Towards a quantitative in vivo evaluation of venous blood echogenicity: image processing versus subjective assessment.

Purpose: Spontaneous blood echogenicity in vein ultrasound images may be a marker for an increased erythrocyte aggregability, but a reliable quantitative evaluation method is a prerequisite for its use in clinical studies. We compared a simple scoring system of blood echogenicity intensity and pattern, with automatic image analysis.

Material And Methods: 157 femoral and popliteal vein digitized ultrasound sequences were reviewed by two independent observers who chose an image, delimited an area of interest (ROI), and graded blood echogenicity intensity and pattern, using a four class score.