COLOR DOPPLER IMAGE-ANALYSIS FOR TISSUE VASCULARITY AND PERFUSION - APRELIMINARY CLINICAL-EVALUATION

An automated system for measuring features of colour Doppler (CD) imag es has been examined for its ability to measure tissue perfusion in vi vo under conditions of diffuse vascularity. Seven statistical features were extracted from CD images of human calf muscle and compared with the arterial input measured by plethysmography. It was found that, whe n appropriate scanning procedures are employed, good correlation is ac hieved with arterial input (r = 0.96 to 0.99). Ultrasound beam angle w as important, even for the assessment of ''colour area.'' A sensitive velocity scale was ideal for ''percentage colour'' (r = 0.979). ''Mean colour velocity'' correlates well with arterial input (r = 0.979) whe n the velocity scale was optimised for each CD scan. ''Integrated colo ur velocity per unit area'' was more responsive when using a variable velocity scale (r = 0.99) than a fixed velocity scale (r = 0.98), but was less responsive to low flow. Automated CD analysis speeds up the p rocess of quantitative assessment of tissue vasculature and perfusion. It is therefore essential for the analysis of dynamic studies of ultr asound contrast agents and serial examinations when monitoring respons e to therapy.