title: Atheromatic™: symptomatic vs. asymptomatic classification of carotid ultrasound plaque using a combination of HOS, DWT & texture.
abstract: Quantitative characterization of carotid atherosclerosis and classification into either symptomatic or asymptomatic is crucial in terms of diagnosis and treatment planning for a range of cardiovascular diseases. This paper presents a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system (Atheromatic™, patented technology from Biomedical Technologies, Inc., CA, USA) which analyzes ultrasound images and classifies them into symptomatic and asymptomatic. The classification result is based on a combination of discrete wavelet transform, higher order spectra and textural features. In this study, we compare support vector machine (SVM) classifiers with different kernels. The classifier with a radial basis function (RBF) kernel achieved an accuracy of 91.7% as well as a sensitivity of 97%, and specificity of 80%. Encouraged by this result, we feel that these features can be used to identify the plaque tissue type. Therefore, we propose an integrated index, a unique number called symptomatic asymptomatic carotid index (SACI) to discriminate symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid ultrasound images. We hope this SACI can be used as an adjunct tool by the vascular surgeons for daily screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ann Polytechnic, Singapore 599489. aru@np.edu.sg.
authors.forename: U Rajendra
authors.initials: UR
authors.lastname: Acharya
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Faust
authors.forename: S Vinitha
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Sree
authors.forename: Ang Peng Chuan
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Alvin
authors.forename: Ganapathy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Krishnamurthi
authors.forename: José C R
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Seabra
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanches
authors.forename: Jasjit S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Suri
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D060388:Support Vector Machine; D014463:Ultrasonography