title: A novel software program for detection of potential air emboli during cardiac surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Risks associated with air emboli introduced during cardiac surgery have been highlighted by reports of postoperative neuropsychological dysfunction, myocardial dysfunction, and mortality. Presently, there are no standard effective methods for quantifying potential emboli in the bloodstream during cardiac surgery. Our objective was to develop software that can automatically detect and quantify air bubbles within the ascending aorta and/or cardiac chambers during cardiac surgery in real time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We created a software algorithm ("Detection of Emboli using Transesophageal Echocardiography for Counting, Total volume, and Size estimation", or DETECTS™) to identify and measure potential emboli present during cardiac surgery using two-dimensional ultrasound. An in vitro experiment was used to validate the accuracy of DETECTS™ at identifying and measuring air emboli. An experimental rig was built to correlate the ultrasound images to high definition camera images of air bubbles created in water by an automatic bubbler system. There was a correlation between true bubble size and the size reported by DETECTS™ in our in vitro experiment (r = 0.76). We also tested DETECTS™ using TEE images obtained during cardiac surgery, and provide visualization of the software interface.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While monitoring the heart during cardiac surgery using existing ultrasound technology and DETECTS™, the operative team can obtain real-time data on the number and volume of potential air emboli. This system will potentially allow de-airing techniques to be evaluated and improved upon. This could lead to reduced air in the cardiac chambers after cardiopulmonary bypass, possibly reducing the risk of neurological dysfunction following cardiac surgery.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Secretain
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada. andrew.pollard@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pollard
authors.forename: Mesbah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uddin
authors.forename: Christopher G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Tanzola
authors.forename: Joelle B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Thorpe
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Milne
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001011:Aorta / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012984:Software