SUMMARY
The aim of our work was to prepare part of the input data for a computational biomechanical
model of both the active and passive elements of the tunica media of an aortic aneurysm. We
analyzed tissue samples of the anterior wall of the normal, atherosclerotic and aneurysmatic subrenal
abdominal aorta. We assessed the proportions of smooth muscle cells, elastin and collagen in
histological sections of these samples and studied the morphological characteristics of the elastin
network in the tunica media. Selected photomicrographs were studied, representing relatively well
preserved areas without artifacts, ruptures, corrupted integrity of the tunica media or total
elastinolysis. A new method was introduced for the assessment of structures formed by elastin
membranes and fibres, using the fast Fourier transform (FFT) technique. The image was transformed
into reciprocal (Fourier) space and the method made use of the fact that the FFT was very
sensitive to the orientation distribution of thresholded elastin morphology. The results of this
comparative study, obtained from selected samples from 24 patients, revealed that the percentage
values of the constituents of the arterial wall can not distinguish between the preserved segments of
normal, atherosclerotic or aneurysmatic aorta. The results of the Fourier analysis proved that the
FFT provided an efficient method for evaluating cross sections of the elastin membranes and
fibres, reflecting their anisotropy. The shape of the power spectrum of elastin was a simple pattern,
whose description was quantified by the shape of its polar coordinates histogram. We discuss the
methodological difficulties and biomechanical implications of our work as well compare it to other
methods of elastin analysis.
KEY WORDS
abdominal aortic aneurysm; elastin; image processing; biomechanics
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