Volumetric analysis and visualization of cardiac ultrasound data

Background: Echocardiography is a standard imaging technique for the assess ment of heart valve disease. The good spatial and temporal resolution is th e basis for different methods which provide information about the severity of such defects. Dynamic colour visualisation and volumetric measurements o f regurgitant jets are a new evaluating tool for the assessment of heart va lve insufficiencies. Methods: The regurgitant jet volume of 58 patients was evaluated on an exte rnal workstation after segmentation of the left atrium and compared to regu rgitant volume;the correlation was good. This result is valid for central j ets as well as for eccentric jets. Conclusions: Measurement of regurgitant jet volume is a method which considers the three-dimensional shape of the e xamined volume. Real-time visualisation techniques which support the intera ctive clipping of morphological structures provide dynamic visualisation of intracardiac flow during the heart cycle. Dynamic colour visualisation of jets together with myocardial structures allows the assignment of intracard iac flow to morphological structures.