Blood flow imaging - a new real-time, flow imaging technique

Abstract

This paper presents a new method for the visualization of two-dimensional (2-D) blood flow in ultrasound imaging systems called blood flow imaging (BFI). Conventional methods of color flow imaging (CFI) and power Doppler (PD) techniques are limited as the velocity component transversal to the ultrasound beam cannot be estimated from the received Doppler signal. The BFI relies on the preservation and display of the speckle pattern originating from the blood flow scatterer signal, and it provides qualitative information of the blood flow distribution and movement in any direction of the image. By displaying speckle pattern images acquired with a high frame rate in slow motion, the blood flow movement can be visually tracked from frame to frame. The BFI is easily combined with conventional CFI and PD methods, and the resulting display modes have been shown to have several advantages compared to CFI or PD methods alone. Two different display modes have been implemented: one combining BFI with conventional CFI, and one combining BFI with PD. Initial clinical trials have been performed to assess the clinical usefulness of BFI. The method especially has potential in vascular imaging, but it also shows potential in other clinical applications.

Blood Flow Imaging—A New Angle‐Independent Ultrasound Modality for the Visualization of Flow in Atrial Septal Defects in Children

“…This is the first study that evaluate BFI in cardiac imaging. The increased imaging depths and more complex flow patterns in cardiac imaging degrade the speckle visualization of BFI 14 . Speckle directions in adult TTE can therefore be challenging to perceive.…”

“…A new real time 2D flow imaging modality called blood flow imaging (BFI) has been described 14 . This modality extends CDI with information of flow direction that is not dependent on the relative angle of the ultrasound beam, and which is not limited by velocity aliasing.…”

Does a New Ultrasound Flow Modality Improve Visualization of Neonatal Pulmonary Veins?

“…The ultrasound research environment in Trondheim has developed a new real time ultrasound flow modality called BFI, 15,16 which is a visual method aimed to image the blood flow in more detail than today's Doppler techniques. BFI is patented and currently commercially available for vascular imaging 17 .…”

“…Based on the 8–12 temporal image samples typically acquired in CDI, one color image and 4–8 speckle images can be produced. For more details on the implementation of BFI, we refer to information in a technical paper 16 …”

Blood Flow Imaging in Transesophageal Echocardiography during Atrial Septal Defect Closure: A Comparison with the Current References

“…Blood flow imaging (BFI) is a new ultrasound modality which supplements CDI with angle‐independent information of flow direction that is not influenced by velocity aliasing . This is done by visualizing the blood speckle movement superimposed on the color Doppler images.…”