Measurement of Coronary Artery Wall Strain In Situ Using IVUS

Atherosclerotic plaque rupture is the leading cause of mortality in cardiovascular diseases. Studying biomechanics of plaque provides important insights into its vulnerability, since a plaque behaves consistently with its underlying contents. Arterial wall strain in response to luminal pressure change is such a measurable quantity. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging is a wildly available clinical technique providing real time cross-sectional images of the vessel wall and plaque morphometry. IVUS elastography has been used to measure the radial strain through correlation analysis of the IVUS radiofrequency (RF) signals. We have developed a strain estimation method based on IVUS image registration. Our method has the ability to overcome nonlinear tissue deformation and measure 2D strain.