Color-coded circulation for visualizing swirling flow with a 3-dimensional helical stent in the superficial femoral artery.

ABSTRACT

Color-coded circulation is a display method that generates dynamic color-coded images based on the time of arrival of contrast agents using parametric imaging to create video displays. By cyclically displaying information in color according to the arrival time of the contrast agent at each pixel, anatomical blood vessel paths and blood flow information can be simultaneously visualized. Three-dimensional (3D) helical stents increase wall shear stress due to swirling flow and prevent intimal hyperplasia. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on the visualization of this swirling flow using color-coded circulation. Here, we report the use of color-coded circulation to visualize the swirling flow following the placement of a 3D helical stent in the left superficial femoral artery. Color-coded circulation may facilitate the evaluation of contrast agent distribution and blood flow, which may otherwise go undetected with digital subtraction angiography.