Imaging of cross-sectional elasticity in short-axis plane of arterial wall by transcutaneous ultrasound

We have developed the phase tracking method (Kanai et al., 1996) for measuring the minute change in thickness during one heartbeat and elasticity of the arterial wall with transcutaneous ultrasound. When this method is applied to a plane perpendicular to the axis of the artery (short-axis plane) using a linear-type probe, only the ultrasonic beam which passes through the center of the artery, coincides with the direction f the change in thickness. At other beam positions, the wall motion cannot be accurately tracked because the direction of wall expansion slips off the beam. To obtain the cross-sectional image of elasticity in the short-axis plane using transcutaneous ultrasound, in this paper, the directions of ultrasonic beams are designed so that each beam always passes through the center of the artery and then it always coincides with the direction of the wall expansion. In basic experiments, the accuracy in elasticity measurement was evaluated using a silicone rubber tube. In in vivo experiments, the minute change in wall thickness was measured along each ultrasonic beam and the cross-sectional image of elasticity was obtained in the short-axis plane.