US 12,268,552 B2
Method and apparatus for the automatic detection of atheromas in peripheral arteries
Ram L. Bedi, Issaquah, WA (US); Todor Jeliaskov, Scottsdale, AZ (US); and Charles D. Emery, Gilbert, AZ (US)
Assigned to Atherosys, Inc., Issaquah, WA (US)
Filed by Atherosys, Inc., Issaquah, WA (US)
Filed on Oct. 29, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/084,299.
Application 17/084,299 is a continuation of application No. PCT/US2019/029739, filed on Apr. 29, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/664,616, filed on Apr. 30, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0045710 A1, Feb. 18, 2021
Int. Cl. A61B 8/08 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01); A61B 8/02 (2006.01); A61B 8/06 (2006.01); G16H 30/40 (2018.01); G16H 50/20 (2018.01)
CPC A61B 8/0891 (2013.01) [A61B 8/02 (2013.01); A61B 8/06 (2013.01); A61B 8/085 (2013.01); A61B 8/485 (2013.01); A61B 8/488 (2013.01); A61B 8/5223 (2013.01); A61B 8/5269 (2013.01); G16H 30/40 (2018.01); G16H 50/20 (2018.01)] 32 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for detecting a presence of an atheroma using an ultrasound apparatus, the method comprising:
performing a procedure comprising—
repeatedly obtaining echo signals produced in response to ultrasound signals generated via a transducer;
based on the obtained echo signals, producing ultrasound image data via processing circuitry;
detecting, via the processing circuitry and without user input, a volume of interest and one or more blood vessels from the ultrasound image data in a target region of a patient's body as the echo signals are being obtained;
identifying, via the processing circuitry and from the one or more blood vessels, an artery of interest based on:
a brightness of a wall of the artery of interest,
a darkness in a lumen of the artery of interest, and
a difference between the brightness of the artery wall and the darkness of the artery lumen;
tracking the artery of interest via radio frequency (RF) correlation of contiguous 2-dimensional (2D) frames of a 3D dataset, wherein the 2D frames include at least a first frame, a second frame, and a third frame, and wherein a tracked length of the artery of interest encompasses at least a segment of a common carotid region of the carotid artery of the patient and a bifurcated region of the carotid artery;
determining via cross-correlation of the first frame to the second frame, the first frame to the third frame, and the second frame to the third frame, that each of the first frame, the second frame, and the third frame include the artery of interest;
identifying an atheroma in the artery of interest;
obtaining a plurality of intima-media thicknesses (IMTs) along a longitudinal axis of the artery of interest, wherein each of the IMTs is based on a distance between edges of (i) a first peak of a first echo signal corresponding to a media-adventitia boundary and (ii) a second peak corresponding to a lumen-intima boundary;
based at least in part on the obtained IMTs, calculating, via the processing circuitry, a first cross-sectional intima-media area (IMA) of the artery of interest at a first location along a length of the artery of interest;
based at least in part on the obtained IMTs, calculating, via the processing circuitry, a second IMA of the artery of interest at a second or more locations along the length of the artery of interest; and
based at least in part on the calculations of the first and second IMAs of the artery of interest, calculating, via the processing circuitry, an intima-media volume (IMV), arterial volume, and luminal volume of the artery of interest over a predetermined length of the artery of interest.