Prof.Jacques Ohayon
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
1 Laboratory TIMC-DyCTiM, University Joseph-Fourier, CNRS UMR 5525, In3S, Grenoble, France
2 Engineering School Polytech Annecy-Chambיry, University of Savoie Mont-Blanc, Chambיry, France
Email: Jacques.Ohayon@imag.fr
Website: http://membres-timc.imag.fr/Jacques.Ohayon/
Biomechanics of Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque Rupture:
Progress, Challenges and New Directions
The aims of Prof. Ohayon’s research on Cardiovascular Biomechanics are to understand the
evolution of atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability and to increase knowledge of the plaque
growth process through the combined use of mechanical modeling based on the nonlinear
continuum mechanics theory, finite element method, together with clinical, pathologhical and
biological investigations. On 2009, his group demonstrating that it was possible to reconstruct
fully automatically the elasticity map of an atherosclerotic plaque based on an in vivo
intravascular ultrasound sequence. On 2011, Dr Ohayon underlined, for the first time, the
importance of local arterial wall stiffness in the development of atherosclerosis and showed that
arterial wall-strain stiffening might, in addition to low endothelial shear stress, be a precondition
for the development of atherosclerosis. Today, he coordinates an interdisciplinary international
scientific consortium (Canada-Spain-France-Japan-Switzerland-USA) on the Biomechanics of
Atherosclerosis Plaque that he initiated in 2007 and with which he already published more than
40 collaborative studies.
Abstract of his presentation: The leading cause of major morbidity and mortality in most
countries around the world is atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, most commonly caused by
the rupture of a vulnerable plaque (VP). The challenge for the new generation of in vivo clinical
imaging methods is that prediction of the VP rupture requires not only an accurate description
of plaque morphology, but also a precise knowledge of mechanical properties of plaque
constituents. Indeed, such knowledge will likely allow a precise evaluation of the thin-cap fibroatheroma
peak stress amplitude, which is a reliable predictor of VP rupture. The clinical success
of a surgical intervention depends on knowledge of whether a lesion is at risk for rupture and
can be responsible for the development of neurological or cardiovascular events, respectively.
The medical history and paraclinical tests are sometimes insufficient to resolve this uncertainty.
Hence, it is essential to develop, test and validate novel invasive and noninvasive clinical
diagnostic methods based on continuum mechanics theory combining strain and elasticity
reconstruction techniques for a better in vivo evaluation of the risk of vulnerable carotid and
coronary plaque ruptures. The proposed imaging method appears promising for the evaluation
of VP rupture. Furthermore, the performance for the stabilization of VP using new treatment
strategies could be investigated by using such imaging technique.
ההרצאה תתקיים ביום שלישי 24.11.15.
נפגש ב 13:45 לשיחה וכיבוד, ההרצאה תחל בשעה 14:00
בחדר 206, בניין כתות, אוניברסיטת תל אביב
