Analysis and quantification of arterial wall motion from B-mode ultrasound images - comparison of block-matching and optical flow

Motion of the carotid atheromatous plaque may be responsible for plaque rupture and cerebrovascular symptoms. B-mode ultrasound allows non-invasive recording of arterial wall and plaque motion. Our aim was to analyze quantitatively patterns of arterial wall motion with different techniques. Temporal sequences of digitized B-mode ultrasound images of the carotid arteries of 10 young healthy subjects were interrogated. Arterial wall motion was analyzed using: a/ block-matching, and b/ optical flow. The motion of selected regions of the luminal surface of the arterial wall was estimated using region tracking and block-matching. The motion of areas of the arterial wall was estimated using optical flow. Waveforms showing radial and axial displacements, as well as radial and axial velocities were produced for the selected ROIs using both techniques. Both techniques produced waveforms with peaks, corresponding to cardiac cycle events, that occurred at similar time points. To study the similarity of the waveforms obtained from the two techniques, a cross-correlation coefficient was calculated. Cross-correlation coefficients were 0.72..0.22 and 0.70..0.19 for displacements and velocities, respectively, in the radial direction. In the axial direction, the coefficients were 0.32..0.39 and 0.24..0.22 for displacements and velocities, respectively. On the basis of this relative comparison of methods, we conclude that significant observations can be made for each motion analysis technique in terms of characterization of the mechanical properties of the tissue.