Carotid Artery Wall Motion Estimation from Consecutive Ultrasonic Images: Comparison between Block-Matching and Maximum-Gradient Algorithms

BACKGROUND: Radial movement of the arterial wall is a well-known indicator of the mechanical properties of arteries in arterial disease examinations. In the present study, two different motion estimation methods, based on the block-matching and maximum-gradient algorithms, were examined to extract the radial displacement of the carotid artery wall. METHODS: Each program was separately implemented to the same axial consecutive ultrasound images of the carotid artery of 10 healthy men, and the radial displacement waveform of this artery was extracted during two cardiac cycles. The results of the two methods were compared using the linear regression and Bland-Altman statistical analyses. The maximum and mean displacements traced by the block-matching algorithm were compared with the same parameters traced by the maximum-gradient algorithm. The frame numbers in which the maximum displacement of the wall occurred were compared too. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the maximum and the mean displacements traced by the block-matching algorithm and the same parameters traced by the maximum-gradient algorithm according to the pair t-test analysis (p value > 0.05). There was a significant correlation between the radial movement of the common carotid artery measured with the block-matching and maximum-gradient methods (with a correlation coefficient of 0.89 and p value < 0.05). The Bland-Altman analysis results confirmed a good agreement between the two methods in measuring the radial movement, with a mean difference and limits of agreement of 0.044 ± 0.038. The results showed that both methods found the maximum displacement occurring in the same frame. CONCLUSION: Both block-matching and maximum-gradient algorithms can be used to extract the radial displacement of the carotid artery wall and in addition, with respect to the pixel size as error, the same results can be obtained.