Handheld versus conventional ultrasound for assessing carotid artery in routine volunteers

AIM: Carotid ultrasound is a key tool for the diagnosis and evaluation of cardio disease, and the measurement of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and hemodynamic parameters is of paramount importance for the imaging method. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of handheld ultrasound devices for measuring carotid parameters. METHODS: We performed a carotid ultrasound on 25 participants using a handheld ultrasound device and a conventional ultrasound machine. For each participant, max and mean CIMT of common carotid artery (CCA) and peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV) and resistive index (RI) of CCA, bilateral external carotid artery (ECA), internal carotid artery (ICA) and the vertebral artery were measured. Agreement and repeatability were evaluated by linear regression and Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: We found a good repeatability and consistent of handheld ultrasound device in measuring mean CIMT (r = 0.68, P < 0.01). Furthermore, there was a moderate to good agreement between handheld and conventional ultrasound systems in measuring max IMT, mean IMT, PSV, EDV and RI of CCA (0.73, 0.79, 0.52, 0.58 and 0.84, respectively). CONCLUSION: Handheld ultrasound devices were able to provide carotid IMT and hemodynamic parameters measurements similar to those of conventional ultrasound. Such capabilities of handheld ultrasound devices might be useful for the primary assessment of carotid in clinical work.