Arterial Alterations with Age - A Non Invasive Study of Carotid Artery using Ultrasound Images

A region based method for measurement of arterial diameter to find out the elasticity of the vessel is proposed in this paper. Arterial segments are studied by using B-mode images obtained through ultrasound scanning. 16 normal subjects with age group of 27plusmn6 are taken for measurement. The maximum excursion of the vessel during diastole and systole is computed. To achieve this thinned segmentation is done by suitably adjusting the contrast of the image. The diameter changes of the artery wall from the centre of the artery is calculated. It is then plotted as a graph and pulsatile changes of common carotid artery is obtained. Since no atherosclerotic lesions are detected in the studied subjects, it is suggested that the common carotid artery is a highly compliant artery for this study