Method for evaluating atherosclerosis and its affect on the elasticity of arterial walls

摘要

A method for evaluating atherosclerosis using M-Mode ultrasound to measure atherosclerotic plaques and their affect on compliance of the arterial walls in peripheral arteries. Movement of the arterial walls is measured during a systolic-diastolic pressure cycle and the intimal medial thickness and the thickness of any atherosclerotic lesions are measured as well. The method measures the distance between the near and far walls of the subject artery and the acoustic impedance of the materials that comprise the individual layers of the arterial walls. To image an artery with M-Mode ultrasound, a transducer head having at least one transmitting element and at least one receiving element is placed against a patient's skin adjacent the peripheral artery to be evaluated. A repeating series of sound pulses are transmitted from the transmitting element into the patient substantially perpendicular to the subject artery. The sound waves are reflected to varying degrees by the tissues encountered and the reflected waves are measured by the receiving element(s) in the transducer head. M-Mode ultrasound allows for continuous monitoring of the position of the arterial walls during the systolic-diastolic pressure cycle such that changes in position of the arterial wall can be measured over a predetermined period of time.