Cardiac shear wave elastography for the non-invasive assessment of myocardial stiffness

Recent development in fast ultrasound imaging allows monitoring of shear wave propagation in soft tissues. In an elastic medium, the shear wave propagation parameters can be coupled directly to the modulus of elasticity. This allows for implementation of fast ultrasound imaging for non-invasive, quantitative measurements of tissue stiffness. Translation of this methodology to the heart has been slow, due to technical and biomechanical problems. Inducing shear waves in the heart and their fast imaging meets difficulties, which needs to be solved. The main aims of the project are optimization of a cardiac shear wave scan sequence on an existing experimental ultrasound platform, testing its acoustics safety in an acoustic measurement bench and experimental validation of the sequence in (dynamic) mock models of the heart. Work will be done in close collaboration with medical specialists in order to validate the technology in experimental models and to support its translation into the clinical setting.