Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging in Pediatric and Adult Cardiology

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. • Ultrafast ultrasound imaging could be a central noninvasive imaging tool, particularly in congenital and pediatric cardiology. • Myocardial stiffness assessment by ultrafast ultrasound imaging has the potential to become a cornerstone of ultrasound imaging in cardiology, particularly for the noninvasive assessment of systolic and diastolic physiology. • Further clinical developments could potentially reduce the need for cardiac magnetic resonance or imaging techniques requiring radiation.