Coronary artery bifurcation geometry measurement systems and methods
AssigneeBoard of Trustees of the University of Arkansas
InventorsMorten JENSEN, Kaitlyn ELMER, Barry URETSKY, Adib CHAUS
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Patient-specific angioplasty balloons based on novel geometric features of vessel bifurcation anatomy are extracted from medical images of the patient. The arterial bifurcation geometry extraction methods aid physicians and researchers with sizing for patient-specific features of vessel bifurcations. The calculated anatomic measurements of the coronary artery bifurcation include two measurements useful for designing patient-specific balloons: carina diameter and the tapering length.
Claims13
A method for generating anatomic measurements of a coronary artery bifurcation from medical image data, comprising:
- (a) accessing medical image data with a computer system, wherein the medical image data depict a coronary artery bifurcation in a patient;
- (b) processing the medical image data with the computer system to estimate a centerline of a main vessel of the coronary artery bifurcation;
- (c) determining in the medical image data, by the computer system, a carina point indicating a split between a main branch and a side branch of the coronary artery bifurcation;
- (d) calculating a carina diameter in the medical image data using the main vessel center line and the carina point;
- (e) determining in the medical image data, by the computer system, a side branch ostium point indicating a split between the main vessel and the side branch of the coronary artery bifurcation;
- (f) calculating a tapering length in the medical image data using the carina diameter and the side branch ostium point;
- (g) storing the carina diameter and the tapering length as patient-specific anatomic measurement data of the coronary artery bifurcation.
A method for designing a mold for use in manufacturing an angioplasty balloon, comprising:
- (a) accessing medical image data of a patient using a computer system, wherein the medical image data depict a coronary artery bifurcation in a patient;
- (b) processing the medical image data with the computer system to
- calculate a carina diameter in the medical image data by the computer system, wherein the carina diameter spans the coronary artery bifurcation from a first vessel wall to an opposed vessel wall passing through a carina point of the coronary artery bifurcation and perpendicular to a centerline of a main vessel of the coronary artery bifurcation;
- calculate a tapering length in the medical image data by the computer system, wherein the tapering length is a distance between the carina diameter line and a parallel line in the medical image data intersecting a side branch ostium point;
- (c) generating balloon mold design data using the computer system, wherein the balloon model design data comprise instructions to manufacture a balloon mold including a conical portion having a large end, a small end, and a tapered portion extending between the large and the small end;
- (d) adjusting the balloon mold design data with the computer system by sizing the large end of the conical portion according to the carina diameter and sizing a distance between the large end and the small end of the conical portion based on the tapering length.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.