3D myocardial contraction imaging based on dynamic grid interpolation: Theory and simulation analysis

Accurate assessment of local myocardial contraction is important for diagnosis of ischemic heart disease, because decreases of myocardial motion often appear in the early stages of the disease. Three-dimensional (3-D) assessment of the stiffness distribution is required for accurate diagnosis of ischemic heart disease. Since myocardium motion occurs radially within the left ventricle wall and the ultrasound beam propagates axially, conventional approaches, such as tissue Doppler imaging and strain-rate imaging techniques, cannot provide us with enough quantitative information about local myocardial contraction. In order to resolve this problem, we propose a novel myocardial contraction imaging system which utilizes the weighted phase gradient method, the extended combined autocorrelation method, and the dynamic grid interpolation (DGI) method. Prom the simulation results, we conclude that the strain image's accuracy and contrast have been improved by the proposed method.