Colour ultrasound imaging of blood flow and tissue motion.

Recent years have seen the introduction of a high quality imaging modality which uses the Doppler shift for the study of blood flow and tissue motion. Colour ultrasound technology has now reached a level of maturity and it is, therefore, timely to review its features and consider how colour techniques may develop. This review concentrates on autocorrelator based colour systems. Recent developments are described including colour vector Doppler, contrast agents, 3D display, tissue vascularity assessment and volume flow measurement.