What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Other. Population: Healthy volunteers (n=2). Intervention: Flexible Doppler ultrasound device vs. Commercial ultrasound machine. Primary outcome: Peak flow velocity (PFV) measurement accuracy.

October 27, 2021Open Access

Flexible Doppler ultrasound device for the monitoring of blood flow velocity

FWFengle WangTsinghua University PJPeng JinChina Mobile (China)YFYunlu FengChinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College

Key Result

A novel flexible, wearable Doppler ultrasound device accurately measured absolute blood flow velocity in human arteries, demonstrating a relative error of peak flow velocity below 8.69%.

Structured PICO

Does a flexible Doppler ultrasound device accurately measure absolute blood flow velocity compared to commercial ultrasound machines in phantoms and human subjects?

Population

Two healthy young male volunteers evaluated for blood flow velocity using a novel flexible Doppler ultrasound device.

Intervention

Flexible Doppler ultrasound device (1 mm thick, 0.75 g, skin conforming, 5 MHz continuous-wave)

Comparator

Commercial ultrasound machine (EPIQ 7) and traditional 5-MHz double-crystal Doppler probe

Outcome

Measurement of absolute blood flow velocitysurrogate

A novel flexible, wearable Doppler ultrasound device can accurately and continuously monitor absolute blood flow velocity, offering potential for postoperative vascular monitoring.

Limitations

Motion artifacts in real-world conditions bring large noise in the velocity measurement, requiring the subject to keep the measured position still.
The device currently lacks integrated post-end functions such as analog circuits, wireless communication, and a power supply.

Abstract

Thrombosis and restenosis after vascular reconstruction procedures may cause complications such as stroke, but a clinical means to continuously monitor vascular conditions is lacking. Conventional ultrasound probes are rigid, particularly for postoperative patients with fragile skin. Techniques based on photoplethysmography or thermal analysis provide only relative changes in flow volume and have a shallow detection depth. Here, we introduce a flexible Doppler ultrasound device for the continuous monitoring of the absolute velocity of blood flow in deeply embedded arteries based on the Doppler effect. The device is thin (1 mm), lightweight (0.75 g), and skin conforming. When the dual-beam Doppler method is used, the influence of the Doppler angle on the velocity measurement is avoided. Experimental studies on ultrasound phantoms and human subjects demonstrate accurate measurement of the flow velocity. The wearable Doppler device has the potential to enhance the quality of care of patients after reconstruction surgery.

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