Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Vasc Med. 2021 Feb;26(1):81-85. doi: 10.1177/1358863X20969826. Epub 2020 Nov 18.
In this review, we describe how technological advances in ultrasound imaging related to transducer construction and image processing fundamentally alter generation of ultrasound images to produce better quality images with higher resolution. However, carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) measurements made from images acquired on modern ultrasound systems are not comparable to historical population nomograms that were used to determine wall thickness thresholds that inform atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk. Because it is nearly impossible to replicate instrumentation settings that were used to create the reference carotid IMT nomograms and to place an individual's carotid IMT value in or above a clinically relevant percentile, carotid IMT measurements have a very limited role in clinical medicine, but remain a useful research tool when instrumentation, presets, image acquisition, and measurements can be standardized. In addition to new validation studies, it would be useful for the ultrasound imaging community to reach a consensus regarding technical aspects of ultrasound imaging acquisition, processing, and display for blood vessels so standard presets and imaging approaches could reliably yield the same measurements.
在这篇综述中，我们描述了超声成像技术在换能器结构和图像处理方面的进步如何从根本上改变了超声图像的生成方式，从而产生更高分辨率的高质量图像。然而，从现代超声系统获取的图像进行的颈动脉内膜中层厚度（IMT）测量与用于确定告知动脉粥样硬化性心血管疾病风险的壁厚度阈值的历史人群参考图不可比。因为几乎不可能复制创建参考颈动脉 IMT 参考图所用的仪器设置，也不可能将个体的颈动脉 IMT 值置于或高于临床相关百分位数内，所以颈动脉 IMT 测量在临床医学中的作用非常有限，但当仪器、预设、图像采集和测量可以标准化时，它仍然是一种有用的研究工具。除了新的验证研究外，超声成像界还需要就血管的超声成像采集、处理和显示的技术方面达成共识，以便标准预设和成像方法能够可靠地产生相同的测量值。
