Towards an ideal blood analogue for Doppler ultrasound phantoms.

If a phantom is to produce Doppler spectral waveforms accurately matching those that would be obtained in vivo, it is necessary to use a fluid that behaves like blood in vivo, both acoustically and rheologically. The use of blood itself is undesirable and an analogue is required. Blood exhibits non-Newtonian behaviour as a result of aggregation of erythrocytes at low shear rates. This behaviour affects flow not only in sub-millimetre diameter vessels, but also in large scale structures. An alternative to blood is described that uses finely powdered nylon suspended in a mixture of glycerol and water. The nylon particles used have dimensions and density close to those of erythrocytes and they aggregate at low shear rates to give non-Newtonian behaviour. Viscosity may be varied over a wide range by the addition of liquid detergent. Consideration is given to the importance of haematocrit in modelling pulsatile and disturbed flows as it affects the haemodynamics of flow and the backscattered power of an ultrasound beam. This adaptable blood analogue is suitable for use in models of both large structures and fine vessels.