%0 Journal Article
%T In Vivo Blood Velocity Vector Imaging Using Adaptive Velocity Compounding in the Carotid Artery Bifurcation.
%A Saris AECM
%A Hansen HHG
%A Fekkes S
%A Menssen J
%A Nillesen MM
%A de Korte CL
%J Ultrasound Med Biol
%V 45
%N 7
%D 07 2019
%M 31079874
%F 3.694
%R 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2019.03.008
%X Visualization and quantification of blood flow are considered important for early detection of atherosclerosis and patient-specific diagnosis and intervention. As conventional Doppler imaging is limited to 1-D velocity estimates, 2-D and 3-D techniques are being developed. We introduce an adaptive velocity compounding technique that estimates the 2-D velocity vector field using predominantly axial displacements estimated by speckle tracking from dual-angle plane wave acquisitions. Straight-vessel experiments with a 7.8-MHz linear array transducer connected to a Verasonics Vantage ultrasound system revealed that the technique performed with a maximum velocity magnitude bias and angle bias of -3.7% (2.8% standard deviation) and -0.16° (0.41° standard deviation), respectively. In vivo, complex flow patterns were visualized in two healthy and three diseased carotid arteries and quantified using a vector complexity measure that increased with increasing wall irregularity. This measure could potentially be a relevant clinical parameter which might aid in early detection of atherosclerosis.