Echogenicity variations from porcine blood II: the "bright ring" under oscillatory flow.

Echogenicity variations from porcine blood were observed in a mock flow loop under pulsatile flow in a series of experiments (Paeng et al. 2004). In this paper, oscillatory flow was generated to further investigate the cyclic and radial variation of blood echogenicity and its origin and mechanisms by several parameters, including stroke volume, stroke rate, mean steady flow and transducer angle, using a GE LOGIQ 700 Expert system. The echogenicity at the center of the tube was enhanced during acceleration and lower during deceleration, and the expansion and collapse of the "bright ring" was observed twice per cycle. The "black hole," a central echo-poor zone surrounded by a hyperechoic zone, was barely observable under oscillatory flow, and these patterns differed from those under pulsatile flow. The cyclic and radial variation of echogenicity under oscillatory flow was affected by such hemodynamic parameters as stroke volume, stroke rate and mean steady flow. It was suggested that rouleaux might be aligned at an angle of about 25 degrees relative to the tube axis during the acceleration phase, based on the experimental results reaching a maximum of the echogenicity variation at a transducer angle of 25 degrees. Radial distribution of rouleaux alignments was proposed to be another important factor to blood echogenicity variation, in addition to combined effects of shear rate and flow acceleration on erythrocyte aggregation and blood echogenicity. The weak cyclic variation of echogenicity was also observed from the porcine erythrocyte suspensions under pure oscillatory flow, but not under pulsatile flow. It is postulated that the echogenicity variations from erythrocyte suspensions are from red cell deformation.