High Frame Rate Vector Flow Imaging: Development as a New Diagnostic Mode on a Clinical Scanner

In this paper, development of high frame rate vector flow imaging (HFR-VFI) on a clinical scanner is presented. Four tough problems encountered during the development, in terms of (i) parallel calculation and streamline working process, (ii) data handling, (iii) image quality assurance for real clinical use, and (iv) high frame rate dynamic display, have been demonstrated with corresponding solutions. The quantitative measurements based on the HFR-VFI, including velocity related parameters, flow turbulence quantification, volume flow and wall shear stress have been introduced and many examples of them are shown as well. Velocity and volume flow are measured by the implemented HFR-VFI and conventional PW with angle corrections using a moving string phantom and a Doppler flow phantom, respectively. The implemented HFR-VFI on the clinical scanner, named as V Flow, gives better agreement in accuracy studies of velocity and volume flow than the conventional PW.