Systems and methods for assessing the severity of plaque and/or stenotic lesions using contrast distribution predictions and measurements

A system for predicting blood flow characteristics to assess the severity of plaque and/or stenotic lesions using contrast distribution predictions and measurements, the system comprising:

• a data storage device storing instructions for predicting blood flow characteristics to assess the severity of plaque and/or stenotic lesions using contrast distribution predictions and measurements;
• and
• a processor configured to execute the instructions to perform a method including:
• receiving one or more patient-specific images and/or anatomical characteristics of at least a portion of a patient's vasculature and receiving images reflecting a measured distribution of a contrast agent delivered through the patient's vasculature;
• projecting one or more contrast values of the measured distribution of the contrast agent to one or more points of a patient-specific anatomic model of the patient's vasculature generated using the received patient-specific images and/or the received anatomical characteristics thereby creating a patient-specific measured model indicative of the measured distribution;
• defining one or more physiological and boundary conditions of a blood flow to non-invasively simulate a distribution of the contrast agent through the patient-specific anatomic model of the patient's vasculature;
• simulating, using a processor, the distribution of the contrast agent through the one or more points of the patient-specific anatomic model using the defined one or more physiological and boundary conditions and the received patient-specific images and/or anatomical characteristics, thereby creating a patient-specific simulated model indicative of the simulated distribution;
• comparing, using a processor, the patient-specific measured model and the patient-specific simulated model to determine whether a similarity condition is satisfied;
• updating the defined physiological and boundary conditions and re-simulating the distribution of the contrast agent through the one or more points of the patient-specific anatomic model until the similarity condition is satisfied;
• calculating, using a processor, one or more blood flow characteristics of blood flow through the patient-specific anatomic model using the updated physiological and boundary conditions;
• generating and outputting an indicia of a severity of the plaque or stenotic lesion using the one or more blood flow characteristics of blood flow that were calculated using the updated physiological and boundary conditions;
• modifying the patient-specific anatomic model to recalculate the one or more blood flow characteristics or regenerate the indicia of the severity of the plaque or stenotic lesion, wherein the modification reflects a plan of treatment;
• and
• outputting one or more of:
• the simulated contrast distribution, the one or more calculated or recalculated blood flow characteristics, the generated or regenerated indicia of the severity of the plaque or stenotic lesion, the patient-specific anatomic model, or the modified patient-specific anatomic model to an electronic storage medium or display.

A non-transitory computer readable medium for performing a method for use on a computer system containing computer-executable programming instructions for predicting blood flow characteristics to assess the severity of plaque and/or stenotic lesions using contrast distribution predictions and measurements, the method comprising:

• receiving one or more patient-specific images and/or anatomical characteristics of at least a portion of a patient's vasculature and receiving images reflecting a measured distribution of a contrast agent delivered through the patient's vasculature;
• projecting one or more contrast values of the measured distribution of the contrast agent to one or more points of a patient-specific anatomic model of the patient's vasculature generated using the received patient-specific images and/or the received anatomical characteristics thereby creating a patient-specific measured model indicative of the measured distribution;
• defining one or more physiological and boundary conditions of a blood flow to non-invasively simulate a distribution of the contrast agent through the patient-specific anatomic model of the patient's vasculature;
• simulating, using a processor, the distribution of the contrast agent through the one or more points of the patient-specific anatomic model using the defined one or more physiological and boundary conditions and the received patient-specific images and/or anatomical characteristics, thereby creating a patient-specific simulated model indicative of the simulated distribution;
• comparing, using a processor, the patient-specific measured model and the patient-specific simulated model to determine whether a similarity condition is satisfied;
• updating the defined physiological and boundary conditions and re-simulating the distribution of the contrast agent through the one or more points of the patient-specific anatomic model until the similarity condition is satisfied;
• calculating, using a processor, one or more blood flow characteristics of blood flow through the patient-specific anatomic model using the updated physiological and boundary conditions;
• generating and outputting an indicia of a severity of the plaque or stenotic lesion using the one or more blood flow characteristics of blood flow that were calculated using the updated physiological and boundary conditions;
• modifying the patient-specific anatomic model to recalculate the one or more blood flow characteristics or regenerate the indicia of the severity of the plaque or stenotic lesion, wherein the modification reflects a plan of treatment;
• and
• outputting one or more of:
• the simulated contrast distribution, the one or more calculated or recalculated blood flow characteristics, the generated or regenerated indicia of the severity of the plaque or stenotic lesion, the patient-specific anatomic model, or the modified patient-specific anatomic model to an electronic storage medium or display.