2013 Journal Publications | AtheroPoint Public Website

2013 Journal Publications

  1.   Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) and its link to Automated Carotid Ultrasound IMT Variability (IMTV) in 500 Japanese Coronary Artery Disease Patients.

    Nobutaka Ikeda, Tadashi Araki, Kaoru Sugi, Masatako Nakamura, Martino Deidda, Filippo Molinari, Kristen M. Meiburger, U Rajendra Acharya, Luca Saba, Pier Paolo Bassareo, Michele Di Martino, Yoshinori Nagashima, Giuseppe Mercuro, Masataka Nakano, Andrew Nicolaides, Jasjit S. Suri.

    Current Atherosclerosis Reports. 2013. [Impact Factor: 2.923]

    Figure 7 - Location of the Carotid ArteriesAbstract:   The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and its variability (IMTV) along the artery was correlated to ankle-brachial index (ABI) in Japanese Coronary Artery Disease Patients. 500 consecutive patients (males 312; median age 69 years ± 11) who underwent carotid-US and first coronary angiography were prospectively analyzed. By using an automated software (AtheroEdge), cIMT and IMTV were obtained. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to calculate the association between automated ABI, cIMT, IMTV, and SYNTAX score. The mean value of cIMT was 0.881 ± 0.334 mm and the mean IMTV value was 0.141 ± 0.112. IMTV was negatively and significantly correlated to ABI (rho = -0.147; p = 0.001), whereas cIMT was not (rho = -0.075; p = 0.097). IMTV and cIMT had same significant correlation with SYNTAX score. When we considered patients with higher risk factor (ABI £ 0.9), we found higher values of IMTV, PS, and SYNTAX score, but not of cIMT. Logistic regression analysis showed that IMTV was independently associated to the complexity of the CAD (as assessed by the SYNTAX score). In Conclusion we showed that automatically measured IMTV using AtheroEdge was associated to ABI, whereas the intima-media thickness alone was not. IMTV could be integrated with cIMT measurement to improve the assessment of CVD.

  2.   Inter- and Intra-Observer Variability Analysis of Completely Automated cIMT Measurement Software (AtheroEdge™) and its Benchmarking against Commercial Ultrasound Scanner and Expert Readers.

    Saba L, Molinari F, Meiburger KM, Acharya UR, Nicolaides A, Suri JS.

    Computers in Biology and Medicine. 2013 Sep; 43(9) pp. 1261-1272. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2013.06.012. [Impact Factor: 1.162]

    Figure 7 - Location of the Carotid ArteriesAbstract:   The purpose of this study was to evaluate the measurement error and inter- and intra- observer variability of completely off-line automated and semi-automated carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) measurement software (AtheroEdge™). Two hundred carotid ultrasound images from 50 asymptomatic women were analyzed. AtheroEdge™ was bench marked against a commercial system(Syngo, Siemens) using automated and semi-automated modes. The measurement error and inter- and intra- observer variability of AtheroEdge™ were tested using three readings. The measurement error of AtheroEdge™ compared to the commercial software was 0.002±0.019 mm (r = 0.99) in the automated mode and -0.001±0.004 mm in the semi-automated mode (r = 0.99). The measurement error of AtheroEdge™ compared to the mean value of the three expert Readers (cIMT bias)for the automated and semi-automated methods was -0.0004±0.158 mm and -0.008±0.157 mm, respectively.The Figure-of-Merit was 99.8% and 99.9% when compared to the commercial ultrasound scanner (using the automated and semi-automated method, respectively) and was 99.9% and 98.9% when compared to the mean value of the three expert Readers.Regarding inter- and intra- observer variability, the intra-class correlation coefficient of the three independent users using the semi-automated AtheroEdge™ was 0.98. AtheroEdge™ showed a measurement performance comparable to the commercial ultrasound scanner software and the expert Readers’ tracings. AtheroEdge™ belongs to a class of automated systems that could find application in processing large datasets for common carotid arteries, avoiding subjectivity in cIMT measurements.

  3.   Automated carotid intima-media thickness and its link for prediction of SYNTAX score in Japanese coronary artery disease patients.

    Ikeda N, Saba L, Molinari F, Piga M, Meiburger K, Sugi K, Porcu M, Bocchiddi L, Acharya UR, Nakamura M, Nakano M, Nicolaides A, Suri JS.

    Int Angiol. 2013 Jun;32(3):339-48. [Impact Factor: 1.462]

    Figure 7 - Location of the Carotid ArteriesAbstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the automated carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) identified by using automated software could predict the SYNTAX score for coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. Results of our study using an automated algorithm showed a statistical significant association between CIMT and SYNTAX score and indicated that CIMT may be considered a reliable parameter for prediction of SYNTAX score in Coronary Artery Disease patient population from Japan.

  4.   Association of automated carotid IMT measurement and HbA1c in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease.

    Saba L, Ikeda N, Deidda M, Araki T, Molinari F, Meiburger KM, Acharya UR, Nagashima Y, Mercuro G, Nakano M,Nicolaides A, Suri JS.

    Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2013 Apr 20. pii: S0168-8227(13)00131-9. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2013.03.032. [Epub ahead of print] [Impact Factor: 2.741]

    Figure 7 - Location of the Carotid ArteriesAbstract:  The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether carotid IMT (cIMT) identified using automated software is associated with HbA1c in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease. The results of our study confirm that automated cIMT values and levels of HbA1c in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease are correlated whereas the plaque score does not show a statistically significant correlation.

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2012 Journal Publications

  1.   Comparison between manual and automated analysis for the quantification of carotid wall by using sonography. A validation study with CT.

    Saba L, Montisci R, Molinari F, Tallapally N, Zeng G, Mallarini G, Suri JS.

    Eur J Radiol. 2012 May;81(5):911-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.02.047. Epub 2011 Mar 23. [Impact Factor: 2.512]

    Figure 7 - Location of the Carotid ArteriesAbstract:  The purpose of this paper was to compare manual and automated analysis for the quantification of carotid wall obtained with sonography by using the computed tomography as validation technique. On comparing AtheroEdge (using Ultrasound) with CAWT (using CT), the results suggested a very good concordance of 84.96%.Data of this preliminary study indicate that automated software AtheroEdge™ can analyze with precision the IMT of carotid arteries and that the concordance with CT is optimal.

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