Why Doppler Studies Are Essential for Vascular Health Assessment

Ultrasounds aren’t just for pregnant women. With this safe, painless kind of imaging, doctors can see what’s happening under your skin. That makes ultrasounds effective for diagnosing a wide range of conditions.

As this technology has advanced, it’s become even more effective. Today, we can use Doppler technology not just to get still images of your heart and blood vessels, but also to see how blood is moving through your body. That makes Doppler studies effective for evaluating your vascular health. 

David Bolon, MD, offers multiple kinds of Doppler studies at Manhattan Integrative Cardiovascular. He might recommend a carotid Doppler as part of your cardiac screening or include it in your echocardiogram, for example. 

How we use Doppler studies

To get a better idea of why we might deploy this technology, it helps to understand how it works. 

While other ultrasounds might produce a still image, a Doppler study lets us see how blood flows. With a series of sound waves, we can produce an image of your blood as it flows through the chambers of your heart and your blood vessels. 

That helps Dr. Bolon see whether your heart is pumping blood as it should, whether any arterial narrowing is affecting blood flow, or whether you’re dealing with other vascular health issues. 

When we might recommend a Doppler ultrasound

We include a Doppler study with your imaging when Dr. Bolon thinks it will help him learn about the kind of care you need. 

Take an echocardiogram as an example. Traditional echocardiograms use ultrasound technology to show the structure of your heart. That makes it possible to see problems like enlarged chambers, but it has limitations. 

By including a Doppler study, we can see how blood flows through your heart, making it easier for Dr. Bolon to identify blocked arteries, valve issues, and other problems that could be interfering with healthy blood flow. 

He might also recommend a Doppler study as part of your carotid ultrasound. This lets him evaluate how blood flows through the arteries that send oxygenated blood to your brain. Blood flow problems in these key passageways can lead to stroke. 

What to expect during your Doppler study

If Dr. Bolon wants to perform a Doppler study, you don’t need to worry. This process is completely painless and relatively quick.

To see how blood moves through your heart or blood vessels, we first apply a gel to the area we want to evaluate (e.g., your neck for your carotid arteries, your chest for your heart). Then we move the ultrasound device over the area of your skin. It bounces sound waves into the area, helping us see what’s going on with your vascular health. 

Dr. Bolon talks with you about your results. If he finds a health condition or a heightened risk of a problem, he develops a treatment plan to help address it. 

If you’re concerned about your vascular health, come see our team. Dr. Bolon can use a variety of leading-edge tools, including Doppler studies, to figure out what’s going on. Call our office at (716) 303-4738 or book a consultation online today.