Bulum Antonio, Ivanac Gordana, Mandurić Filip, Pfeifer Luka, Bulum Marta, Divjak Eugen, Radoš Stipe, Brkljačić Boris
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Dubrava, Avenija Gojka Šuška 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Šalata 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Diagnostics (Basel). 2022 May 8;12(5):1168. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics12051168.
Carotid artery disease is one of the main global causes of disability and premature mortality in the spectrum of cardiovascular diseases. One of its main consequences, stroke, is the second biggest global contributor to disability and burden via Disability Adjusted Life Years after ischemic heart disease. In the last decades, B-mode and Doppler-based ultrasound imaging techniques have become an indispensable part of modern medical imaging of carotid artery disease. However, they have limited abilities in carotid artery plaque and wall characterization and are unable to provide simultaneous quantitative and qualitative flow information while the images are burdened by low framerates. UltraFast™ ultrasound is able to overcome these obstacles by providing simultaneous quantitative and qualitative flow analysis information in high frame rates via UltraFast™ Doppler. Another newly developed ultrasound technique, shear wave elastography, is based on the visualization of induced shear waves and the measurement of the shear wave propagation speed in the examined tissues which enables real-time carotid plaque and wall analysis. These newly developed ultrasound modalities have potential to significantly improve workflow efficiency and are able to provide a plethora of additional imaging information of carotid artery disease in comparison to conventional ultrasound techniques.
在心血管疾病范畴中，颈动脉疾病是导致全球残疾和过早死亡的主要原因之一。其主要后果之一——中风，是继缺血性心脏病之后，全球残疾和伤残调整生命年负担的第二大成因。在过去几十年里，基于B模式和多普勒的超声成像技术已成为现代颈动脉疾病医学成像不可或缺的一部分。然而，它们在颈动脉斑块和血管壁特征描述方面能力有限，无法在提供图像时以低帧率同时给出定量和定性的血流信息。超快速超声能够通过超快速多普勒以高帧率同时提供定量和定性血流分析信息，从而克服这些障碍。另一种新开发的超声技术——剪切波弹性成像，基于对诱导剪切波的可视化以及对所检查组织中剪切波传播速度的测量，能够对颈动脉斑块和血管壁进行实时分析。与传统超声技术相比，这些新开发的超声模式有潜力显著提高工作流程效率，并能提供大量关于颈动脉疾病的额外成像信息。
