Non-invasive assessment of cardiac function - Myocardial Doppler

My main research interest is the non-invasive assessment of cardiac function in pediatric patients with and without congenital heart disease. Tissue Doppler echocardiography analyzes ventricular wall motion. Images are taken at very high frame rates (>100 images per second). Second generation markers like peak systolic strain rate and isovolumic contraction acceleration permit quantitation of right ventricular and left ventricular regional and global function. Tissue Doppler imaging and strain rate imaging are sensitive enough to quantitate cardiac function in the fetal heart.