IVUS simulation based on histopathology

The purpose of this research was to develop a realistic IVUS simulator based on histopathology images as input. Although IVUS is currently the reference method to visualize human coronary plaques, little is known about the capabilities of IVUS with respect to the determination (qualitatively and quantitatively) of the different tissue components as found inside such plaques. This was the main motivation for developing the simulator. The outcome of this work is an IVUS simulator capable of producing highly realistic IVUS images as compared to real IVUS images. It could therefore act as a tool to study the qualitative and quantitative capabilities of IVUS. The IVUS simulator uses histopathology images as input. Different methods used in existing simulators have been studied, such as analytical methods, ray tracing and the finite element method. This research led to the development of a simulator based on a hybrid approach combining analytical methods with ray tracing. This allows the simulation of phenomena such as refraction, which was not being taken into account by other published simulators. Validation of our simulator proved to be a difficult task, although matching histopathology and real IVUS images where available. Comparison of images generated by the simulator compared to real IVUS images was done by experts, who where impressed by the level of detail. A number of analytical phantoms were tested in different analysis tools, yielding results that correlated with expectations.