Two-dimensional blood flow vectors obtained with a single sector probe

Abstract

Color Doppler method is one of medical imaging modalities for the blood flow visualization. The method is widely used for noninvasive diagnosis of heart diseases, and can provide real-time information on blood flow with low-cost. However, the method can measure the 1D blood flow velocity component only along an ultrasonic beam. In this study, diverging waves with two different angles were irradiated from a single cardiac sector probe to deduce a 2D blood flow vector from each velocity measured with the angles. The feasibility of the proposed method was evaluated in an experiment using a straight flow PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol) gel phantom. The 2D velocity vectors deduced by the proposed method were compared with the flow vectors obtained by PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) method. Average velocities calculated from the data obtained by the PIV method and by the proposed method were 50.1 cm/s and 48.1 cm/s, respectively. The velocity vectors estimated by the proposed method almost corresponded to that by the PIV method. The proposed method can provide important information on details of cardiac blood flow dynamics.