X-ray computed tomography of the heart

Heart Infection Prognosis Analysis by Two-dimensional Spot Tracking Imaging

Cardiovascular death is one of the leading causes worldwide; an accurate identification followed by diagnosing the cardiovascular disease increases the chance of a better recovery. Among different demonstrated strategies, imaging on cardiac infections yields a visible result and highly reliable compared to other analytical methods. Two-dimensional spot tracking imaging is the emerging new technology that has been used to study the function and structure of the heart and test the deformation and movement of the myocardium. Particularly, it helps to capture the images of each segment in different directions of myocardial strain values, such as valves of radial strain, longitudinal strain, and circumferential strain. In this overview, we discussed the imaging of infections in the heart by using the two-dimensional spot tracking.

Association of remodeling with endothelial shear stress, plaque elasticity, and volume in coronary arteries: a pilot coronary computed tomography angiography study

We sought to noninvasively assess the relationship between arterial remodeling, endothelial shear stress (ESS), and wall stiffness in coronary arteries. We studied 28 coronary arteries from 22 patients undergoing coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). The ESS was calculated in 2-mm long segments using computational fluid dynamics. Local remodeling, plaque dimensions, and local wall stiffness were assessed in each segment. The ESS was lower in the regions of excessive expansive remodeling versus compensatory expansive versus inadequate expansive versus constrictive remodeling. Areas of decreased wall stiffness more frequently exhibited excessive expansive remodeling. Plaque volume was higher in segments showing excessive expansive and inadequate remodeling than segments with constrictive remodeling. In conclusion, CCTA enables the noninvasive assessment of coronary hemodynamics and arterial/plaque morphology. Excessive expansive remodeling is associated with high-risk plaque features, such as low ESS, decreased plaque stiffness, and increased plaque volume. This methodology may be useful in the risk assessment of individual coronary lesions.

Diagnostic imaging

Physical techniques have always had a key role in medicine, and the second half of the 20th century in particular saw a revolution in medical diagnostic techniques with the development of key imaging instruments: x-ray imaging and emission tomography (nuclear imaging and PET), MRI, and ultrasound. These techniques use the full width of the electromagnetic spectrum, from gamma rays to radio waves, and sound. In most cases, the development of a medical imaging device was opportunistic; many scientists in physics laboratories were experimenting with simple x-ray images within the first year of the discovery of such rays, the development of the cyclotron and later nuclear reactors created the opportunity for nuclear medicine, and one of the co-inventors of MRI was initially attempting to develop an alternative to x-ray diffraction for the analysis of crystal structures. What all these techniques have in common is the brilliant insight of a few pioneering physical scientists and engineers who had the tenacity to develop their inventions, followed by a series of technical innovations that enabled the full diagnostic potential of these instruments to be realised. In this report, we focus on the key part played by these scientists and engineers and the new imaging instruments and diagnostic procedures that they developed. By bringing the key developments and applications together we hope to show the true legacy of physics and engineering in diagnostic medicine.