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Evaluation of US and MRI techniques for carotid stenosis: a novel phantom approach

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Abstract

Carotid atherosclerosis is very important in the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia. Ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the predominant noninvasive techniques capable to identify the presence and stage of intra-plaque hemorrage. In this work, we propose a novel dedicated phantom that can be used for both US and MRI scanners to evaluate carotid atherosclerotic lesions. The phantom consists of a polymethyl metacrylate (PMMA) diagonally crossed by a PMMA hollow cylinder simulating a blood vessel. To simulate a stenosis, we inserted a plastic hollow tube inside the cylinder. Quantitative image analysis, based on accuracy measurements, was performed on two US and two MRI scanners. The accuracy measurements have highlighted the use of the 3.0 T MRI scanner to characterize the vessel stenosis. However, no significant difference between US and MRI techniques was found in Fisher exact test and inter-rater agreement. The concordance correlation coefficient showed a moderate agreement between some methods. Agreement between 3.0 T and other methods results poor, and this could be due to the fact that the 3.0 T has a better resolution compared to a US and MR 1.5 T. These methods seem to have similar efficacies for the evaluation of vessel stenosis, legitimizing the use of the developed phantom as a versatile and reproducible instrument that could be used during quality controls programs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of BIOMORF, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Silvia Marino, Barbara Testagrossa & Giuseppe Acri

  2. IRCCS Centro Neurolesi “Bonino-Pulejo”, Messina, Italy

    Lilla Bonanno, Silvia Marino & Rosa Morabito

  3. Biomedical Department of Internal and Specialistic Medicine, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Rosa Morabito

  4. Casa di Cura “Cristo Re”, Messina, Italy

    Giancarlo Barbalace

  5. High School Campo Calabro (RC), Campo Calabro, Italy

    Angela Sestito

Authors
  1. Lilla Bonanno
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  2. Silvia Marino
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  3. Rosa Morabito
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  4. Giancarlo Barbalace
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  6. Barbara Testagrossa
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Correspondence to Giuseppe Acri.

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Bonanno, L., Marino, S., Morabito, R. et al. Evaluation of US and MRI techniques for carotid stenosis: a novel phantom approach. Radiol med 124, 368–374 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-018-0971-7

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