Split-screen display system and standardized methods for ultrasound image acquisition and processing for improved measurements of vascular structures

Abstract

A standardized acquisition methodology assists operators to accurately replicate high resolution B-mode ultrasound images obtained over several spaced-apart examinations. The methodology utilizes a split-screen display in which the arterial ultrasound image from an earlier examination is displayed on one side of the screen while a real-time 'live' ultrasound image from a current examination is displayed next to the earlier image on the opposite side of the screen. A computerized echo edge recognition and tracking methodology automatically identifies ultrasound echo boundaries of the intima-media complex and automatically extracts IMT and arterial dimension measurements, without introducing human measurement error. Measurement accuracy is enhanced by use of sub-pixel resolution for echo edge boundary definition. Utilizing this methodology, measurement of vascular dimensions, such as carotid arterial IMT and diameter, the coefficient of variation is substantially reduced to values approximating from about 1.0% to about 1.25%. Dynamic material properties of arterial structures are measured in a standardized region in accordance with a standardized methodology in order to promote measurement repeatability.