An Ex Vivo Study of Outward Electrical Impedance Tomography (OEIT) for Intravascular Imaging

Objective : Atherosclerosis is a chronic immuno-inflammatory condition emerging in arteries and considered the cause of a myriad of cardiovascular diseases. Atherosclerotic lesion characterization through invasive imaging modalities is essential in disease evaluation and determining intervention str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering 2022-02, Vol.69 (2), p.734-745
Main Authors: Luo, Yuan, Huang, Dong, Huang, Zi-Yu, Hsiai, Tzung K., Tai, Yu-Chong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Animals
Aorta
Arteries
Arteriosclerosis
Atherosclerosis
Cardiovascular diseases
Conductivity
Electric Impedance
Electrical impedance
Electrical impedance tomography
Electrical properties
Electrodes
Flexible components
Imaging
Impedance
Inflammation
intravascular imaging
intravascular navigation
Lesions
Lipids
Medical imaging
Phantoms, Imaging
Solid modeling
Spectrometry
Swine
Tomography
Tomography - methods
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
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Summary:Objective : Atherosclerosis is a chronic immuno-inflammatory condition emerging in arteries and considered the cause of a myriad of cardiovascular diseases. Atherosclerotic lesion characterization through invasive imaging modalities is essential in disease evaluation and determining intervention strategy. Recently, electrical properties of the lesions have been utilized in assessing its vulnerability mainly owing to its capability to differentiate lipid content existing in the lesion, albeit with limited detection resolution. Electrical impedance tomography is the natural extension of conventional spectrometric measurement by incorporating larger number of interrogating electrodes and advanced algorithm to achieve imaging of target objects and thus provides significantly richer information. It is within this context that we develop Outward Electrical Impedance Tomography (OEIT), aimed at intravascular imaging for atherosclerotic lesion characterization. Methods : We utilized flexible electronics to establish the 32-electrode OEIT device with outward facing configuration suitable for imaging of vessels. We conducted comprehensive studies through simulation model and ex vivo setup to demonstrate the functionality of OEIT. Results : Quantitative characterization for OEIT regarding its proximity sensing and conductivity differentiation was achieved using well-controlled experimental conditions. Imaging capability for OEIT was further verified with phantom setup using porcine aorta to emulate in vivo environment. Conclusion : We have successfully demonstrated a novel tool for intravascular imaging, OEIT, with unique advantages for atherosclerosis detection. Significance : This study demonstrates for the first time a novel electrical tomography-based platform for intravascular imaging, and we believe it paves the way for further adaptation of OEIT for intravascular detection in more translational settings and offers great potential as an alternative imaging tool for medical diagnosis.
ISSN:0018-9294
1558-2531
DOI:10.1109/TBME.2021.3104300