A hardware and software system capable of collecting and storing three-dimensional time-varying ultrasonic data is described. Display capabilities consist of two dimensional cross-sectional views at selected points, orientations, and times. The accuracy of the system was verified by imaging stationary objects of known shape. An i n vi00 human heart was then isonified. Adjacent cross sections were viewed to find a cross section containing heart structures. This cross section was then viewed throughout the heart cycle. Important structures can be clearly identified and their anatomical relationship observed duringall phases of the heart cycle.
Since pulse-echo ultrasonic techniques were first applied to the human body some twenty years ago, numerous clinical applications have been studied and many ultrasonic systems have been developed. In echocardiography, clinical studies have primarily utilized one spatial dimension plus time. This method has been successfully used to : (1) diagnose valvular disease by measurement of valve velocity and movement; (2) to determine pericardial effusions; (3) to record the motion, velocity and pattern of the walls of the left ventricle; and (4) to measure the thickness of the interventricular septum and the posterior ventricular wall to~determine the degree of hypertrophic subaortic stenosis. In addition, mitral valve motion has been related to blood ff ow and left ventricular diastolic pressure, and ventricular dimensions have Copyright