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Application of Scanning Acoustic Microscopy for Assessing Stress Distribution in Atherosclerotic Plaque

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Abstract

Scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) was equipped to assess the acoustic properties of normal and atherosclerotic coronary arteries. The SAM image in the atherosclerotic lesion clearly demonstrated that the sound speed was higher than that in the normal intima, and that the variation of elasticity was found within the fibrous cap of the plaque. Young's elastic modulus of each region was calculated and the finite element analysis was applied to derive the stress distribution in these arterial walls. In a case of normal coronary artery, the stress was dominant in the intima and the distribution was rather homogeneous and in a case of atherosclerosis, high stress was concentrated to the relatively soft lesion in the fibrous cap overlying lipid pool. SAM provides information on the physical properties, which cannot be obtained by the optical microscope. The results would help in understanding the pathological features of atherosclerosis. © 2001 Biomedical Engineering Society.

PAC01: 8764-t, 8763Df, 8719Xx, 8719Rr

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Engineering and Cardiology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryomachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan

    Yoshifumi Saijo, Hidehiko Sasaki & Shin-Ichi Nitta

  2. Biomechanics Laboratory, Graduate School of Mechanical Engineering, Tohoku University, Aramaki-Aoba 01, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan

    Toshiro Ohashi & Masaaki Sato

  3. Institute of Experimental Clinical Research, Aarhus University Hospital Brendstrupgaardsvej, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark

    Claus S. Jorgensen

Authors
  1. Yoshifumi Saijo
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  2. Toshiro Ohashi
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  3. Hidehiko Sasaki
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  4. Masaaki Sato
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  5. Claus S. Jorgensen
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  6. Shin-Ichi Nitta
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Saijo, Y., Ohashi, T., Sasaki, H. et al. Application of Scanning Acoustic Microscopy for Assessing Stress Distribution in Atherosclerotic Plaque. Annals of Biomedical Engineering 29, 1048–1053 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1114/1.1424912

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