Estimation of 3D flow patterns inside the left ventricle by ultrasound

Cardiovascular diseases remain the biggest cause of deaths worldwide. It is well known that heart disease impacts the way in which the blood moves through and/or within the different cavities of heart. Blood flow inside the left ventricle can thus be used as an early indicator in the diagnosis. In clinical practice, ultrasonic imaging remains the modality of choice not only due to the fact that it is non-invasive, mobile (even portable) and relatively cheap but also because it can generate images in real-time and at a high temporal resolution. At present, there is no ultrasound methodology that can fully characterize blood flow inside the left ventricle (i.e. in three dimensions). Within this project, a new ultrasound methodology will therefore be developed in order to allow the measurement of blood flow inside the left ventricle in three dimensions. Hereto, new flow tracking approaches (consisting of both image acquisition and processing memethodologies) will be developed based on realistic computer simulations. Subsequently, the imaging setup required for this flow tracking algorithm will be implemented on an experimental 3D ultrasound system. This methodology will then be validated in two experimental in-vitro setups and in a clinical setting by comparing its measurements to the ones obtained by an independent imaging approach. The developed 3D tracking approach will allow the quantification of 3D flow phenomena in the left ventricle which can yield valuable new information to the cardiologist.