Evaluation of local blood flow velocity in proximal and distal coronary arteries by laser Doppler method.

A high resolution laser Doppler velocimeter using an optical fiber was developed to evaluate detailed characteristics of phasic blood flow in the coronary artery. Local blood flow velocities were measured in the proximal (0.27 +/- 0.05 cm i.d.) and the distal portion (0.09 +/- 0.02 cm i.d.) of the left circumflex coronary artery of anesthetized, open-chest dogs. The velocity waveform in the central axial region of the vessel and the velocity profile across the vascular lumen were compared in the proximal and the distal portions.