A 3D fractal-based approach towards understanding changes in the infarcted heart microvasculature

Polyxeni Gkontra, Magdalena M. Żak, Kerri Ann Norton, Andrés Santos, Aleksander S. Popel, Alicia G. Arroyo

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The structure and function of the myocardial microvasculature affect cardiac performance. Quantitative assessment of microvascular changes is therefore crucial to understanding heart disease. This paper proposes the use of 3D fractal-based measures to obtain quantitative insight into the changes of the microvasculature in infarcted and non-infarcted (remote) areas, at different time-points, following myocardial infarction. We used thick slices (∼ 100μm) of pig heart tissue, stained for blood vessels and imaged with high resolution microscope. Firstly, the cardiac microvasculature was segmented using a novel 3D multi-scale multi-thresholding approach. We subsequently calculated: i) fractal dimension to assess the complexity of the microvasculature; ii) lacunarity to assess its spatial organization; and iii) succolarity to provide an estimation of the microcirculation flow. The measures were used for statistical change analysis and classification of the distinct vascular patterns in infarcted and remote areas, demonstrating the potential of the approach to extract quantitative knowledge about infarction-related alterations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMedical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention – MICCAI 2015 - 18th International Conference, Proceedings
EditorsAlejandro F. Frangi, Nassir Navab, Joachim Hornegger, William M. Wells
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages173-180
Number of pages8
ISBN (Print)9783319245737
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015
Event18th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 2015 - Munich, Germany
Duration: Oct 5 2015Oct 9 2015

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume9351
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Other

Other18th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 2015
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityMunich
Period10/5/1510/9/15

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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