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Updated: Dec 26, 2025
Blood Flow Imaging with Ultrafast Doppler
Published on: October 14, 2020
Adaptive hybrid flow measurement of color Doppler and speckle image velocimetry
Jun Hong Park1, Woorak Choi1, Sang Joon Lee1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77, Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang 37679, Republic of Korea.
Insights
This study introduces an adaptive hybrid (AH) scheme to improve hemodynamic measurements using Color Doppler (CD) ultrasound. The AH technique enhances velocity accuracy, aiding in the diagnosis of vascular and valve-related diseases.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Medical Imaging
- Fluid Dynamics
Background:
- Color Doppler (CD) ultrasound is widely used for hemodynamic information.
- Technical limitations of CD, such as aliasing and limited imaging, hinder accurate vascular disease diagnosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and validate an adaptive hybrid (AH) scheme to enhance the measurement accuracy of conventional CD ultrasound.
- To improve velocity field measurement by integrating speckle image velocimetry (SIV) with CD.
Main Methods:
- Developed an adaptive hybrid (AH) scheme combining CD ultrasound with speckle image velocimetry (SIV).
- Validated the AH technique through in vitro experiments with varying flow rates and insonation angles.
- Assessed clinical applicability by measuring venous blood flow in the human lower extremity.
Main Results:
- The AH technique demonstrated superior accuracy compared to conventional CD, with bias errors below 0.7 mm/s in vitro.
- AH measurements of venous flow rates remained constant along the vein, unlike CD and SIV.
- The AH scheme improved measurement accuracy without requiring new equipment.
Conclusions:
- The adaptive hybrid (AH) scheme significantly enhances the accuracy of hemodynamic measurements from Color Doppler ultrasound.
- AH technology offers a viable solution for improved flow dynamics analysis and diagnosis of valve-related diseases.
- This technique provides enhanced diagnostic capabilities for vascular conditions without additional hardware.
Abstract:
Color Doppler (CD) ultrasound has been commonly employed in biomedical field to get hemodynamic information. However, reliable diagnostic evaluation and criteria for vascular diseases may not be provided due to technical limitations of CD, including single-directional measurement, aliasing, and limited imaging conditions. In this study, adaptive hybrid (AH) scheme is proposed to enhance measurement accuracy of conventional CD. It can improve the accuracy of velocity field measurement by replacing erroneous vectors in the measured CD results with the correct vectors obtained from a speckle image velocimetry (SIV) technique. The performance of the proposed AH technique was validated through in vitro experiments for various flow rates and insonation angle conditions, comparing conventional velocimetry techniques. The in vitro experiments demonstrated that the AH technique could measure flow velocity with better accuracy than the CD with bias errors of below 0.7 mm/s. The clinical applicability of the AH was also validated by measuring venous flows at human lower extremity, checking constant volumetric flow rates. Flow rates measured by the AH were maintained along the vein, while the CD and SIV results varied. As a result, the AH can provide improved measurement accuracy without installing a new supplementary equipment. It would be effectively utilized for analyzing flow dynamics and diagnosing valve-related disease.
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