Each year in the United States over a million people experience a myocardial infarction. The majority of these attacks are caused by coronary artery plaque cap rupture with subsequent thrombus formation. Because rupture is a mechanical event and the tendency of a plaque to rupture is due in part to increases in the mechanical stresses in the fibrous cap, mechanical analyses are important to understanding plaque stability.
Histology is the only method capable of identifying plaque features that are associated with vulnerability. Therefore, minimally distorted histologic sections should serve as a basis for constructing the models used in mechanical analyses. Further, because substantial longitudinal variations in geometry and mechanical properties often exist, models should be three-dimensional (3-D). Finally, given the complex geometries of atherosclerotic plaques and the fact that they are composed of different materials, the finite element (FE) method should be used to determine the distribution of stress under physiological loading. Until now, a critical need has existed to determine the distribution of stress in 3-D FE models of human coronary atherosclerotic plaques based on minimally distorted histologic sections.
In this research study, a method to measure and correct for distortions caused by acrylic histologic processing was first created. The devised strain-based method yields a limited set of parameters needed for a first order correction. Thus, corrections can be easily implemented using FE methods. Next, a methodology to create 3-D finite FE models of human coronary atherosclerotic plaques based on stable acrylic histologic sections was developed. Models of plaques, ranging in disease severity, were generated using the developed methodology. Lastly, the distributions of stress in these models were obtained and the effects of some plaque features on stresses were determined.
Results from this study confirm that morphological description of a plaque is not sufficient to predict plaque rupture. The findings suggest that in many cases the 3-D stress field within a plaque must be known in order to assess plaque stability. Finally, the results show that patient specific models must be developed if the 3-D stress field within a plaque is to be determined.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:GATECH/oai:smartech.gatech.edu:1853/16137 |
| Date | 05 June 2007 |
| Creators | Lowder, Margaret Loraine |
| Publisher | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | Georgia Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
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