Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging in Pediatric and Adult Cardiology: Techniques, Applications, and Perspectives.

Ultrasound techniques currently used in echocardiography are limited by conventional frame rates. Ultrafast ultrasound imaging is able to capture images at frame rates up to 100 times faster compared with conventional imaging. Specific applications of this technology have been developed and tested for clinical use in pediatric and adult cardiac imaging. These include ultrafast Doppler or vector flow imaging, shear wave imaging, electromechanical wave imaging, and backscatter tensor imaging. The principles of these applications are explained in this manuscript with illustrations on how these methods could be applied in clinical practice. Ultrafast ultrasound has great clinical potential in the assessment of cardiac function, in noninvasive hemodynamic analysis, while providing novel techniques for imaging coronary perfusion and evaluating rhythm disorders.