A new approach to automatic continuous artery diameter measurement

Abstract

In this paper, we present an application which aid an evaluation of the arterial diameter changes, based on ultrasound videos. The designed, implemented and verified algorithm uses the techniques of image processing, image analysis and pattern recognition, such as filtering, profile plot analysis and active contour method. Except determining the artery diameter over time it is also able to retrieve ECG from ultrasound video. The results obtained for both signals are synchronized, therefore it is possible to obtain the artery diameters in R wave points, which is a novel approach. Experiments were performed to assess the software validation by comparing the outcomes obtained with the evaluated algorithm with those manually-acquired-the correlation is high. This is the first stage of the research in which we will build the cardiovascular predictive model to search for the new cardiovascular factors.