Extraction of the carotid artery contour from ultrasound image using speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion and radial examination

Abstract

Ultrasonic imaging provides an efficient, non-invasive way to measure the carotid artery, but automatic measurement is hampered by the speckled images that are obtained. The speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion filter is effective for this problem, but requires positive values in all pixels of the image. To avoid this drawback, we operate the SRAD filter within a limited region of interest in a preprocessing step, which improves its performance and reduces the computing time required. And then, using a radial examination technique and a B-spline curve, we reconstitute the outline of the carotid artery. The utility of the resulting images have been clinically verified.