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Reconstruction of coronary circulation networks: A review of methods
Author(s) -
Vigneshwaran Vibujithan,
Sands Gregory B.,
LeGrice Ian J.,
Smaill Bruce H.,
Smith Nicolas P.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
microcirculation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.793
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1549-8719
pISSN - 1073-9688
DOI - 10.1111/micc.12542
Subject(s) - microcirculation , context (archaeology) , coronary arteries , coronary circulation , computer science , image processing , modalities , medicine , artificial intelligence , computer vision , radiology , cardiology , image (mathematics) , blood flow , artery , geology , paleontology , social science , sociology
Building anatomically accurate models of the coronary vascular system enables potentially deeper understandings of coronary circulation. To achieve this, (a) images at different levels of vascular network—arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and veins—need to be obtained through suitable imaging modalities; and (b) from images, morphological and topological information needs to be extracted using image processing techniques. While there are several modalities that enable the imaging of large vessels, microcirculation imaging—capturing vessels having diameter lesser than 100 μm—has to date been typically confined to small regions of the heart. This spatially limited microcirculatory information has often been used within cardiac models, with the potentially erroneous assumption that it is representative of the whole organ. However, with the recent advancements in imaging and image processing, it is rapidly becoming feasible to acquire, process, and quantify microcirculation data at the scale of whole organ. In this review, we summarize the progress toward this goal followed through a presentation of the current state‐of‐the‐art imaging and image processing techniques in the context of coronary microcirculation extraction, prominently but not exclusively, from small animals.