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Color Flow Imaging Basics: Laminar vs. Turbulent Blood Flow

Color flow imaging also indicates whether the blood flow is laminar or turbulent. In normal, laminar blood flow, all the red blood cells move at about the same velocity and in the same direction.

The diagram demonstrates the laminar or parabolic flow seen with normal heart flow. The diastolic mitral inflow in this example is laminar, indicated by a smooth, homogenous pattern of red that progresses through yellow, to an aliased blue.

Turbulent blood flow moves in many different directions and at many different velocities. The diagram demonstrates how flow becomes turbulent with tricuspid regurgitation. A disorganized confetti pattern or mosaic, containing all of the colors of the color bar, indicates turbulent blood flow. The diastolic tricuspid inflow in this example is turbulent, demonstrated by the mosaic pattern in the right atrium.