Analysis of soft plaque detection methods in CTA images

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are considered primary cause for increasing rate of mortality. Automatic stenosis detection in CTA data is highly demanded by clinicians to analyze the coronary related abnormalities timely. The detection of vulnerable plaques in CTA is challenging because these plaques may exhibit similar appearance to nearby blood and muscle tissues. Moreover, accuracy of stenosis detection heavily depends upon the accuracy of delineation process of coronary arteries. In this paper, we present a comparative study of four different soft plaque detection methods along with their specific strengths and limitations. We have created a table summarizing the comparison of four selected methods against such criteria as imaging modality, segmentation method, level of pre and post processing, user interaction, validation of results, usage of prior knowledge, and effectiveness of segmentation and stenosis detection. The study provides assistance in selecting an appropriate method for detecting vulnerable coronary plaques, suitable for a given segmentation of coronary arteries. © 2005 – ongoing JATIT & LLS.