Techniques for 3D Quantitative Echocardiography

Image Acquisition for 3D Echo

Image Analysis and Structure Delineation

3D Reconstruction Algorithm

3D Quantitative Echocardiography

---

3-D echocardiography grew out of existing 2-D techniques and uses many of the same tools. By tracking the size, shape, and position of heart structures in dozens of imaging planes aligned in 3-D via common reference points, the new technique can reconstruct the entire heart as a solid object with accurate representation of its shape, whether normal, globally dilated, or locally aneurysmal.

In addition to the left ventricle, it is now possible to reconstruct and model:

Right ventricular endocardium and epicardium, including interventricular septum and outflow tract;

Right and left atria, with venous sinuses and ostia, and septal architecture;

Ventricular epicardia as a unit or as discrete surfaces;

Other solid organs such as the liver;

Valve annuli and subvalvular apparatus, including

Papillary muscles;

Vessel orifices.

From these reconstructions, 3D echocardiography allows quantitation not only of size, shape, and function of various intracardiac structures, but also of spatial and dynamic relationships between them.