Practical Guide for Three-Dimensional Transthoracic Echocardiography Using a Fully Sampled Matrix Array Transducer

Continuing Medical Education Activity for "Practical Guide for Three-Dimensional Transthoracic Echocardiography Using a Fully-Sampled Matrix Array Transducer". Accreditation and Disclosure: The American Society of Echocardiography is accredited by the Accreditation Council for continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The American Society of Echocardiography designates this activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. ARDMS and CCI recognize ASE's certificates and have agreed to honor the credit hours towards their registry requirements for sonographers. The American Society of Echocardiography is committed to resolving all conflict of interest issues, and its mandate is to retain only those authors with financial interests that can be reconciled with the goals and educational integrity of the educational activity. Disclosure of faculty and commercial support sponsor relationships, if any, will be made known before the activity. Target Audience: Participation should include clinicians and sonographers involved in echocardiography. Objectives: Upon completing the reading of this article the participant should be able to (1) recognize the basic terminology and technology of 3D echo using a fully-sampled matrix array transducer, (2) assess the practical steps of 3D data acquisition and analysis, and (3) understand clinical applications to effectively use the 3D TTE technology. Estimated time to complete this activity: 1 hour. Real-time three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography is a major innovation in the history of cardiovascular ultrasound. Advances in computer and transducer technologies, especially the fully-sampled matrix array transducer, have permitted real-time 3D image acquisition and display. Several vendors provide 3D imaging but use different terminology for similar functions, creating confusion for consumers. This article provides a practical guide on how to acquire and analyze 3D images on-cart using currently available ultrasound systems (iE33, Philips Medical System, Andover, MA; Vivid7, GE Healthcare, Wauwatosa, WI) in daily clinical practice.