Use Case: 3D Coronary Artery Reconstruction for the Purposes of Virtual FFR Calculation

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiovascular diseases can cause many severe life-altering complications if they are not treated in a timely manner, including disability and the loss of ability to work. Of all cardiovascular disease-induced complications, acute myocardial infarction is among the most common and is responsible for nearly three million deaths globally, on a yearly basis. Fractional flow reserve is a measurement of arterial blood pressure, measured on both sides of a coronary artery narrowing which is used for the risk assessment of coronary artery stenosis. Measuring fractional flow reserve, both directly from the coronary artery and analytically, from X-ray angiography images, requires a heavy invasive procedure. Additionally, calculating fractional flow reserve from X-ray angiography images requires a lot of time and effort from the side of a medical professional for manual annotation and correction. This research strives to create a methodology for automatic coronary artery tree 3D reconstruction in the form of a surface point cloud which can be used for virtual fractional flow reserve calculation and assessment using finite element modeling techniques. The main goal of the research is to provide a methodology which reduces manual input expected from the medical professionals to a minimum, which will drastically lower the amount of time and funds required to conduct analysis on cardiovascular disease patients.