Using a scanner whose colour Doppler mode has been adapted to display tissue motion (instead of blood flow), velocity gradients have been detected across the myocardium. A velocity gradient is a gradual spatial change in the value of velocity estimates. Velocity gradients have potential for assessing regional myocardial contractility. 28 M-mode scans were performed on nine normal volunteers at different locations in the left-ventricle posterior wall. In each case simultaneous Doppler M-mode and pulse-echo M-mode images were obtained. Doppler velocity gradient (DVG) was calculated from Doppler M-mode images and rate of change of wall thickness (RCWT) was calculated from pulse-echo M-mode images. In all Doppler M-mode images statistically significant velocity gradients were observed. In all but one scan, cyclically consistent peaks in DVG occur relative to the electrocardiogram waveform. 99% of systolic and 89% of early diastolic peaks in RCWT have a corresponding peak in DVG. Velocity gradients are consistent with wall thickness changes, suggesting that they have potential for assessment of myocardial contractility.
