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Layer-specific assessment of left ventricular function by utilizing wavelet de-noising: a validation study

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Abstract

Regional myocardial function assessment is essential for diagnosis and evaluation of heart disease. The purpose of this study was to enhance the spatial resolution of a speckle tracking echocardiography approach and enable layer-specific analysis of the myocardium. Following validation with software-implemented and mechanical phantoms versus imposed values, short-axis cines were obtained from 50 rats. The cines were post-processed by a speckle tracking commercial program, and the myocardial velocities were processed by a three-dimensional wavelet de-noising program, instead of the built-in smoothing process of the commercial program. Software-implemented phantom measurements yielded rotation errors of 7.5%, 2.9%, and 3.4%, for inner, middle, and outer layers, respectively. Analysis of a shrinking/expanding mechanical phantom yielded strain errors of 3%, 5%, and 7% for the three layers. Bland–Altman analysis showed agreement between the commercial and enhanced programs. Thus, layer-specific analysis is feasible while using echocardiography even on small animals such as rats.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by The Chief Scientist, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Magneton project, the Technion VP for Research and the Alfred Mann Institute at the Technion (AMIT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion City, Haifa, 32000, Israel

    Noa Bachner-Hinenzon, Michael Lysiansky & Dan Adam

  2. Department of Physiology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Offir Ertracht & Ofer Binah

  3. Ruth and Bruce Faculty of Medicine and the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Offir Ertracht & Ofer Binah

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  1. Noa Bachner-Hinenzon
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  2. Offir Ertracht
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Correspondence to Noa Bachner-Hinenzon.

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Bachner-Hinenzon, N., Ertracht, O., Lysiansky, M. et al. Layer-specific assessment of left ventricular function by utilizing wavelet de-noising: a validation study. Med Biol Eng Comput 49, 3–13 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-010-0662-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-010-0662-6

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