State-of-the-Art Review
Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging in Pediatric and Adult Cardiology: Techniques, Applications, and Perspectives

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmg.2019.09.019Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Highlights

  • Ultrafast ultrasound imaging could be a central noninvasive imaging tool, particularly in congenital and pediatric cardiology.

  • Myocardial stiffness assessment by ultrafast ultrasound imaging has the potential to become a cornerstone of ultrasound imaging in cardiology, particularly for the noninvasive assessment of systolic and diastolic physiology.

  • Further clinical developments could potentially reduce the need for cardiac magnetic resonance or imaging techniques requiring radiation.

Abstract

Ultrasound techniques currently used in echocardiography are limited by conventional frame rates. Ultrafast ultrasound imaging is able to capture images at frame rates up to 100 times faster compared with conventional imaging. Specific applications of this technology have been developed and tested for clinical use in pediatric and adult cardiac imaging. These include ultrafast Doppler or vector flow imaging, shear wave imaging, electromechanical wave imaging, and backscatter tensor imaging. The principles of these applications are explained in this manuscript with illustrations on how these methods could be applied in clinical practice. Ultrafast ultrasound has great clinical potential in the assessment of cardiac function, in noninvasive hemodynamic analysis, while providing novel techniques for imaging coronary perfusion and evaluating rhythm disorders.

Key Words

cardiac function
echocardiography
pediatric
shunt
ultrafast imaging
valvulopathy

Abbreviations and Acronyms

2D
2-dimensional
3D
3-dimensional
4D
4-dimensional
BTI
backscatter tensor imaging
CFI
color flow imaging
CHD
congenital heart disease
CMR
cardiac magnetic resonance
CUDA
coronary ultrafast Doppler angiography
CVP
central venous pressure
CW
continuous wave
EDPVR
end-diastolic pressure-volume relationship
ESPVR
end-systolic pressure-volume relationship
ETI
elastic tensor imaging
EWI
electromechanical wave imaging
LS
liver stiffness
LV
left ventricular
MS
myocardial stiffness
PAH
pulmonary arterial hypertension
PV
pressure volume
PW
pulsed wave
RV
right ventricular
RVH
right ventricular hypertrophy
SWE
shear wave elastography
VFI
vector flow imaging

Cited by (0)

The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.

The authors attest they are in compliance with human studies committees and animal welfare regulations of the authors’ institutions and Food and Drug Administration guidelines, including patient consent where appropriate. For more information, visit the JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging author instructions page.

Drs. Pernot and Mertens contributed equally to this work and are joint senior authors.