Systems and methods for risk assessment and treatment planning of arterio-venous malformation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11944387-B2
Application number	US-202318185445-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 17, 2023
Priority date	Apr 21, 2015
Publication date	Apr 2, 2024
Grant date	Apr 2, 2024

Abstract

A computer implemented method for assessing an arterio-venous malformation (AVM) may include, for example, receiving a patient-specific model of a portion of an anatomy of a patient; using a computer processor to analyze the patient-specific model for identifying one or more blood vessels associated with the AVM, in the patient-specific model; and estimating a risk of an undesirable outcome caused by the AVM, by performing computer simulations of blood flow through the one or more blood vessels associated with the AVM in the patient-specific model.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer implemented method for assessing an arterio-venous malformation (AVM), the method comprising:
receiving image data of at least a portion of a vascular system of a patient, including one or more blood vessels associated with the AVM;
generating a patient-specific three-dimensional anatomic model of the portion of the vascular system of the patient, using the received image data;
identifying, using a computer processor, one or more larger blood vessels among the one or more blood vessels associated with the AVM; and
generating a treatment recommendation for treating the AVM, based on the identified one or more larger blood vessels, wherein generating the treatment recommendation includes predicting an increase or decrease in (a) a radius of the AVM or (b) a radius of the one or more blood vessels associated with the AVM.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
using a stress equilibrium equation, calculating a vessel wall property of one or more vessel walls of the one or more blood vessels; and
evaluating one or more treatments of the AVM based on the calculated vessel wall properties and based on the identified one or more larger blood vessels.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein evaluating the one or more treatments includes:
determining an effect on blood flow caused by the one or more treatments; and
assessing a change in a risk of an undesirable outcome based on the determined effect.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the vessel wall property includes a vessel wall thickness, vessel wall structure, or vessel wall composition.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the treatment recommendation for treating the AVM includes assessing a proximity of the identified one or more larger blood vessels relative to an organ or another blood vessel.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the treatment recommendation includes weighing a list of factors comprising one or more of:
anatomical risk factors, including Spetzler-Martin grade;
functional risk factors;
a difference in a venous pressure post- and pre-treatment;
a difference in tissue perfusion before and after treatment; or
a prediction of a remodeled blood vessel radius and thickness.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising modeling a stiffness of tissues surrounding the AVM.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating a displacement of the AVM and one or more forces exerted on tissues surrounding the AVM.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing growth or remodeling simulations to predict a hemostatic vessel state of the one or more blood vessels.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising quantifying a risk of undesirable outcomes for a situation in which the AVM is not treated.

11. A system for assessing an arterio-venous malformation (AVM), the system comprising:
at least one data storage device storing instructions for assessing the AVM; and
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform a method comprising:
receiving image data of at least a portion of a vascular system of a patient, including one or more blood vessels associated with the AVM;
generating a patient-specific three-dimensional anatomic model of the portion of the vascular system of the patient, using the received image data;
identifying, using a computer processor, one or more larger blood vessels among the one or more blood vessels associated with the AVM; and

generating a treatment recommendation for treating the AVM, based on the identified one or more larger blood vessels, wherein generating the treatment recommendation includes predicting an increase or decrease in (a) a radius of the AVM or (b) a radius of the one or more blood vessels associated with the AVM.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
using a stress equilibrium equation, calculating a vessel wall property of one or more vessel walls of the one or more blood vessels; and
evaluating one or more treatments of the AVM based on the calculated vessel wall properties and based on the identified one or more larger blood vessels.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein evaluating the one or more treatments includes:
determining an effect on blood flow caused by the one or more treatments; and
assessing a change in a risk of an undesirable outcome based on the determined effect.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein generating the treatment recommendation includes weighing a list of factors comprising one or more of:
anatomical risk factors, including Spetzler-Martin grade;
functional risk factors;
a difference in a venous pressure post- and pre-treatment;
a difference in tissue perfusion before and after treatment; or
a prediction of a remodeled blood vessel radius and thickness.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises modeling a stiffness of tissues surrounding the AVM.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises: calculating a displacement of the AVM and one or more forces exerted on tissues surrounding the AVM.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-executable programming instructions for performing a method of non-invasively assessing a patient, the method comprising:
receiving image data of at least a portion of a vascular system of the patient, including one or more blood vessels associated with an arterio-venous malformation (AVM);
generating a patient-specific three-dimensional anatomic model of the portion of the vascular system of the patient, using the received image data;
identifying, using a computer processor, one or more larger blood vessels among the one or more blood vessels associated with the AVM; and
generating a treatment recommendation for treating the AVM, based on the identified one or more larger blood vessels, wherein generating the treatment recommendation includes predicting an increase or decrease in (a) a radius of the AVM or (b) a radius of the one or more blood vessels associated with the AVM.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises:
using a stress equilibrium equation, calculating a vessel wall property of one or more vessel walls of the one or more blood vessels; and
evaluating one or more treatments of the AVM based on the calculated vessel wall properties and based on the identified one or more larger blood vessels.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein evaluating the one or more treatments includes:
determining an effect on blood flow caused by the one or more treatments; and
assessing a change in a risk of an undesirable outcome based on the determined effect.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein generating the treatment recommendation includes weighing a list of factors comprising one or more of:
anatomical risk factors, including Spetzler-Martin grade;
functional risk factors;
a difference in a venous pressure post- and pre-treatment;
a difference in tissue perfusion before and after treatment; or
a prediction of a remodeled blood vessel radius and thickness.

Assignees

• Heartflow Inc

Inventors

• Sankaran Sethuraman
• Zarins Christopher
• Grady Leo

Classifications

• G06T12/00

  Tomographic reconstruction from projections · CPC title

• A61B34/10 Primary

  Computer-aided planning, simulation or modelling of surgical operations · CPC title

• A61B5/02007 Primary

  Evaluating blood vessel condition, e.g. elasticity, compliance · CPC title

• A61B5/4848

  Monitoring or testing the effects of treatment, e.g. of medication · CPC title

• A61B5/7275

  Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor · CPC title