Arterial stiffness is a key criterion for the analysis of several cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. This disease is one of the major causes of mortality in OECD countries. The analysis of the in vivo mechanical properties of arteries could improve the diagnosis of this type of pathology. The originality of this research is to contribute to the non-invasive identification of the in vivo mechanical properties of arteries from MRI images.A new identification method adapted to the spatial resolution of MRI has been developed. It is based on the minimisation of a cost function which measures the similarity between an experimental deformed image, and a numerical registered image. This registered image is calculated from the non-deformed experimental image using a displacements field obtained by finite elements analysis.This methodology has been applied to identify the elastic properties of the common carotid arteries of several healthy subjects and of patients with atherosclerosis. This work highlighted the stiffening of carotid arteries with age and the evolution of the stiffness of arteries throughout the cardiac cycle. An extensive parametric study has underlined the effect of the measurement of blood pressure and the influence of the mechanical properties of the surrounding tissue on the results of the identification.Promising perspectives exist for identifying the non-linear and heterogeneous mechanical properties of sclerosed arteries from MRI.
