Comparative study of power-based versus mean frequency-based transcranial color-coded duplex sonography in normal...

Area of Science:

• Neurosonology
• Cerebrovascular Ultrasound
• Medical Imaging Techniques

Background:

• Power-based transcranial color-coded duplex sonography (p-TCCD) offers potential advantages over frequency-based TCCD (f-TCCD), including angle independence and reduced aliasing.
• p-TCCD aims to improve signal-to-noise ratio for enhanced ultrasonic imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess p-TCCD's capability in visualizing cerebral parenchyma blood flow.
• To compare the advantages, limitations, and velocity measurement reliability of p-TCCD against f-TCCD in basal cerebral arteries of healthy individuals.

Main Methods:

• Two investigators conducted 15 p-TCCD and 15 f-TCCD studies on 30 normal subjects.
• Peak systolic (Vs) and end-diastolic (Vd) velocities were measured in major cerebral arteries.
• Reliability was assessed using correlation coefficients (r) and coefficients of variation (CV) between p-TCCD and f-TCCD.

Main Results:

• p-TCCD successfully depicted arteries with a perpendicular course to the ultrasound beam but failed to visualize cerebral parenchyma flow.
• Velocity measurements demonstrated good reliability for p-TCCD (Vs: r=0.84-0.93, CV=7.7%-10.8%; Vd: r=0.87-0.90, CV=10.3%-13.7%).
• Limitations of p-TCCD, such as lack of directional information and tissue motion artifacts, were deemed unimportant.

Conclusions:

• In normal adults with adequate acoustic windows, p-TCCD demonstrated reliable velocity measurements in basal cerebral arteries.
• However, p-TCCD offered no significant advantages over f-TCCD and presented several minor limitations.