Color-write priority

Last revised by Henry Knipe on 22 Aug 2020

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Botz B, Knipe H, Leiderer M, Color-write priority. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 19 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-78708

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-78708

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/78708

rID:

78708

Article created:

9 Jun 2020, Bálint Botz ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Bálint Botz had no recorded disclosures.

View Bálint Botz's current disclosures

Last revised:

22 Aug 2020, Henry Knipe ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Henry Knipe had no recorded disclosures.

View Henry Knipe's current disclosures

Revisions:

3 times, by 3 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Vascular

Sections:

Imaging Technology

Tags:

cases, ultrasound

Synonyms:

Color write priority

Color-write priority is an adjustable setting of color Doppler duplex ultrasound and determines whether a particular pixel on the image displays color or grayscale B-mode information at the moment.

Color-write priority is rarely changed directly during routine ultrasound imaging, even though it can significantly improve flow detection in low caliber vessels. While in large vessels there is a well-defined, mostly anechoic lumen easily written over with color information, the visible lumen of small vessels not only has a more discrete lumen, but it is also less likely to be anechoic due to e.g. reverberation artifacts. Adjusting the color-write priority (usually displayed as a horizontal bar on the grayscale spectrum) can facilitate the display of these vessels. This can be particularly useful e.g. in the interrogation of testicular blood flow ¹. This also explains while less echogenic structures such as cysts are more likely to display color Doppler (flash) artifacts, as in the absence of significant B-mode signal the system will more easily overwrite the grayscale image with spurious color noise ².