Color Doppler twinkling on kidney stones and other pathological mineralizations is theorized to arise from stable microbubbles, which suggests twinkling will be sensitive to ambient gas. Here, lab-grown cholesterol, calcium phosphate, and uric acid crystals were imaged with ultrasound in water while varying oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen levels. Twinkling was found to increase on cholesterol in elevated oxygen, cholesterol and calcium phosphate in elevated carbon dioxide, and no crystals in elevated nitrogen. These results support the crevice microbubble theory of twinkling and suggest gases may be varied to enhance twinkling on some mineralizations.
The effect of crystal composition and environment on the color Doppler ultrasound twinkling artifact
- Award ID(s):
- 1943937
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10395028
- Publisher / Repository:
- IOP Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Physics in Medicine & Biology
- Volume:
- 68
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0031-9155
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- Article No. 035021
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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