Semiautomated Software to Improve Stability and Reduce Operator-Induced Variation in Vascular Ultrasound Speckle...

Area of Science:

• Vascular Ultrasound
• Medical Imaging Analysis
• Nephrology

Background:

• Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) maturation is critical for hemodialysis in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients.
• Ultrasound is a key imaging modality for assessing AVF maturation.
• Accurate measurement of vascular distensibility is essential for predicting AVF success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate ultrasound software for measuring circumferential vessel wall strain (distensibility).
• To assess and reduce user-induced variability in distensibility measurements from Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) data.
• To improve the reliability of distensibility measurements for predicting AVF maturation.

Main Methods:

• Ultrasound scans of arteries from 10 subjects undergoing AVF surgery were analyzed.
• The Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) feature-tracking algorithm was used to track vessel walls in DICOM cine loops.
• Two semiautomated measurement methods were developed and compared to manual user measurements.

Main Results:

• Manual point selection for vessel tracking showed significant user variability (up to 9.1 mm).
• This variability led to a wide range in distensibility measurements (5.63% to 41.04%).
• Semiautomated methods significantly reduced measurement variation and correlated well with median user values.

Conclusions:

• Standardizing point selection through semiautomated software enhances reproducibility and reliability of distensibility measurements.
• The developed software can aid clinical studies in understanding vascular compliance's role in fistula maturation.
• Improved measurement accuracy may lead to better prediction of AVF maturation for hemodialysis patients.