Index proposal and basic estimator study for quantification of oscillation of the secondary flow pattern in tortuous vessels

Fluid-dynamic optimal design of helical vascular graft for stenotic disturbed flow

Although a helical configuration of a prosthetic vascular graft appears to be clinically beneficial in suppressing thrombosis and intimal hyperplasia, an optimization of a helical design has yet to be achieved because of the lack of a detailed understanding on hemodynamic features in helical grafts and their fluid dynamic influences. In the present study, the swirling flow in a helical graft was hypothesized to have beneficial influences on a disturbed flow structure such as stenotic flow. The characteristics of swirling flows generated by helical tubes with various helical pitches and curvatures were investigated to prove the hypothesis. The fluid dynamic influences of these helical tubes on stenotic flow were quantitatively analysed by using a particle image velocimetry technique. Results showed that the swirling intensity and helicity of the swirling flow have a linear relation with a modified Germano number (Gn*) of the helical pipe. In addition, the swirling flow generated a beneficial flow structure at the stenosis by reducing the size of the recirculation flow under steady and pulsatile flow conditions. Therefore, the beneficial effects of a helical graft on the flow field can be estimated by using the magnitude of Gn*. Finally, an optimized helical design with a maximum Gn* was suggested for the future design of a vascular graft.

Investigations of spectral resolution and angle dependency in a 2-D tracking Doppler method

An important source of error in velocity measurements from conventional pulsed wave (PW) Doppler is the angle used for velocity calibration. Because there are great uncertainties and interobserver variability in the methods used for Doppler angle correction in the clinic today, it is desirable to develop new and more robust methods. In this work, we have investigated how a previously presented method, 2-D tracking Doppler, depends on the tracking angle. A signal model was further developed to include tracking along any angle, providing velocity spectra which showed good agreement with both experimental data and simulations. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) bandwidth and the peak value of predicted power spectra were calculated for varying tracking angles. It was shown that the spectra have lowest bandwidth and maximum power when the tracking angle is equal to the beam-to-flow angle. This may facilitate new techniques for velocity calibration, e.g., by manually adjusting the tracking angle, while observing the effect on the spectral display. An in vitro study was performed in which the Doppler angles were predicted by the minimum FWHM and the maximum power of the 2-D tracking Doppler spectra for 3 different flow angles. The estimated Doppler angles had an overall error of 0.24° ± 0.75° when using the minimum FWHM. With an in vivo example, it was demonstrated that the 2-D tracking Doppler method is suited for measurements in a patient with carotid stenosis.