TY - JOUR
T1 - Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Combined with Conventional Intravascular Ultrasound for Enhanced Assessment of Atherosclerotic Plaques
T2 - an Ex Vivo Study in Human Coronary Arteries
AU - Fatakdawala, Hussain
AU - Gorpas, Dimitris
AU - Bishop, John W
AU - Bec, Julien
AU - Ma, Dinglong
AU - Southard, Jeffrey
AU - Margulies, Kenneth B.
AU - Marcu, Laura
PY - 2015/5/1
Y1 - 2015/5/1
N2 - This study evaluates the ability of label-free fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIm) to complement intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) for concurrent visualization of human coronary vessel composition, structure, and pathology. Co-registered FLIm and IVUS data from 16 coronary segments were correlated to eight distinct pathological features including thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value for combined FLIm-IVUS (89, 99, 89 %) were better than FLIm (70, 98, 88 %) and IVUS (45, 94, 62 %) alone in distinguishing between pathologies. FLIm can assess compositional changes in luminal surface through variations in fluorescence lifetime values (<3.5 ns for lipid-rich areas; >4 ns for collagen-rich areas) enabling detection of macrophages in fibrous caps (sensitivity, 86 %) and distinguishing between relatively stable thick-cap fibroatheromas and rupture-prone TCFA (sensitivity, 80 %) amongst other features. Current results demonstrate the potential of FLIm-IVUS as a new intravascular method for improved evaluation of plaques that may subsequently aid in guiding coronary intervention.
AB - This study evaluates the ability of label-free fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIm) to complement intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) for concurrent visualization of human coronary vessel composition, structure, and pathology. Co-registered FLIm and IVUS data from 16 coronary segments were correlated to eight distinct pathological features including thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value for combined FLIm-IVUS (89, 99, 89 %) were better than FLIm (70, 98, 88 %) and IVUS (45, 94, 62 %) alone in distinguishing between pathologies. FLIm can assess compositional changes in luminal surface through variations in fluorescence lifetime values (<3.5 ns for lipid-rich areas; >4 ns for collagen-rich areas) enabling detection of macrophages in fibrous caps (sensitivity, 86 %) and distinguishing between relatively stable thick-cap fibroatheromas and rupture-prone TCFA (sensitivity, 80 %) amongst other features. Current results demonstrate the potential of FLIm-IVUS as a new intravascular method for improved evaluation of plaques that may subsequently aid in guiding coronary intervention.
KW - Atherosclerosis
KW - Cardiovascular diseases
KW - Fluorescence lifetime imaging
KW - Intravascular imaging
KW - Intravascular ultrasound
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84931563918&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84931563918&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12265-015-9627-3
DO - 10.1007/s12265-015-9627-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 25931307
AN - SCOPUS:84931563918
VL - 8
SP - 253
EP - 263
JO - Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research
JF - Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research
SN - 1937-5387
IS - 4
ER -