The conventional method requires a centerline of a vessel to estimate the vessel diameter. Two methods of estimating the centerline of vessels have been reported: One is to manually define the centerline of the vessel. This potentially contributes to inter- and intra-observer variability. The orientation of the centerline has an effect on the diameter function since diameters are computed perpendicular to the centerline. And the other is to automatically detect the centerline of the vessel. But this is a very complicated method. In this paper, we propose a new method of estimating vessel diameter using direction codes without detecting centerline. Since this method detects the vessel boundary and direction code at the same time, it simplifies the procedure and reduces execution time in estimating the vessel diameter. Compared to a method that automatically estimates the vessel diameter using centerline, a proposed method provides an improved accuracy in image with poor contrast, branching or obstructed vessels. Also, this provides a good compression of boundary description. Our experiments demonstrate the usefulness of the technique using direction code for quantitative angiography. Experimental results justify the validity of the proposed method.