High frame-rate blood vector velocity imaging using plane waves: simulations and preliminary experiments

Conventional ultrasound methods for acquiring color images of blood velocity are limited by a relatively low frame-rate and are restricted to give velocity estimates along the ultrasound beam direction only. To circumvent these limitations, the method presented in this paper uses 3 techniques: 1) The ultrasound is not focused during the transmissions of the ultrasound signals; 2) A 13-bit Barker code is transmitted simultaneously from each transducer element; and 3) The 2-D vector velocity of the blood is estimated using 2-D cross-correlation. A parameter study was performed using the Field II program, and performance of the method was investigated when a virtual blood vessel was scanned by a linear array transducer. An improved parameter set for the method was identified from the parameter study, and a flow rig measurement was performed using the same improved setup as in the simulations. Finally, the common carotid artery of a healthy male was scanned with a scan sequence that satisfies the limits set by the Food and Drug Administration. Vector velocity images were obtained with a frame-rate of 100 Hz where 40 speckle images are used for each vector velocity image. It was found that the blood flow approximately followed the vessel wall, and that maximum velocity was approximately 1 m/s, which is a normal value for a healthy person. To further evaluate the method, the test person was scanned with magnetic resonance (MR) angiography. The volume flow derived from the MR scanning was compared with that from the ultrasound scanning. A deviation of 9% between the 2 volume flow estimates was found.