Abstract
ABSTRACT Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the world. Ultrasound evaluation of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) is a fast and non-invasive approach widely used to estimate cardiovascular risk. However, evaluation of the faint carotid intima sublayer thickness (cIT) is reported to be a better marker of atherosclerosis and adverse cardiovascular risk than cIMT. To date, evaluation of cIT is achieved by manual measures of carotid wall images usually derived from transducers set at high frequency (22 MHz-25 MHz). Based on mathematical morphology techniques, we developed a fully automated method for measuring the thickness of cIT. The numbers generated by the automatic method were compared to the average values generated by manual measurements performed by two specialists evaluating 120 high-resolution carotid images from 80 individuals. Carotid images were obtained with an ultrasound transducer set at 10 MHz, which is easily available in clinical practice. The cIT measurements obtained by the automatic and manual methods showed a particularly good correlation (r = 0.82). This result is quite significant, considering the complexity of extracting such a faint measure in ultrasound images that may be easily obtained in routine clinical settings.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
