Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Estimation of Blood Flow Rate in Doppler Analysis: In Vivo Validation by Means of Phase Contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging

In this work we carry out an in vivo validation of a method for estimating blood flow rate from the peak velocity, as it is usually done in single-wire Doppler catheter measurements. This method, originally proposed in [1] stems from the application of numerical analysis of the blood flow with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques. It proposes a new formula linking the maximum velocity and the flow rate, which, however, has the same practical cost of classical approaches based on a priori assumptions on the velocity profile. After the first clinical observations indicating the improved accuracy in flow rate estimates introduced by the new method discussed in [2, 3], in this paper we present an ad hoc in vivo validation, as firstly suggested in [4], still confirming the reliability of the new approach.