ABSTRACT
Robust indices of regional and global cardiac function are a key factor in detection and treatment of heart disease as well as understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of a healthy heart. Myocardial elastography provides a noninvasive method for imaging and measuring displacement and strain of the myocardium for the early detection of cardiovascular disease. However, two-dimensional in-plane axial and lateral strains measured depend on the sonographic view used. This becomes especially critical in a clinical setting and may induce large variations in the measured strains, potentially leading to false diagnoses. A novel method in myocardial elastography is proposed for eliminating this view dependence by deriving the polar, principal and classified principal strains. The performance of the proposed methodology is assessed by employing 3D finite-element left-ventricular models of a control and an ischemic canine heart. Although polar strains are angle-independent, they are sensitive to the selected reference coordinate system, which requires the definition of a centroid of the left ventricle (LV). In contrast, principal strains derived through eigenvalue decomposition exhibit the inherent characteristic of coordinate system independence, offering view (i.e., angle and centroid)-independent strain measurements. Classified principal strains are obtained by assigning the principal components in the physical ventricular coordinate system. An extensive strain analysis illustrates the improvement in interpretation and visualization of the full-field myocardial deformation by using the classified principal strains, clearly depicting the ischemic and non-ischemic regions. Strain maps, independent of sonographic views and imaging planes, that can be used to accurately detect regional contractile dysfunction are demonstrated.
