Microcirculation volumetric flow rate is a significant index in diseases diagnosis and treatment such as diabetes and
cancer. In this study, we propose an integrated algorithm to assess microcirculation volumetric flow rate including
estimation of blood perfused area and corresponding flow velocity maps based on high frequency destruction/contrast
replenishment imaging technique. The perfused area indicates the blood flow regions including capillaries, arterioles
and venules. Due to the echo variance changes between ultrasonic contrast agents (UCAs) pre- and post-destruction two
images, the perfused area can be estimated by the correlation-based approach. The flow velocity distribution within the
perfused area can be estimated by refilling time-intensity curves (TICs) after UCAs destruction. Most studies introduced
the rising exponential model proposed by Wei (1998) to fit the TICs. Nevertheless, we found the TICs profile has a
great resemblance to sigmoid function in simulations and in vitro experiments results. Good fitting correlation reveals
that sigmoid model was more close to actual fact in describing destruction/contrast replenishment phenomenon. We
derived that the saddle point of sigmoid model is proportional to blood flow velocity. A strong linear relationship (R =
0.97) between the actual flow velocities (0.4-2.1 mm/s) and the estimated saddle constants was found in M-mode and B-mode
flow phantom experiments. Potential applications of this technique include high-resolution volumetric flow rate
assessment in small animal tumor and the evaluation of superficial vasculature in clinical studies.
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