Determination of volume of vortices in poststenotic pulsatile flow by ultrasonic Doppler power ratio and spectrum analysis

Abstract

Based on the principle of ultrasonic Doppler flowmetry, a power ratio was derived from independent forward and reverse flow Doppler shift signals to measure a ratio of the volume of vortices to the total vessel volume in poststenotic separated flow. The ratio was also proportional to the ratio of the cross-sectional areas of vortices to the vessel lumen. In vitro pulsatile flow experiments were performed to test the methodology and to study flow separation and vortex shedding downstream from model stenoses. The averaged flow cross-sectional area ratio linearly correlated ( r=0.91) with the actual area reduction of the stenosis.