System and method for assessing cardiovascular disease and treatment effectiveness from adipose tissue

1. A method for assessing cardiovascular disease and treatment effectiveness based on adipose tissue, the method comprising:

identifying a vascular bed of interest in a patient's vasculature;

receiving a medical image of the patient's identified vascular bed of interest;

receiving a selected vessel in the vascular bed of interest;

receiving a defined distance from the vessel, the defined distance being a distance from the selected vessel from which adipose tissue may be measured;

detecting a centerline of the selected vessel;

detecting, based on the medical image and on the defined distance being perpendicular to the centerline of the selected vessel, adipose tissue within the defined distance from the vessel;

identifying the adipose tissue in the received medical image;

receiving a geometric vascular model comprising a representation of the patient's identified vascular bed of interest;

computing an inflammation index associated with the geometric vascular model, using the identified adipose tissue; and

quantifying the detected adipose tissue.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

computing the inflammation index based on the quantified detected adipose tissue.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, from the medical image, a percentage of voxels containing representations of adipose tissue within the defined distance from the vessel; and

quantifying the detected adipose tissue based on the determined percentage of voxels.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

computing the inflammation index based on the quantified detected adipose tissue.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

modifying a blood flow computation based on the computed inflammation index.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a patient disease assessment or treatment evaluation based on the computed inflammation index.

7. A system for assessing cardiovascular disease and treatment effectiveness based on adipose tissue, the system comprising:

a data storage device storing instructions for assessing cardiovascular disease and treatment effectiveness based on adipose tissue; and

a processor configured to execute the instructions to perform a method including:

identifying a vascular bed of interest in a patient's vasculature;

receiving a medical image of the patient's identified vascular bed of interest;

receiving a selected vessel in the vascular bed of interest;

receiving a defined distance from the vessel, the defined distance being a distance from the selected vessel from which adipose tissue may be measured;

detecting a centerline of the selected vessel;

detecting, based on the medical image and on the defined distance being perpendicular to the centerline of the selected vessel, adipose tissue within the defined distance from the vessel;

identifying the adipose tissue in the received medical image;

receiving a geometric vascular model comprising a representation of the patient's identified vascular bed of interest;

computing an inflammation index associated with the geometric vascular model, using the identified adipose tissue; and

quantifying the detected adipose tissue.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the system is further configured for:

computing the inflammation index based on the quantified detected adipose tissue.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the system is further configured for:

determining, from the medical image, a percentage of voxels containing representations of adipose tissue within the defined distance from the vessel; and

quantifying the detected adipose tissue based on the determined percentage of voxels.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the system is further configured for:

computing the inflammation index based on the quantified detected adipose tissue.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the system is further configured for:

modifying a blood flow computation based on the computed inflammation index.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the system is further configured for:

generating a patient disease assessment or treatment evaluation based on the computed inflammation index.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium for use on a computer system containing computer-executable programming instructions for performing a method of assessing cardiovascular disease and treatment effectiveness based on adipose tissue, the method comprising:

identifying a vascular bed of interest in a patient's vasculature;

receiving a medical image of the patient's identified vascular bed of interest;

receiving a selected vessel in the vascular bed of interest;

receiving a defined distance from the vessel, the defined distance being a distance from the selected vessel from which adipose tissue may be measured;

detecting a centerline of the selected vessel;

detecting, based on the medical image and on the defined distance being perpendicular to the centerline of the selected vessel, adipose tissue within the defined distance from the vessel:

identifying the adipose tissue in the received medical image;

receiving a geometric vascular model comprising a representation of the patient's identified vascular bed of interest;

computing an inflammation index associated with the geometric vascular model, using the identified adipose tissue; and

quantifying the detected adipose tissue.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , the method further comprising:

computing the inflammation index based on the quantified detected adipose tissue.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , the method further comprising:

determining, from the medical image, a percentage of voxels containing representations of adipose tissue within the defined distance from the vessel; and

quantifying the detected adipose tissue based on the determined percentage of voxels.