Clinical study
Doppler Vibrometry: Assessment of Arterial Stenosis by Using Perivascular Tissue Vibrations without Lumen Visualization

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvir.2009.06.003Get rights and content

Purpose

To correlate vibration frequency and duration at Doppler vibrometry with stenosis severity determined at catheter angiography.

Materials and Methods

Sixteen patients (eight women) scheduled to undergo abdominal or pelvic angiography were recruited after providing informed consent. An ultrasonography (US) scanner was customized to acquire raw echo data before conventional Doppler processing. Data were acquired from perivascular tissue regions proximal to stenoses, close to the most narrow lumen, and distal to stenoses in the renal, hepatic, common iliac, and superior mesenteric arteries. The data were processed to quantify vibration frequency and duration. The minimum lumen diameter and the pre- and poststenotic lumen diameters were quantified from angiograms. One patient with a hepatic artery stenosis did not yield measurable vibrometry data due to significant bowel gas.

Results

Stenoses (diameter reduction, 43%–91%) were angiographically measured in the six renal arteries, four hepatic arteries, three iliac arteries, and one superior mesenteric artery yielding vibrometry data. Three iliac arteries were normal (<30% diameter reduction at angiography). For these 17 arteries, the vibration frequency was higher with a greater percentage of stenosis [Pearson r = .75; P < .001) and a smaller minimum lumen diameter (r = .72; P < .001). The vibration duration increased with a greater percentage of stenosis (r = .7; P < .001).

Conclusions

Preliminary results indicate that the vibration frequency and duration can be used to quantitatively estimate stenosis severity. Doppler vibrometry is complementary to duplex US and does not require lumen visualization.

Section snippets

Study Population

In this prospective feasibility study, 16 patients (eight women) who were scheduled to undergo abdominal or pelvic angiography at the University of Washington interventional radiology laboratory were recruited for examination before angiography. Angiography was indicated in these patients to evaluate suspected stenoses on the basis of a previous conventional duplex US examination. The symptoms that prompted the initial duplex examination were varied and related to different vascular beds (eg,

Results

A total of 18 arteries were imaged in the 16 patients. Of the 18 arteries, stenoses (diameter reduction, 43%–91%) were angiographically measured in six renal arteries, four hepatic arteries, three iliac arteries, and one superior mesenteric artery yielding vibrometry data. One patient with a 79% diameter reduction hepatic artery stenosis did not yield measurable vibrometry data due to significant bowel gas precluding adequate US data acquisition. Three iliac arteries were normal (<30% diameter

Discussion

Lees and colleagues (4, 10, 11) developed the phonoangiography method for predicting the minimum lumen diameter of a carotid stenosis on the basis of a quantitative analysis of the frequency spectrum of cervical bruits detected on the skin surface. The hypothesis behind quantitative phonoangiography is that the frequency spectrum of the sound produced by vessel wall vibrations is dependent on the effective diameter of the turbulent jet, assuming that the systolic flow rate to the brain is the

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  • Cited by (0)

    None of the authors have identified a conflict of interest.

    From the 2008 SIR annual meeting.

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