Dynamic Sonographic Tissue Perfusion Measurement

The amount of blood passing through a tissue is a fundamental parameter since metabolism and its adaptation in disease is reflected by changes of perfusion. To evaluate the functional state of a tissue or an organ it is therefore helpful to know its perfusion intensity. Inflammation for example is highlighted by an increase of perfusion whereas chronic diseases are often accompanied by atrophy of tissue and reduction of organ perfusion. We developed and present here an overview of a simple but sensitive method to quantify tissue perfusion by means of simple color Doppler sonography. This dynamic tissue perfusion measurement (DTPM) uses color hue data to calculate the mean perfusion velocity and color pixel area to calculate the perfused part of a certain region of interest. All data are referred to full heart cycles thus reflecting all changes during a heart beat. With this approach a substantial step forward is made compared to traditional resistance index (RI) or contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) sonographic techniques of blood flow evaluation. This paper describes DTPM basics and shows applications in a variety of fields.