Automatization of 3D Reconstruction of Coronary Arteries from Angiography Projections Using AI-Enhanced Segmentation Techniques
摘要
Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is a clinical diagnostics measurement performed to assess the physiological significance of stenosis potentially present in coronary arteries. Virtual fractional flow reserve (vFFR) is an alternative non-invasive approach that involves performing a 3D reconstruction of the patient-specific coronary artery and afterwards applying techniques of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to obtain the vFFR value. Within this paper, a new approach is presented that combines the AI-enhanced segmentation of DICOM images obtained during X-ray angiography (XRA) examination and 3D reconstruction, and finite element (FE) mesh generation. This enables an automated reconstruction and numerical simulations of blood flow through patient-specific coronary arteries. The developed software is accurate, executes in a timely manner and is intuitive to use, which makes it a useful tool for clinicians to perform hemodynamic analyses of the state of coronary arteries. It can thus aid in the treatment planning that is adapted to the specific patient.