Detection of initial symptoms of atherosclerosis using estimation of local static pressure by ultrasound.
In the current studies, the pulse pressure in the brachial artery is used as a suitable criterion in the assessment of the elastic parameters. In this study, the changes of elastic pressure on the carotid artery were directly estimated. Accordingly, the elastic parameters of the right common carotid artery (RCCA) of the healthy, the mild stenosis and the severe stenosis were estimated and compared. The static pressure-strain elastic modulus (Eps) in the RCCA of 128 men under normal and atherosclerotic conditions was estimated. The detailed variation of the static pressure of RCCA throughout the carotid cycle was estimated using the energy conservation law. The static pressure-strain elastic modulus (Eps) was defined as static pressure changes to strain. The results show that: (1) variation of the static pressure during the cardiac cycle is higher in the severe atherosclerotic group than the mild atherosclerotic and normal artery groups. (2) The relative increase in vessel diameter during the cardiac cycle is lower in the atherosclerotic than normal group. (3) The Eps in the atherosclerotic group is significantly different from the normal group. It is concluded that, applying this method, one can detect the initial symptoms and the disease process in atherosclerosis.