3-D vascular ultrasound imaging

Although, ultrasound imaging is an important technique, technical improvements are needed before ifs full potential is realized for diagnosis and management of vascular disease and visualizing small vessels. We believe that 2-D vie wing of 3-D anatomy, using the conventional ultrasound procedures, limits our ability to quantify and visualize vascular diseases. Our goal is to develop a 3-D ultrasound technique for imaging the vasculature using B-mode, colour Doppler, and Doppler power. In our approach, the ultrasound probe is connected to an assembly that translates or rotates the probe rapidly, while 2-D ultrasound images are digitized. The sequence of 2-D images are reconstructed into a 3-D image, which can be manipulated interactively. We have shown that 3-D imaging with B-mode, colour Doppler and Doppler power can be useful in assessing atherosclerosis, imaging of the kidney and spleen, as well as imaging of angiogenic vessels. Specifically, in this paper we also show that imaging of the carotid arteries has demonstrated that the technique can be used for stenosis and plaque volume measurements, as well as for assessment of the complexity of the plaque.