Regional vascular mechanical properties by 3D intravascular ultrasound with finite-element analysis

gional vascular mechanical properties by 3-D intravascular ultrasound with finite-element analysis. Am. J. Physiol. 272 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 41): H425H437, 1997.-A method employing intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and simulta-neous hemodynamic measurements, with resultant finite element analysis (FEA) of accurate three-dimensional IVUS reconstructions (3-DR), was developed to estimate the re-gional distribution of arterial elasticity. Human peripheral arterial specimens (iliac and femoral, 12 = 7) were collected postmortem and perfused at three static transmural pres-sures: 80, 120, and 160 mmHg. At each pressure, IVUS data were collected at 2.0-mm increments through a 20.0-mm segment and used to create an accurate 3-DR. Mechanical properties were determined over normotensive and hyperten-sive ranges. An FEA and optimization procedure was imple