4D Cardiovascular Ultrasound Technology Improves Image Quality, Quantification, and Productivity

A new development--for the first time in cardiovascular ultrasound--provides dynamic multislice acquisition technology with the ability to simultaneously acquire images of up to 12 slices of the heart, and automated function imaging (AFI) for tri-plane measurements. The technology also includes new quantification tools including four-dimensional (4D) strain, 2D auto ejection fraction (EF), and AFI for transeshophageal echocardiography (TEE), for left ventricular (LV), global, and regional function.

GE Healthcare (Chalfont St. Giles, UK), a unit of General Electric Company (Fairfield, CT, USA), has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the latest version of its built-for-4D Vivid E9 cardiovascular ultrasound system. Vivid E9 Breakthrough 2011 (BT11) provides innovative features designed to help improve image quality, quantification, and workflow.

Vivid E9 BT11 is now FDA-cleared, CE Marked, and available for sale in many Asian and South American countries. The technology is available in 2D or 4D configuration with support for a comprehensive range of adult and pediatric probes. New features improve image quality, quantification, and workflow when compared to the previous generation of Vivid E9 and include: a new high bandwidth 4V-D transducer, significantly smaller than its 3V-D predecessor, yet more powerful, with improved 2D and 4D image quality and the ability to scan in all modes, including continuous wave (CW) Doppler; a new 12S-D transducer for the smallest of neonatal patients, helping enhance a range of pediatric echo transducers available for Vivid E9; improved performance and expanded application coverage for shared services with the addition of a ML6-15-D probe, and in the operating room with the intraoperative i13L probe.

Other system features include a new and improved 4D Auto LVQ, an integrated and automated 4D volume and EF tool, and, an extension to this tool, 4D LV Mass, which provides a left ventricular mass, as well as a mass index; 4D Strain, an easy-to-interpret 4D tracking tool that allows for quantification of left ventricular function, providing global and regional longitudinal, circumferential, radial, and area strain curves as well as bulls-eyes to possibly identify wall motion abnormalities.

Scan Assist and Scan Assist Pro, with its customizable protocol driven exam, aids users in acquiring the required images in a predefined sequence and can considerably reduce keystrokes and exam time, providing opportunities for improved workflow and potential productivity gains. Multidimensional imaging allows users to acquire bi- or tri-plane images in a single beat, which helps reduce acquisition time and storage space.

The system's Auto-Align for 4D views features fully automatic positioning and orientation of the left ventricle, helping to improve efficiency and consistency of image analysis. Multislice imaging provides a live imaging mode with choices of viewing 5, 7, 9, or 12 slices for simultaneous acquisition and assessment. Dynamic multislice provides for continuous visualization of the same cardiac structures throughout the heart cycle, potentially improving the accuracy of wall motion assessment of multislice images.

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