Medical Physics Seminar – Monday, November 4, 2013
Echocardiographic Strain Imaging Using a Lagrangian Description
Chi Ma (student of Dr. Tomy Varghese)
Research Assistant, Department of Medical Physics, UW-School of Medicine & Public Health, Madison, WI - USA -
Echocardiographic strain imaging is a novel echo signal processing approach that results in quantitative images of myocardial strain. It has the potential to significantly enhance conventional echocardiography and to enable functional cardiac imaging at the point-of care. Cardiac strain imaging provided on current scanners use B-mode images. Strain imaging could be improved significantly if radio-frequency echo data were used and if an accurate Lagrangian strain estimation were utilized.
Our research has investigated the minimum frame rate requirement for accurate tracking using a probability density function approach; the performance of strain estimation with radio-frequency and envelope data is also analyzed; finally, we developed a semi-automated Lagrangian strain estimation algorithm for clinical short axis view that accurately tracks myocardial wall deformations and provides a frame work for polar strain analysis.