SUMMARY Common carotid blood flow (CCBF) was measured in 11 anesthetised patients without extracranial arterial disease (nine acute subarachnoid haemorrhages and two cases of head injury). The range-gated Doppler flowmeter with an adjustable range-gated time system and a double transducer probe was used to determine diameter, blood velocity, and blood flow of the common carotid artery. Values were, respectively, 5.9 ± 1.1 mm, 13.8 ± 6.1 cm l33 Xenon inhalation technique) in 30 subjects with normal arterial flow conditions. Fairly high correlation coefficients were found between rCBF values and end diastolic velocities in internal carotid (r = 0.88) and in common carotid (r = 0.71).Previously reported results obtained by using continuous wave Doppler methods could not measure blood flow rates (cm 3 • min') but only blood flow velocity (cm • sec -1 ) because a continuous wave system cannot measure the arterial diameter and the mean cross sectional velocity. Prior studies with a range-gated technique measured blood flow rates in radial, 10 brachial," and common carotid 1214 arteries. The latter studies did not compare the results to the cerebral blood flow. The purpose of this paper is to describe a range-gated Doppler blood flowmetry technique and to