Kalman-filter-based block matching for arterial wall motion estimation from B-mode ultrasound

The motion of the carotid artery wall has been previously estimated from ultrasound image sequences using block matching. In this paper, this conventional method was extended through its combination with Kalman filtering in two distinct scenarios; (a) by renewing the reference block and (b) by updating the estimate of the conventional algorithm. Both procedures were evaluated on synthetic image sequences through the estimation of the warping index. The results showed that incorporation of the Kalman filter in conventional block matching slightly improved the accuracy in arterial wall motion estimation. Updating the estimate of the conventional algorithm using Kalman filtering was the most efficient procedure and could be used to study further the displacements of the arterial wall in an attempt to obtain useful knowledge about arterial biomechanics.