A high-frequency linear probe with H-topology for PWV measurements on superficial arteries

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are considered as the main cause of death representing more than 30% of worldwide casualties according to the World Health Organization [1]. The pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a relevant indicator of CVD [2] at an early stage but it requires specialized clinical tools for its monitoring. The versatility of ultrasound imaging thanks to the introduction of ultrafast imaging and recent progress in electronics and signal processing allow the measurement and the monitoring of this biomarker. The proposed hardware solution is a high-frequency ultrasound linear probe dedicated to superficial arteries imaging, PWV and arterial stiffness assessment. The probe allows simultaneous multiplane imaging thanks to three acoustic apertures adopting a H-topology: one 128-element acoustic aperture is placed at the center of the probe and two orthogonal 64-element acoustic apertures are placed on each side of the probe. This arrangement enables both longitudinal imaging of a small artery and cross-sectional imaging from either side.