Real-time 2-d phased array vector flow imaging

Simon Holbek*, Kristoffer Lindskov Hansen, Nikolaj Fogh, Ramin Moshavegh, Jacob Bjerring Olesen, Michael Bachmann Nielsen, Jorgen Arendt Jensen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Echocardiography examination of the blood flow is currently either restricted to 1-D techniques in real-time or experimental offline 2-D methods. This paper presents an implementation of transverse oscillation for real-time 2-D vector flow imaging (VFI) on a commercial BK Ultrasound scanner. A large field-of-view (FOV) sequence for studying flow dynamics at 11 frames per second (fps) and a sequence for studying peak systolic velocities (PSVs) with a narrow FOV at 36 fps were validated. The VFI sequences were validated in a flow rig with continuous laminar parabolic flow and in a pulsating flow pump system before being tested in vivo, where measurements were obtained on two healthy volunteers. Mean PSV from 11 cycles was 155 cms-1 with a precision of ±9.0% for the pulsating flow pump. In vivo, PSV estimated in the ascending aorta was 135 cms-1 ± 16.9% for eight cardiac cycles. Furthermore, in vivo flow dynamics of the left ventricle and in the ascending aorta were visualized. In conclusion, angle independent 2-D VFI on a phased array has been implemented in real time, and it is capable of providing quantitative and qualitative flow evaluations of both the complex and fully transverse flow.

Original languageEnglish
JournalIEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control
Volume65
Issue number7
Pages (from-to)1205-1213
Number of pages9
ISSN0885-3010
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • 3-D vector flow
  • blood velocity estimation
  • transverse oscillation

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