Arterial diameter measurement using high resolution ultrasonography: in vitro validation.

Simultaneous measurement of pressure and diameter in blood vessels or vascular prosthesis is of great importance in cardiovascular research. Knowledge of diameter changes as response to intravascular pressure is the basis to estimate the biomechanical properties of blood vessel. In this work a new method to quantify arterial diameter based in high resolution ultrasonography is proposed. Measurements on an arterial phantom placed on a cardiovascular simulator were performed. The results were compared to sonomicrometry measurements considered as gold standard technique. The obtained results indicate that the new method ensure an optimal diameter quantification. This method presents two main advantages respect to sonomicrometry: is noninvasive and the vessel wall strain can be measured directly.