But in the case of a pericardial problem and a normal myocardium, the annular motion is normal because of the normal myocardium. But, if ischemia is present there is no increase in velocity in response to dobutamine. Automated quantitation will be the likely result of improved endocardial border definition. The improved definition of the endocardium needed for on-line measurements will come from harmonic tissue imaging and the new contrast agents. Potential applications are assessing left ventricular volumes, which will clearly be more accurate than 2-D, and for stress echo.
Parallel processing is an important technique.
A limitation of ultrasound is the fact that sound moves slowly. Parallel processing samples one signal multiple times. A prototype instrument for parallel processing is producing some very interesting and encouraging work. Handheld Echocardiographs Small handheld echographs being developed will provide the ability to put a transducer on a patient's chest at the bedside to actually see inside the heart and obtain either a color or black and white 2-D echocardiogram. This will have a major impact on the use of cardiac ultrasound.