Blood Flow Emulator for Testing, Calibration and Training in Ultrasonic Doppler Instrumentation

Doppler flowmetry is a non-invasive technique that allows measuring blood flow in the evaluation of various surgical procedures, such as arterial revascularization. To perform blood flow measurement tests in coronary and/or cerebrovascular revascularization surgeries, it is important to have an experimental platform for testing and training that we will call phantom blood flow emulator, which will be used as a tool for testing, calibration and training. This platform is made up with components that emulate a circulatory system, such as pulsatile flow, blood vessels and blood emulator fluid. This work describes the flow emulator phantom and its application as an experimental platform for blood flow detection. The methods and materials used, as well as the experiments to measure the acoustic propagation speed of the blood emulating fluid, are described; as well as carrying out the detection of the flow corresponding to the blood emulator fluid. The phantom blood flow emulator proposed generates a realistic model that imitates blood flow dynamics, providing a platform that can be used to test and calibrate Doppler devices and train users in the application and interpretation of Doppler ultrasound measurement systems.