Abstract: A method for measuring and displaying flow and flow volume in the vessel of a subject. The method includes acquiring ultrasound data from a subject and producing a color Doppler m-mode image depicting the vessel. A 3D representation of the color Doppler m-mode image is then generated to enable an operator to identify the blood vessel and window the ultrasound data accordingly to a selected range of heart beats. Blood vessel walls are automatically identified from the windowed ultrasound data and blood flow through the vessel lumen is measured using pulsed Doppler ultrasound, which is gated to substantially exclude data from outside the lumen. Volume flow through the vessel is determined by multiplying the measured blood flow with a calculated cross-sectional area of the vessel and an image indicative of the volume is then generated and displayed.

Abstract: A method for identifying blood flow patterns based on contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging and, in particular, echocardiography. The method includes indicating a blood flow type in the cavity through which imaged blood is flowing by correlating the identified blood flow pattern with a selected pattern. Further, a report indicative of a condition of the cavity can be generated based on the indicated blood flow type.

Abstract: A method for detecting cardiac rejection in heart transplant patients is disclosed. The wall mechanics, such as wall shear, stress, and strain, of a heart ventricle of the transplant patient are measured. A property of the native vasculature is also measured. The measured property may include the wall mechanics or thickness of the native blood vessel. The wall mechanics measurements of the ventricle and the measured property of the native vasculature are compared, and the comparison is outputted. The outputted comparison is matched either to similarly-obtained comparisons from heart transplant patients undergoing early cardiac rejection of the transplanted heart or to similarly-obtained comparisons from heart transplant patients with normally-functioning hearts.