A multiparametric approach integrating vessel diameter, wall shear rate and physiologic signals for optimized Flow Mediated Dilation studies

Flow Mediated Dilation (FMD) is a technique widely used to assess the endothelial function by ultrasound. Ideally, both the brachial artery wall shear stress (stimulus) and the diameter change (effect) shall be estimated and monitored for up to 10 minutes, while blood flow is restricted by a cuff and then suddenly released. An inherent method's difficulty is maintaining the linear array probe aligned with the artery for such a long time. The problem is here faced by an integrated hardware/software approach that displays in real-time both the spatial velocity profiles and the diameter changes, and acquires raw data all over the exam.