Integrating Structural and Functional Ultrasound Carotid Assessment in a Single Software Platform: Development and...

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular imaging and hemodynamics
• Medical software development
• Vascular biomechanics

Background:

• Vascular health assessment requires integrating structural and functional parameters, often from fragmented technologies.
• Current methods utilize diverse signals like imaging and tonometry, leading to data silos.
• A unified approach is needed for comprehensive vascular analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel software platform for combined ultrasound-based analysis of carotid longitudinal scans.
• To evaluate the technical performance and usability of the integrated system.
• To enable simultaneous acquisition of structural and hemodynamic vascular parameters.

Main Methods:

• Integration of validated software (ARCSolver, Carotid Studio) with novel components.
• Development of a unified processing pipeline and shared data architecture.
• Implementation of a generalized transfer function (newGTF) for ultrasound-based aortic waveforms and Pulse Wave Analysis.

Main Results:

• The software provides an intuitive interface for comprehensive carotid analysis from single ultrasound acquisitions.
• Derived functional parameters showed good repeatability and correlation with reference methods.
• The system demonstrated excellent usability, indicating potential for clinical and research use.

Conclusions:

• The integrated solution facilitates comprehensive vascular assessment within a single software environment.
• This approach simplifies the acquisition of multiple vascular measurements.
• It holds promise for advancing both clinical practice and research in vascular health.