation coefficient between two successive frames, performance of the elasticity reconstruction method to recover the measured radial strain, and reproducibility of the computed modulograms over the cardiac cycle. This four-criterion selection procedure (4-CSP) was successfully tested on IVUS sequences obtained in twelve patients referred for a directional coronary atherectomy intervention. This study demonstrates the potential of the IVUS modulography technique based on the proposed 4-CSP to detect vulnerable plaques in vivo.