Detection and Quantification of Calcifications in Intravascular Ultrasound Images by Automatic Thresholding

Abstract An innovative application of automatic thresholding is used for the detection of calcification regions in intravascular ultrasound images. A priori knowledge of the acoustic shadow that usually accompanies calcification regions is used to discriminate these from other bright regions in the image. A method for the calculation of the angle of calcification has also been developed. The proposed algorithms are applied to in-vivo images obtained from left anterior descending coronary arteries during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty ( n = 14). The resulting specificity is 72% and the sensitivity 84%. The receiver operating characteristic curve, the area under the curve being equal to 0.91, is plotted to evaluate the algorithm performance. (E-mail: esmeraldo@ieee.org )