Echocardiography

Cardiac ultrasound uses reflected sound waves (echos) to create images of anatomy inside the body. Echocardiograms are the primary cardiac imaging modality used to assess the heart and diagnose or track cardiac issues. Echo is the gold standard imaging modality to assess the heart, particularly with calculating left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), which is a measure of cardiac output. In addition to noninvasive standard transthoracic echo (TTE), invasive transesophgeal echo (TEE) is also used when clearer, more detailed imaging of the heart is needed. Both 3D and 4D echo echo systems are rapidly gaining wider adoption and enable new types of assessments, especially in the structural heart space and in transcatheter procedural guidance. Find news on general ultrasound imaging.

FDA approves AI startup’s new software for echo assessments
iCardio.ai, co-founded by a cardiologist, is part of the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator program. The startup has already announced new partnerships with Viz.ai, Abbott and others in the cardiac health space.
Ultrafast myocardial contrast echocardiography shows early potential to evaluate CAD
Ultrafast MCE could go on to become a go-to treatment option for obstructive coronary artery disease, according to the authors of a new first-in-human clinical study.
ASE establishes vocabulary for cardiac POCUS to promote consistency
As cardiac point-of-care ultrasound use continues to grow outside of traditional echo labs, the American Society of Echocardiography is working to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Cardiac PET on the rise among U.S. cardiologists
SPECT is still the most common modality used to evaluate CAD patients, but cardiac PET is gaining more and more momentum.
ASE shares new guideline on imaging patients with implanted devices
The new guideline details the best imaging strategies for a variety of clinical scenarios.

CAE Healthcare lands first echocardiography simulator sale

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School in Boston has become the first recipient of CAE Healthcares transthoracic echocardiography simulator, CAE VIMEDIX.

May 6, 2010

Fujifilm, GE partner on echocardiography solution

ProSolv CardioVascular, a Fujifilm company, and GE Healthcare's Cardiovascular Ultrasound unit announced a formal affiliation during the 58th annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific sessions to develop an integrated solution aimed at improving workflow for echocardiography departments.

March 31, 2009

Update: Shockwaves Subside from the FDA's Echo Contrast Warning

Since the FDA placed a black-box warning on echocardiography contrast agents in October 2007, the market for the agents dropped tremendously. But there is good news for the echo contrast agent market and patients as the pendulum is swinging back again. The subsequent movement to educate both regulators and providers has led to a modification of the agencys contraindications and may have generated a resurgence in their usealong with a better understanding of their clinical value.

March 11, 2009

ASE recommends contrast agent usage in echoes

The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) has issued a consensus statement, supporting the use of contrast agents used to enhance echocardiogram images, and providing a guide for physicians who may be hesitant to use the contrast agents following a 2007 FDA black-box warning. The statement was published in the November issue of Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography.

November 13, 2008

Siemens debuts ultrasound platform for echocardiography

Siemens Healthcare is unveiling the Acuson SC2000 volume imagingultrasound system, which can acquire non-stitched, real-timefull-volume 3D images of the heart in one single heart cycle, duringthe 19th Annual Session of the American Society of Echocardiography(ASE) in Toronto, June 7-11.

June 9, 2008

CVUS: Stress echocardiography-based strategies are cheaper, less risky

Stress echocardiography-based strategies are cost effective and negatethe risk of radiation exposure compared to alternative imagingstrategies, according to an analysis published online May 29 in Cardiovascular Ultrasound.

June 4, 2008

Stress echocardiography-based strategies are cheaper, less risky

Stress echocardiography-based strategies are cost effective and negate the risk of radiation exposure compared to alternative imaging strategies, according to an analysis published online May 29 in Cardiovascular Ultrasound.

June 4, 2008

American Society of Echocardiography

March 21, 2008

Around the web

Cardiovascular Business

Global shortage of nuclear imaging isotopes may be over

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

Cardiovascular Business

‘A huge win’: CMS significantly increases Medicare payments for cardiac CT

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.

Cardiovascular Business

FDA clears AI tool that flags signs of heart disease in chest CT scans

The newly cleared offering, AutoChamber, was designed with opportunistic screening in mind. It can evaluate many different kinds of CT images, including those originally gathered to screen patients for lung cancer.

Echocardiography

FDA approves AI startup’s new software for echo assessments

Ultrafast myocardial contrast echocardiography shows early potential to evaluate CAD

ASE establishes vocabulary for cardiac POCUS to promote consistency

Cardiac PET on the rise among U.S. cardiologists

ASE shares new guideline on imaging patients with implanted devices

Around the web