Using ultrasound image analysis to evaluate the role of elastography imaging in the diagnosis of carotid atherosclerosis.

Valid characterization of carotid atherosclerosis (CA) is a crucial public health issue, which would limit the major risk held by CA for both patient safety and state economies. CA is typically diagnosed and assessed using duplex ultrasonography (US). Elastrography Imaging (EI) is a promising US technique for quantifying tissue elasticity (ES). In this work, we investigated the association between ES of carotid atherosclerotic lesions, derived from EI, and texture indices, calculated from US image analysis. US and EI images of 23 atherosclerotic plaques (16 patients) were analyzed. Texture features derived from US image analysis (Gray-Scale Median (GSM), plaque area (A) and co-occurrence-matrixderived features) were calculated. Statistical analysis revealed associations between US texture features and EI measured indices. This result indicates accordance in US and EI techniques and states the promising role of EI in diagnosis of CA.