ULTRASOUND DOPPLER VECTOR TOMOGRAPHY MEASUREMENTS OF DIRECTIONAL BLOOD-FLOW

An experimental system has been developed to verify the possibility of detecting flow activity using a technique called ultrasound Doppler v ector tomography. A tomography algorithm is used to reconstruct blood flow vector fields using data from computer-controlled ultrasound cont inuous-wave Doppler scanning equipment. The result is a picture in whi ch the brightness variations represent the reconstructed values of the curl of the velocity field (del x v). Continuous ultrasound is transm itted into a region with flow activity and the Doppler-shifted signals are received. To obtain measurement data suited for fan beam tomograp hy, the scanning is performed in a plane from points encircling the re gion. Reconstructions have been achieved using measurement data from t wo different flow phantoms. A comparison between the experimental resu lts and simulations shows good conformity. Copyright (C) 1997 World Fe deration for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.