Doppler-derived trigger signals for high-frame-rate mouse cardiovascular imaging

The availability of an electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform in the adult mouse has permitted the measurement of fast, dynamic cardiac events where data acquisition is synchronized to the R-wave of the ECG waveform. These methods can easily attain one thousand frames/s at ultrasound frequencies greater than 20 MHz. With the heart being the first organ to develop, normal cardiovascular function is crucial to the viability of the developing embryo. Thus, translating such methodologies to analyze embryonic cardiovascular development would add crucial information in mouse models of congenital heart disease which are embryonic lethal. Obtaining an ECG signal from mouse embryos is impractical. Therefore, in this study, preliminary results are presented which derive a cardiac-trigger signal from Doppler blood-flow waveforms. A continuous wave 40 MHz Doppler ultrasound system was used to acquire the Doppler waveforms and a real-time algorithm was developed to process the Doppler waveforms and generate a trigger. Validation studies revealed that a heart rate can be reliably measured and that the Doppler trigger algorithm was robust enough to follow changes in the blood flow. Preliminary data showed that Doppler-derived triggers can be used for highframe-rate prospective imaging of the early embryonic mouse heart.