Fortunately, only a handful of newborns are affected by them, though this determines if not the rest of their lives then, at least, the first few years of affected children: congenital heart defects. After the necessary surgeries, the small patients repeatedly need to return for checkups. Until now, these were conducted using MRI scans. 4D ultrasound can be an alternative.
In this interview with MEDICA-tradefair.com, Jan-Pit Horst talks about 4D ultrasound in pediatric cardiac diagnostics. He explains why the right ventricle is so difficult to assess using 2-dimensional ultrasound images and how reference ranges for heart size are able to support future treatment decisions.
Mr. Horst, you examined the hearts of children using a 4D ultrasound system in a study. What kind of technology is this?
Jan-Pit Horst: 3D ultrasound imaging is well-known and by now very well established in hospital facilities and larger medical practices. It lets us picture and record the heart in all three dimensions with a single image.
4D ultrasound enables us to determine the commonly used 2D parameters, such as the heart cavity diameter for example. In addition, this type of program can calculate the left and right ventricular volumes from 3D images. We are also able to measure functional parameters such as the motion of the tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) or assess the so-called longitudinal strain. This program shows us the heart in motion since the images are being generated almost in real time. This is the fourth dimension. ...
Read the complete interview at MEDICA-tradefair.com!