A New Three-Dimensional Random Scanner for Ultrasonic/Computer Graphic Imaging of the Heart

Echocardiography is a valuable technique for cardiac diagnosis. It is now routinely used in many clinical situations to evaluate the aortic and mitral valves and to diagnose pericardial effusion. Although useful for many applications it does not meet urgent clinical needs for easier and faster diagnosis of structural abnormalities and for accurate, non-invasive evaluation of cardiac function. The use of echocardiography to establish the nature of a congenital cardiac malformation requires an unusually high degree of technical skill and knowledge of congenital heart disease. Such examinations are so difficult and time consuming that they are beyond the capability of all but the most dedicated and expert echocardiographer. In addition, while many studies have attempted to establish the usefulness of echocardiography for evaluation of cardiac function (1–5) the results have been disappointing. Recently an awareness of the limited usefulness of echocardiography for this purpose has developed (6,7). Echocardiography cannot provide precise estimations of ventricular volume although calculation of ejection fraction from the chordal echo diameter may be clinically useful (6).