Carotid atherosclerosis is a critical medical concern that can lead to ischemic stroke. Local hemodynamic patterns have also been associated with the development of atherosclerosis, particularly in regions with disturbed flow patterns such as bifurcations. Traditionally, this disease was treated using carotid endarterectomy, however recently there is an increasing trend of carotid artery stenting due to its minimally invasive nature. It is well known that this interventional technique creates changes in vasculature geometry and hemodynamic patterns due to the interaction of stent struts with arterial lumen, and is associated with complications such as distal emboli and restenosis. Currently, there is no standard imaging technique to evaluate regional hemodynamic patterns found in stented vessels. Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) provides an opportunity to identify in vivo hemodynamic changes in vasculature using high-resolution imaging. In this study, blood flow profiles were examined at the bifurcation junction in the internal carotid artery (ICA) in a porcine model following stent deployment. Doppler imaging was further conducted using pulsatile flow in a phantom model, and then compared to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of a virtual bifurcation to assist with the interpretation of emphin vivo results.

Date Published: 10 March 2015
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 9305, Optical Techniques in Neurosurgery, Neurophotonics, and Optogenetics II, 93050Q (10 March 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2080635

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9305:
Optical Techniques in Neurosurgery, Neurophotonics, and Optogenetics II
Henry Hirschberg M.D.; E. Duco Jansen; Samarendra K. Mohanty; Nitish V. Thakor; Qingming Luo; Steen J. Madsen, Editor(s)