Aneurysm Surface Mapping to Homeomorphic Template for Rupture Risk Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods fail to accurately differentiate between intracranial aneurysms that are at high risk of rupture and those that are not, due to the lack of a standardized approach for comparing local surface characteristics across different individuals or the same individual over time, which hinders the estimation of rupture risk.
Innovation Solution
A method is developed to map the surface of an aneurysm onto a homeomorphic equivalent template, such as a unit disc, allowing for standardized parametric representation and analysis of local surface variables, enabling longitudinal and cross-sectional studies and improved visualization of aneurysm surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If global aspects of aneurysms such as dome height and maximum dimension are considered, then overall shape characteristics can be assessed, but local aneurysm characteristics cannot be quantitatively compared across different individuals or time points
Solution Approach 1:
The aneurysm surface is segmented into local regions and mapped to corresponding regions on a standardized template surface. This segmentation allows local characteristics to be independently analyzed and compared across different aneurysms and time points, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and device complexity by breaking down the complex global analysis into manageable local comparisons.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms aneurysm surface parameters into a standardized template coordinate system, changing the reference frame from individual aneurysm geometry to a common template. This parameter transformation enables quantitative comparison of local characteristics while maintaining analytical complexity at a manageable level through mathematical transformation rather than complex computational geometry.
2Reliability
If populations of ruptured and unruptured aneurysms are compared using existing metrics, then some overall risk assessment is possible, but reasonable certainty in rupture risk estimation cannot be achieved due to overlapping distributions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent shifts focus from global aneurysm characteristics to local surface characteristics by mapping to a standardized template. This allows identification of specific local regions with hazardous characteristics (such as high wall shear stress or specific curvature patterns) that are predictive of rupture, thereby improving reliability while preserving local variable information that would otherwise be lost in population-level statistics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a standardized template copy of the aneurysm surface that can be overlaid with computational fluid dynamics results and other data. This template copying approach allows systematic comparison of local variables across populations while maintaining the ability to distinguish individual characteristics, resolving the contradiction between reliability and information loss.
3Adaptability or versatility
If longitudinal and cross-sectional group studies are conducted on aneurysm characteristics, then population trends can be identified, but correspondence across aneurysms in different patients and time points cannot be established without standardized approach
Solution Approach 1:
The standardized template serves as a universal reference framework that can accommodate multiple aneurysms from different patients and time points. By mapping all aneurysms to this common template, the system achieves both adaptability for diverse datasets and precision for cross-comparison, resolving the contradiction between versatility and measurement precision through the multi-functional template approach.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for providing a tool for analyzing an abnormality affixed to a human organ. The method includes: obtaining an image of the organ with the abnormality; separating the image of the abnormality from the image of the organ with the abnormality; mapping a surface of the separated image of the abnormality onto a homeomorphic equivalent template, such template being topologically equivalent to the surface. In one embodiment, the mapping is a continuous, bijective, mapping having a continuous inverse mapping characteristic.