Stroke is a major threat to human health, with approximately 795,000 strokes occurring each year in the U.S [1]. Stroke may be caused by brain artery stenosis, a totally clogged artery, or a rupture of a brain artery aneurysm. The minimum invasive way to treat an aneurysm is to deploy coils inside the aneurysm to stop blood flow into the aneurysm. Artery stenoses can be treated by balloon angioplasty and/or self-expanding stent deployment.

To perform these treatments, high resolution detectors are necessary to visualize small vessels and endovascular devices such as stents with strut size of 100 μm or smaller. Current commercial available flat-panel detectors (FPD) with pixel size of 194 μm or larger do not meet the high resolution needs. In this work, we introduce high resolution detectors with pixel size approximately 30 μm.

There are three parts to this dissertation. The first part focuses on the development of user interface for custom-made High-Resolution detectors. Graphical user interfaces (GUI) for three high resolution detector systems have been developed: Solid-State X-ray Image Intensifier (SSXII) detector array, SSXII detector single module, and Micro-Angiographic Fluoroscope (MAF) detector.

The second part presented an angiographic suite. It includes an MAF detector, a GUI, and a detector changer integrated into a commercial C-arm angiographic unit. Using the angiographic suite, over 10 rabbit aneurysm creation and treatment experiments were conducted showing the benefit of using high-resolution detector during endovascular procedures.

The third part of the dissertation focuses on the further evaluation and application of these high-resolution detector systems: the studies of the deployment mechanics of two commercially available nitinol stents, the studies of the effects of geometric unsharpness on the spatial resolution of reconstructed images of a micro-computed tomography (μCT) system, and the diagnosing and treatment of human aneurysm and artery stenosis. In human cases, the high-resolution detector helped neurosurgeons make better decisions and increase their confidence and success in performing neurovascular interventions.

It is envisioned that further extensive use of high resolution detectors, such as those detectors whose development is described in the dissertation, will benefit both patients and neurosurgeons.