Max Rietberg

Quantified Photoacoustics for Carotid Artery Imaging

Annually, vascular diseases worldwide result in 17.8 million deaths, including ischemic stroke (23%) caused by unstable thrombogenic atherosclerotic vascular wall-lesions in the carotid artery. Decision of intervention for this condition is currently based on the degree of narrowing of the artery (stenosis), while plaque composition is a more reliable predictor of future stroke events. However, no single imaging modality can accurately identify vulnerable plaques. Recently, Photoacoustic Imaging has emerged as a promising modality due to its ability to combine high light contrast with ultrasonic imaging depth, making it suitable for our application. However, quantifying plaque composition is challenging as it requires knowledge of complex light propagation. To address this, we propose a new method that utilizes arterial blood as a marker for light distribution (fluence). We demonstrate the efficacy of this method in simulated carotid plaque models.

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Biography

Master student doing his final project on quantitative photoacoustic imaging at Biomedical Photonic Imaging (BMPI) group.

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