3D - ULTRASOUND AT THE ARTERIAL AND VENOU S SYSTEM

We report upon a new method of vascular ultrasound which allows a thre e dimensional imaging. With serial sector images it is possible to get vertical pictures nearly parallel (max 60 in sequence). After transfo rmation, a workstation calculates the third dimension parallel to the surface of the body in addition to the known 2 dimensions. The result is a sort of sculpture rotating around 360 degrees which allows to tak e a look at the region of interest from diverse angles. Up to now we g ot informations on the morphology of arterial plaques which can be div ided into two main groups: a) prominent plaques either like branches o f a tree or like humps, b) plane excavated alterations of the vessel w all (exulcerations). At the venous system we did examinations on throm bosis. First acknowledges allow thrombi along a foreign body (catheter ) increase in layers while thrombi caused by stagnation show a more he terogenous structure.