A venous pulse Doppler catheter-tip flowmeter for measuring arterial blood velocity, flow, and diameter in deep arteries.

Numerous schemes have been used for measuring hemodynamic properties of deeply lying arteries; however, all have their limitations. This paper describes a new relatively nontraumatic intravenous approach that uses a catheter in connection with a pulsed ultrasonic Doppler velocity meter (PUDVM) and an echo track. The catheter was initially tested in a hydraulic model system for calibration of velocity and flow parameters. Lately, the catheter has permittted measurements of local instantaneous blood velocity, flow, and wall motion characteristics in adult Beagle dogs in the abdominal aorta and iliac artery. Evaluation studies have been conducted to compare the catheter-tip recordings with an independent method for measuring blood flow and wall motion. Coupling of this catheter-tip device with the PUDVM and echo track provides chronic measurements of hemodynamic parameters in these deep vessels which were virtually impossible to obtain previously. This technique may prove useful in monitoring vessel pathology longitudinally as well as in basic experimental situations requiring flow and arterial wall mechanical properties.