Systems and methods for vessel reactivity to guide diagnosis or treatment of cardiovascular disease
View Patent ↗Systems and methods are disclosed for using vessel reactivity to guide diagnosis or treatment for cardiovascular disease. One method includes receiving a patient-specific vascular model of a patient's anatomy, including at least one vessel of the patient; determining, by measurement or estimation, a first vessel size at one or more locations of a vessel of the patient-specific vascular model at a first physiological state; determining a second vessel size at the one or more locations of the vessel of the patient-specific vascular model at a second physiological state using a simulation or learned information; comparing the first vessel size to the corresponding second vessel size; and estimating a characteristic of the vessel of the patient-specific vascular model based on the comparison.
1. A computer-implemented method of estimating vessel wall characteristics, the method comprising:
receiving a patient-specific vascular model of a patient's anatomy, including at least one vessel of the patient;
determining a first vessel size at a location of a vessel of the patient at a first physiological state;
determining a model of a mechanical response of a vessel wall of the patient-specific vascular model at a second physiological state, the second physiological state being different from the first physiological state;
determining, based on the determined mechanical response of the vessel wall at the second physiological state, a second vessel size at a location of the patient-specific vascular model corresponding to the location of the determined first vessel size, the second vessel size being associated with the second physiological state;
comparing the first vessel size to the second vessel size; and
estimating an active or passive material characteristic of the vessel wall of the patient-specific vascular model based on the comparison.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the estimated material characteristic includes vessel reactivity, vessel dilation, vessel resistance, or a combination thereof.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
simulating a blood flow using the estimated material characteristic; and
calculating a blood flow characteristic from the simulated blood flow.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , further comprising:
selecting a treatment using the calculated blood flow characteristic and the estimated material characteristic of the vessel wall.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the blood flow characteristic includes fractional flow reserve.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first physiological state includes a resting patient state.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the second physiological state includes a hyperemic state, an exercise state, a postprandial state, a gravitational state, an emotional stress state, a state of hypertension, a medicated state, or a combination thereof.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the patient-specific vascular model includes a peripheral artery model.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first vessel size of the location of the vessel of the patient comprises calculating the first vessel size from the patient-specific vascular model or measuring the first vessel size from the patient's anatomy.
10. A system for estimating vessel wall characteristics, the system comprising:
a data storage device storing instructions for using vessel reactivity in diagnosing or treating disease; and
a processor configured to execute the instructions to perform a method including:
receiving a patient-specific vascular model of a patient's anatomy, including at least one vessel of the patient;
determining a first vessel size at a location of a vessel of the patient at a first physiological state;
determining a model of a mechanical response of a vessel wall of the patient-specific vascular model at a second physiological state, the second physiological state being different from the first physiological state;
determining, based on the determined mechanical response of the vessel wall at the second physiological state, a second vessel size at a location of the vessel of the patient-specific vascular model corresponding to the location of the determined first vessel size, the second vessel size being associated with the second physiological state;
comparing the first vessel size to the second vessel size; and
estimating an active or passive material characteristic of the vessel wall of the patient-specific vascular model based on the comparison.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the estimated material characteristic includes vessel reactivity, vessel dilation, vessel resistance, or a combination thereof.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the system is further configured for:
simulating a blood flow using the estimated material characteristic; and
calculating a blood flow characteristic from the simulated blood flow.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the system is further configured for:
selecting a treatment using the calculated blood flow characteristic and the estimated material characteristic of the vessel wall.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the blood flow characteristic includes fractional flow reserve.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first physiological state includes a resting patient state.
16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the second physiological state includes a hyperemic state, an exercise state, a postprandial state, a gravitational state, an emotional stress state, a state of hypertension, a medicated state, or a combination thereof.
17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the patient-specific vascular model includes a peripheral artery model.
18. The system of claim 10 , wherein determining the first vessel size of the location of the vessel of the patient comprises calculating the first vessel size from the patient-specific vascular model or measuring the first vessel size from the patient's anatomy.
19. A non-transitory computer readable medium for use on a computer system containing computer-executable programming instructions for performing a method of estimating vessel wall characteristics, the method comprising:
receiving a patient-specific vascular model of a patient's anatomy, including at least one vessel of the patient;
determining a first vessel size at a location of a vessel of the patient at a first physiological state;
determining a model of a mechanical response of a vessel wall of the patient-specific vascular model at a second physiological state, the second physiological state being different from the first physiological state;
determining, based on the determined mechanical response of the vessel wall at the second physiological state, a second vessel size at a location of the vessel of the patient-specific vascular model corresponding to the location of the determined first vessel size, the second vessel size being associated with the second physiological state;
comparing the first vessel size to the second vessel size; and
estimating an active or passive material characteristic of the vessel wall of the patient-specific vascular model based on the comparison.
20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the estimated material characteristic includes vessel reactivity, vessel dilation, vessel resistance, or a combination thereof.
21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , the method further comprising:
simulating a blood flow using the estimated material characteristic; and
calculating a blood flow characteristic from the simulated blood flow.
22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the blood flow characteristic includes fractional flow reserve.
23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein determining the first vessel size of the location of the vessel of the patient comprises calculating the first vessel size from the patient-specific vascular model or measuring the first vessel size from the patient's anatomy.