Coronary Plaque characterization using Coronary CT Angiography

Coronary artery disease is caused by a build-up of plaque in the heart vessel. If the plaque causes a large amount of blockage, this can restrict the flow of blood to the heart and cause a heart attack. However, certain types of plaque are fragile (vulnerable) and can transform from a non-obstructive to obstructive blockage in a relatively short period of time. It is important to identify patients with vulnerable plaque as they are at higher risk at sudden death from a heart attack. The heart vessels can be reliably seen using computed tomography or CT scans however, the detection of vulnerable plaque remains problematic. The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate methods that could be used to improve detection of vulnerable plaque using CT scans of the heart. This work will be performed on a specific advanced CT scan unit; the knowledge gained from this research could be adapted towards improvement of CT scans in different CT scan units from the same manufacturer.

Faculty Supervisor:

Narinder Paul

Student:

Partner:

Toshiba Canada

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Toronto

Program: