Factor analysis in both spatial and temporal domains of color blooming artifacts in ultrasound investigations utilizing contrast agents.

Color blooming artifacts can cause misinterpretations of normal and pathological structures during color Doppler flow imaging with ultrasound contrast agents (USCAs). These artifacts are characterized in both the spatial and temporal domains: in the spatial domain, artifacts result from wave propagation and the ultrasound system; and in the temporal domain, the color blooming time (CBT) is used to denote the duration of artifacts. In our experiments, CBT decreased from 86.7 to 46.8 s when the transmitting pressure was decreased from 370 to 180 kPa. From this, we conclude that an adaptive mechanical index can significantly shorten the CBT, which may in turn prolong the optimal viewing time during in vivo ultrasound investigations utilizing USCAs.