From medical imaging to computer simulation of fractional flow reserve in four coronary artery trees

We present the results of a computational study of coronary trees obtained from CT acquisition at resolution of 0.35mm x 0.35mm x 0.4mm and presenting significant stenotic plaques. We analyze the cardiovascular implications of stenotic plaques for a sizeable number of patients and show that the standard clinical criterion for surgical or percutaneous intervention, based on the Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR), is well reproduced by simulations in a range of inflow conditions that can be finely controlled. The relevance of the present study is related to the reproducibility of FFR data by simulating the coronary trees at global level via high performance simulation methods together with an independent assessment based on in vitro hemodynamics. The data show that controlling the flow Reynolds number is a viable procedure to account for FFR as heart-cycle time averages and maximal hyperemia, as measured in vivo. The reproducibility of the clinical data with simulation offers a systematic approach to measuring the functional implications of stenotic plaques. © 2014 SPIE.