Quantification of blood volume flow by decorrelation analysis of radio-frequency intravascular echo signals

This paper presents a novel method for measuring local blood velocity and quantifying volume flow directly from cross-sectional intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) using a conventional IVUS catheter. This method is based on multiple decorrelation analysis of radio frequency echo signals. The velocity measurement is obtained by comparing the measured decorrelation value with a priori knowledge of the beam characteristics of the ultrasound transducer used. Volume flow is derived by integrating the velocity vector with its corresponding area element over the vessel cross-section. The proposed method was validated in vivo in pig experiments by comparing IVUS-flow data to the reference flow obtained with an electromagnetic (EM) flowmeter. An excellent correlation was observed between IVUS- and EM-flow data. No significant differences in the mean volume flow were found between the two methods. Results of this study demonstrate the potential of assessing vessel geometry simultaneously with functional parameters using the decorrelation analysis method