title: Echocardiographic strain and strain-rate imaging: a new tool to study regional myocardial function.
abstract: Ultrasonic imaging is the noninvasive clinical imaging modality of choice for diagnosing heart disease. At present, two-dimensional ultrasonic grayscale images provide a relatively cheap, fast, bedside method to study the morphology of the heart. Several methods have been proposed to assess myocardial function. These have been based on either grayscale or motion (velocity) information measured in real-time. However, the quantitative assessment of regional myocardial function remains an important goal in clinical cardiology. To do this, ultrasonic strain and strain-rate imaging have been introduced. In the clinical setting, these techniques currently only allow one component of the true three-dimensional deformation to be measured. Clinical, multidimensional strain (rate) information can currently thus only be obtained by combining data acquired using different transducer positions. Nevertheless, given the appropriate postprocessing, the clinical value of these techniques has already been shown. Moreover, multidimensional strain and strain-rate estimation of the heart in vivo by means of a single ultrasound acquisition has been shown to be feasible. In this paper, the new techniques of ultrasonic strain rate and strain imaging of the heart are reviewed in terms of definitions, data acquisition, strain-rate estimation, postprocessing, and parameter extraction. Their clinical validation and relevance will be discussed using clinical examples on relevant cardiac pathology. Based on these examples, suggestions are made for future developments of these techniques.
authors.affiliation: Medical Image Computing, Department of Electrical Engineering and the Laboratorium voor Akoestiek en Thermische Fysica, Catholic University Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. jan.dhooge@uz.kuleuven.ac.be
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: D'hooge
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bijnens
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thoen
authors.forename: Frans
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Van de Werf
authors.forename: George R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Sutherland
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suetens
mesh_terms: D004452:Echocardiography; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000502:physiology*