Three-dimensional intravascular ultrasonography: Reconstruction of endovascular stents in vitro and in vivo

✍ Scribed by Gary S. Mintz; Augusto D. Pichard; Lowell F. Satler; Jeffrey J. Popma; Kenneth M. Kent; Martin B. Leon

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 726 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0091-2751
• DOI: 10.1002/jcu.1870210907

✦ Synopsis

Background: Intravascular ultrasonography displays an artery in loosely related cross-sectional images with limited axial information. However, intravascular ultrasound images are suited to three-dimensional reconstruction.

Methods: A comprehensive intravascular ultrasound imaging system was used to reconstruct planar images in three-dimensions. This system consisted of a 25MHz transducer-tipped rigid probe (for in vitro studies) or a 25MHz transducer-tipped catheter within a 3.9F monorail imaging sheath (for in vivo studies), a motorized catheter pullback device that withdraws the transducer at 0.5mm/s, and an image processing computer that stacks 15 cross-sectional images/mm of stent axial length and then performs thresholding-based three-dimensional image rendering. We imaged 10 stents (4 Palmaz-Schatz, 3 Wiktor, 2 Strecker, and 1 Medinvent) in vitro after implantation in freshly harvested saphenous veins and 37 Palmaz-Schatz stents in vivo, 10 in native coronary arteries and 27 in vein grafts, 21 acutely and 18 on follow-up.

Results: Three-dimensional reconstruction of images obtained with this system reproduced the geometry of each stent design. In vitro, images of the Pal-Schatz stents showed the expanded diamonds, the central articulation, and flaring of both ends of both halves of the stents. Images of the Wiktor stents showed the sinusoidal wave-shaped coils in their helical configuration. Images of the Strecker stents showed the interlocking-loop design with gaps between the terminal loops at either end of the stent. Images of the Medinvent stent reproduced the woven texture formed by braid-