Automated system for imageless evaluation of arterial compliance

Abstract

Evaluation of arterial compliance is very significant in early detection of coronary heart disease. Here we present an imageless portable system for automated estimation of local arterial compliance, designed to be operated by a general medical practitioner with no prior knowledge of ultrasonography. An algorithm for automatic detection and tracking of the arterial wall locations has been developed to minimize the operator expertise required for measurement. The performance of the automated algorithm was thoroughly characterized using a simulation platform developed for the purpose. Measurements performed on a few human volunteers by untrained personnel clearly illustrated the practical utility of the automatic algorithm during in-vivo tests. The proposed system could be used for developing an inexpensive cardiovascular screening device for large scale deployment in primary health care centers.

Image-free evaluation of carotid artery stiffness using ARTSENS: A repeatability study

“…The system uses a single element ultrasound transducer to investigate the carotid artery and employs intelligent algorithms for signal processing, artery wall detection and motion tracking to automatically provide the stiffness measurement, with no operator input [4] [6]. To evaluate stiffness, the operator places a 5 MHz single element ultrasound probe on the neck of the subject over the carotid artery as shown in Figure 2.…”

“…The systolic and diastolic pressure values (Ps and Pd) measured at the brachial artery are used for computing the various stiffness measures listed in Table 1. A detailed description of the hardware modules and explanation of the signal processing and computing modules used in ARTSENS may be found in [4] and [6].…”

ARTSENS - An image-free system for noninvasive evaluation of arterial compliance

“…A detailed explanation of the various steps in the automated measurement algorithm may be found elsewhere [6], [7]. The artery detection algorithm has been validated to be capable of detecting artery locations with sensitivity more than 90 % even for SNR as low as 5 dB in the normal range of expected wall motion frequencies between 0.5 -4 Hz [7].…”

“…The performance of the wall-detection, tracking and automated measurement algorithms have already been extensively characterized by simulation studies, and experiments conducted using artery phantoms [6], [7]. To evaluate the practical feasibility of performing image-free evaluation of arterial compliance in-vivo, the prototype ARTSENS device was utilized to perform measurements on more than 100 healthy volunteers.…”

Technical Validation of ARTSENS–An Image Free Device for Evaluation of Vascular Stiffness

“…To address this need, we have developed ARTSENS (ARTerial Stiffness Evaluation for Non-invasive Screening), a device that overcomes the limitations of present systems effectively, while performing the measurements with accuracy and precision according to clinically accepted standards [14] , [15] . We had previously presented the concept of an image-free system for measurement of arterial stiffness [17] – [21] and also demonstrated the accuracy and repeatability of measurements in controlled laboratory settings [22] , [23] .…”