Intravascular ultrasound image analysis using an active contour method

摘要

An intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) analysis system (10) and method is provided which determines luminal and mediCal-adventitial boundaries of a blood vessel. Ultrasonic data is acquired by a rotating transducer mounted to a tip of a catheter which is inserted into the blood vessel (30). An intravascular image is reconstructed from the ultrasound data (15). A boundary contour is generated based on the boundary points (70). Once the final luminal boundary contour is generated, the process is repeated to determine the mediCal-adventitial boundary contour. With the contour data, properties of the blood vessel are analyzed including determining the area of the lumen and percent of occlusion caused by plaque.