Finding the right tests…
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Emergency services available 24 x 7
Finding the right tests…
Sonography
CAROTID DOPPLER images the two carotid arteries running up either side of your neck, the main pipeline carrying blood to your brain. A probe pressed against your neck builds a grayscale picture of the vessel wall while a separate Doppler pass measures how fast blood is moving through it at each point. Plaque, a buildup of fat and calcium along the wall, narrows the channel and speeds up blood flow through that tight stretch, which is the exact change the Doppler reading is built to catch. Your doctor uses that velocity jump to grade any narrowing found, from mild to severe, and to see whether the plaque surface looks smooth or irregular.
This scan checks both carotid arteries for plaque buildup and measures blood flow velocity at any narrowed point to grade how tight it is. Your doctor compares the two sides and looks at the plaque's shape as well as its size, since an irregular surface can matter as much as the degree of narrowing itself.
Your brain depends on a steady supply of blood from the carotid arteries in your neck. Over years, fatty and calcium deposits called plaque can build up along the inner wall of these vessels, a process known as atherosclerosis, gradually narrowing the space blood has to pass through.
Grayscale ultrasound shows the plaque itself, its thickness and where it sits on the wall. Doppler adds the piece grayscale alone can't give: as blood squeezes through a narrowed stretch, it speeds up, the same way water speeds up through a pinched hose. Measuring that speed at different points along the artery lets your doctor work out how tight the narrowing actually is, graded from mild to severe.
A smooth, stable-looking plaque and a rough, irregular one with an uneven surface aren't treated the same way, even at a similar degree of narrowing, because an irregular surface is more prone to forming a clot. Left to narrow further, plaque can eventually block the artery completely.
Your doctor puts the velocity readings, the plaque's appearance, and your own symptoms together rather than reading any single number in isolation.
The grayscale image shows the plaque itself, but Doppler measures how fast blood is moving through the vessel. A narrowed stretch speeds blood up, and that speed change is what your doctor uses to grade how tight the narrowing is.
Plaque is a buildup of fat and calcium along the inner wall of the artery, a process called atherosclerosis. It narrows the space available for blood to flow through, which this scan is designed to detect and measure.
No. A probe is pressed against your neck with some gel, and you may feel light pressure but no pain. There's no needle and no injection involved.
It gives your doctor a grade of narrowing, from mild to severe, along with how the plaque surface looks. Your doctor combines that with your symptoms and overall risk factors to decide what happens next.
This page is general information about the test, not medical advice. Your own report's reference ranges apply — please discuss your results with your doctor.
No. Ultrasound, including the Doppler part of this scan, uses sound waves rather than X-rays, so there's no radiation exposure at all.
There's no single preparation that applies to every patient for this scan. Ask your doctor or the centre directly what they'd like you to do beforehand.
Yes, both carotid arteries are usually imaged so your doctor can compare one side against the other.
Both refer to the same carotid vessels and use the same technique. This entry is typically ordered to characterize a narrowing already suspected or found, while DOPPLER CAROTIDS is often the entry used for a broader stroke-risk check.