Measurement of Instantaneous Blood Flow

Journal/Book: Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases VOL. V NO. 6 MAY 1963. 1963;

Abstract: G. Octo Barnett M.D. Established Investigator American Heart Association Peter Bent Brigham Hospital; Research Associate Harvard Medical School Boston Mass. WILLIAM D. JACKSON Ph.D. Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Staff Member Research Laboratory of Electronics Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Mass.; Associate Staff-Medicine (Consultant in Electrical Engineering) Peter Bent Brigham Hospital Boston Mass. THE MEASUREMENT of mean blood flow i.e. the average value over a period of time has greatly advanced our knowledge of cardiovascular function. This measurement of average blood flow is readily obtained using either dye dilution technics or the Fick method. However flow is time varying or pulsatile in character and in order to understand the function of the system more completely it is necessary to characterize how the flow varies with time. The quantitative measurement of instantaneous blood flow at various points in the cardiovascular system of the intact unanesthetized subject is thus of fundamental importance in both experimental physiology and in the clinical laboratory. SUMMARY The measurement of instantaneous blood flow in the intact unanesthetized animal is of major importance to both the physiologist and the cardiologist. The design requirements for an ideal measuring Instrument are so demanding however that no presently available Instrument fulfills all the criteria. The electromagnetic and ultrasonic flowmeter the thermistor flow sensor and the pressure sensing technics have many limitations as have been discussed in this paper. Despite these limitations a number of technics have been developed which are useful in certain experimental situations. schö

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