Coronary Plaque Analysis for CT Angiography Clinical Research

The analysis of plaque deposits in the coronary vasculature is an important topic in current clinical research. From a technical side mostly new algorithms for different sub tasks e.g. centerline extraction or vessel/plaque segmentation – are proposed. However, to enable clinical research with the help of these algorithms, a software solution, which enables manual correction, comprehensive visual feedback and tissue analysis capabilities, is needed. Therefore, we want to present such an integrated software solution. A MeVisLab-based implementation of our solution is available as part of the Siemens Healthineers syngo.via Frontier and OpenApps research extension. It is able to perform robust automatic centerline extraction and inner and outer vessel wall segmentation, while providing easy to use manual correction tools. Also, it allows for annotation of lesions along the centerlines, which can be further analyzed regarding their tissue composition. Furthermore, it enables research in upcoming technologies and research directions: it does support dual energy CT scans with dedicated plaque analysis and the quantification of the fatty tissue surrounding the vasculature, also in automated set-ups.