A NEW DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUS DOPPLER-FLOW MONITORING OF CEREBRAL VESSELS IN VERY LOW BIRTH WEIGHT INFANTS

Continuous monitoring of cerebral blood flow velocities was confined to the Transcranial Doppler Technique, which has its disadvantages: 1) high level of energy output; 2) large size of Doppler probe; 3) big sample volume; 4) lack of duplex scan. We have developed a Transfontanellar Doppler Transducer specified for continuous measurements in very low birth weight infants: 1) miniature pulsed Doppler 5-MHz transducer (13 mm * 9 mm * 25 mm) with a highly flexible cable; 2) variable small sample volume which position is documented by duplex scan; 3) sterilizable silicone/rubber fixation which can easily be attached to the infants head of any size without extra plaster; 4) energy levels reduced to one tenth of the transcranial method; 5) computer program for intermittent long term measurements, so reducing the exposure time of the patient. So far, this device has been used for 100 hours to monitor very low birth weight infants.