Switched Gain - A Technique for Simplifying Ultrasonic Measurement of Cardiac Wall Thickness

Pulse-echo ultrasound, a valuable tool for noninvasive cardiac examination, has been used extensively to determine left ventricular volume and wall thickness. It is often difficult, however, to visualize simultaneously the endocardial and epicardial surfaces of the left ventricular posterior wall be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering 1975-07, Vol.BME-22 (4), p.337-340
Main Authors: Griffith, James M., Henry, Walter L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dynamic range
Echocardiography - methods
Gain measurement
Heart - anatomy & histology
Humans
Lungs
Myocardium
Oscillators
Switches
Thickness measurement
Ultrasonic imaging
Ultrasonic variables measurement
Visualization
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Summary:Pulse-echo ultrasound, a valuable tool for noninvasive cardiac examination, has been used extensively to determine left ventricular volume and wall thickness. It is often difficult, however, to visualize simultaneously the endocardial and epicardial surfaces of the left ventricular posterior wall because of dynamic range and grey scale limitations. Although the signal reflected at the epicardial-lung interface is much stronger than the signal from surrounding myocardium and lung, it is often obliterated when the receiver gain is increased sufficiently to record the endocardial echo. We have developed a switched gain technique which allows both wall surfaces to be visualized in real time. An oscillator rapidly switches the receiver gain between two levels that are independently set to display the two wall surfaces; thus, echograms are generated with high and low gain portions closely mixed. The endocardial surface is seen best at high gain; the epicardial surface at lower amplification.
ISSN:0018-9294
1558-2531
DOI:10.1109/TBME.1975.324455