Ultrasonic elastography measurements of the mechanical properties of porcine coronary vessel walls

Abstract

Coronary heart diseases are a significant cause of death among both men and women in the industrialized world; thus finding ways to detect factors which cause coronary heart diseases is worthy challenge for researchers. Ultrasound elastography system (50MHz) for measuring mechanical properties of arteries was developed as part of this thesis. Ability to discriminate between various tissue types was demonstrated using fresh and modified porcine coronary arteries, which closely models the plaque in human atherosclerosis. Elastographic measurements agreed well with uniaxial mechanical testing over a range of compression moduli.