Time-resolved volumetric MRI blood flow: a Doppler ultrasound perspective

Hemodynamic information is increasingly inspected to assess cardiovascular disease. Abnormal blood-flow patterns include high-speed jet flow and regurgitant flow. Such pathological blood-flow patterns are nowadays mostly inspected by means of color Doppler ultrasound imaging. To date, Doppler ultrasound has been the prevailing modality for blood-flow analysis, providing non-invasive and cost-effective blood-flow imaging. Since recent years, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly employed to measure time-resolved blood-flow data. Albeit more expensive, MRI enables volumetric velocity encoding, providing true vector-valued data with less noise. Domain experts in the field of ultrasound and MRI have extensive experience in the interpretation of blood-flow information, although they employ different analysis techniques. We devise a visualization framework that extends on common Doppler ultrasound visualizations, exploiting the added value of MRI velocity data, and aiming for synergy between the domain experts. Our framework enables experts to explore the advantages and disadvantages of the current renditions of their imaging data. Furthermore, it facilitates the transition from conventional Doppler ultrasound images to present-day high-dimensional velocity fields. To this end, we present a virtual probe that enables direct exploration of MRI-acquired blood-flow velocity data using user-friendly interactions. Based on the probe, Doppler ultrasound inspired visualizations convey both in-plane and through-plane blood-flow velocities. In a compound view, these two-dimensional visualizations are linked to state-of-the-art three-dimensional blood-flow visualizations. Additionally, we introduce a novel volume rendering of the blood-flow velocity data that emphasizes anomalous blood-flow patterns. The visualization framework was evaluated by domain experts, and we present their feedback.