Measurement of carotid Doppler spectra using autoregressive spectrum analyzer

Noninvasive detection of human carotid artery stenoses using a 4 MHz pulsed Doppler ultrasonic blood flowmeter was investigated. Ultrasonic signals obtained from common, external and internal carotid arteries were recorded, digitized and transferred into a 80286 based personal computer. Next, two spectral analysis techniques, FFT and AR modeling, were applied to the measured data. When the results are compared, it is seen that the AR spectral analysis technique provides better spectra especially in the case of stenosis.