Error bounds for wide-band high resolution Doppler ultrasound blood flow measurement

Cramer-Rao bounds on the RMS error of Doppler flow measurement instruments are presented for CW Doppler, narrowband pulsed Doppler, and wideband pulsed Doppler blood flow measurement for both optimal and conventional receivers. The bounds indicate that for a given SNR (signal-to-noise ratio), narrowband pulsed Doppler can be as accurate as CW Doppler. They also suggest that with an optimal estimator the RMS flow velocity error of wideband pulsed Doppler varies slightly from that of CW Doppler while with a conventional receiver the RMS error increases rapidly with increasing pulse bandwidth.<>