A Method to Estimate Volume and Surface Area of Organ by Two-Dimensional Echocardiography

Two-dimensional echocardiography has recently facilitated production of cardiac sectional images. This paper describes a method to estimate volumes and surface areas of various cardiac regions from their oblique sectional images. Cardiac oblique sectional images are recorded with a sector scanner probe which is tilted gradually on an intercostal point. The contour of a particular region on the recorded image is traced manually to put into a computer. The computer calculates the volume and the surface area using a triangular pyramid as the fundamental segment. The accuracy on this calculation method was evaluated by two types of phantoms constructed in the computer. The method is applicable to determine the volume and the surface area not only of the heart, but also of other organs even though they have indents or protrusions on the surface.