Document Type
Article
Rights
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence
Disciplines
1.3 PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Abstract
In 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.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2014.08.003
Recommended Citation
Browne, J. : A review of Doppler Ultrasound Quality Assurance Protocols and Test Devices, Physica Medica, 2014. doi:10.1016/j.ejmp.2014.08.003
Publication Details
Physica Medica
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmp.2014.08.003