Imaging the dynamics of cardiac fiber orientation in vivo using 3D Ultrasound Backscatter Tensor Imaging

Sci Rep. 2017 Apr 11;7(1):830. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-00946-7.

Abstract

The assessment of myocardial fiber disarray is of major interest for the study of the progression of myocardial disease. However, time-resolved imaging of the myocardial structure remains unavailable in clinical practice. In this study, we introduce 3D Backscatter Tensor Imaging (3D-BTI), an entirely novel ultrasound-based imaging technique that can map the myocardial fibers orientation and its dynamics with a temporal resolution of 10 ms during a single cardiac cycle, non-invasively and in vivo in entire volumes. 3D-BTI is based on ultrafast volumetric ultrasound acquisitions, which are used to quantify the spatial coherence of backscattered echoes at each point of the volume. The capability of 3D-BTI to map the fibers orientation was evaluated in vitro in 5 myocardial samples. The helicoidal transmural variation of fiber angles was in good agreement with the one obtained by histological analysis. 3D-BTI was then performed to map the fiber orientation dynamics in vivo in the beating heart of an open-chest sheep at a volume rate of 90 volumes/s. Finally, the clinical feasibility of 3D-BTI was shown on a healthy volunteer. These initial results indicate that 3D-BTI could become a fully non-invasive technique to assess myocardial disarray at the bedside of patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging / methods*
  • Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Heart Ventricles / diagnostic imaging*
  • Humans
  • Sheep
  • Swine