Time-Resolved Echo-Particle Image/Tracking Velocimetry Measurement of Interactions Between Native Cardiac Output and Veno-Arterial ECMO Flows

Determination of optimal hemodynamic and pressure–volume loading conditions for patients undergoing veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) would benefit from understanding the impact of ECMO flow rates (Q_E) on the native cardiac output in the admixing zone, i.e., aortic root. This study characterizes the flow in the aortic root of a pig with severe myocardial ischemia using contrast-enhanced ultrasound particle image/tracking velocimetry (echo-PIV/PTV). New methods for data preprocessing are introduced, including autocontouring to remove surrounding tissues, followed by blind deconvolution to identify the centers of elongated bubble traces in images with low signal to noise ratio. Calibrations based on synthetic images show that this procedure increases the number of detected bubbles and reduces the error in their locations by 50%. Then, an optimized echo-PIV/PTV procedure, which integrates image enhancement with velocity measurements, is used for characterizing the time-resolved two-dimensional (2D) velocity distributions. Phase-averaged and instantaneous flow fields show that the ECMO flow rate influences the velocity and acceleration of the cardiac output during systole, and secondary flows during diastole. When Q_E is 3.0 L/min or higher, the cardiac ejection velocity, phase interval with open aortic valve, velocity-time integral (VTI), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) increase with decreasing Q_E, all indicating sufficient support. For lower Q_E, the MAP and VTI decrease as Q_E is reduced, and the deceleration during transition to diastole becomes milder. Hence, for this specific case, the optimal ECMO flow rate is 3.0 L/min.