What is colour Doppler echocardiography? Cardiology Basics

What is colour Doppler echocardiography? Cardiology Basics Usual colour Doppler echocardiogram is superimposition of colour Doppler images on a two dimensional echocardiogram. Colour M-Mode is superimposition of colour Doppler images on an M-Mode echocardiogram. The principle of Doppler is that the frequency of sound wave coming from an object which is moving towards the ultrasound probe increases while that from an object moving away from the probe decreases. It is similar to the difference in the sound of a train whistle, which is different when the train is moving towards you than when it is moving away from you. In Doppler echocardiography, the target is moving red blood cells. Colour Doppler echocardiography receives the ultrasound signals reflected from moving red blood cells in the heart. Ultrasound signals are emitted and received by the ultrasound probe used for echocardiography. By notation, flow of blood away from the probe is depicted as blue and flow towards the probe is depicted as red. When the blood flow velocity increases in abnormal situations, the flow becomes turbulent. A turbulent flow will be shown as a mosaic colour which is a mixture of the basic colour of the flow with shades of yellow added to it. All high velocity flows across the diseased valves will be shown as mosaic jets. Colour Doppler echocardiography is very useful in giving a quick visual assessment of regurgitation and stenosis of heart valves. It will also show abnormal flows as in an atri...
Source: Cardiophile MD - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs