Quantitative assessment of in vitro jets based on three-dimensional color Doppler reconstruction

Three-dimensional (3-D) color Doppler imaging of flow jets was performed to investigate the effects of flow rate and orifice size on jet volumes. Flow jets were generated using a how model to simulate mitral regurgitation. Th is flow model consisted of a ventricular chamber, a valvular plate and an a trial chamber, Steady Bow was driven through circular orifices having diame ters of 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, and 6 mm, respectively, with flow rates of 5, 10, 15 , 20, and 25 mL/s to form free jets in the atrial chamber. An ATL Ultramark 9 HDI system was used to perform 3-D color Doppler imaging of the Bow jets . A transesophageal probe was rotated by a stepper motor to create 3-D colo r Doppler images of the jets. The color jet volumes for different hemodynam ic conditions were measured and then compared with the theoretical predicti ons. Results showed that the jet volume estimated from the 3-D color Dopple r was directly proportional to the flow rate and inversely proportional to the orifice size. The estimated jet volumes correlated well (r > 0.95) with theoretical predictions, This study supports the use of color jet volume a s a parameter to quantify mitral regurgitation, (C) 2001 World Federation f or Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.