Doppler ultrasound is a procedure that uses U/S technology to examine the heart or blood vessels.

• Echo uses high frequency sound waves to create an image of the heart, whilst the addition of Doppler technolgoy allows the determination of speed and direction of blood flow by utilizing the Doppler effect
• Limitation is that the U/S must be as parallel to the blood flow as possible
• Contrast-enhanced U/S using gas-filled microbubble contrast media can be used to improve velocity or other flow-related medical measurements

• Accurately assess at any arbitrary point, the:
  • Direction of blood flow
  • Velocity of blood, including to:
    • Assess cardiac valve areas and function, for example, L ventricular filling pressure can be estimated
    • Any abnormal communications between the L and R side of the heart
    • Any leaking of blood through the valves (valvular regurgitation)
    • Calculation of the cardiac output
    • Calculation of E/A ratio (measure of diastolic dysfunction)
  • Cardiac tissue
• It is advantageous because it can measure blood flow within the heart without invasive procedures such as cardiac catheterization
• There is no age or size requirement, so is commonly used to examine children's hearts for heart disease