Abstract: An ultrasonic imaging system produces a sequence of images of the heart during a cardiac cycle. The images are analyzed to determine the motion, displacement, or change in size of segments of the myocardium. In a preferred embodiment the values determined are radial, longitudinal, or circumferential myocardial strain values. The displacement of the myocardial segments may be tracked during the cardiac cycle by speckle tracking or border detection. The motion, displacement, or change in size values for the segments are analyzed to produce a recruitment curve and anatomical display showing the relative times of recruitment of the different segments in the contractile and relaxation motion of the heart. Participation in and achievement of full recruitment may be determined by comparison against an initial recruitment threshold criterion and against a predetermine maximal recruitment milestone level.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging method and system are described for detecting abnormalities in the synchronicity of heart wall stimulation. Points on opposite sides of a chamber of the heart are identified in a starting ultrasound image, then tracked through at least a portion of the heart cycle. The changing positions of lines extending between pairs of the points are accumulated and displayed in a color kinesis display in which each color depicts the location of a line at a particular point in the cardiac cycle. In an illustrated example the points are tracked through the cardiac cycle by speckle tracking of the speckle pattern of the adjacent myocardial tissue, tracking specific anatomy, or tracking tissue texture.

Abstract: An ultrasonic imaging system and method are described for quantification and display of myocardial wall thickening. The endocardial and epicardial borders in an image sequence are defined over a heart cycle and changes in the distance between the borders are tracked at specified locations around the myocardium over the heart cycle, The changes in distance are presented to the user in a graphical format, preferably together with another measure of the cardiac cycle such as chamber volume variation, ejection fraction, or the ECG waveform. The changes in the distance of chord lengths across the myocardium provide a direct indication of wall thickness variation at the specified locations. Preferably the tracking of the specified locations over the heart cycle is done by speckle tracking. The inventive technique can also represent strain at the specified locations of the myocardium.

Abstract: An ultrasonic imaging system produces a sequence of images of the heart during a cardiac cycle. The images are analyzed to determine the motion, displacement, or change in size of segments of the myocardium. In a preferred embodiment the values determined are radial, longitudinal, or circumferential myocardial strain values. The displacement of the myocardial segments may be tracked during the cardiac cycle by speckle tracking or border detection. The motion, displacement, or change in size values for the segments are analyzed to produce a recruitment curve and anatomical display showing the relative times of recruitment of the different segments in the contractile and relaxation motion of the heart. Participation in and achievement of full recruitment may be determined by comparison against an initial recruitment threshold criterion and against a predetermine maximal recruitment milestone level.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging method and system are described for detecting abnormalities in the synchronicity of heart wall stimulation. Points on opposite sides of a chamber of the heart are identified in a starting ultrasound image, then tracked through at least a portion of the heart cycle. The changing positions of lines extending between pairs of the points are accumulated and displayed in a color kinesis display in which each color depicts the location of a line at a particular point in the cardiac cycle. In an illustrated example the points are tracked through the cardiac cycle by speckle tracking of the speckle pattern of the adjacent myocardial tissue, tracking specific anatomy, or tracking tissue texture.