May 22, 2015 — A study in the May issue of the International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging examines the ability of the EchoInsight software to achieve quantitative assessment of the right ventricle (RV). The study, “Semi-automated Echocardiographic Quantification of Right Ventricular Size and Function," was published by Diego Medvedofsky, Karima Addetia, Roberto Lang, Victor Mor-Avi, et al.
An excerpt from the study reads:
"Until recently, RV assessment was qualitative only and thus subjective and experience dependent. The new guidelines from the ASE [American Society of Echocardiography] have emphasized the importance of quantitative assessment of RV size and function and encouraged making these measurements standard in clinical practice. Previous studies have shown that RV measurements provide important prognostic and therapeutic information in patients with heart disease. However, current quantitative approaches rely on manual measurements performed on a variety of images, including endocardial boundary tracings on 2-D images for chamber area and dimensions, measurements of TAPSE on M-Mode images and S' on tissue Doppler images. This methodology is time-consuming and experience dependent. As a result, in clinical practice, visual qualitative assessment of RV size and function is usually used instead, despite the clear benefits of a quantitative assessment. Accordingly, development of new tools for fast, accurate and reproducible measurement of RV indexes would address an important clinical need."
This study compared manual versus semi-automated (EchoInsight) approaches in transthoracic echo images obtained in 149 patients with a wide range of RV size and function; all images were analyzed by an expert. Both techniques were used to obtain fractional area change (FAC), linear chamber dimensions, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and S'. Fifteen patients were excluded due to image quality (90 percent feasibility). Time required with EchoInsight was approximately 30 seconds per patient, compared to 4 minutes for conventional analysis. The parameters obtained with EchoInsight were in agreement with manual measurements: r-values 0.79–0.95 for RV size and 0.70–0.74 for function indices and biases of 2–22 percent of the mean measured values, which were comparable to the intrinsic variability of the conventional technique.
The study concluded EchoInsight is feasible, fast and provides quantitative parameters of RV size and function, which are comparable to conventional measurements.
For more information: www.epsilon-imaging.com
July 19, 2024 
