There are two Peripheral Arterial Studies (also called Arterial Dopplers) that may be performed.
Arterial Duplex Study
An ultrasound machine is used to visualize the arteries in a patient's upper or lower extremities. An ultrasonic gel is applied to the skin and a transducer is moved over the skin to image the arteries. Color and Doppler are used to check blood flow through the arteries imaged.
Segmental Pressure and Ankle Brachial Index (ABI)
Blood pressure cuffs are placed at different segments throughout bilateral extremities. A doppler probe is used to identify blood flowing through the arteries in the extremities. After a brief waveform analysis, each blood pressure cuff will be blown up with air to check the blood pressure at each segment of the extremity. The pressures at each segment are compared to the opposite limb, and any significant change is used to identify possible Peripheral Arterial Disease, also know as PAD.