Association between Aortic Morphology and Aortic Wall Properties

Motivation: To understand how closely aortic morphology is associated with aortic wall properties. Goal(s): (1) To correlate aortic shape using morphometrics to aortic stiffness indexed by pulse wave velocity (2) To correlate shape to regional aortic wall shear stressApproach: We use atlas-based shape analysis (morphometrics) to generate principal modes of shape variation, and then correlate modes of shape variation with pulse wave velocity to check their association. We also generate deep-learning based WSS using aortic shapes defined as point clouds forming the input to the neural network. Results: Aortic shapes were moderately associated with aortic stiffness as well as regional wall shear stress. Impact: Studying aortic morphological remodeling patterns may provide key insight into underlying disease processes that involve changes in aortic material wall properties and regional flow characteristics.