
The Nyquist limit represents the maximum Doppler
Doppler effect
The Doppler effect (or Doppler shift) is the change in frequency of a wave (or other periodic event) for an observer moving relative to its source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who proposed it in 1842 in Prague. It is commonly heard when a vehicle sounding a sire…
How does the Nyquist limit work?
The PRF (and therefore Nyquist limit) become the old-style movie camera in our story. The moving blood cells are the wagon wheel spokes. Remember colour is a pulse wave Doppler technique… a pulse is sent and the system then waits for the signal to return before it sends another pulse.
How does depth affect the Nyquist limit of a pulse?
If we are pulsing something in the near field, we don’t need to wait as long for the echo to return as we do if we are pulsing something farther away. The greater the depth, the lower the PRF (needs to wait longer for the signal to return) and therefore the lower the Nyquist limit (maximum velocity that can be displayed unambiguosly).
Why is my Nyquist scale wrapping around?
As the blood flow speeds up, and exceeds the velocity of the Nyquist limit, the system is not sampling often enough to be certain of which direction flow is occuring in and therefore it is displayed erroneously as “wrapping-around” the scale and appearing as if the direction has been reversed.
How is the Nyquist limit determined?
What is the difference between the Nyquist limit and the PRF?

What is the importance of the Nyquist limit?
The Nyquist theorem is important for capturing audio through digital methods. The average human ear is only sensitive to frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. Therefore, according to the Nyquist theorem, the optimal sample rate for the human ear is 40 kHz.
What is the Nyquist point in ultrasound?
The Nyquist limit represents the maximum Doppler shift frequency that can be correctly measured without resulting in aliasing in color or pulsed wave ultrasound.
Why is Nyquist limit half PRF?
Nyquist's theorem and Nyquist limit Recall that the Doppler shift is directly related to the velocity of blood flow; the greater the velocity, the greater the Doppler shift. Thus, the maximum velocity that can be determined is half the PRF and this limit is called the Nyquist limit.
How do I increase my Nyquist limit?
Decreasing the pulse repetition period (PRP) to increase the PRF and the Nyquist limit. Applying a low-frequency transducer to create a small Doppler shift for blood flow velocity.
What do you mean by Nyquist rate?
In signal processing, the Nyquist rate, named after Harry Nyquist, is a value (in units of samples per second or hertz, Hz) equal to twice the highest frequency (bandwidth) of a given function or signal.
What is the Nyquist condition?
Nyquist's theorem, also known as the sampling theorem, states that a periodic signal must be sampled at more than twice the highest frequency component of the signal. In imaging, we recommend sampling at least 2.3X the highest frequency.
What is Echo PRF?
Pulse repetition frequency (PRF) indicates the number of ultrasound pulses emitted by the transducer over a designated period of time.
What is high PRF?
A high PRF can be used to determine Doppler frequency and therefore relative velocity for all targets. It can also be used when a moving object of interest is obscured by a stationary mass, such as the ground or a mountain, in the radar return.
What is aliasing on Echo?
Aliasing is an imaging error which occurs due to under-sampling. The ultrasound system is trying to image an event that is occurring faster than the rate we are sampling it, and as a result the system is uncertain about the direction of the signal and displays this as heading in the opposite direction.
What happens if the sampling frequency is less than the Nyquist limit?
When the sampling frequency drops below the Nyquist rate, the frequencies will crossover and cause aliasing.
What is Nyquist formula?
The Nyquist formula below provided a relationship between capacity and bandwidth under idealized conditions where noise is not considered. C(bps) = 2B * log2M (Nyquist) C is the capacity in bits per second, B is the frequency bandwidth in Hertz, and M is the number of levels a single symbol can take on.
Which of the following increases the Nyquist limit?
Answer: A. Nyquist limit = PRF/2. Hence increasing PRF will increase the Nyquist limit.
What is Nyquist criteria for sampling?
Simply stated, the Nyquist criterion requires that the sampling frequency be at least twice the highest frequency contained in the signal, or information about the signal will be lost. If the sampling frequency is less than twice the maximum analog signal frequency, a phenomenon known as aliasing will occur.
What is aliasing effect in ultrasound?
In sonographic. Doppler, the result of aliasing is an apparent change in direction of blood flow in. high-velocity areas, producing flow that appears to be backward. Aliasing can occur in pulsed and color Doppler; continuous-wave.
What causes aliasing in ultrasound?
Aliasing artifacts occur when blood flow exceeds the maximum flow speed measurable by the CDI system. For example, Figure 3 shows that flow in the upper branch is fast and exceeds the maximum measurable flow speed on the color scale (25 cm/s).
What is range ambiguity in ultrasound?
Pulsed Doppler ultrasound (PW) can be used to determine the location of frequency shifts within the cardiac chambers or great vessels. However, it is possible to record similar frequency shifts at sample volume locations distal to their original site; this is referred to as range ambiguity (RA).
How is the Nyquist limit determined?
The Nyquist limit is determined by half the pulse repetition frequency.
What is the difference between the Nyquist limit and the PRF?
The greater the depth, the lower the PRF (needs to wait longer for the signal to return) and therefore the lower the Nyquist limit (maximum velocity that can be displayed unambiguosly).
What is the term for the time required to capture one cycle of an ultrasound wave?
This is called attenuation and is more pronounced in tissue with less density (like lung). There are seven parameters that describe ultrasound waves. Period of an ultrasound wave is the time that is required to capture one cycle, i.e., the time from the beginning of one cycle till the beginning of the next cycle.
What frequency is ultrasound transmitted?
When used in diagnostic echocardiography, the frequency is usually above 20,000 Hz (20 kHz), and it is not audible to a human ear. Fig. 1.
Can a large diameter transducer be used to capture images?
One would state that the best images are acquired using a large diameter transducer with high frequency. However, as we have learned, high frequency transducers have significant attenuation issues. In addition, larger diameter transducers are impractical to use because the imaging windows are small. The way around these problems is electronic focusing with either an acoustic lens or by arranging the PZT crystals in a concave shape.
How is the Nyquist limit determined?
The Nyquist limit is determined by half the pulse repetition frequency.
What is the difference between the Nyquist limit and the PRF?
The greater the depth, the lower the PRF (needs to wait longer for the signal to return) and therefore the lower the Nyquist limit (maximum velocity that can be displayed unambiguosly).
