Perspective imaging of flow in arterial model obtained with continuous wave Doppler focusing technique

Flowing emboli in the circulatory system cause fatal diseases such as stroke or pulmonary embolism. Conventional transcranial Doppler ultrasound for detection of emboli requires precise positioning by experienced examiner. In the present study, an easier emboli detection device by visualizing perspective view of blood vessel is proposed. The perspective image was obtained with continuous wave (CW) Doppler ultrasound from 2-dimensional array probe. CW Doppler signal from each element was focused by novel beam forming algorithm to obtain en face images at arbitrary depth to form perspective image. Flow in arterial phantom was clearly visualized with CW Doppler focusing technique. The measured flow speed was 0.75 m/s (the theoretical flow speed: 0.796 m/s). The device may contribute for non-invasive and easier diagnosis of flowing emboli to prevent fatal embolus diseases at early stage.