Institute of Fundamental Technological Research

The brain is subject to damage, due to ageing, physiological processes and/or disease. Some of the damage is acute in nature, such as strokes; some is more subtle, like white matter lesions. White matter lesions or hyperintensities (WMH) can be one of the first signs of micro brain damage. We implemented the Acoustocerebrography (ACG) as an easy to use method designed to capture differing states of human brain tissue and the respective changes. Aim: The purpose of the study is to compare the efficacy of ACG and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to detect WMH in patients with clinically silent atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods and results: The study included 97 patients (age 66.26 ± 6.54 years) with AF. CHA2DS2- VASc score (2.5 ±1.3) and HAS BLED (1.65 ± 0.9). According to MRI data, the patients were assigned into four groups depending on the number of lesions: L0 – 0 to 4 lesions, L5 – 5 to 9 lesions, L10 – 10 to 29 lesions, and L30 – 30 or more lesions. Authors found that the ACG method clearly differentiates the groups L0 (with 0–4 lesions) and L30 (with more than 30 lesions) of WMH patients. Fisher's Exact Test shows that this correlation is highly significant (p < 0.001). Conclusion: ACG is a new, easy and cost-effective method for detecting WMH in patients with atrial fibrillation. The ACG measurement methodology should become increasingly useful for the assessment of WMH.

acoustocerebrography, brain MRI, atrial fibrillation, white matter hyperintensities

The main aim of this study was to verify the suitability of the hydrogel sonographic model of the left ventricle (LV) in the computed tomography (CT) environment and echocardiography and compare the radial strain calculations obtained by two different techniques: the speckle tracking ultrasonography and the multislices computed tomography (MSCT). The measurement setup consists of the LV model immersed in a cylindrical tank filled with water, hydraulic pump, the ultrasound scanner, hydraulic pump controller, pressure measurement system of water inside the LV model, and iMac workstation. The phantom was scanned using a 3.5 MHz Artida Toshiba ultrasound scanner unit at two angle positions: 0° and 25°. In this work a new method of assessment of RF speckles’ tracking. LV phantom was also examined using the CT 750 HD 64-slice MSCT machine (GE Healthcare). The results showed that the radial strain (RS) was independent on the insonifying angle or the pump rate. The results showed a very good agreement, at the level of 0.9%, in the radial strain assessment between the ultrasound M-mode technique and multislice CT examination. The study indicates the usefulness of the ultrasonographic LV model in the CT technique. The presented ultrasonographic LV phantom may be used to analyze left ventricle wall strains in physiological as well as pathological conditions. CT, ultrasound M-mode techniques, and author's speckle tracking algorithm, can be used as reference methods in conducting comparative studies using ultrasound scanners of various manufacturers.

Computed tomography, Echocardiography, Left ventricle, Speckles tracking, Strain, Ultrasound phantoms

The present work concerns the sonographic model of the left ventricle (LV) examined in the Computed Tomography (CT) environment and compare radial strain calculations obtained by two different techniques: the speckle tracking ultrasonography and the Multislices Computed Tomography (MSCT). The Left Ventricular (LF) phantom was fabricated from 10% solution of the poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Our model of the LV was driven by the computer- controlled hydraulic piston Super -Pump (Vivitro Inc., Canada) with adjustable fluid volumes. The stroke volume was set at of 24ml. The fluid pressure was changed within range of 0- 60 mmHg, and the pulse rate was of 60 cycles/per minute. The relationships between computer controlled left ventricular wall deformations and its visual izations of the echocardiographic and CT imaging, both in the normal and pathological conditions were examined. The difference of assessment the Radial Strain between two methods was not exceeding 1.1%.

The main goal of this study was to verify the suitability of sonographic model of the left ventricle (LV) in Computed Tomography (CT) environment and compare radial strain calculations obtained by two different techniques: speckle tracking ultrasonography and Multislices Computed Tomography (MSCT). The Left Ventricular (LF) phantom was fabricate from 10% solution of the poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Our model of the LV was driven by the computer-controlled hydraulic piston Super-Pump (Vivitro Inc., Canada) with adjustable fluid volumes. During cycle of the pump, the Stroke Volume (SV) of water was pumped into the LV phantom and returned to the pump, resulting in changing the inner and outer diameters of the phantom. The stroke volume was set at of 24ml. The fluid pressure was changed within range of 0-60 mmHg, and the pulse rate was equal 60 cycles/per minute. The relationships between computer controlled left ventricular wall deformations and its visualizations of the echocardiographic and CT imaging, both in the normal and pathological conditions were examined. The difference of assessment the Radial Strain between two methods was not exceeding 1.1%.

The aim of this study was to verify suitability of sonographic model of LV (left ventricle) in CT (computed tomography) environment and to compare in vitro radial strain calculations obtained by two different techniques: speckle tracking ultrasonography and multislice CT.