AUTOMATED METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR VASCULAR PLAQUE DETECTION AND ANALYSIS

摘要

Automated methods and systems for the detection and analysis of plaque in one or more regions of a patient's vasculature are described.

主权项

1. A fully automated method of classifying plaque components to determine whether a blood vessel contains plaque, the method comprising computationally processing at least a first processable data type and a second processable data type obtained using at least one non-invasive medical imaging system in order to analyze at least one cross section of a blood vessel of a patient's vasculature using a plurality of stored tissue classifier elements developed using statistical modeling to determine if the blood vessel comprises at least one tissue correlated with the presence of plaque, in which event the blood vessel is determined to contain plaque, wherein the fully automated method does not require human intervention and wherein at least one of the first and second processable data types is processable magnetic resonance data generated by an MRI instrument.