Ultrasonic Imaging of Carotid Atherosclerosis

Ultrasound is widely used in vascular imaging because of its ability to visualize, in real-time, the arterial lumen and wall in a noninvasive and harmless way. Monitoring of the arterial characteristics like the vessel lumen diameter, the intima media thickness of the near and far wall, and the morphology of atherosclerotic plaque are very important in order to assess the severity of atherosclerosis and evaluate its progression. Quantitative image analysis based on despeckle filtering, automated or semiautomated segmentation of the intima media or the atherosclerotic plaque, texture feature extraction and selection, and classification support computer-aided diagnosis, enabling early diagnosis, disease monitoring, and better treatment. Emerging techniques in vascular imaging include 3-D imaging, which attempts to provide the physician with a more realistic reconstruction and visualization of the 3-D structure under investigation, telemedicine and ultrasound video compression, and others. Furthermore, it is hoped that once genes contributing to atherosclerosis have been identified, combined with DNA-based tests, risk factors and quantitative ultrasound vascular imaging will contribute toward the implementation of the most effective strategy to minimize cardiovascular death. Keywords: ultrasound imaging; carotid artery; image analysis; texture analysis; artificial neural networks