Coronary heart disease is caused by plaque built up inside the coronary arteries obstructing oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. Normally, this disease is diagnosed by inserting a catheter in the coronary artery to inject contrast agent and to measure the loss of blood pressure due to plaque accumulation.

30 000 risky and costly diagnosis procedures are performed annually in Norway, all of them at university hospitals.

This project aims to develop a new diagnosis technique that can be performed at every local hospital without the use of catheter.

Combining CT, 3D ultrasound and mathematical simulations of the blood flow in the coronary arteries would give a color map of the local variations in blood pressure. This technique would provide a good basis for selecting patients in need of treatment.