Blood flow measurement by Doppler ultrasound: a question of angles

Ultrasound Doppler equipment is widely used to estimate blood velocity and volume flow. Recently there has been correspondence concerning the origin of the Doppler shift in blood vessels. The assumption that only the movement of the target need be considered is challenged by the observation that Doppler shifts occur where there is relative motion. In blood there is unlikely to be relative motion between a reflecting blood corpuscle and its supporting plasma. In the simple case of plug flow the relative movement takes place at the vessel wall. An investigation is described which uses a flow rig Doppler phantom to assess what effect, if any, this phenomenon would have on Doppler shift results obtained by insonating a vessel such as the aortic arch and range gating through a curved section where flow velocity gradients are encountered. It has been assumed that if the sample volume were to lie in that part of the vessel in which the blood velocity vector were directly towards the probe, then an angle of 0 degrees could be assumed for calculations using the Doppler equation. Our results indicate that the observed Doppler shifts lie midway between those expected if the shift were to occur solely at the first moving fluid boundary and those originating only from scatterers within the sample volume.