Concepts and applications of ultrafast cardiac ultrasound imaging

The concept of ultrafast echocardiographic imaging has been around for decades. However, only recent progress in ultrasound machine hardware and computer technology allowed to apply this concept to echocardiography. High frame rate echocardiography can visualize phenomena that have never been captured before. It enables a wide variety of potential new applications, including shear wave imaging, speckle tracking, ultrafast Doppler imaging, and myocardial perfusion imaging. The principles of these applications and their potential clinical use will be presented in this manuscript.