Angiographic Algorithm Facilitates Coronary Artery Assessment

Innovative software can calculate pressure drop in the coronary artery non-invasively, obviating the need for a pressure wire and hyperemic agent.

The Pie Medical Imaging (Maastricht, The Netherlands) Cardiovascular Angiographic Analysis Systems for vessel Fractional Flow Reserve (CAAS vFFR) software module is designed to reconstruct a three-dimensional (3D) model of the vasculature using just two angiograms taken during a standard catheterization procedure in order to assess pressure drop, which is expressed as a vFFR value. The 3D reconstruction also enables assessment of the severity and percentage of coronary artery stenosis.


For percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), within one easy workflow, CAAS vFFR offers a unique combination of functional and anatomical lesion assessment to support the interventional cardiologist in the clinical decision making process. A recent study by researchers at Erasmus Medical Center (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) shows that CAAS vFFR has a high linear correlation to invasively measured FFR and high diagnostic accuracy. The study was presented at EuroPCR 2018, held during May 2018 in Paris (France).

“We are very proud of this technological and clinical achievement, which is the result of 30-year commitment and experience of our company in the field of cardiovascular analysis software, and of the successful collaboration with the most prestigious medical and scientific research centers,” said René Guillaume, CEO of PMI.

FFR is an established technique used in interventional cardiology to the hemodynamic severity of atherosclerotic narrowing of the coronary arteries. It specifically identifies which coronary narrowing is responsible for the ischemic obstruction of blood flow to the myocardium, and helps determine which lesions warrant stenting, resulting in improved patient outcomes and reduced health care costs. The examination is usually done during a catheterization procedure with the support of costly pressure wire and hyperemic agent.

Related Links:
Pie Medical Imaging
Erasmus Medical Center