Characterization of carotid atherosclerotic plaques using frequency-based texture analysis and bootstrap

Texture analysis of B-mode ultrasound images of carotid atheromatous plaque can be valuable for the accurate diagnosis of atherosclerosis. In this paper, two frequency-based texture analysis methods based on the Fourier Power Spectrum and the Wavelet Transform, were used to characterize atheromatous plaques. B-mode ultrasound images of 10 symptomatic and, 9 asymptomatic plaques were interrogated. A total of 109 texture features were estimated for each plaque. The bootstrap method was used to compare the mean values of the texture features extracted from the two groups. After bootstrapping, three features were found to be significantly different between the two types of plaques: the average value of the angular distribution corresponding to the wedge centered at 900, the standard deviation at scale I derived from the horizontal detail image, and the standard deviation at scale 2 derived from the horizontal detail image. It is concluded that frequency-based texture analysis in combination with a powerful statistical technique, such as bootstrapping, may provide valuable information about the plaque tissue type.