Automated three-dimensional detection of intracoronary stent struts in optical coherence tomography images

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a new intracoronary imaging tool that has been recently introduced and has become the method of choice to investigate new treatment methods for coronary artery disease. Due to the OCT´s high image resolution, hundreds of stent struts are visualized per patient and therefore a computer-assisted stent strut detection method could help to improve accuracy by reducing analysis time. An automated strut detection algorithm was developed based on an adapted K-nearest neighbor method. Validation in stent just implanted resulted in a success rate of 77%. In a stent follow-up group (n=14) 6 months after implantation with tissue growth a success rate of 50% was observed. Computer-assisted stent strut detection in OCT images is well feasible in patients directly after implantation; in case of considerable tissue growth it is more challenging.