Visualization of plaque distribution in a curved artery: three-dimensional intravascular ultrasound imaging

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging provides an excellent tool for evaluation of the type, morphology, extent, and severity of an atheromatous plaque. 3D IVUS imaging offers additive information pertaining to morphology of the arterial structures and volumetric plaque distributions. A new 3D IVUS visualization technique was developed to provide 3D structural information of a curved artery. A virtual 3D curved arterial phantom consisting of varying cross-sectional shapes, wall thicknesses, and acoustic intensity information was utilized to validate the nonlinear interpolation technique to create intermediary 2D IVUS images. IVUS imaging was performed for the iliofemoral arterial segment of an atherosclerotic Yucatan miniswine model. These in-vivo IVUS data were utilized for intermediary IVUS image generation and volumetric 3D IVUS visualization. Smooth transitional changes of cross-sectional shape, wall thickness and grayscale intensity were found between the intermediary images and the original arterial phantom slices. The 3D IVUS imaging of the unfolded curved iliofemoral artery provided realistic 3D luminal surface images of the arteries with physiologic grayscale intensity information. This unique 3D IVUS imaging technique may help with assessment of 3D plaque distribution across the curved arterial structure, and improve 3D visualization of atheromatous components.