Three-Dimensional Carotid Plaque Progression Simulation Using Meshless Generalized Finite Difference Method Based on Multi-Year MRI Patient-Tracking Data

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is becoming the number one cause of death worldwide. Atherosclerotic plaque rupture and progression are closely related to most severe cardiovascular syndromes such as heart attack and stroke. Mechanisms governing plaque rupture and progression are not well understood. A computational procedure based on three-dimensional meshless generalized finite difference (MGFD) method and serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data was introduced to quantify patient-specific carotid atherosclerotic plaque growth functions and simulate plaque progression. Participating patients were scanned three times (T1, T2, and T3, at intervals of about 18 months) to obtain plaque progression data. Vessel wall thickness (WT) changes were used as the measure for plaque progression. Since there was insufficient data with the current technology to quantify individual plaque component growth, the whole plaque was assumed to be uniform, homogeneous, isotropic, linear, and nearly incompressible. The linear elastic model was used. The 3D plaque model was discretized and solved using a meshless generalized finite difference (GFD) method. Four growth functions with different combinations of wall thickness, stress, and neighboring point terms were introduced to predict future plaqu