Local myocardial deformation computed from speckle motion

A new method is presented for computing the local myocardial deformation from two-dimensional (2-D) echocardiograms. It is based on the relationship between echocardiographic speckle motion and the underlying tissue motion. The computer algorithm follows an optical flow methodology and computes the 2-D interframe linear velocity field of the speckle pattern inside a myocardial region of interest. Each regional velocity (motion) field is then decomposed into meaningful components representing the local myocardial translation, rotation (twist), and biaxial deformation (contraction and thickening). The diagnostic potential of the method is illustrated with a clinical example. The deformation values are in close agreement with manually calculated values obtained from wall thickness and heart circumference measurements from end-diastole to end-systole