AUTOMATIC CALCULATION OF THE REFLECTION SITE DISTANCE: IN THE INTERNAL CAROTID

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this study is to estimate, in vivo, the effective reflected site of the internal carotid wall (ICA) from the noninvasive determination of the local arterial wave speed (c). Materials: c was calculated in our previous work that uses the measurement of the instantaneous blood velocity at two sites by contrast magnetic resonance, the study having been conducted on 20 healthy subjects. The determination of the effective reflection distance (ERD) requires the measurement of the arrival time of the reflected wave. We have found that the major reflection site in the internal carotid artery was located in the proximity of the measurement site to the circle of Willis. To validate the method proposed in this work, we compared it to the results obtained by using the return time of the foot of the wave. The foot of the wave was determined from the tangent of the abrupt rise of the velocity signal wavefront. Results: A positive correlation between ERD obtained by using the arrival time of the reflected wave and those obtained by the return time of infection point ([Formula: see text]) was obtained. Conclusion: The technique described in this study offers a promising convenient and efficient method to estimate the effective reflection site noninvasively.