Automatic Detection of the Carotid Artery Position for Blind Echo-Doppler Blood Flow Investigation

Ultrasound instrumentation is widely employed in everyday clinical practice. Skilled operators, usually trained sonographers, operate the echograph and the ultrasonic probe to acquire B-mode images showing internal tissues/organs morphology, and echo-Doppler images with detailed information about blood flow. Unfortunately, skilled personnel are not always available, in particular in points-of-care distributed in rural areas or developing countries. Echographic systems capable of being operated from non-trained users can be valuable. In this work, an automatic blind procedure for detecting the position of the carotid artery is proposed. The untrained user places the probe transversally on the patient neck and starts the procedure. The machine automatically detects the carotid lumen in the B-mode image and selects its center, which can be used to extract Echo-Doppler data. The method was implemented in the ULA-OP experimental scanner and tested on healthy volunteers.