Method and apparatus for cross-sectional color doppler volume flow measurement
US6071242A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 30, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jun 6, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 30, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S15/58
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system is disclosed for measuring volume flow through vessel. A longitudinal area of a vessel in a body is scanned using a color Doppler imaging method, such that an imaging plane is formed approximately through the center of said vessel. A number of color pixels in a scanned cross-section of the vessel in which volume flow is detected are counted and tabulated. From this number of pixels, an observed cross-sectional area of the vessel is determined. Frequency shift information for each of the counted pixels is determined and these frequency shifts are spatially averaged. The instantaneous volume flow through the vessel is then computed from the cross-sectional area and frequency shift information. The volume flow for several different samples is computed. The instantaneous volume flows from each color Doppler imaging frame are temporally averaged over one or more integral cardiac cycles to compute a temporally-averaged volume flow.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.