Measurements of regional mechanical stress on blood vessels by intravascular ultrasound imaging

There is strong evidence to indicate a direct relationship between topograph distribution of atherosclerosis and the magnitude of circumferential wall stress (WS) and shear (S) due to blood flow. A computer algorithm that uses intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging to derive regional WS and S in three-dimensional space is reported. The measurements made on patient images show that polar plots vary significantly from one site to another.<>