Calibrating Doppler imaging of preterm intracerebral circulation using a microvessel flow phantom

• Published in: Frontiers in human neuroscience 2015-01, Vol.8, p.1068-1068
• Main Authors: Camfferman, Fleur A, Ecury-Goossen, Ginette M, La Roche, Jhuresy E, de Jong, Nico, van 't Leven, Willem, Vos, Hendrik J, Verweij, Martin D, Nasserinejad, Kazem, Cools, Filip, Govaert, Paul, Dudink, Jeroen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Babies; Blood; Brain injury; Calibration; Catheters; cerebral blood flow (CBF); cerebral circulation; cerebral perfusion; Developmental stages; Doppler effect; Doppler ultrasound; Fetuses; Flow velocity; Infants; Medical research; Microcirculation; Mimicry; Neuroimaging; Neuroscience; Perfusion; Traumatic brain injury; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasound; Uterus; Visualization
• ISSN: 1662-5161; 1662-5161
• DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.01068

Preterm infants are born during critical stages of brain development, in which the adaptive capacity of the fetus to extra-uterine environment is limited. Inadequate brain perfusion has been directly linked to preterm brain damage. Advanced high-frequency ultrasound probes and processing algorithms allow visualization of microvessels and depiction of regional variation. To assess whether visualization and flow velocity estimates of preterm cerebral perfusion using Doppler techniques are accurate, we conducted an in vitro experiment using a microvessel flow phantom. An in-house developed flow phantom containing two microvessels (inner diameter 200 and 700 μm) with attached syringe pumps, filled with blood-mimicking fluid, was used to generate non-pulsatile perfusion of variable flow. Measurements were performed using an Esaote MyLab70 scanner. Microvessel mimicking catheters with velocities as low as 1 cm/s were adequately visualized with a linear ultrasound probe. With a convex probe, velocities