From cardiac tissue to the echocardiographic image: a simulation task

Presents a study of intensity variations in the echocardiographic image during myocardial contraction. Both simulated and actual tissue were used to study this phenomenon. One of the approaches was to simulate echocardiographic response to cardiac tissue variations. In order to perform this task, we developed four modules which we have designated as: Tissue, Dynamics, Equipment and Texture. In the first module, we research two alternatives: mathematically simulated tissue and actual tissue obtained from histological samples of diseased hearts. The second module simulates contraction´s dynamics, using a three-transformations model (displacement, rotation and contraction) on an acoustic-impedance image. The third module simulates the transducers by varying the ultrasonic beam´s frequency and dispersion. The equipment outputs two signals: a radio-frequency image and an echocardiographic image. Both signals are then analyzed by the Texture module. This also includes an analysis of the mean values. The final goal of the project is to analyze tissue´s characterization, in order to infer about the cardiac fiber´s condition based on the space-time analysis of the two output signals.