Combining 2D ultrasound High-frame rate Vector Flow (HiFR-VF) and 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) on the carotid bifurcation (CB) may allow the clinical validation of a new approach to obtain a comprehensive assessment of the blood flow field. This initial study aimed at ensuring the effectiveness of a protocol designed for a future multicentric prospective study.

A CB with severe stenosis at B-mode and Doppler US was enrolled. HiFR-VF provided the 2D velocity vectors from multidirectional plane waves and allowed the quantification of the complex flows and wall shear stress (WSS) measurements at different locations. The 3D model of the diseased vessel was reconstructed starting from a 3D FFE MRI (Fig. 1) multi-chunk sequence that makes use of the inflow effects of blood to visualize vessels. Subsequently, CFD simulation (Fig. 2) of the CB was performed and the flow field was...

WSS findings with HiFR-VF (Fig. 4) showed good agreement with the CFD simulation results. In particular, the areas of abnormal WSS obtained with the two modalities, matched.

Although WSS can only be estimated in a 2D plane with HiFR-VF, nonetheless oscillating WSS can be detected and correlate with the CFD results. Preliminary findings show that the study protocol was correctly designed and can be used for prospective clinical investigation.

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