Ultrasonic energy-based technique for characterizing atherosclerosis.
For the characterization of atherosclerotic disease in human aortic specimens two indices of ultrasonic signal loss have been developed. They are based on an energy evaluation of broadband pulsed ultrasound and have been introduced in order to minimize phase cancellation artifacts caused by phase sensitive transducers. Both indices are derived from the transfer function H(f) of the specimen, they are: the slope of ln H(f) for the evaluation of signal loss due to absorption and scattering inside the specimen thickness, and s ln H(f) df, which reflects changes in both the internal and the intimal surface properties of the aorta. The results indicate that methods based on the evaluation of signal loss inside the aortic thickness are insensitive to surface irregularities and to the angle of the incident ultrasound. The complete progression of atherosclerosis may be followed by indices reflecting changes in both the thickness and the surface acoustic properties of the specimen.
D001011:Aorta / Q000473:pathology; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D004735:Energy Transfer; D006801:Humans; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*