Recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular pathology, including balloon angioplasty of atherosclerotic lesions in peripheral vascular disease, have led to an increased need for in vivo quantitation of blood flow. This study has three purposes: (1) to validate thermodilution techniques as a viable method for measuring low blood flow rates, (2) to calibrate accurately thermodilution catheters at these low flows, and (3) to develop an animal model that can be used to quantitate and compare many different flow measuring techniques. Modified commercially available 6F thermodilution catheters were used with a standard cardiac output computer to measure flows between 200 and 700 ml/minute. Eight anesthetized dogs were surgically interfaced with a variable flow, pressure, and compliance carotid-carotid/jugular bypass perfusion system. Three milliliters of normal saline at room temperature were injected through the catheters intra-arterially to measure different flows below, at, and above physiologic pressures and compliances. Results of this study indicate that with proper calibration, thermodilution techniques of measuring arterial and venous flows between 200 and 700 ml/minute are simple, accurate, and reliable. Using the designed system to generate known flows in vivo at various physiologic conditions allowed easy calibration of catheters and should facilitate calibration and comparison of other measurement techniques.