Purpose: Volume measurement of the ventricle is necessary to evaluate cardiac function. Accurate volume measurement of the ventricle by three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography will mark a new step in pediatric cardiovascular diagnosis and treatment. We studied volume measurement of a pediatric ventricular model using 3D echocardiography.
Methods: The ultrasonic diagnostic setup used in this study comprised a Philips Sonos 7500 ultrasound system with an electronic sector probe of a ×4 matrix phased array transducer. The ventricular model was made from a latex surgical glove. The tip of the third finger of the glove was cut off and fixed to a manifold. The ventricular model was gently placed in a reservoir filled with water. Volumes of physiological saline solution ranging from 2 ml to 50 ml in 2-ml increments were injected into the ventricular model and examined. Twenty-five ultrasound images of the ventricular model were obtained using 4D Cardio View RT 1.2 software.
Results: There was excellent correlation and agreement between the injected volumes and the calculated volumes (Y = -0.539 + 1.005X, r = 0.997, four cut plane; Y = -0.191 + 1.006X, r = 0.997, eight cut plane). Thus, accurate volume measurement of the ventricular model by 3D echocardiography was confirmed.
Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that 3D echocardiography is highly accurate for volume measurement in a pediatric ventricular model (for volumes of 2 to 50 ml) under static conditions.
Keywords: 3D echocardiography; cardiac function; children; phantom model; volume measurement.