内容简介：
Echocardiography has made a significant contribution to clinical cardiology as a major tool for real-time imaging of cardiac dynamics. The technique is widely used to assess cardiac function, and provides non-invasive information which is invaluable for the diagnosis of various disease states. In spite of its numerous advantages, in the clinical arena echocardiography has remained mostly qualitative and subjective. However, continued progress in our understanding of the interactions between ultrasound and tissue characteristics have brought about several developments which allow quantitative analysis of ultrasound data. Among these developments are endocardial boundary detection (frequently referred to as acoustic quantification), colour kinesis and Doppler myocardial imaging. The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with the background necessary to understand and successfully utilize these methodologies. The book summarizes in detail the studies that have validated these techniques thus far, and discusses their future applications.