Simple fast noninvasive technique for measuring brachial wall mechanics during flow mediated vasodilatation analysis

Measurement of flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD) in brachial and other conduit arteries has become a common method to asses the status of endothelial function in vivo. In spite of the direct relationship between the arterial wall multi-component strains and FMD responses, direct measurement of wall strain tensor due to FMD has not yet been reported in the literature. In this work, a noninvasive direct ultrasound-based strain tensor measuring (STM) technique is presented to assess changes in the mechanical parameters of the vascular wall during FMD. The STM technique utilizes only sequences of B-mode ultrasound images, and starts with segmenting a region of interest within the artery and providing the acquisition parameters. Then a block matching technique is employed to measure the frame to frame local velocities. Displacements, diameter change, multi-component strain tensor and strain rates are then calculated by integrating or differentiating velocity components. The accuracy of the STM algorithm was assessed using a phantom study, and was further validated using in vivo data from human subjects. Results indicate the validity and versatility of the STM algorithm, and describe how parameters other than the diameter change are sensitive to pre- and post-occlusion, which can then be used for accurate assessment of atherosclerosis.