Vector flow mapping using plane wave ultrasound imaging

Conventional pulse wave Doppler techniques can only provide one-dimensional blood velocity components parallel to the direction of the beam and conventional focusing provides limited frame rates of about 30-40 frames per second. As a solution to these well known limitations we perform a two-dimensional vector mapping using compounded coplanar oriented plane waves, analogous to vector-Doppler. Our method was tested using Field II simulations of both stationary parabolic pipe flow and computational fluid dynamics determined flow through a patient specific carotid artery. Our results show the ability for this method to provide more discernible representation of the flow dynamics compared with conventional color-Doppler imaging, while maintaining a frame rate of roughly 500 frames per second. Quantitative comparison with known velocity fields provides robust validation and demonstrates error comparable to that found in literature using conventional Doppler measurements. Moreover, this method provides a promising means to quantify quick transitory events and complex flow structures unattainable with clinical color-Doppler.