Early clinical experience with color three-dimensional intravascular ultrasound in peripheral interventions

Purpose: To report early clinical experiences with color 3-dimensional intr avascular ultrasound (3-D IVUS) in assisting peripheral interventions. Technique: A 3.5-F, 20-MHz IVUS catheter that utilizes ChromaFlo computer s oftware to demonstrate blood flow in color was evaluated in over 100 periph eral interventions. ChromaFlo captures up to 30 conventional IVUS frames ev ery second and generates "real-time" imaging. The software compares sequent ial axial IVUS images and interprets any differences in the position of ech ogenic blood particles, which are displayed as colorized flow in axial or 3 -D renderings. Conclusions: ChromaFlo-enhanced IVUS demonstrates colorized blood flow insi de the vessel lumen, which is helpful in distinguishing echolucent disease from luminal blood flow and can also be used to perform peripheral interven tions in patients with renal failure or allergy, avoiding the use of contra st media.