Electromechanical Wave Imaging of Normal and Ischemic Hearts In Vivo

—Electromechanical wave imaging (EWI) has recently been introduced as a noninvasive, ultrasound-based imaging modality, which could map the electrical activation of the heart in various echocardiographic planes in mice, dogs, and humans in vivo. By acquiring radio-frequency (RF) frames at very high frame rates (390–520 Hz), the onset of small, localized, transient deformations resulting from the electrical activation of the heart, i.e., generating the electromechanical wave (EMW), can be mapped. The correlation between the EMW and the electrical activation speed and pacing scheme has previously been reported. In this study, we pursue the development of EWI using both displacements and strains and analysis of the EMW properties in dogs in vivo for early detection of ischemia. EWI was performed in normal and ischemic open-chest dogs during sinus rhythm. Ischemia of increasing severity was obtained by gradually obstructing the left-anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery flow. We a...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: TMI
• Authors: Jean Provost, Wei-Ning Lee, Kana Fujikura, Elisa E. Konofagou
• Keywords: Electrical Activation, Incremental Strains, Isochronal Representation, TMI 2010