Figure 1
Acquisition and analysis pipeline for plaque lipid quantification. I) Time-of-Flight (TOF) bright-blood images were acquired to localize carotid bifurcation and stenosis. II) Multiple T2 map slices were acquired using our novel DANTE-MESE sequence that combines black-blood preparation based on non-selective DANTE pulse trains with Multiecho Spin-Echo. T2 maps were generated using nonlinear fitting; lumen and external carotid boundary were contoured semi-automatically; on T2 maps plaque calcification is shown in black, lipid in blue, normal vessel wall and fibrous tissue in light blue/green, and intraplaque haemorrhage in yellow/red. III) Plaque lipid area was automatically segmented on carotid T2 maps using leave-one-out cross-validation. IV) Plaque lipid area was manually segmented (blinded to T2 maps) on matching histological sections stained with H&E and Masson Trichrome, with Oil-red-O used to confirm lipid distribution.