3 Doppler Physics & Fluid Dynamics Flashcards
How is stroke volume calculated?
Blood flow velocity is pulsatile, not constant.
The CSA is the area and the VTI is the stroke distance.
CSA = 0.785 x (diameter)2
Volume (ml/beat) = CSA (cm2) x VTI (cm)
What is the continuity equation and what are its assumptions?
The continuity equation is used to calculate valve area.
The law of conservation of mass states that the volume through a closed system is constant so the blood flow rate in one area is equal to the blood flow rate in another area. This assumes that the blood is incompressible and the vessel is not elastic.
CSA A x VTI A = CSA B x VTI B
CSA AV = CSA LVOT x (VTI LVOT) / (VTI AV)
What are the differences between laminar and turbulent blood flow?
Normal blood flow is laminar in which the blood flows in parallel channels which are uniform in velocity.
Turbulent blood flow, in which blood flows in different directions with different velocities, is present at areas of stenosis.
What is Reynolds’ equation?
Reynolds Equation is used to assesses blood flow patterns to assess if the blood flow is laminar or turbulent.
Re = (p x v x D) / u
p = density, v = velocity, D = length/diameter, u = viscosity
A Re of < 2000 indicates laminar flow, a Re of 2000-4000 indicates transitional flow and a Re of > 4000 indicates turbulent flow.
What is the Bernoulli equation?
The Bernoulli equation is used to calculate the pressure gradient across a valve.
If the proximal velocity (V1) is higher, the full Bernoulli equation is used and if the distal velocity (V2) is higher, the simplified Bernoulli equation is used.
∆P = 4 x (V2/2 – V2/1)
∆P = 4 x V2
What is the relationship between blood speed, static pressure and potential energy?
P + 1/2pv2 + pgh = constant
P = static pressure (pa), p = density (kg/m3), v = velocity (m/s), g = acceleration time due to gravity (9.81m/s2), h = height (m) which represents the potential energy per unit mass
The higher the speed, the lower the pressure and the lower the potential energy.
If the blood is moving from high to low, the potential energy decreases and the kinetic energy increases.
What is the Coanda effect?
A phenomenon in which a jet of fluid follows the curvature of the surface, not a straight line. This is because the jet of fluid creates a low-pressure area between the jet and the surface, creating a difference in pressure, causing the jet to adhere to the surface.
What occurs in the transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow?
The transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow is affected by the Reynolds number (fluid density, fluid velocity, fluid viscosity, vessel length), surface roughness and the flow path. The transition involves the breakdown of uniform channels, the formation of eddies (swirling of fluid and reverse of flow), and increased mixing which result in chaotic flow patterns.
The higher the blood density and velocity, the lower the blood viscosity, and the wider or longer the vessel, the higher the risk of turbulent flow.
What is the doppler effect?
The doppler effect is the relative change the in wavelength or frequency of a sound wave between the source and the receiver. If the ultrasound wave is moving towards the receiver, the wavelength decreases and the frequency increases.
What is the doppler equation?
V = (c x fd) / (2 x ft x cosθ)
velocity = (speed of blood x doppler shift) / (2 x frequency x cos(angle between blood and ultrasound))
In doppler physics, what is the effect of angle on velocity?
The greater the angle (misalignment), the more the velocity is underestimated, particularly in angles >20°.
What is the fast fourier transform?
The fast fourier transform averages the frequencies, converts the frequencies to velocities, and displays the spectrum of frequencies as doppler waveforms to allow spectral analysis.
Describe the spectral doppler display.
The spectral doppler display plots frequency shift (velocity) on the y axis and time on the x axis. Flow towards the transducer is plotted above the line and flow away from the transducer is plotted below the line. The density of the display represents the amplitude of the signal at that velocity.
What are the mean, modal and maximum velocities and what is velocity variance?
The mean velocity is an average of all of the velocities.
The modal velocity is the most common velocity and is the brightest part of the display. It is used to assess the dominant flow pattern.
The peak velocity is the highest velocity. It is used to assess valvular stenosis or regurgitation severity.
Velocity variance measures the variability in velocity. A high velocity variance indicates turbulent blood flow.
What is aliasing?
Aliasing is present when the RBC velocity is greater than the Niquist limit and the PWD is unable to accurately measure the RBC velocity.
If the RBC velocity is greater than the Niquist limit, the spectral doppler display will show the top of the waveform to be missing and to be transposed to the opposite side of the baseline.
Aliasing may be present in PWD and CFD.