Development of High-Resolution Ultrasonic Imaging Techniques for Detection and Clinical Assessment of Cardiovascular Disease.

摘要

The goals of this project were to develop and test ultrasound instrumentation and methods for the detection and assessment of atherosclerosis in carotid and femoral arteries of living patients,thereby avoiding the pain,risk,and associated drawbacks of angiography. Testing of equipment and methods involved laboratory and clinical studies. Preliminary comparisons of ultrasound B-scans and angiograms of carotid atherosclerotic lesions were extremely encouraging;yet,sometimes significant discrepancies in interpretation occurred. A much larger comparison with double-blind,lesion-by-lesion analysis was found to be necessary and is in progress. Significant improvement in the ease of using the clinical instrument,in B-scan resolution,and in the signal-to-noise ratio of the Doppler system were achieved. The potential advantages of combined B-scan and Doppler images in evaluating a given lesion were demonstrated. Planned additional subsystems are being incorporated into the instrument. Digital signal processing is being prepared for use in signal analysis and interpretation. Improved B-scan and Doppler electronics are being developed.