Estimation of Blood Flow Velocity in the Heart of the Danio rerio Embryo Using Correlation of Ultrasonic Signals

A technique for studying the heart of the Danio rerio embryo was proposed and developed. A high-frequency ultrasonic microscope was used as a system for recording spatiotemporal signals. Due to its high spatial resolution (20 $\mu$m), it is successfully used to observe the heart of lower vertebrates. Ultrasound frames recorded at various points in 20 $\mu$m increments provide insight into the position of the heart, its size, and the distribution of moving blood elements. An algorithm for recording and processing ultrasound data was presented to measure the blood flow velocity in the heart of embryos. The basis of the algorithm for estimating the spatiotemporal distribution of the longitudinal component of blood velocity is the correlation processing of three-dimensional ultrasonic signals. Using the developed technique, the blood velocity in the atrium of the Danio rerio embryo was measured.