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Background:Ultrasound measurement of carotid Intima-Media Thickness (IMT) is a suitable method to evaluate subclinical arteriosclerosis.Objectives:The current study aimed to present a new computerized algorithm to detect instantaneous changes of the IMT to Common Carotid Artery (CCA) of IMT in sequential ultrasound images by applying the maximum gradient and the dynamic programming.Patients and Methods:In a cross-sectional design, an examination was performed on thirty healthy human subjects with the mean age of 44 ± 6 years from April 2013 to June 2013 in Beheshti Hospital, Kashan, Iran. In all individuals, the instantaneous changes of the far wall IMT on the CCA were extracted. Local measurements of vessel intensity, intensity gradient, and boundary continuity were extracted for all of the sequential ultrasonic 2D-frames throughout three cardiac cycles. The Pearson correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman analysis were performed to assess the relationship and agreement between IMT measured by the proposed and conventional manual methods.Results:There was no significant difference between the proposed and manual methods with paired t-test analysis (in systole: 0.57 ± 0.10 vs. 0.56 ± 0.10 mm; P = 0.188 and in diastole: 0.63 ± 0.16 vs. 0.62 ± 0.10 mm; P = 0.122 for the manual and proposed methods, respectively). The Pearson correlation coefficients were r = 0.94 and r = 0.93 for IMTs and IMTd, respectively (both P < 0.001). Limit of agreements were narrow and considerable agreement was found between the two methods.Conclusions:The present study demonstrated that the proposed computerized analyzing method can provide accurate measurements of the IMT of the CCA in sequential 2D ultrasonic images.

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Background:Common carotid artery (CCA) ultrasound with measurement of intima-media thickness (IMT) is a safe and noninvasive technique for assessing subclinical atherosclerosis and determining cardiovascular risks. Moreover, the pattern of wall thickening in the brachial artery (BA) is rather diffuse compared to the carotid artery and may be a more sensitive indicator of long-term systemic exposure to risk factors. Therefore noninvasive evaluation of mechanical parameters changes of both arteries has gained the attention of researchers.Objectives:The aim of this study was to compare different edge detection techniques with speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion (SRAD) de-noising filter in ultrasound images of both arteries.Patients and Methods:In a cross-sectional design, an examination was performed on ten men with mean age of 40 ± 5 years from September 2012 to March 2013 through random sampling. An ultrasonic examination of the left CCA and BA was performed. The program was designed in the MATLAB software to extract consecutive images in JPEG format from the AVI. Another program was designed in the MATLAB software to apply regions of interest (ROI) on the IMT of the posterior wall of common carotid and brachial arteries. Next, different edge detections and SRAD filter were applied to the ROI, separately. Finally, the program measured mean-squared error (MSE) and peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR).Results:The lowest values of MSE and highest values of PSNR were achieved by Canny edge detection with de-noising SRAD filter for IMT of left CCA and BA in 90 frames.Conclusions:Based on the result, by measuring the MSE and PSNR, this study showed Canny edge detection with SRAD filter is better than other edge detections in terms of speckle suppression and details preservation in CCA and BA ultrasound images.

The present study assessed the use of filters for noise reduction in ultrasound images of the common carotid artery (CCA) and brachial artery using intima–media thickness, which is a safe and non‐invasive technique for determining subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk. A new combined speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion (SRAD) filter for noise reduction is then proposed. Ultrasonic examination of both arteries was performed on 30 men (aged 40 ± 5 years). The programme was designed using MATLAB software to extract consecutive images in bit map format from the audio video interleaves. An additional programme was designed in MATLAB to apply the region of interest (ROI) to the thickness of the intima–media of the posterior walls of the arteries. Block‐matching techniques were used to estimate arterial motion from ultrasound images of the B‐mode CCA and brachial artery. Different noise reduction filters and Canny edge detection were carried out separately in the ROI. The programme measured mean square error (MSE) and peak signal‐to‐noise ratio (PSNR). The results demonstrated that the new combined SRAD filter with Canny edge detection identified the lowest value for MSE and the highest value for PSNR in 90 consecutive frames (∼3 cardiac cycles). The results indicate that MSE and PSNR were better detected by the proposed combined SRAD filter with Canny edge detection than did several commonly used filters with Canny detection for speckle suppression and preservation detail in carotid and brachial arteries ultrasound images.

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Many factors play a role in the risk of dementia, including the environment. Widespread and significant worldwide exposure to noise, the severity of related health consequences, and the limited tools available to the public to protect themselves strongly support the WHO's argument that 'noise pollution is not only an environmental nuisance but also a threat to public health'. Exposures to noise from industrial activities, airport noise, or occupational noise are very important. One of the limitations of such studies is the lack of information about lifestyle habits that can play a key role in a person's risk of dementia. This review suggests that people with more exposure to ambient noise are at higher risk of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and dementia than other people and we examined how chronic noise exposure causes neuropathology such as AD and how it relates to ApoE4 activation. Further studies are essential to expanding global knowledge about the harmful health effects and costs of health care due to noise pollution.