Method and apparatus for the automatic detection of atheromas in peripheral arteries

Abstract

A method for detecting the presence of an atheroma in an artery of interest using an ultrasound apparatus can include performing a first procedure on a first day. The first procedure can include detecting one or more blood vessels in a target region of a patient's body. The procedure can include identifying, from the one or more blood vessels, an artery of interest; automatically detecting spatial boundaries of constituent layers of an arterial wall of the artery of interest and calculating, via a processor of the ultrasound apparatus, a cross-sectional intima-media area (IMA) of the artery of interest at a first location along a length of the artery of interest. The procedure can include automatically calculating, via the processor of the ultrasound apparatus, IMA of the artery of interest at a second or more locations along the length of the artery of interest. In some embodiments, the procedure includes automatically calculating, via the processor and based at least in part on the calculations of the IMAs of the artery of interest at the first location and at the second or more locations, an intima-media volume (IMV), arterial volume, and luminal volume of the artery of interest over a predetermined length of the artery of interest.