An in vitro study of guidewire-related color doppler twinkling artifacts in echocardiography

Purpose: This study sought to determine the association between twinkling artifacts on color Doppler ultrasound and different types of guidewires. Materials and Methods: Twenty-two commonly used guidewires were classified into three groups according to decreasing diameter (Group 1, 0.035'; Group 2, 0.018'; and Group 3, 0.014') and tested in vitro. Severity of twinkling was visually graded into four categories (0-3, from weak to strong). Results: The percentages (tips/shafts) of twinkling artifacts were 100%/100% for Group 1; 0%/33.3% for Group 2; and 18.8%/31% for Group 3. The mean scores (tips/shafts) were 2.3/2.7 for Group 1; 0/0.3 for Group 2; and 0.3/0.4 for Group 3. Among them, both two guidewires with strong twinkling artifacts (score = 3) exhibited extensive rough surfaces on microscopic pictures. Conclusion: The twinkling artifacts were more likely to present in guidewires with larger diameters (from 0.014' to 0.035') in our study settings. The surface roughness may be the contribution to the twinkling artifact. Internal heterogeneities, such as types of material, types of coating, tip loading, and spring coil length, do not show influence on the twinkling artifact.