Dr Sophie Gu

Research title: Biomechanical assessment of plaque vulnerability

Abstract:

Atherosclerotic plaque rupture is associated with heart attack and stroke, and previous clinical studies have identified high-risk plaque features which are associated with poor clinical outcomes. However, only 10% of plaques with high-risk features rupture, giving a low predictive yield. Plaque rupture also involves complex biomechanical interactions, rupture is caused when the plaque structural stress exceeds its strength. My current research work aims to:

1. identify the effect of drug treatments on plaque structural stress over time
2. evaluate plaque compositional/geometrical change parameters that determine changes in plaque stress with treatment
3. develop novel techniques using a large intravascular image library to study the biomechanics of plaque rupture