Automated speckle tracking algorithm to aid on-axis imaging in echocardiography

Abstract

Abstract. Obtaining a "correct" view in echocardiography is a subjective process in which an operator attempts to obtain images conforming to consensus standard views. Real-time objective quantification of image alignment may assist less experienced operators, but no reliable index yet exists. We present a fully automated algorithm for detecting incorrect medial/lateral translation of an ultrasound probe by image analysis. The ability of the algorithm to distinguish optimal from sub-optimal four-chamber images was compared to that of specialiststhe current "gold-standard." The orientation assessments produced by the automated algorithm correlated well with consensus visual assessments of the specialists (r ¼ 0.87) and compared favourably with the correlation between individual specialists and the consensus, 0.82 AE 0.09. Each individual specialist's assessments were within the consensus of other specialists, 75 AE 14% of the time, and the algorithm's assessments were within the consensus of specialists 85% of the time. The mean discrepancy in probe translation values between individual specialists and their consensus was 0.97 AE 0.87 cm, and between the automated algorithm and specialists' consensus was 0.92 AE 0.70 cm. This technology could be incorporated into hardware to provide real-time guidance for image optimisation-a potentially valuable tool both for training and quality control.

Automatic detection of end‐diastolic and end‐systolic frames in 2D echocardiography

“…Speckle tracking echocardiography was performed using an automated in‐house toolbox. A description of this technique is provided in , and further details on its optimization can be found elsewhere . The myocardial velocity profile was estimated from two measurement sites.…”

“…A description of this technique is provided in Appendix, and further details on its optimization can be found elsewhere. 11,12 The myocardial velocity profile was estimated from two measurement sites. First site was the automatically detected septal annulus whose location, in current practice, is identified manually by the experts.…”

“…Further details on the quality measures used in this study, and also optimization of the block matching parameters in our toolbox, can be found elsewhere. 11,12 It is worth noting that the concept of speckle tracking used in our study is of Eulerian type, similar to that in Doppler imaging, which estimates the velocity of a fixed point on the image rather than the velocity of an individual object by following its trajectory; that is, Lagrangian description of the motion.…”