A method of measuring the peak flow rate and the regurgitant volume of regurgitation based on the characteristics of turbulent free jets.

The issuing flow rate of a jet, Q0, is given by Q0 = U0A, where U0 is the issuing velocity of the jet and A is the cross-sectional area of the orifice. However, measurement of A of a regurgitant jet in the cardiovascular system is difficult. On the assumption that the jet is 'free' and turbulent, the following relations apply between the diameter of the orifice D, the length of the core region of the jet L, the centerline velocity of the jet Uc(chi) at an arbitrary distance chi(greater than L) from the orifice, and U0:L = 6.8D and Uc(chi)/U0 = L/chi. From these equations we obtain Q0 = 0.017 (chi Uc(chi))2/U0. Pulsatile jets issuing into an aqueous glycerol bath through orifices with various diameters were studied. U0, chi and Uc(chi) were measured with a color Doppler system. There was a good linear correlation between the peak flow rates estimated from the above equation and those measured with a flowmeter irrespective of the diameter of orifices (y = 0.93 chi + 3.8, r = 0.95, SEE = 6.6 ml/s). Assuming that the flow rate waveform is similar to the issuing velocity waveform, we estimated the issuing volume per stroke by integrating the issuing velocity. There was a good linear correlation between the estimated issuing volume and the known stroke volume of the pump (y = 1.0 chi + 2.6, r = 0.92, SEE = 2.8 ml).