An important application domain of ultrasound-based motion estimation is the heart which leads to specific challenges and boundary conditions. In this chapter, a more detailed discussion is given on applying speckle tracking algorithms for cardiac applications.

Chapter Contents:

• List of acronyms
• 16.1 Myocardial strain imaging: rationale
• 16.2 Myocardial strain: definitions
• 16.2.1 Myocardial strain
• 16.3 Cardiac strain estimation in practice
• 16.4 The effect of smoothness on strain analysis
• 16.5 Factors affecting strain estimation
• 16.5.1 Image quality
• 16.5.2 Modality
• 16.5.3 Vendor software and software version
• 16.5.4 Methodology of estimation
• 16.5.5 Acquisition parameters
• 16.6 How should strain be estimated?
• 16.6.1 Physiological aspects and concerns
• 16.6.2 Processing aspects and concerns
• 16.6.3 Signal to noise aspects and concerns
• 16.6.4 Recommendations
• 16.7 Tracking quality and reliability index
• 16.8 Clinical application of cardiac strain echocardiography
• 16.9 Summary
• References

Inspec keywords: biomechanics; internal stresses; object tracking; deformation; motion estimation; medical image processing; cardiology; biomedical ultrasonics

Other keywords: speckle tracking algorithms; heart; cardiac strain estimation; ultrasound-based motion estimation; boundary conditions

Subjects: Sonic and ultrasonic radiation (medical uses); Sonic and ultrasonic radiation (biomedical imaging/measurement); Computer vision and image processing techniques; Sonic and ultrasonic applications; Biology and medical computing; Optical, image and video signal processing; Mechanical properties of tissues and organs; Patient diagnostic methods and instrumentation