Arterial stiffness is an important biometric in predicting cardiovascular diseases, since mechanical properties serve as indicators of several pathologies such as e.g. atherosclerosis. Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) could serve as a valuable non-invasive diagnostic tool for assessing arterial stiffness, with the technique proven efficient in large homogeneous tissue. However the accuracy within arterial applications is still uncertain, following the lack of proper validation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of SWE in arterial phantoms of poly(vinyl alcohol) cryogel by developing an experimental setup with an additional mechanical testing setup as a reference method. The two setups were developed to generate identical stress states on the mounted phantoms, with a combination of axial loads and static intraluminal pressures. The acquired radiofrequency-data was analysed in the frequency domain with retrieved dispersion curves fitted to a Lamb-wave based wave propagation model. The results indicated a significant correlation between SWE and mechanical measurements for the arterial phantoms, with an average relative error of 10 % for elastic shear moduli in the range of 23 to 108 kPa. The performed accuracy quantification implies a satisfactory performance level and as well as a general feasibility of SWE in arterial vessels, indicating the potential of SWE as a future cardiovascular diagnostic tool.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kth-160091 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Larsson, David |
| Publisher | KTH, Hållfasthetslära (Avd.) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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