Factors affecting the accurate determination of cerebrovascular blood flow using high-speed droplet imaging

Detailed cerebrovascular blood flow can be more accurately determined radiographically from the new droplet tracking method previously introduced by the authors than from standard soluble contrast techniques. For example, arteriovenous malformation (AVM) transit times which are crucial for proper glue embolization treatments, were shown to be about half when using droplets compared to those measured using soluble contrast techniques. In this work, factors such as x-ray pulse duration, frame rate, system spatial resolution (focal spot size), droplet size, droplet and system contrast parameters, and system noise are considered in relation to their affect on the accurate determination of droplet location and velocity.