Artery Research

Volume 3, Issue 4, December 2009, Pages 164 - 164

P6.01 ULTRASOUND EVALUATION OF LOCAL ARTERIAL STIFFNESS: FEASIBILITY STUDY IN AN ANIMAL MODEL OF ADVANCED ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Authors
E. Bianchini1, C. Giannarelli2, F. Faita1, G. Cimmino2, V. Gemignani1, J.J. Badimon2
1Institute of Clinical Physiology - CNR, Pisa, Italy
2Atherothrombosis Research Unit, Cardiovascular Institute - Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA
Available Online 3 December 2009.
DOI
10.1016/j.artres.2009.10.068How to use a DOI?
Abstract

Atherosclerosis is a pathological process affecting arterial elasticity. The rabbit is one of the most widely used animal models for atherosclerosis research. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a method for the automatic assessment of local vascular stiffness in rabbits.

An off-line algorithm for the evaluation of arterial diameter (D) and distension (ΔD) from ultrasound image sequences was developed in Matlab and tested in 3 atherosclerotic and 2 control rabbits. Longitudinal scans of the aortic and carotid arteries of the rabbits were recorded in DICOM format. High frame-rate (330Hz) image sequences (3 seconds) were acquired to track the rapid movement of the vessel (heart rate ∼ 240bpm) using iE33 Philips ultrasound system. The probe was hold by a clamp. The measurement variability was assessed by performing two scans for each subject.

The high frame-rate provided a temporal resolution of 3 msec allowing the instantaneous tracking of the diameter curve for both carotid and aorta. As regards the variability, the coefficients of variation were: 3%±2% (D) and 7%±3% (ΔD) for the aorta (mean D=3.2mm) and 3%±2% (D) and 5%±4% (ΔD) for the carotid (mean D=1.99mm).

Our data demonstrate that the implemented ultrasound image processing algorithm is able to non-invasively assess the vascular instantaneous diameter both in control and atherosclerotic rabbits. The method, together with intra-central ear artery blood pressure measurement, could evaluate the effects of new therapeutic interventions on vascular stiffness in those pathological conditions characterized by arterial dysfunction, such as atherosclerosis.

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Journal
Artery Research
Volume-Issue
3 - 4
Pages
164 - 164
Publication Date
2009/12/03
ISSN (Online)
1876-4401
ISSN (Print)
1872-9312
DOI
10.1016/j.artres.2009.10.068How to use a DOI?
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license.

Cite this article

TY  - JOUR
AU  - E. Bianchini
AU  - C. Giannarelli
AU  - F. Faita
AU  - G. Cimmino
AU  - V. Gemignani
AU  - J.J. Badimon
PY  - 2009
DA  - 2009/12/03
TI  - P6.01 ULTRASOUND EVALUATION OF LOCAL ARTERIAL STIFFNESS: FEASIBILITY STUDY IN AN ANIMAL MODEL OF ADVANCED ATHEROSCLEROSIS
JO  - Artery Research
SP  - 164
EP  - 164
VL  - 3
IS  - 4
SN  - 1876-4401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artres.2009.10.068
DO  - 10.1016/j.artres.2009.10.068
ID  - Bianchini2009
ER  -