3D velocity and volume flow measurement in vivo using speckle decorrelation and 2D high frame rate contrast-enhanced ultrasound
File(s)08398393.pdf (1.6 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Being able to measure 3D flow velocity and volumetric flow rate effectively in the cardiovascular system is valuable but remains a significant challenge in both clinical practice and research. Currently there has not been an effective and practical solution to the measurement of volume flow using ultrasound imaging systems due to challenges in existing 3D imaging techniques and high system cost. In this study, a new technique for quantifying volumetric flow rate from the cross-sectional imaging plane of the blood vessel was developed by using speckle decorrelation, 2D high frame rate imaging with a standard 1D array transducer, microbubble contrast agents, and ultrasound imaging velocimetry (UIV). Through speckle decorrelation analysis of microbubble signals acquired with a very high frame rate and by using UIV to estimate the two in-plane flow velocity components, the third and out-of-plane velocity component can be obtained over time and integrated to estimate volume flow. The proposed technique was evaluated on a wall-less flow phantom in both steady and pulsatile flow. UIV in the longitudinal direction was conducted as a reference. The influences of frame rate, mechanical index, orientation of imaging plane, and compounding on velocity estimation were also studied. In addition, an in vivo trial on the abdominal aorta of a rabbit was conducted. The results show that the new system can estimate volume flow with an averaged error of 3.65±2.37% at a flow rate of 360 ml/min and a peak velocity of 0.45 m/s, and an error of 5.03±2.73% at a flow rate of 723 ml/min and a peak velocity of 0.8 m/s. The accuracy of the flow velocity and volumetric flow rate estimation directly depend on the imaging frame rate. With a frame rate of 6000 Hz, a velocity up to 0.8 m/s can be correctly estimated. A higher mechanical index (MI=0.42) is shown to produce greater errors (up to 21.78±0.49%, compared to 3.65±2.37% at MI=0.19). An in vivo trial, where velocities up to 1 m/s were correctly measured, demonstrated the potential of the technique in clinical applications.
Date Issued
2018-12-01
Date Acceptance
2018-06-15
Citation
IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, 2018, 65 (12), pp.2233-2244
ISSN
0885-3010
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Start Page
2233
End Page
2244
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control
Volume
65
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
© 2018 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
British Heart Foundation
Grant Number
EP/M011933/1
PG/16/95/32350
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Acoustics
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Engineering
Blood flow rate
echo-particle imaging velocimetry (PIV)
microbubbles
speckle decorrelation (SDC)
ultrafast ultrasound
BLOOD-FLOW
RATE ULTRASONOGRAPHY
DOPPLER
US
QUANTIFICATION
AGGREGATION
ELASTICITY
AGENT
02 Physical Sciences
09 Engineering
Acoustics
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-06-27