Visualizing the 3D View of Build-up of Fats on Blood Vessel Wall

Visualization of atherosclerotic plaques in blood vessel walls by combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and mathematical analysis to define features.

Atherosclerosis is a long-term arterial vessel wall disease characterized by the build-up of lipid-rich and inflamed plaques. It often goes undetected.

But highly inflamed plaques disrupt and form a blood clot attached to the vessel wall adjacent to the flowing blood. This acute event (atherothrombosis) can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

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‘New imaging tool uniquely detects regions of arteries at risk of rupture or atherothrombosis, increasing the accuracy of diagnosis in atherosclerotic disease.’

Researchers have developed and substantiated an advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tool to reveal new structural insights into atherothrombosis, the leading cause of mortality in the world. The findings are published in Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance.

Three-Dimensional Visualization of Atherosclerotic Vessels

Using an experimental model, they combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and mathematical analysis to architecturally define features of fatty material that form plaques in the arteries not visualized with conventional MRI or histology alone.

This method uniquely detects regions of arteries at risk of rupture or atherothrombosis, thus increasing the accuracy of diagnosis and assessment of treatment outcomes in individuals with atherosclerotic disease.

As atherosclerosis progresses, damaged smooth muscle cells (SMC) become inflamed and disorganized. While current bio-imaging techniques focus mainly on plaque features adjacent to the flowing blood, they are unable to capture highly detailed deeper structures.

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In regions with a normal vessel wall and low inflammation, researchers observed long-range coherence of SMC and collagen fiber orientation parallel to the vessel wall.

Whereas, in highly inflamed regions, blood clots and underlying vessels were characterized by highly random properties with many short tracts that were perpendicular to the vessel wall.

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This research represents an important step forward by the Hamilton group, in a decade-long collaborative project that has designed MRI methods to identify high-risk plaques that are being tested clinically.

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Source-Eurekalert