MRI vs. US 3D computational models of carotid arteries: a proof-of-concept study

The progression of atherosclerotic carotid plaque causes a gradual stenosis in the arterial lumen which might result to catastrophic plaque rupture ending to thromboembolism and stroke. Carotid artery disease is the main cause for ischemic stroke in the EU, thus intensifying the need of the development of tools for risk stratification and patient management in carotid artery disease. In this work, we present a comparative study between ultrasound-based and MRI-based 3D carotid artery models to investigate if US-based models can be used to assess the hemodynamic status of the carotid vasculature compared with the respective MRI-based models which are considered as the most realistic representation of the carotid vasculature. In-house developed algorithms were used to reconstruct the carotid vasculature in 3D. Our work revealed a promising similarity between the two methods of reconstruction in terms of geometrical parameters such as cross-sectional areas and centerline lengths, as well as simulated hemodynamic parameters such as peak Time-Averaged WSS values and areas of low WSS values which are crucial for the hemodynamic status of the cerebral vasculature. The aforementioned findings, therefore, constitute carotid US a possible MRI surrogate for the initial carotid artery disease assessment in terms of plaque evolution and possible plaque destabilization.