Characterization of blood-mimicking fluid flow turbulence with pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound

Ultrasound Doppler methods are widely used in clinical practice for early non-invasive diagnostics of cardiovascular system. Particularly, the observation of Doppler spectral broadening is attributed to the presence of turbulence in the human circulatory system, which, in turn, is intrinsic not only to abnormalities of the valves and heart structures, but also associated with different pathologies of vascular system [1]. The visual inspection of an enlargement of the spectral bandwidth and the evaluation of spectral broadening indices have been used for many years to grade vascular stenosis [2]. The lack of consequent quantitative theory of Doppler response from a biological fluid, which takes account of the characteristics of their motional pattern, configuration of probing wave beams and radiation parameters, has probably contributed to the difficulty in obtaining the quantitative assessment of turbulent pulsations scales using Doppler ultrasound and their limited clinical use.