Does high-frame-rate ultrasound vector flow imaging provide more accurate quantitative blood flow measurements in the common carotid artery compared to pulsed wave Doppler, using PC-MRI as a reference?
High-frame-rate ultrasound vector flow imaging provides more accurate quantitative blood flow measurements in the common carotid artery than conventional pulsed wave Doppler when compared to PC-MRI.
V Flow is commercially developed by high-frame-rate ultrasound vector flow imaging. Compared to conventional color Doppler, V Flow is angle-independent and is capable of measuring both the magnitude and the direction of blood flow velocities. This paper aims to investigate the differences between V Flow and pulsed wave Doppler (PW) relative to phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI), for the quantitative measurements of blood flow in common carotid arteries (CCA) and, consequently, to evaluate the accuracy of the new technique, V Flow. Sixty-four CCAs were measured using V Flow, PW, and PC-MRI. The maximum velocities, time-averaged mean (TAMEAN) velocities, and volume flow were measured using different imaging technologies. The mean error with standard deviation (Std), the median of absolute errors, and the r-values between V Flow and PC-MRI results for the maximum velocity, the TAMEAN velocity, and the volume flow measurements are 9. 40% ± 14. 91%; 11. 84%; 0. 84, 21. 52% ± 14. 46%; 19. 28%; 0. 86, and -2. 80% ± 14. 01%; 10. 38%; 0. 7, respectively, and are 53. 44% ± 29. 68%; 49. 79%; 0. 74, 27. 83% ± 31. 60%; 23. 83; 0. 71, and 21. 01% ± 29. 64%; 25. 48%; 0. 34, respectively, for those between PW and PC-MRI. The boxplot, linear regression and Bland-Altman plots were performed for each comparison, which illustrated that the results measured via V Flow rather than via PW agreed more closely with those measured via PC-MRI.
Du et al. (2022) studied this question.