Cardiac Elastography to Determine Strain and Strain Rates in the Heart

Cardiac Elastography

Cardiac elastography is a new technique to analyze strain and strain rates in many organ systems, including the heart. In this study, cardiac elastography derived from the analysis of raw radiofrequency data obtained from a conventional clinical echocardiograph system will be compared to processed information that comes from the same echocardiograph system. The purpose of this study is to determine if cardiac elastography can accurately determine strain and strain rates as compared to more conventional means.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy normal volunteers between the ages of 18-70
• Patients scheduled for clinical echocardiogram between the ages of 18-70 who have known heart disease caused by myocardial infarction or cardiomyopathy

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients less than 18 years old, or greater than 70 years old
• Patients who do not have adequate quality echocardiographic images.