Artikel
Strain measurement of abdominal aortic aneurysm with 3D ultrasound speckle tracking
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Veröffentlicht: | 23. April 2012 |
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Gliederung
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Introduction: The main risk associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm is rupture caused by mechanical failure of the vascular tissue. Currently, available methods to assess biomechanical properties of aortic aneurysm tissue employ ex vivo material (tensile testing). However, to predict individual rupture risk it is necessary to determine biomechanical properties of the aneurysm in vivo, which until the present, have been limited to 2-dimensional analysis of the aorta (conventional sonography). Recently, 3-dimensional speckle tracking ultrasound has been introduced to measure biomechanical stress-strain parameters of the heart in vivo. The aim of this investigation was to establish and validate this 3D ultrasound method, applied to the abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Materials and methods: Wall motion of a silicone aorta aneurysm model, perfused in an artificial circulatory system, was measured simultaneously with a commercial real time 3D-echocardiography system (Artida, Toshiba Medical Systems, Tokyo, Japan) and by a laser-scan-micrometer. Data were analysed with MatLab Software and the results of the two methods were compared. Furthermore, 3D ultrasound data from the abdominal aorta from 10 healthy volunteers and 12 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm were collected and the strain parameters were analysed.
Results: There was good correlation between strain parameters measured by 3D ultrasound and laser scan-micrometer (a highly accurate reference method). It was also possible to measure and analyse strain data obtained from the abdominal aorta of volunteers and from patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Conclusion: The 3D ultrasound measurements correlated well with the laser scan-micrometer measurements of the silicone model. Furthermore, the 3D ultrasound speckle tracking method enabled the strain analysis of healthy and aneurysmic abdominal aorta in vivo.