Improved imaging of the carotid artery in the short-axis plane by a mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe.
To image the intima-media complex of the carotid artery in a wider region, a method for measuring cross-sectional images in the arterial short-axis plane is presented. Using the proposed mechanical scanning system for an ultrasonic probe, cross-sectional images of a silicon rubber tube and a human carotid artery are measured in basic experiments and in in vivo experiments, respectively. These experiments show that this method successfully images the short-axis cross sections. Using the method proposed in this article, B-mode images in the short-axis plane can be accurately measured in a wider region than is possible with conventional methods.
Department of Electronic Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-05 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8579, Japan. hkanai@ecei.tohoku.ac.jp.
Kazuki
K
Kudo
Department of Electronic Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-05 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8579, Japan.
Hideyuki
H
Hasegawa
Department of Electronic Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-05 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8579, Japan.
Hiroshi
H
Kanai
B-mode image of artery; intima–media thickness; short-axis plane; ultrasound