Acquisition system of TTFM signals in vascular flowmetry based on FPGA reconfigurable logic

Segments of vessels from the own patient, as saphenous vein or mammary or radial arteries, are used to make coronary bypasses. The most effective technique, employed to evaluate the quality of these vessel, prior to their implantation into the periphery of the heart is the so called ultrasonic transit time flowemeter (TTFM). Some improvements in that technology still must be made to extract its full potential in order to achieve reliably measurements of very small blood flows in narrow lumen arteries and veins. In this paper, we present a software program, specifically developed to facilitate the surgical work of the surgeons, providing additional facilities for a quantitative dynamic visualization of flows in the implants during the surgical process. The flow-meter equipment integrates a TTFM analog-digital system, PC-compatible and with FPGA control, developed in a multilateral project funded by CYTED. The system is portable, low cost, robust, and easy to be used.