BACKGROUND

BACKGROUND

Attempts to record and display ultrasound images in

3D format were first reported in the 1960s. One of

the earliest studies described the acquisition of a

series of parallel scans of a human orbit to reconstruct

3D anatomy.1 Despite the limited technology

of the day, these initial studies demonstrated that

complex anatomic structures were ideally displayed

using 3D techniques. Concerns about image quality

and the computational power needed for storage

and reconstruction greatly limited the early application

of this methodology.

More than a decade later, investigators began to

obtain 3D ultrasound images of the heart.2 Through

the careful tracking of a transducer, a sequence of

2-dimensional (2D) echocardiograms could be recorded,

aligned, and reconstructed into a 3D data

set. This methodology was limited by the need for

offline data processing to create and display the 3D

images. In the early 1990s, von Ramm and colleagues3

developed the first real-time 3D (RT3D)

echocardiographic scanner, capable of acquiring

volumetric data at frame rates sufficient to depict

cardiac motion. More recently, further improvements

in design and engineering have led to the

commercialization of RT3D echocardiography. This

methodology has evolved quickly, and different

versions of RT3D imaging are currently available on

several platforms.