查看文章

Contrast Echocardiography (CE) using microbubble contrast agents enables sensitive imaging of chamber flow dynamics and myocardial perfusion (1). However, the clinical value of CE is affected by the image quality achievable by the existing systems. Recent advances in ultrasound engineering, by transmitting nonfocused waves and digital beamforming, have made it possible to achieve thousands of frames per second (2) and offered new opportunities for imaging the dynamics of the heart. Although high frame-rate (HFR) echocardiography has recently been shown, challenges exist in noncontrast applications due to the difficulty of generating sufficient tissue harmonic signals in deep tissue using nonfocused waves, reducing image quality (3). In CE, such challenges disappear because the nonfocused waves can generate significant harmonics from microbubbles. HFR acquisition has the potential to enhance …