Paper Published: Comparison of carotid plaque ulcer detection using contrast-enhanced and time-of-flight MRA techniques

Congratulations to Maryam Etesami from the lab of long-time BSL collaborator Bruce Wasserman, on the publication of "Comparison of carotid plaque ulcer detection using contrast-enhanced and time-of-flight MRA techniques."  Led by former (but then current) BSL postdoc Yiemeng Hoi, our main contribution here was to employ CFD simulations to help explain the observation that some carotid plaque ulcerations, notably ones pointing "downwards", may be more difficult to spot on time-of-flight MR angiography. As shown to the left, this has a lot to do with how blood flows -- or in this case, doesn't flow -- in such ulcers.  See animations here and here.