A Critical Appraisal of Methods of Blood Flow Determination in Animals and Man

Classification of the various procedures of blood flow measurement is presented. The discussion is confined to the recording of pulsatile flow and its rapid fluctuations. The hydromechanical, electromagnetical and sonic types are particularly considered. It is concluded that, by now, the electromagnetic methods are the most superior procedures since they possess almost all the properties of an ideal direct method. Especially, their calibration in terms of the flow rate is independent of the velocity profile. Besides, the sonic flowmeters seem to be very promising.