Validation Study of a 3D-QCA Coronary Reconstruction Method Using a Hybrid IntraVascular UltraSound and Angiography Reconstruction Method and Patient-Specific Fractional Flow Reserve Data

摘要

The estimation of the severity of coronary lesions is of utmost importance in today's clinical practice, since Cardiovascular diseases often have fatal consequences. The most efficient method to estimate the severity of a lesion is the calculation of the Fractional Flow Reserve. The necessary use of a pressure wire, however, makes this method invasive and strenuous for the patient. In this work, we present a novel 3-Dimensional Quantitative Coronary Analysis coronary reconstruction method and a framework for the computation of the virtual Functional Assessment Index (vFAI). In a dataset of 5 coronary arterial segments, we use the aforementioned method to reconstruct them in 3D, and compare them to the respective 3D models reconstructed from our already validated hybrid IVUS-angiography reconstruction method [2]. The obtained results indicate a high correlation between the two methods in terms of the calculated FFR values, presenting a difference of 3.19% in the worst case scenario. Furthermore, when compared to the actual FFR values that derive from a pressure wire, the differences were statistically insignificant.