Effect of Saline Injection Mixing on Accuracy of Conductance Lumen Sizing of Peripheral Vessels

Transient displacement of blood in vessel lumen with saline injection is necessary in the conductance method for measurement of arterial cross-sectional area (CSA). The displacement of blood is dictated by the interactions between arterial flow hemodynamics and saline injection dynamics. The objective of the present study is to understand how the accuracy of conductance measurements is affected by the saline injection. Computational simulations were performed to assess the error in predictions of arterial CSA using conductance measurements over a range of peripheral artery diameters (i.e., 4, 7, and 10 mm) with an introducing catheter (6 Fr.) for various blood flow and saline injection rates. The simulation results were validated using the conductance measurements of the phantoms with known diameters (i.e., 7 and 10 mm). The results demonstrated that a minimum ratio of saline injection rate to blood flow rate of 3 is needed to fully displace the blood and result in accurate measurement of CSA for the peripheral artery sizes considered. Furthermore, the error was shown to be minimized as the detection electrodes are positioned between the distal to the mixing zone induced by saline injection and far downstream (4–8 cm from the injection catheter tip). The present study shows that even for the large peripheral arteries (7–10 mm) where mixing can occur, an appropriate injection rate and detection position can produce accurate measurement of lumen size.