Examples of Vector Velocity Imaging

Abstract

To measure blood flow velocity in vessels with conventional ultrasound, the velocity is estimated along the direction of the emitted ultrasound wave. It is therefore impossible to obtain accurate information on blood flow velocity and direction, when the angle between blood flow and ultrasound wave approaches 90°. The majority of the vessels in the human body is parallel to the surface and therefore positioned in a way that prevents proper placement and angulation of the transducer, when the velocity and direction of blood flow is to be estimated. Different techniques to circumvent this problem have been tried including Transverse Oscillation. This method has been tested in computer simulations, on flow phantoms and in-vivo, and subsequently validated against MRI angiography. Transverse Oscillation is now implemented in a commercial ultrasound scanner from BK Medical (UltraView). In this article UltraView is demonstrated on the carotid artery, jugular vein and femoral vein that all runs almost parallel to the skin and thus is angled near 90° to the ultrasound waves. Arterial and venous simple and complex flow with formation of vortices is demonstrated by scanning on the longitudinal axis with a 90° angle on the vessel. Moreover secondary flow in the abdominal aorta is illustrated by scanning on the transversal axis.