Skin-scanning technique for superficial blood flow imaging using a high-frequency ultrasound system

• Skin-scanning technique was proposed for a ultrasound transducer to be scanned along the profile of an object.
• Skin-scanning technique exhibited markedly improved accuracy in estimating superficial blood flow rates.
• Skin-scanning technique represents a useful tool for assessing superficial blood flows in oncology and dermatology fields.

In this paper we propose a skin-scanning technique with a high-frequency ultrasound imaging system that enables images to be acquired at the fixed depth of field of a single-element focused transducer along the profile of an object contour by simultaneously moving the transducer in the horizontal and vertical directions. The scanning path, which closely parallels the profile of the object contour, was determined from the intensity difference between an object and the background in a brightness-mode image. The transducer moved along the profile of the object contour while maintaining a constant distance interval between adjacent pairs of ultrasonic signals in the horizontal direction. The image was then reconstructed by applying an alignment process to eliminate the distortion. The performance of skin-scanning technique was verified in vitro experiment using an arc-shaped phantom and the results showed a percentage error of 0.55% for the volumetric blood flow estimates. Moreover, in vivo experiment on a subcutaneous tumor was also performed. The results indicated that the proposed technique can accurately estimate the blood flow information along the profile of the object contour and avoid distortion of the morphology of blood vessels. The skin-scanning technique has potential for assessing superficial blood flows and prognoses in the oncology and dermatology fields.