A New Hypothesis for Human Atherosclerotic Plaque Progression Based on Serial In Vivo MRI and Computational Modeling Method Available to Purchase

It has been well-accepted that atherosclerosis initiation and progression correlate positively with low and oscillating flow wall shear stresses. However, this shear stress mechanism cannot fully explain why advanced plaques continue to grow under elevated flow shear stress conditions. Our previous investigations using 3D computational models with fluid-structure interactions (FSI) based on in vivo/ex vivo magnetic resonance images (MRI) of human carotid atherosclerotic plaques indicated that there is a negative correlation between advanced plaque wall thickness and structural maximum principal stress (Stress-P₁) in the plaque and a positive correlation between plaque wall thickness and flow shear stress [3].