An audit of a hospital-based Doppler ultrasound quality control protocol using a commercial string Doppler phantom

Cournane, Seán; Fagan, Andrew; Browne, Jacinta E.

doi:10.1016/j.ejmp.2013.10.001

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(14 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Complex flows are needed as a standard reference for the validation of innovative flow estimation algorithms. Recent audits concerning Ultrasound Quality Control protocols indicate that the current flow/velocity test objects available on the market are rather limited, expensive, and often fail to reproduce physiological conditions and physiological waveforms [15,16,17,18]. Manufacturers are not clear about tolerances and accuracy specifications [18] and the lack of well-defined protocols makes the Quality Control of scanners that measure flow and velocity challenging [15,16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A complex flow phantom for medical imaging: ring vortex phantom design and technical specification

Ambrogio

Walker²,

Narracott

et al. 2019

Journal of Medical Engineering & Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cardiovascular fluid dynamics exhibit complex flow patterns, such as recirculation and vortices. Quantitative analysis of these complexities supports diagnosis, leading to early prediction of pathologies. Quality Assurance of technologies that image such flows is challenging but essential, and to this end, a novel, cost-effective, portable, complex flow phantom is proposed and the design specifications are provided. The vortex ring is the flow of choice because it offers patterns comparable to physiological flows and is stable, predictable, reproducible and controllable. This design employs a piston/cylinder system for vortex ring generation, coupled to an imaging tank full of fluid, for vortex propagation. The phantom is motor-driven and by varying piston speed, piston displacement and orifice size, vortex rings with different characteristics can be produced. Two measurement methods, namely Laser-PIV and an optical/video technique, were used to test the phantom under a combination of configurations. Vortex rings with a range of travelling velocities (approximately 1-80cm/s) and different output-orifice diameters (10-25mm) were produced with reproducibility typically better than +/-10%. Although ultrasound compatibility has been demonstrated, longer-term ambitions include adapting the design to support comparative studies with different modalities, such as MRA and X-ray-CTA.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A complex flow phantom for medical imaging: ring vortex phantom design and technical specification

Ambrogio

Walker²,

Narracott

et al. 2019

Journal of Medical Engineering & Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Of the main Doppler quality control tests maximum velocity accuracy has been found to be sensitive to element drop-out in a number of studies [38,44]. However, the question remains would the paper clip test provide this information before changes in maximum velocity accuracy have occurred.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This provided evidence of the importance of acceptance testing ultrasound systems, particularly in relation to the maximum velocity accuracy. In addition to maximum velocity accuracy, string phantoms have also been recommended by a number of investigators as a useful test device for other Doppler test parameters such as spectral broadening, lowest and highest detectable velocities, penetration depth, direction detection accuracy, range gate registration and sensitivity [7,39,43,44,47,48]. In 2006, Di Nallo et al presented a possible quality control procedure for use with a String Phantom.…”

Section: String Phantomsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Doppler test parameters which have been evaluated using string phantoms are: maximum velocity accuracy, spectral broadening, lowest and highest detectable velocities, penetration depth, direction detection accuracy, sensitivity [7,39,44]. A representative Doppler spectrum of the HDI3000 curvilinear 2e4 MHz transducer using an in-house string phantom based on the BBS string phantom design is presented in Fig.…”

Section: String Phantomsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it should be noted that this phantom has several limitations, including: (1) the use of a silk filament as the Doppler target; (2) the fact that the filament passes through an airewater interface, resulting in air bubbles becoming trapped on the filament; and (3) the motor produces strong vibrations at certain velocities which effects the Doppler measurement accuracy at these specific velocities. Cournane et al investigated the use of this string phantom as part of a routine quality assurance programme and made recommendations to overcome some of the limitations associated with the design [44]. A string phantom which was previously available commercially is the DP1 (BBS Medical Electronic AB, Hagersten, Sweden) and this was used in a large number of the aforementioned studies which investigated the effect of filament material on the Doppler spectrum characteristics [41,42,45,46].…”

Section: String Phantomsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A review of Doppler ultrasound quality assurance protocols and test devices

Browne¹

2014

Physica Medica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tIn this paper, an overview of Doppler ultrasound quality assurance (QA) testing will be presented in three sections. The first section will review the different Doppler ultrasound parameters recommended by professional bodies for use in QA protocols. The second section will include an evaluation and critique of the main test devices used to assess Doppler performance, while the final section of this paper will discuss which of the wide range of test devices have been found to be most suitable for inclusion in Doppler QA programmes. Pulsed Wave Spectral Doppler, Colour Doppler Imaging QA test protocols have been recommended over the years by various professional bodies, including the UK's Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), the American Institute for Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). However, despite the existence of such recommended test protocols, very few commercial or research test devices exist which can measure the full range of both PW Doppler ultrasound and colour Doppler imaging performance parameters, particularly quality control measurements such as: (i) Doppler sensitivity (ii) colour Doppler spatial resolution (iii) colour Doppler temporal resolution (iv) colour Doppler velocity resolution (v) clutter filter performance and (vi) tissue movement artefact suppression. In this review, the merits of the various commercial and research test devices will be considered and a summary of results obtained from published studies which have made use of some of these Doppler test devices, such as the flow, string, rotating and belt phantom, will be presented.© 2014 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. IntroductionThe importance of assessing the quality of Doppler ultrasound systems is apparent considering that the result or product of Doppler ultrasound examinations is frequently directed toward a well-defined clinical question concerning blood flow [1]. For example, Doppler ultrasound is used to determine the level of stenosis by examining the changes in blood flow in the vessel of interest, and to determine whether flow is present in a tight stenosis. Another use is to determine if changes have occurred in blood flow in transplanted kidneys [1e3]. Indeed, the use of Doppler ultrasound has become more widespread over the last decade, largely due to advances in transducer technology, digital electronics and clutter filter algorithms, with a corresponding improvement in the Doppler sensitivity, axial resolution within the sample volume and the low velocity detection capabilities of modern systems [3]. With this increasing use of Doppler ultrasound techniques, it is of paramount importance that ultrasound systems meet the requirements of each of the different clinical applications and that the quality of the information is maintained throughout the lifetime of the ultrasound system. To this end, performance and quality control tests are carried out to determine firstly that th...

show abstract

Emulsion synthesis of CL-20/DNA composite with excellent superfine spherical improved sensitivity performance via a combined ultrasonic–microwave irradiation approach

Zhu

Luo

et al. 2018

J Mater Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An audit of a hospital-based Doppler ultrasound quality control protocol using a commercial string Doppler phantom

Cited by 9 publications

References 12 publications

A complex flow phantom for medical imaging: ring vortex phantom design and technical specification

A complex flow phantom for medical imaging: ring vortex phantom design and technical specification

A review of Doppler ultrasound quality assurance protocols and test devices

Emulsion synthesis of CL-20/DNA composite with excellent superfine spherical improved sensitivity performance via a combined ultrasonic–microwave irradiation approach

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About