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Comparison of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction assessed with 3D Echocardiography and Cardiac MRI E.M. Wintjes October 2008 BMTE 08.42 ID nr: 0536609 Eindhoven University of Technology Department of Biomedical Engineering Division: Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering Supervisors: ir. J.W.A. Gutteling (MMC) dr.ir. P.H.M. Bovendeerd (TU/e) Prof.dr.ir. F.N. van de Vosse (TU/e) Prof.dr.ir. P.F.F. Wijn (TU/e, MMC) i Abstract Both 3D echocardiography (3DE) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to determine the cardiac left ventricular ejection fraction. Ejection fraction is the difference between the end diastolic volume (EDV) and the end systolic volume (ESV) divide by the EDV. Several studies have tried to determine the similarity between the ejection fractions (EF) calculated with 3DE and MRI. A literature review of 14 studies showed no significant difference, but the combination of many different patients, variation of cardiac pathologies and no paired and individual data introduces a large variation on the EF data, which makes it impossible to determine a significant difference between 3DE and MRI. This study, done in the MMC in Veldhoven, tries to determine if a difference exists by using both techniques on the same healthy volunteer and determining the EF using several different dedicated software packages. A total of 9 3D echo’s and 3 MRI’s was made, the software packages used are CAAS MRV from Pie Medical, and 4D LV Analysis MR for the MRI data, and Qlab 3DQ Advanced from Philips and 4D LV Analysis from Tomtec for the 3DE data. Each 3DE and MRI was analyzed several times by two observers. This resulted in an average EF for the 3DE data of 0.55 ± 0.05 and 0.65 ± 0.02 for the MRI data. The p-value of 0.000 of a multifactor ANOVA test shows that this is a significant difference. Both the observer and the software package used have a significant influence on the EF determined, as does the acquisition of the 3DE data. The acquisition of the MRI data does not seem to have any effect on the EF. Eindhoven University of Technology ii Samenvatting Zowel 3D echocardiografie (3DE) en cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) kunnen gebruikt worden om de linker hartventrikel ejectie fractie (EF) te bepalen. Ejectie fractie wordt bepaald het verschil tussen door het einddiastolisch volume (EDV) en het eind systolisch volume (ESV) en dit te delen door het EDV. Verschillende studies hebben al geprobeerd om de overeenkomst tussen de EF bepaald met 3DE en MRI te meten. Een literatuur studie van 14 van deze studies laat zien dat er geen significant verschil is tussen de EF’s, maar de combinatie van veel verschillende patinten, variaties in hart pathologie en een gebrek aan gepaarde en individuele data zorgen ervoor dat de standaard deviatie of de data zo groot is dat een eventueel verschil niet aangetoond kan worden. In deze studie, gedaan in het MMC in Veldhoven, wordt ook geprobeerd om te bepalen of de EF bepaald met 3DE en MRI gelijk zijn, maar hier wordt maar een gezonde proefpersoon gebruikt. Daarnaast worden een aantal verschillende software pakketten gebruikt om de 3DE en MRI data te analyseren. In totaal zijn er 9 3DE’s gemaakt en 3 MRI’s. De software pakketten die gebruikt zijn, zijn CAAS MRV van Pie Medical en 4D LV analysis MR van Tomtec voor de analyse van de MRI data, en Qlab 3DQ Advanced van Philips en 4D LV analysis van Tomtec. Elke 3DE en MRI is een aantal keer geanalyseerd door 2 analisten. Dit resulteerde in een gemiddelde EF van 0,55 ± 0,05 voor 3DE en 0,65 ± 0,02 voor MRI. Een multifactor ANOVA toets laat zien dat er een significant verschil is tussen 3DE en MRI. De waarde van de EF is afhankelijk van de analist en het software pakket en bij 3DE ook van de acquisitie. Bij MRI is de hoogte van de EF niet afhankelijk van de acquisitie. Ellemiek Wintjes CONTENTS i Contents 1 2 3 4 Introduction 1.1 The heart . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1.1 The cardiac cycle . . . . 1.1.2 Visualization of the heart 1.2 Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Literature Review 2.1 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.1 Results of comparison of volumes and EF’s . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.2 Comparison of 3DE acquisition hardware and analysis software 2.1.3 Comparison of MRI acquisition hardware and analysis software 2.1.4 Comparison of data analysis methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.5 Reproducibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Discussion and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Materials and Methods 3.1 Study setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1 Software packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Acquisitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 MRI Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.2 RT-3D echocardiography protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Comparisons/Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.1 Outlier test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.2 One-way and multifactor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test 3.3.3 Multiple range test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Results 4.1 Raw data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Comparison between 3DE and MRI . . 4.3 Comparison of 3DE software packages . 4.4 Comparison of MRI software packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 1 3 4 . . . . . . . 5 5 5 9 9 10 12 12 . . . . . . . . . 15 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 19 20 . . . . 21 21 24 28 31 5 Discussion 33 6 Conclusions 35 Eindhoven University of Technology ii 7 CONTENTS Recommendations 7.1 Acquisitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography A Imaging modalities A.1 Cardiac MRI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.1.1 Imaging planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.1.2 Synchronization of acquisitions with motion A.2 Echocardiography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.2.1 Reconstructed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.2.2 ECG triggering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.2.3 Real-time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 37 38 41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 42 42 44 46 46 47 47 B Tables 50 C Analysis Protocol Caas MRV 51 D Matlab files D.1 Qlab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.2 Tomtec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.3 Caas MRV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 53 55 56 E Data 59 F Abbreviations 66 Ellemiek Wintjes 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 The heart The heart is one of the most important organs in the human body. It is a hollow muscle that pumps blood through the body. A mammal heart consists of a total of four heart chambers, the two upper ones are the atria and the two lower ones the ventricles, see figure 1.1. The heart is usually situated in the middle of the thorax with the largest part of the heart slightly offset to the left, underneath the breastbone. The heart is enclosed by a sac known as the pericardium and surrounded by the lungs. Because the left side of the cardiac muscle is stronger, people normally feel their heart on the left side of the chest. The left ventricle (LV) pumps oxygen rich blood from the lungs to the rest of the body. The right ventricle (RV) pumps the blood coming from the body to the lungs. The superior side of the heart is called the base. It contains the semi-lunar aortic and pulmonary valves, the left atrioventricular (AV) mitral valve and the right AV tricuspid valve. The apex is the blunt point situated in an inferior direction (pointing down and left). The apex is located posterior to the 5th intercostal space in the left mid-clavicular line. In normal adults, the mass of the heart is 250-350 g, but extremely diseased hearts can weigh up to 1000 g due to hypertrophy. The heart has a normal stroke volume (SV) of about 70 ml per beat and a cardiac output (SV × heart rate) of 5 l/min. The heart rate is normally around 70 beats per minute. 1.1.1 The cardiac cycle As can be found in [1]: ”The cardiac events that occur from the beginning of one heartbeat to the beginning of the next heartbeat are called the cardiac cycle. Each cycle is initiated by spontaneous generation of an action potential in the sinus node. This node is located in the superior lateral wall of the right atrium near the opening of the superior vena cava, and the action potential travels from Figure 1.1: Overview of the heart. Taken from Guyton [1], page 97. here rapidly through both atria and through the A-V bundle into the ventricles. Because of this special 1 arrangement of the conducting system from the atria into the ventricles, there is a delay of more than 10 second during passage of the cardiac impulse from the atria into the ventricles. This allows the atria to contract ahead of the ventricles, thereby pumping blood into the ventricles before the strong ventricular contraction begins.” Eindhoven University of Technology 2 Introduction Figure 1.2: Summary of events occurring in the heart during the cardiac cycle. (a) Events in the left side of the heart. An ECG tracing is placed above the graphs of pressure and volume changes so that they can be related to electrical events occurring at any point. (b) Events of phases 1 through 3 of the cardiac cycle are depicted in diagrammatic views of the heart. Adapted from Marieb [2], page 703. Ellemiek Wintjes 1.1 The heart 3 Figure 1.2 presents an overview of the events occurring in the heart during the cardiac cycle. This overview starts with the heart in total relaxation: both atria and ventricles are relaxed, and it is mid-to-late diastole. The phase indicated by interval 1 in figure 1.2, is the period of ventricular filling. According to [2]: ”The pressure in the heart is low and blood returning from the circulation is flowing passively through the atria and the open AV valves into the ventricles below. The semi-lunar valves are closed. Approximately 70% of ventricular filling occurs during this period and the AV flaps begin to drift upward toward their closed position. The remaining 30% of the filling is delivered to the ventricles when the atria contract following depolarization (the P wave of the electrocardiogram (ECG)), compressing the blood in their chambers. This causes a sudden slight rise in atrial pressure, which propels residual blood out of the atria into the ventricles. At this point the ventricles are in the last part of their resting phase and have the maximum volume of blood they will contain in the entire cardiac cycle. This volume is called the end diastolic volume (EDV). Then the atria relax and the ventricles depolarize (QRS complex on the ECG). Atrial diastole persists through the rest of the cycle. As the atria relax, the ventricles begin their contraction phase. Their walls close in on the blood in their chambers, and ventricular pressure rises rapidly and sharply, closing the AV valves. For about 50 ms, the ventricles are completely closed chambers and blood volume in the chambers remains constant. This isovolumetric contraction phase is phase 2a in figure 1.2. Ventricular pressures continue to rise and when they finally exceed the pressure in the large arteries at the other side of the valves, the isovolumetric stage ends as the semi-lunar valves are forced open and the blood is expelled from the ventricles into the aorta and pulmonary artery. During this ventricular ejection phase (phase 2b in figure 1.2), the pressure in the aorta normally reaches up to 120 mm Hg. During a brief phase following the T wave, the ventricles relax. Because the blood remaining in their chambers, referred to as end systolic volume (ESV), is no longer compressed, the ventricular pressure drops rapidly and blood in the aorta and pulmonary artery starts to flow back toward the heart, closing the semi-lunar valves. This results in phase 3 in figure 1.2 and is called isovolumetric relaxation or early diastole. Once again the ventricles are totally closed chambers. During ventricular systole, the atria have been in diastole. They filled with blood and the intra-atrial pressure has been rising. When the pressure exerted by the blood on the atrial side of the AV valves exceeds that in the ventricles, the AV valves are forced open and ventricular filling, phase 1, begins again.” The cardiac function can be described using several parameters. In this study the end diastolic volume (EDV), end systolic volume (ESV) and the ejection fraction (EF) are used as the important parameters. These are also important prognostic factors [3]. EDV is defined as the volume of the left ventricular cavity at the moment of closure of the mitral valves (the line between phase 1 and 2a in figure 1.2). ESV is defined as the volume of the left ventricle at the moment of opening of the mitral valves (the line between phase 3 and 1 in figure 1.2). EF is calculated by subtracting the ESV from the EDV and dividing this by the EDV. Because this method results in a fraction between 0 and 1, the EF is often multiplied with 100% to create a percentage. EF = 1.1.2 EDV − ESV (∗100%) EDV Visualization of the heart It can be very useful to visualize the heart for patients with cardiac problems. This can be done using several different visualization techniques. The two most commonly used techniques are cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (see appendix A.1) and echocardiography. Echocardiography has Eindhoven University of Technology 4 Introduction developed from a 1-dimensional M-mode ultrasound twenty-five years ago, to a 2-dimensional (2D) echocardiography and reconstructed 3-dimensional (3D) echocardiography nowadays. Recently realtime 3-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) was added to this list. 3DE uses a special array transducer to create a pyramidal shaped volume. An explanation about this technique is given in appendix A.2. MRI is currently seen as the golden standard for the visualization of the heart and the assessment of cardiac function. It provides real-time visualization of the heart and the blood flow inside the cardiac muscle and it is non-invasive. The drawbacks of MRI are that it is not usable in patients with a pacemaker, it cannot be performed at the bedside, it takes a lot of time, it is very expensive and it is difficult to use in patients with cardiac arrhythmias. The first two drawbacks can be overcome using echocardiography in stead of MRI. Echocardiography is also less expensive and less time consuming. The drawbacks of 3DE are a lower resolution compared to conventional 2D echocardiography and the problem that enlarged hearts might not fit within the pyramidal shape [4]. Another drawback of echocardiography is that it has to be done with the patient laying the left lateral decubitus position (see appendix A.2). One of the points to consider when using 3DE or any other form of echocardiography is that laying in the lateral decubitus position for 15 minutes can cause discomfort and worsen the lung function in patients with chronic heart failure [5]. The effects are much smaller when laying on the back, so for these patients follow up by MRI would be better. Another problem with 3DE is that the image quality of 3DE can be a problem in patients with poor acoustic windows, see appendix A.2. Because the image quality is currently lower than 2DE it might be difficult to detect the endocardial borders in these patients [6]. 1.2 Goal Because both 3DE and MRI can be used to determine cardiac parameters, the general question of this study is whether there are differences between the values for left ventricular volumes and EF measured with MRI and 3DE. Several studies have tried to determine if MRI and 3DE are comparable for the analysis of left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF). In chapter 2 a literature review of some of these studies is described. The conclusion of this literature review is that 3DE and MRI appear to be equally accurate in determining the LV cavity volumes and EF, but there is a large standard deviation (SD) due to the range of ages of the test subjects, the different cardiac pathologies they suffer from and the fact that no individually paired data are given, but only average data. Therefore the goal of this study is to determine if there are significant differences between the EF calculated with 3DE and MRI for when used on one test subject. In addition the interobserver variability, and the performances of several different analysis software packages are investigated. Ellemiek Wintjes 5 Chapter 2 Literature Review Both MRI and 3DE can be used to visualize the heart and analyse the LV function. Several studies have tried to determine if the volumes between 3DE and MRI are different. This literature review compares fourteen of those studies. The volumes and EF’s calculated with 3DE and MRI in these studies are compared, as well as the acquisition hardware and the analysis software are compared. 2.1 2.1.1 Results Results of comparison of volumes and EF’s Fourteen studies were selected on the basis of several criteria. The first criterion was that 3D echocardiography had to be used to determine volumes and EF. This resulted in studies published between 2001 and December 2007. The second criterion was that values for the 3DE and MRI data had to be given. And the third criterion was that the study had to compare 3DE to another imaging modality, preferably MRI. Table 2.1 gives the original data of the values for the cardiac parameters found in several studies. Studies 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 included patients or healthy volunteers with a normal LV function in their study group. Two lines within one study indicate the use of multiple techniques or analysis methods, see sections 2.1.2 and 2.1.4. None of the papers gave the data of the individual patients; only the mean and standard deviation (SD) of the group were given. Thus the values used in this study are the average values of the patient groups used in the papers. From the fourteen studies on this subject given in table 2.1, four where discarded from further analysis because they were not executed in the same way as the other ten. Study 11, Busch 2007 [7], was removed because this research used an 3T MR scanner in stead of the 1.5 T MR scanner used in the other studies and they compared CT and not 3DE to MR. Using a 3T scanner, should not have any effect on the cardiac parameters, but there is not enough research on 3T scanners published to be conclusive on this. Study 12, Giakoumis 2007 [8], and 13, Van den Bosch 2006 [9], were removed because the research was done on much younger patients, age 30 ± 6 years and 31 ± 9 years, respectively, as compared to an average of 57 years for the other studies (indicated in red on table 2.1), and also because no or not all 3DE values were given. EF is related to age, in older subjects the EF tends to be lower. Study 14, Mor-Avi 2004 [4], was removed because they only compared MRI and 3DE for LV mass. They did give a value for the EDV in MR but none of the other cardiac parameters was mentioned. Figure 2.1 gives the data of the remaining studies. In studies 1,2 and 3 only the mean values are given because it was unclear how the SD was calculated, indicated in yellow in table 2.1. Analyzing this figure shows that the weighted average volumes (indicated with ∗ in the left of the figure) are slightly but not significantly lower for 3DE then for MRI (161 ml ± 62 ml vs. 177 ml ± 62 ml respectively, for EDV Eindhoven University of Technology 6 Literature Review Table 2.1: All original data given in the studies. The column Men gives the fraction of male participants. The studies indicated in red (study 12 and 13) are excluded because of the younger patients. It was unclear how the SD in the studies 1, 2 and 3, indicated in yellow, was calculated. The second line of study 1 is the result of reconstructed 3D echocardiography (see appendix A.2). The top line of study 4 is the result of dual triggering and the second line of normal continuous imaging. The second line in study 6 is the result of the use of a contrast agent. The top line with study 7 is the result of using full volume reconstruction and the second line of using multiplane interpolation. Study 1 Jenkins 2007 a 2 Jenkins 2006 3 Jenkins 2004 4 Caiani 2005 a 5 Caiani 2005 b 6 Krenning 2007 7 Soliman 2007 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Qi 2007 Lee 2001 Nikitin 2005 Busch 2007 Giakoumis 2007 vd Bosch 2006 Mor-Avi 2004 CMR RT3DE Age (years) EDV (ml) ESV (ml) EF (-) EDV (ml) ESV (ml) EF (-) n Mean σ Range Men Mean σ Mean σ Mean σ Mean σ Mean σ Mean σ 30 66 7 0,73 168 54 86 50 50 13 153 31 78 26 49 7 142 33 73 42 46 9 110 63 10 0,85 180 55 93 50 50 13 136 35 72 28 48 10 165 28 83 22 51 8 50 64 8 0,82 172 53 91 53 50 14 168 29 88 18 50 7 20 58 17 0,50 164 64 94 55 47 16 150 65 89 48 42 17 141 57 79 48 47 16 46 53 17 0,59 168 70 99 69 46 19 162 68 96 64 45 17 39 58 15 24-79 0,87 218 70 125 69 45 5 198 60 116 58 43 13 200 67 117 65 44 15 53 56 11 0,53 175 51 74 51 61 17 165 50 69 48 61 18 150 48 63 44 61 18 58 59 17 21-83 0,69 139 59 79 57 47 16 117 53 64 46 48 12 25 51 15 0,68 190 97 93 87 56 15 191 93 97 87 60 15 64 65 12 34-85 0,80 195 72 117 68 44 16 202 74 121 66 43 15 15 51 19 0,87 132 41 58 27 58 9 135 30 6 0,47 138 43 46 21 67 8 32 31 9 19-51 0,59 155 38 62 27 151 36 61 27 19 48 16 0,68 172 14 and 85 ml ± 57 ml vs. 95 ml ± 59 ml for ESV) and that the weighted average EF is the same for both techniques (49.5 % ± 15.5 % vs. 49.4 % ± 14.4 % for 3DE and MRI Respectively). This corresponds to the results of most of the studies. Only study 5, Caiani 2005 b [10], study 9, Lee 2001 [11], and study 10, Nikitin 2005 [12], found no differences between MR and 3DE. The results of the other studies showed that 3DE LV volumes are lower when compared to MRI but EF are similar. These results are not the conclusions of the different studies but the results when 3D echo is compared to MRI. Some studies compare for instance different echo techniques, and conclude that one technique is better then the other, but in their results they show that both underestimate the volume when compared to MRI. Figure 2.2 shows the differences between 3DE and MRI compared to the average of the means of the two methods. This shows that most of the MRI values for the EDV and ESV are higher then those of 3DE. The difference between the MRI and 3DE values is about 9,7 % of the average of the mean MRI and 3DE values. For EF this difference is 1,7 %. Ellemiek Wintjes EF 90 n=53 n=25 80 n=30 Ejection Fraction n [%] 70 n=110 n=50 n=20 n=58 n=46 * n=39 n=64 60 MR 3DE Average MR 50 Average 3DE 40 30 20 EDV 300 250 Volume [mL] * 200 MR 3DE Average MR Average 3DE 150 100 50 ESV 250 200 Volume [mL] * 150 MR 3DE Average MR Average 3DE 100 50 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Study Figure 2.1: Ejection fraction, end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes given by the different studies. The points are MRI data and the squares 3DE. n gives the number of patients used for each study. On the left side, indicated with an ∗, a weighted average and weighted SD are shown, the triangle for the MRI data and the X for the 3DE data. The weighted average and weighted SD are weighted to the number of patients used for each study. The SD of the 3DE weight average is only calculated from the data with an SD. All data are given with mean and SD except for the 3-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) data of study 1, Jenkins 2007 a [13], study 2, Jenkins 2006 [14] and study 3, Jenkins 2004 [15]. The numbers on the x-axis coincide with the study numbers given in table 2.1. 8 Literature Review Bland-Altman Plot EDV Bland-Altman Plot ESV 50 50 Difference 40 Mean Difference Mean Difference 30 Difference 40 30 Mean Diff. ± 2SD Mean Diff. ± 2SD 20 ESV in ml (3DE - CMR) C EDV in ml (3DE - CMR) C 20 10 0 -10 -20 10 0 -10 -20 -30 -30 -40 -40 -50 -50 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 60 70 80 90 100 EDV in ml (3DE + CMR)/2 ESV in ml (3DE + CMR)/2 (a) (b) 110 120 Bland-Altman Plot EF 6 4 EF in % (3DE - CMR) Difference 2 Mean Difference Mean Diff Diff. ± 2SD 0 -2 -4 -6 40 45 50 55 60 65 EF in % (3DE + CMR)/2 (c) Figure 2.2: Differences between the values for the EDV (a), ESV (b) and EF (c) of the two techniques compared to the average of the two techniques. Ellemiek Wintjes 2.1 Results 2.1.2 9 Comparison of 3DE acquisition hardware and analysis software All the studies use real-time 3D transthoracic echocardiography. Jenkins et al. (2007 a) [13] also used reconstructed 3D echocardiography (second line of study 1 in table 2.1). Table 2.2 gives an overview of the 3D ultrasound machines and the analysis software used by the different studies. Most studies use a Philips Sonos 7500 and some the more recent Philips iE33. For the analysis of 3DE images Tomtec’s 4D analysis is the most popular. Table 2.2: Overview of devices and software used to acquire and analyse 3DE images. 14 6 Jenkins 2007 a Jenkins 2006 Jenkins 2004 Caiani 2005 a Caiani 2005 b Sugeng 2006 Mor-Avi 2004 Krenning 2007 Ultrasound machine Philips Sonos 7500 Philips iE33 Philips Sonos 7500 Philips Sonos 7500 Philips Sonos 7500 Philips Sonos 7500 Philips Sonos 7500 Philips iE33 and Philips Sonos 7500 7 Soliman 2007 Philips iE33 and Philips Sonos 7500 13 Philips Sonos 7500 8 Van den Bosch 2006 Qi 2007 9 Lee 2001 10 Nikitin 2005 1 2 3 4 5 Philips iE33 Volumetric Machine (Duke University) Philips Sonos 7500 Software 4D Analysis Tomtec 3DQ-lab and 4D Analysis Tomtec 4D Analysis Tomtec 3DQ-lab and custom software Custom software 4D Analysis Tomtec 3DQ-lab Tomtec Echoview 4D Analysis Tomtec version 1.2 and version 2.0 4D Analysis Tomtec and Tomtec Echoview Tomtec Echoview Custom software 4D Analysis Tomtec Caiani et al. (2005a) [16] studied the effect of dual triggering. Dual triggering means that next to the normal R-wave triggering they also triggered to the end of the T-wave. In the data set acquired with this dual triggering protocol only end-diastolic and end-systolic frames are present. In table 2.1 the top line of study 4 gives the dual-triggering data and the bottom line the normal, continuous imaging data. This entire study was done using a contrast agent. Krenning et al. (2007) [6] also used contrast agents (bottom line of study 6 in table 2.1). They found that both contrast and non-contrast enhanced techniques underestimate the cardiac volumes compared with MRI. 2.1.3 Comparison of MRI acquisition hardware and analysis software Table 2.3 shows the machines and software used to acquire and analyse the MRI data. CIM 4.2 is a software package used and developed by the University of Queensland, Australia [6]. The Tomtec prototype software used by Sugeng et al. [17] is MRI software that uses long-axis images instead of the normally used short-axis images. Several articles presented the LV EDV and ESV index (in [ml/m2 ]) to give the cardiac volumes. The EDV index and ESV index are calculated by normalizing the cardiac volumes to the body surface area calculated from the BMI. These indexes are clinically more meaningful than nonindexed volumes, because LV volume correlates with body size [18]. This correlation is only confirmed in the absence of coronary, valvular, or myocardial heart disease. All studies using these indexes are done on patients with cardiac diseases, so it is unclear if these indexes can be used and are meaningful in these patients. Eindhoven University of Technology 10 Literature Review Table 2.3: Overview of devices and software used to acquire and analyse MRI images. 1 2 3 4 5 14 6 7 13 8 9 10 11 12 2.1.4 Jenkins 2007 a Jenkins 2006 Jenkins 2004 Caiani 2005 a Caiani 2005 b Sugeng 2006 Mor-Avi 2004 Krenning 2007 Soliman 2007 Van den Bosch 2006 Qi 2007 Lee 2001 Nikitin 2005 Busch 2007 Giakoumis 2007 Scanner Type Siemens 1.5 T Siemens 1.5 T Siemens 1.5 T GE 1.5 T GE 1.5 T Siemens 1.5 T GE 1.5 T GE 1.5 T GE 1.5 T GE 1.5 T Siemens 1.5 T Philips ACS 1.5 T and GE 1.5 T GE 1.5 T Magnetom Trio 3.0 T (siemens) GE 1.5 T Software CIM 4.2 CIM 4.2 CIM 4.2 Mass analysis (GE) Mass analysis (GE) Tomtec prototype and ARGUS (siemens) Mass analysis (GE) MASS (Medis) MASS (Medis) MassPlus (Medis) ARGUS (siemens) custom technique (no software) MASS (Medis) ARGUS (siemens) MASS PLUS (GE) Comparison of data analysis methods To analyse the data acquired with 3DE and MRI several different software packages are available. The 3DE packages use long-axis analysis. In each data set, end-systolic frames and end-diastolic frames are identified. Around a non-foreshortened LV long axis (LA), the software generates several equiangular long axis apical images for each volume. Foreshortened means to see or draw an object from such an angle that it appears to be shorter than it really is. With 2D echocardiography it is possible to create an image of the heart in which the long axis appears to go from the middle of the mitral valve to the point of the apex, which actually is a slightly foreshortened view because the long axis seen in the image is slightly canted and shorter than the official long axis and not going through the point of the LV. Apical means made from the apex, see figure A.3. These long-axis end-diastolic and end-systolic images are manually traced with help of short-axis frames, or three points are manually marked and the software automatically generates an ellipse through these points. Trabeculae and papillary muscles can be included or excluded from the volume, this differs per study. EDV, ESV and EF are calculated by software. For LV mass calculation, an ellipse is traced around the epicardial border in the end-diastolic frames to provide a 3-dimensional volume. The endocardial volume is subtracted from the epicardial volume and multiplied by the specific density of heart muscle (1,05 g/ml). The MRI packages mostly use short-axis (SAx) analysis. LV slices are selected for analysis including the highest basal slice where the LV outflow tract is not visible and the lowest apical slice where the LV cavity is visualized. Endocardial contours are traced manually in the end-diastolic and end-systolic frames of each slice. The endocardial contours in the remaining frames are semi automatically traced. Again the papillary muscles can be included in or excluded from the LV cavity (i.e. included in or excluded from the LV volume) depending on the study. Table 2.4 shows which studies include the papillary muscles and trabeculae in the LV cavity. Most studies include the papillary muscles in the volume in both 3DE analysis and MRI analysis. From the contours, LV volume is computed throughout the cardiac cycle using a disk-area summation method (modified Simpson’s rule). The EDV and ESV are then determined. Soliman et al. [19] evaluated two different 3DE semi-automated border detection algorithms: full volume Ellemiek Wintjes 2.1 Results 11 Table 2.4: Overview of studies including and excluding the papillary muscles and trabeculae in the LV volume. All studies use the same convention for MRI and 3DE. Yes means that the papillary muscles are included in the blood volume and No means that they are excluded. NA means that no information about in- or exclusion is available. Papillary muscles in LV volume Jenkins 2007 a No Jenkins 2006 Yes No Jenkins 2004 Jenkins 2007 b Yes Yes Caiani 2005 a Caiani 2005 b Yes Yes Sugeng 2006 Mor-Avi 2004 Yes Krenning 2007 Yes Yes Soliman 2007 Van den Bosch 2006 Yes Yes Qi 2007 Lee 2001 NA No Nikitin 2005 Busch 2007 Yes and No (CT) Giakoumis 2007 NA Total 11 Yes and 3 No and 2 NA reconstruction (FVR) and multiplane interpolation. Multiplane interpolation is the technique described previously of taking several, in this case eight, uniformly spaced apical images, rotated 22,5◦ each, around a non-foreshortened LV long axis image. FVR is a method that uses three planes with manually traced endocardial borders. Based on these six initial contours (three for EDV and three for ESV) a spatiotemporal spline interpolation model is created by rotational and temporal interpolation of the contours. The algorithm automatically detects the endocardial border continuously in the entire 4-dimensional data set and deforms the initial model until it best fits the walls in each frame. The upper row of the 3DE data of study 7 in table 2.1 are the FVR data and the bottom row the multiplane interpolation data. MRI is currently seen as the gold standard for assessment of LV volumes and EF. It is not exactly known if the values measured with MRI are the correct values, because MRI may overestimate the LV cavity size by filling the space between the trabeculae [13], [14]. Also MRI analysis uses short-axis images with a disk summation method to obtain a LV volume. This analysis is not optimal near the apex because of partial-volume artefacts and the mitral valve might be difficult to recognize. Another reason why the analysis might be wrong is that a part of the aortic root or left atrium might be included in the volume of the reconstructed disk in the most basal cross-section. These problems could be reduced by increasing the number of disks or by incorporating long-axis analysis [9], [12], [6]. The acquisition times for 3DE and MRI in the studies compared in this literature review differ significantly. For 3DE the acquisition time is about 1 minute, while for MRI it is at least 15 minutes. Analysis times for 3DE vary between 4 and 20 minutes, and for MRI they are around 10 minutes. See also table B.1. Eindhoven University of Technology 12 2.1.5 Literature Review Reproducibility In the studies several techniques are used to determine the reproducibility of the scans and the measurements. Three different definitions are used: test-retest, interobserver and intraobserver variability. Test-retest variability means repeating the imaging within a certain amount of time with no intervening therapy and comparing the results. The difference between the values measured by two different sonographers using the same set of 3-dimensional and 2-dimensional images is interobserver variability. Intraobserver variability is the difference between EF’s and volumes calculated from repeated measurements on the same data set by the same sonographer at different points in time, with randomization of the order of repeated analysis. Several studies give values for test-retest, interobserver and intraobserver variability, but it is unclear what these values mean and how they are calculated. 2.2 Discussion and conclusions The goals of this study were to determine if there are differences between the values for EF, EDV and ESV measured with MRI and 3DE and how large these differences are, how cardiac parameters like EF are calculated, and which hardware and software are used for these calculations. Analysis of the data of the different studies shows that there are differences between the values for EDV and ESV, but not for EF. This is exactly what is expected. If both techniques are used on the same heart the EF calculated is expected to be similar, but a difference between the calculated volumes might occur. The MRI volume could for instance be overestimated, because the trabeculae and papillary muscles might be added to the blood volume as a result of interpolation and slices thickness, or it might be possible that 3DE underestimates the volume because the LV wall and the valve plane are more difficult to determine. Trabeculae and papillary muscles are muscles and fiber like structures in the heart to strengthen the valves and they occupy part of the ventricular cavity. A possible model for this dependence of the volumes is Vecho = αVM RI + β. The α is an unknown factor but it is caused by the differences between the techniques and analysis software and the β is a possible offset in the volumes caused by for example the in- or exclusion of the papillary muscles. If beta is 0, no offset is present, the EF calculated would result in: EFEcho = EDVEcho − ESVEcho EDVEcho (2.1) EFEcho = αEDVM RI − αESVM RI = EFM RI αEDVM RI (2.2) The papillary muscles would have the following effect on the EF: EFpap = (EDV + Vpap ) − (ESV + Vpap ) EDV + Vpap (2.3) EFpap = EDV − ESV EDV ∗ EDV EDV + Vpap (2.4) EFpap = EF ∗ EDV 1 = EF ∗ Vpap EDV + Vpap 1 + EDV EFpap ≈ EF ∗ (1 − Vpap ) EDV with Vpap the volume of the papillary muscles. Ellemiek Wintjes (2.5) (2.6) 2.2 Discussion and conclusions 13 The difference between the volumes given in this literature review is on average about 9,7 % of the average value determined by both techniques. This is probably only true for a limited domain. For large hearts this difference will be probably be smaller. This could be tested by analyzing the MRI and 3DE data of athletes. Runners and cyclist often have enlarged hearts. For smaller hearts the value will be different too. This can be determined by performing similar research on children. The average value for the difference is calculated from the means of the data of the studies. For one individual study and patient group this value might be different. Most studies give a so-called BlandAltman plot which shows the difference between 3DE and MRI on the y-axis and the MRI or average on the x-axis, but only Soliman et al. [19] give the percentages of the differences compared to the average. All others only state the average difference in milliliters. For the full volume reconstruction (FVR) software these are -6% and -9% for EDV and ESV, respectively and for the multiplane interpolation method -15% and -18%. For the EF they found a mean difference of 1% and 1.3% when using multiplane interpolation and FVR, respectively. This also indicates that the software used to analyse the data sets has a major influence on the data. This is the reason why the methods used to calculated the LV volumes and EF should be similar. The weighted averages of figure 2.1 shows a large SD on the different data. The variance within one study is also very large. This large SD is probably caused by patient characteristics like age, gender and pathology, but might also be the result of the used techniques and the variability within these techniques. The reproducibility of the techniques is not exactly known. To determine the reproducibility it could be useful to do multiple acquisitions and analysis of the same person for both MRI and 3DE. In summary, several studies have compared the LV volumes determined with 3DE and MRI, but the combination of many different subjects and cardiomyopathies makes it impossible to determine if there are any differences between these variables. Only given one MRI and one 3DE study was performed on each patient. Because the acquisition of the data might already influence the results (foreshortening, imaging planes) it might be possible that some data are extremely low or high as a result of the acquisition. Another problem is the way in which the data are analyzed in the studies. The exact methods are often unclear. In this study only one healthy test subject will be used and all acquisitions and analyses are done several times. Only one test subject is used, because it is difficult to compare the EF’s of two different subjects, no more time was available to test another subject and the second subject tested proved to give non-analyzable 3DE data. Eindhoven University of Technology 14 Ellemiek Wintjes Literature Review 15 Chapter 3 Materials and Methods 3.1 Study setup The goal of this study is to compare the EF’s calculated with MRI and 3DE, the interobserver variability, and the different analysis software packages. No comparison between the volumes calculated with both techniques is done because the EF is a combination of these volumes and EF is clinically more relevant than volume. To determine the reproducibility and the interobserver variability the heart of one healthy person was studied several times with MRI and real time 3D echocardiography (3DE) using a standardized protocol. These studies where then analyzed by two different observers (EW and JG). For the analysis several software package are used, each of which will be described later. To determine the amount of variability caused by each software package, every dataset was analyzed several times by each observer. 3.1.1 Software packages For the analysis of the MRI and ultrasound data sets, several different software packages are used. Pie medical CAAS MRV and Tomtec 4D LV-Analysis MR are used for MRI data, and Philips QLAB ultrasound quantification software and Tomtec 4D LV-Analysis for the ultrasound data. A short introduction to each of these packages is given in this section. Pie Medical CAAS CAAS (Cardiovascular Angiography Analysis System) is a quantitative analysis software package for cardiology and radiology from Pie Medical Imaging. In this particular study, CAAS MRV (Magnetic Resonance Ventricular analysis) is used. In this package there are 4 different methods to create the contours to determine the EDV, ESV and EF: a completely automated method, a long axis (LA) based automated method, a semi-automatic method and a completely manual method. The first one is a completely automated contour detection system. This system automatically determines the ED frame and the ES frame and which short axis (SAx) slices contain the apex and base. The software then draws epicardial, endocardial and papillary muscle contours. These contours are then used to calculate the EDV and ESV and subsequently the EF. The second method is the automatic LA based method. This method is almost the same as the automatic method, except the ED and ES frame have to be determined manually. The basal and apical slices are determined from endocardial and epicardial contours in the ED and ES frame of both the 2 chamber and the 4 chamber view (8 contours), see appendix A.1. The other purpose of these contours is interpolation and volume correction of the short axis (SAx) based contours. Interpolation is necessary because the SAx slices have a thickness of 1 cm. These contours are also used for a correction of the apex curvature. Eindhoven University of Technology 16 Materials and Methods One SAx ED endocardial contour has to be drawn in the slice with the largest LV diameter. The software then automatically draws all the other contours and determines EDV and ESV. The third method is a semi automatic method. With this method one endocardial contour has to be drawn somewhere in between the ED and ES frame in every slice. This contour is then propagated forwards and backwards in time and the software automatically draws the papillary muscle contours. The ED and ES frame have to be determined manually as in the previous method, and again the 8 LA contours have to be drawn. The last method is completely manual. In every ED and ES slice the endocardial and papillary muscle contours have to be drawn and the EDV and ESV are calculated from these contours. The 8 LA contours have to be drawn first. It is important for all methods to correctly identify the ED and ES frame. If this identification is not performed correctly, the calculated ED and ES volumes will not be correct, because these are not the actual EDV and ESV. Consequently, the EF will also be incorrect. Because Caas MRV has 4 different ways to analyse a dataset a test was performed to see which method would be the best and most efficient way. The results of this test are shown in appendix C. Based on the test, only the semi automated (SA) and manual analysis method were used. Tomtec 4D LV-Analysis MR The second software package used to analyse the MR data sets is a completely new software package. With the Tomtec MR package one first has to correctly assign the 2, 3 and 4 chamber views by rotating the dataset. The next step is drawing an endocardial ED and ES contour in each of the three views, so 6 contours in total. These contours are used to determine the contours in all phases and can be adjusted. A 4D model (3D moving in time) of the LV is created from these contours and the EDV, ESV and EF are calculated, as well as several other parameters. Philips QLab Philips Qlab has a 3D echo package called 3DQ adv. First the 2 and 4 chamber view have to be determined correctly, so the LA is non-foreshortened. Secondly five reference points have to be indicated in the ED and ES frame. The reference points are indicated as the SALI points. SALI stands for the septal, anterior, lateral and inferior side of the mitral valve. The fifth point is the apex. 3DQ adv. uses these five references points to detect the 2 and 4 chamber ED and ES contour. The ED frame is the first frame because of ECG triggering, see appendix A.2.2. The ES frame has to be determined manually. These contours are interpolated into a 3D volume in all frames. The contours can be adjusted manually. TomTec 4D LV-Analysis The other software package for the analysis of the echocardiography data sets is 4D LV analysis by TomTec. This software uses contour detection. First correct, non-foreshortened 2 chamber, 3 chamber and 4 chamber views have to be selected. In each view an ED and ES contour has to be drawn. The software uses these contours to calculated the LV volume. It creates a 4D model of the LV. This model can be adjusted manually. The ED and ES phase are automatically determined, but can be corrected manually. 3.2 Acquisitions 3.2.1 MRI Protocol In order to make the MR data acquisitions compatible with the TomTec MR software, some changes to the standard acquisition protocol used in MMC Veldhoven had to be made. The standard MRI protocol Ellemiek Wintjes 3.3 Comparisons/Statistics 17 is given in appendix A.1. TomTec requires every dataset to have a stack of short axis (SAx) images and three equiangular long axis views (a 2 chamber, 3 chamber and 4 chamber view), which means that they are rotated over 60◦ around the LA. This LA runs through the apex and the center of the mitral valve. Another requirement is that the number of frames in the LA images and the SA images is the same. For the planning of the equiangular long axis views a template was used, because radial scanning is not available on the scanner used. This template is placed on the computer screen. The standard protocol for the MRI acquisition in this study is the following: every view has 50 phases, the SAx stack has 12 slices which are 1 cm thick, no gap, one slice per breath hold and a FOV of 40 by 40 cm for the SAx and 2 and 3 chamber view, and 45 by 45 cm for the 4 chamber view with a matrix of 256 by 256 pixels. A B-TFE sequence was used with a SENSE body coil. The TR and TE times were 3,31 ± 0,06 ms and 1,66 ± 0,03 ms respectively for the LA views and TR=3,47 ± 0,07 ms and TE=1,74 ± 0,03 ms for the SAx views. This results in cine loops containing 50 frames for the LA axis slices and 12 times 50 frames for the SAx stack. A problem with MRI is the determination of the EDV and ESV. Because the moment of closure of the mitral valves is difficult to determine in MRI (partial volume effects and interpolation of several cardiac cycles), the EDV is usually taken as the volume of the LV cavity in the frame just before closure of the mitral valve, or just after the QRS peak on an ECG, or when the LV cavity is largest. For the ESV the volume of the LV with the smallest LV cavity size is taken. In this study EDV is defined as the volume in the first frame of the cine MRI loop. For more information see appendix A.1.2. 3.2.2 RT-3D echocardiography protocol With RT-3D echocardiography, 9 ultrasound data sets where acquired from the test subject. The number of frames in each dataset is different, although for the creation of the 9 data sets each time the same settings on the iE33 ultrasound machine were used. The number of frames in each dataset is given in table B.2. This table also shows the ES phase selected in Qlab. The ED phase is always the first phase. The settings used were medium density and four subvolumes. For more information about these settings see appendix A.2. The data sets were made with the subject in the lateral decubitus position and during end-expiratory breath hold. 3.3 Comparisons/Statistics For an easy classification of the analysis data the following system is used. Each value of the EF within one method can be described with 4 parameters. The first parameter is the software package, the second is the observer, the third is the analysis number and the fourth is the acquisition number. So each EF can be classified as EFmethod (software package, observer, analysisnr, aquisitionnr). Method can be 3DE or MRI. Acquisitionnumber nac = 1, 2, . . . , Nac with Nac = 9 for 3DE and Nac = 3 for MRI. The software package can be Qlab or Tomtec Echo for 3DE, and Tomtec MR, CAAS SA and CAAS Manual for MRI. Observer can be EW or JG. The analysisnumber nan = 1, 2, . . . , Nan is dependent on both observer and software package. Table 3.1 gives an overview of Nan . ¯ indicates an average. So A • indicates that all possible values for a specific parameter are used and EF Echo th EF (Qlab, EW, •, nac ) are all analysis of the nac acquisition done by EW in Qlab, and EFEcho (Tomtec Echo (CAAS SA, EW, •, echo, JG, nan , •) is the nth an analysis of all acquisitions in Tomtec echo by JG. EF •) means all analysis of all acquisitions by EW in CAAS SA, resulting in a total of Nac × Nan = 3 × 5 = 15 ejection fractions. Eindhoven University of Technology 18 Materials and Methods Table 3.1: Number of analysis done per observer on the data sets. Nan EW JG Qlab 10 Tomtec Echo 10 3 Tomtec MR 10 4 Caas SA 5 3 Caas Manual 5 3 ¯ method (software The SE of EF √ package, observer, •, •) is the SD of EFmethod (software package, observer, •, •) divided by Nan × Nac . The standard error (SE) of a given set of data is calculated with SE = 3.3.1 SD √ . n Outlier test After the analyses of the datasets all data were collected and extracted from the results files. The programs to extract the data from the different files are given in appendix D. The next step is the removal of the outliers from EFmethod (software package, observer, •, •). This is done with the outlier tests available in Statgraphics Centurion XV. Statgraphics is a computer program that performs and explains basic and advanced statistical functions. One of the tests done is a Grubbs’ test which detects one outlier at a time. This outlier is expunged from EFmethod (software package, observer, •, •) and the test is iterated until no outliers are detected. According to [20]: ”Grubbs’ test is defined for the hypothesis: H0 : There are no outliers in the data set Ha : There is at least one outlier in the data set The Grubbs’test statistic is defined as: G= max|Yi − Ȳ | s (3.1) with Ȳ and s denoting the sample mean and standard deviation, respectively. The Grubbs’ test statistic is the largest absolute deviation from the sample mean in units of the sample standard deviation. For the two-sided test, the hypothesis of no outliers is rejected at significance level α if v u t2α ,N −2 N − 1u 2N t √ G> N − 2 + t2α ,N −2 N (3.2) 2N with t2α ,N −2 denoting the upper critical value of the t-distribution with N-2 degrees of freedom and a 2N α significance level of 2N .” Ellemiek Wintjes 3.3 Comparisons/Statistics 3.27 -1.66 5.50 6.15 0.41 9.76 9.76 20.00 4.85 6.31 5.70 19 Example of Grubbs outlier test. This is a list of 10 normally distributed values (µ = 5.0 and σ = 3.61) and one outlier (20) to demonstrated the Grubbs outlier test. For the total set of 11 values the µ, or in this case Ȳ , α is 6.6363 and σ is 5.67. α is taken to be 0.05. This results in 2N ≈ 0.0025. The test statistic is G= max|Yi − Ȳ | 20 − 6.3636 = = 2.40 s 5.67 (3.3) = t20.0025,9 = (3.69)2 = 13.61 (3.4) And t2α 2N ,N −2 (The value of 3.69 is taken from statistic compendium [21], page 36) This results in: v u r t2α ,N −2 N − 1u 13.61 10 2N t √ = 2.3395 < G = 2.40(3.5) =√ 2 N − 2 + t α ,N −2 11 9 + 13.61 N 2N which shows that 20 is a significant outlier when α = 0.05. 3.3.2 One-way and multifactor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test This subsection explains the basic one-way and multifactor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test. In the next chapter the test will be further explained using the classification system given at the beginning of this section. To determine the difference between software packages and observers and the effect of analysis and acquisition two tests are used. The first is the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test. There are several different types of ANOVA test, but the one-way and multifactor ANOVA will be used here. The one-way ANOVA procedure is designed to construct a statistical model describing the impact of a single categorical factor X with multiple levels on a dependent variable Y . Tests are run to determine whether or not there are significant differences between the means an variances of Y at the q different levels of X. The multifactor ANOVA procedure is designed to construct a statistical model describing the impact of two or more categorical factors Xj on a dependent variable Y . The results of the test to determine whether or not the factors X or Xj have a significant effect on the dependent variable Y , are given in an ANOVA table. An ANOVA table of a one-way ANOVA divides the overal variability among the n measurements into two components: a ”between group” component and a ”within group” component. The ”between group” component measures the variability amongst the q different levels of X and the ”within group” component measures the variability within one level, qj , of X. The ANOVA table of a multifactor divides the variability amongst the n measurements in several other components: the ”main effects” components and a residual component. For each components five parameters are given. These parameters are: Sum of squares, Degrees of freedom (Df), Mean square, F-ratio and P-value. Table 3.2 gives the formulas used to calculate the first 4 parameters in a one-way ANOVA. In a multifactor ANOVA the ”between groups” formulas are used for every ”main effects” component. The F-ratio tests the hypothesis that the mean response for all samples is the same. [20], [22] H0 : µ1 = µ2 = . . . = µq Ha : not all µj equal Eindhoven University of Technology 20 Materials and Methods If F is sufficiently large the null hypothesis is rejected. This can be determine from the P-value. If the P-value is less than 0.01, the null hypothesis of equal means is rejected at the 1% significance level. If the P-value is less than 0.01 not every mean has to be different from every other mean. It implies that not all means are the same. A multiple range test can determine which means are actually different. [20], STATGRAPHICS – Rev. 8/3/2006 [22] Calculations Table 3.2: Formulas used to calculated data in One Way ANOVA. j are the number of levels of the Analysis of Variance component X. Ȳ is the average of Y . nj is the number of points within level j. [20], [22] Source Sum of Squares Between groups q D.F. ( SS between = ∑ n j Y j − Y j =1 Within groups q nj ( SS within = ∑ ∑ Yij − Y j j =1 i =1 q nj ( SS total = ∑ ∑ Yij − Y Total j =1 i =1 ) 2 ) 2 ) Mean Square df between = q − 1 q ( ) df within = ∑ n j − 1 j =1 MSbetween = SSbetween df between MS within = SS within df within F-Ratio F= MSbetween MSwithin 2 n-1 3.3.3 Multiple range test Cochran’s Test The test to determine which means are different is the multiple range test. The results of a multiple range test are displayed with two tables. In the first table gives the estimated sample means in increasing The statistic displayed is calculated by order of magnitude. Count is the number of observations, mean is the estimated sample mean and homogeneous groups is a graphical illustration of which means are significantly different from which 2 others, based on themax 99%sTukey HSD test. In the multifactor ANOVA the multiple range test table shows j A =sigma LS Mean and LS q instead of Mean. The LS Mean is the estimated least squares mean and LS sigma (17) is the estimated standards 2jerror of the least squares mean. In Homogenous groups each column of X’s j =1 indicates a group of means, within which there are no statistically significant differences. The second table gives the difference between two means and identifies the ones which are significantly different. Two means difference if the difference ± a limit does not contain 0. The difference is To testare forsignificantly statistical significance, calculated with ( ) ∑ ⎛ ˆ =CY= ¯j1 − ∆j1j2 q −Y¯j2 1⎜ )⎝ 1 −AA ⎞⎟⎠ ( (3.6) (18) with Y¯j the estimated sample mean of sample j. and the limits are calculated with s is compared to an F distribution with (n/q - 1) and (n/q - 1)(q - 1) degrees of freedom. 1 1 M M Swithin ( + ) (3.7) nj1 nj2 Test with Bartlett’s M a constant dependent on a certain procedure. In this study M = Tα/2,q,n−q with Tukey’s T . Tukey’s method is used when the observations being tested are independent and the means are from The distributed statistic displayed is calculated by is based on a formula very similar to that of the t-test, normally populations. Tukey’s test except that it corrects for experiment-wise error rate. This means that when there multiple comparisons q ⎡ ⎤ are being made, the1probability of making a type I error 2increases and Tukey’s will test correct for that, ( ) B = dfe ln MSE − ( n − ) ln s 1 ⎢ j j ⎥ and is thus more suitable for multiple comparisons than doing a number of t-tests would be. [20], [22] (19) C j =1 ( ) ⎣ where Ellemiek Wintjes ∑ ( )⎦ 21 Chapter 4 Results In section 4.1 the results of the analysis of the raw data of this study are given. In section 4.2 the comparison between 3DE and MRI is described. Section 4.3 and section give the results of the comparison of the 3DE and MRI software packages, respectively. 4.1 Raw data Figure 4.1 and 4.2 give an example of the acquisition data used in the software packages. Figure 4.1 was obtained using 3DE data and figure 4.2 using MRI data. The images are constructed in Tomtec Echo and Tomtec MR, respectively. The order of the images is the same as the overview of the standard imaging views in figure A.2 in appendix A.1. Left top: SAx view, right top: 4 ch view, left bottom: 2 ch view and right bottom: 3 ch view. In figure 4.1 the heart is rotated over 180◦ , the apex is at the top and the base at the bottom. The SAx view is made at the height of the horizontal white line with the double arrows in the other three views. The vertical colored lines are the long axis in each of the views. The LA goes through the apex and the center of the valve. In the 4 ch view a small part of the right ventricle is visible at the left side of the septum, and the lateral cardiac wall is not very clearly defined possibly resulting wrong contour detection. In 4 ch view of figure 4.2 the LV, and right ventricle (RV) can be seen. The RV is on the right side of the LV. In the 3ch view the RV is on the left side of the LV. This has to do with the phase encoding gradients used in the acquisition of the MRI data. In some MRI data the RV is on the left side of the LV in the 3ch view. This has no effect on the results of the analysis. Appendix E gives the analyses data. Each table in this appendix contains the analyses data of one observer and one software package, EFmethod (software package, observer, •, •). So the first two tables contain the analyses data of 10 analysis of the 9 different 3DE data sets analyzed by EW in QLab and Tomtec, respectively. The third table contains the data of 3 analysis of the same 9 3DE analyzed by JG in Tomtec. As stated before the first step of the data analysis is the removal of outliers. The outlier test was performed on all EF, EDV and ESV data of one observer with one software package and one method, EFmethod (software package, observer, •, •), EDVmethod (software package, observer, •, •) and ESVmethod (software package, observer, •, •). If a value was identified as an outlier in either EF, EDV or ESV, the value was removed from all three. In further analysis • means all data of a given parameter without the outliers. Table 4.1 gives the Nan of each observer and software package and Nan × Nac after the removal of the outliers. This table shows that no outliers were present in the Tomtec echo data, although most analysis were done with this software. It also shows that CAAS is much more vulnerable to outliers as 4 data points of a total of 48 were removed. Eindhoven University of Technology Figure 4.1: Example of 3DE data used for analysis. Made in Tomtec Echo. The order of the images is the same as the overview of the standard imaging views in figure A.2 in appendix A.1. Left top: SAx view, right top: 4 ch view, left bottom: 2 ch view and right bottom: 3 ch view. In the 4 ch view the lateral cardiac wall is not very clearly defined possibly resulting in wrong contour detection. Figure 4.2: Example of MRI data used for analysis. Reconstructed from images made in Tomtec MR. The order of the images is the same as the overview of the standard imaging views in figure A.2 in appendix A.1. Left top: SAx view, right top: 4 ch view, left bottom: 2 ch view and right bottom: 3 ch view. 4.1 Raw data 23 Table 4.1: Nan per observer and Nan × Nac after the removal of the outliers. Nan Nan × Nac EW JG EW JG Qlab 10 88 10 3 90 27 Tomtec Echo Tomtec MR 10 4 30 11 5 3 15 8 Caas SA Caas Manual 5 3 13 8 Table 4.2: Overview of the average and SD of the 3DE’s and MRI’s of the subject. The percentage between brackets is the relative error of the SD compared to the average. The ejection fraction is given as a fraction. Qlab (Echo) Tomtec (Echo) Tomtec (MR) Caas Semi Auto Caas Manual EW 0.60±0.04(6.0%) 0.52± 0.02( 4.5%) 0.67±0.01(1.3%) 0.64±0.01(1.7%) 0.64±0.01(1.2%) JG 0.54± 0.05( 9.0%) 0.67±0.01(1.1%) 0.66±0.01(1.3%) 0.66±0.01(1.2%) EDV(ml) EW130.9 ±7.2 (5.5%)141.3 ± 7.1 ( 5.0%)181.9 ±1.4 (0.8%)203.9 ±5.7 (2.8%)215.9 ±5.9 (2.8%) JG 127.9 ±15.4 (12.0%)181.2 ±3.5 (1.9%)203.8 ±1.8 (0.9%)203.9 ±2.4 (1.2%) ESV(ml) EW 52.8 ±3.9 (7.4%) 67.4 ± 3.9 ( 5.7%) 59.3 ±1.5 (2.6%) 74.1 ±1.3 (1.8%) 77.0 ±1.9 (2.4%) JG 58.9 ± 9.5 (16.1%) 60.0 ±1.6 (2.6%) 70.0 ±1.6 (2.3%) 68.3 ±1.4 (2.0%) EF(-) ¯ method (software package, observer, •, •), EDV ¯ method (software Table 4.2 gives an overview of EF method ¯ package, observer, •, •) and ESV (software package, observer, •, •), the standard deviation (SD) and the relative error of the SD compared to the average. Figure 4.3 gives a graphical overview of the ¯ method (software package, observer, •, •) data. This figure shows the means and the standard error EF ¯ method (software package, observer, •, •) is the SD of EFmethod (software package, (SE). The SE of EF √ ¯ method (software package, observer, observer, •, •) divided by Nan × Nac . Table 4.3 gives the SE of EF method ¯ •, •) compared to the average of the SE of EF (software package, observer, •, nac ). This table method ¯ shows that the SE of EF (software package, observer, •, •) is in most cases smaller than the average SE, and that the SE of observer JG in Tomtec 3DE is significantly larger than all others, indicating JG has some difficulty with this software package. ¯ method (software package, observer, •, •) compared to the average SE of Table 4.3: SE of EF ¯ method (software package, observer, •, nac ). EF Qlab EW Tomtec 3DE EW Tomtec 3DE JG Tomtec MR EW Tomtec MR JG CAAS SA EW CAAS SA JG CAAS Manual EW CAAS Manual JG SE of total 0.004 0.003 0.009 0.002 0.002 0.003 0.003 0.002 0.003 Average SE 0.009 0.006 0.023 0.002 0.004 0.005 0.003 0.007 0.005 Eindhoven University of Technology 24 Results Means and Standard Errors (internal s) 69 66 Mean 63 60 57 54 MR Caas Manual JG MR Caas Manual EW MR Caas Semi Auto JG MR Caas Semi Auto EW MR Tomtec JG MR Tomtec EW Echo Tomtec JG Echo Tomtec EW Echo Qlab EW 51 Figure 4.3: Means and standard error of EFmethod (software package, observer, •, •) ×100. The SE is √N SD . ×N an 4.2 ac Comparison between 3DE and MRI The summary statistics and a one way ANOVA test for EF• (•, •, •, •) are shown in table 4.4. The column ¯ method (•, •, •, Count gives the number of observations, Nac × Nan for each methode, average gives EF •). Sum of squares is determined by the formulas given in table 3.2. For Between groups, this results in ¯ 205 ∗ (EF 3DE • ¯ (•, •, •, •))2 + 86 ∗ (EF ¯ (•, •, •, •) − EF M RI = 205 ∗ (0.556 − 0.587)2 + 86 ∗ (0.659 − 0.587)2 = 0.645 • ¯ (•, •, •, •))2 (4.1) (•, •, •, •) − EF (4.2) Table 4.4 indicates that the average EF of 3DE is significantly different from the EF of MRI, P-value < ¯ method (software package, observer, •, 0.01. A multiple range test was performed to determine which EF •) differs significantly from all others, based on the 99% Tukey HSD test. The results of this test are given in table 4.5 and 4.6. Figure 4.4 gives a graphical overview of the multiple range test. These tables and the figure show that the 3DE data differ significantly from the MRI data, the MRI EF values are ¯ MRI (software package, observer, •, •) do not differ significantly. Two samples higher and that the EF differ significantly if the difference ± the limit does not contain 0. Ellemiek Wintjes 4.2 Comparison between 3DE and MRI 25 Table 4.4: Summary statistics, one way ANOVA table and Tukey 99% HSD multiple range test for the two different methods, 3DE and MRI. Count Average Standard deviation 205 0.556 0.048 MRI 86 0.659 0.017 2.61% 0.623 0.688 0.065 Total 291 0.587 0.063 10.69% 0.464 0.688 0.224 Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F-Ratio P-Value Between groups 0.645 1 0.645 375.74 0.000 Within groups 0.496 289 0.002 Total (Corr.) 1.141 290 Method 3DE Coeff. of variation 8.64% 0.464 0.664 0.2 Minimum Maximum Range ANOVA Table for EF by Method Source Method: 99,0 percent Tukey HSD Count Mean 3DE 205 0.556 MRI 86 0.659 Contrast Sig. Method 3DE - MRI Homogeneous Groups X X Difference +/- Limits * -0.103 0.014 Table 4.5: List from Statgraphics of estimated sample means in increasing order of magnitude. Count is the number of observations, mean is the estimated sample mean and homogeneous groups is a graphical illustration of which means are significantly different from which others, based on the 99% Tukey HSD test. Each column of X’s indicates a group of means within which there are no statistically significant differences. Method: 99,0 percent Tukey HSD Count Homogeneous Groups Mean Echo Tomtec EW 90 0.522 X Echo Tomtec JG 27 0.540 X Echo Qlab EW 88 0.596 MR Caas Semi Auto EW 15 0.636 X MR Caas Manual EW 13 0.643 X X MR Caas Semi Auto JG 8 0.656 X X MR Caas Manual JG 8 0.665 X X MR Tomtec JG 11 0.669 X X MR Tomtec EW 30 0.674 X X Eindhoven University of Technology 26 Results Table 4.6: Differences between two samples. An asterisk is placed next to any difference that is statistically significantly different from 0 at the 99% significance level, in other words any interval that does not contain 0. Difference Sig. Value +/- Limits Echo Qlab EW - Echo Tomtec EW * 0.074 0.015 Echo Qlab EW - Echo Tomtec JG * 0.056 0.023 Echo Qlab EW - MR Tomtec EW * -0.078 0.022 Echo Qlab EW - MR Tomtec JG * -0.073 0.033 Echo Qlab EW - MR Caas Semi Auto EW * -0.040 0.029 Echo Qlab EW - MR Caas Semi Auto JG * -0.061 0.038 Echo Qlab EW - MR Caas Manual EW * -0.047 0.031 Echo Qlab EW - MR Caas Manual JG * -0.069 0.038 -0.017 0.023 Echo Tomtec EW - MR Tomtec EW * -0.151 0.022 Echo Tomtec EW - MR Tomtec JG * -0.146 0.033 Echo Tomtec EW - MR Caas Semi Auto EW * -0.114 0.029 Echo Tomtec EW - MR Caas Semi Auto JG * -0.134 0.038 Echo Tomtec EW - MR Caas Manual EW * -0.121 0.031 Echo Tomtec EW - MR Caas Manual JG * -0.142 0.038 Echo Tomtec JG - MR Tomtec EW * -0.134 0.027 Echo Tomtec JG - MR Tomtec JG * -0.129 0.037 Echo Tomtec JG - MR Caas Semi Auto EW * -0.097 0.033 Echo Tomtec JG - MR Caas Semi Auto JG * -0.117 0.041 Echo Tomtec JG - MR Caas Manual EW * -0.104 0.035 Echo Tomtec JG - MR Caas Manual JG * -0.125 0.041 0.005 0.036 Echo Tomtec EW - Echo Tomtec JG MR Tomtec EW - MR Tomtec JG MR Tomtec EW - MR Caas Semi Auto EW 0.038 0.033 MR Tomtec EW - MR Caas Semi Auto JG * 0.017 0.041 MR Tomtec EW - MR Caas Manual EW 0.031 0.034 MR Tomtec EW - MR Caas Manual JG 0.009 0.041 MR Tomtec JG - MR Caas Semi Auto EW 0.032 0.041 MR Tomtec JG - MR Caas Semi Auto JG 0.012 0.048 MR Tomtec JG - MR Caas Manual EW 0.025 0.042 MR Tomtec JG - MR Caas Manual JG 0.004 0.048 MR Caas Semi Auto EW - MR Caas Semi Auto JG -0.020 0.045 MR Caas Semi Auto EW - MR Caas Manual EW -0.007 0.039 MR Caas Semi Auto EW - MR Caas Manual JG -0.028 0.045 MR Caas Semi Auto JG - MR Caas Manual EW 0.013 0.046 MR Caas Semi Auto JG - MR Caas Manual JG -0.008 0.051 MR Caas Manual EW - MR Caas Manual JG -0.022 0.046 Ellemiek Wintjes 4.2 Comparison between 3DE and MRI 27 Means and 99,0 Percent Tukey HSD Intervals 71 67 Mean 63 59 55 MR Caas Manual JG MR Caas Manual EW MR Caas Semi Auto JG MR Caas Semi Auto EW MR Tomtec JG MR Tomtec EW Echo Tomtec JG Echo Tomtec EW Echo Qlab EW 51 Figure 4.4: Means and 99% Tukey HSD intervals of EF data. A pair of intervals that do not overlap indicate a statistically significant difference between the means. The y-axis shows 100*EF. Eindhoven University of Technology 28 4.3 Results Comparison of 3DE software packages The outcome of the EF in 3DE depends on several different factors. These factors probably are the software package, the observer, the analysis and the acquisition. The model used here to described these factors is Yi,j,k,m = EF0 + αi + βj + γk + δm + i,j,k,m (4.3) with EF0 the average EF in 3DE, αi the effect of the analysis software , βj the variability of the observer, γk the effect of multiple analysis and a possible learning curve, δm the noise introduced with the acquisition of the dataset and a random error [22]. In order to determine whether or not the factors have a significant effect on the EF, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed on EF3DE (•, •, •, •). Table 4.7 gives the ANOVA table of this test. This table shows that the acquisition, the observer and the software package have an effect on the EF, because the p-value for these three factors is lower than 0.01. The order of the analysis has no effect on the EF. This indicates that no learning curves is present. The order of the acquisitions was randomized for each analysis to avoid a possible learning curve. To determine the effect of the different 3DE software packages a multiple range test on EF3DE (•, •, •, •) is used. Table 4.8 gives the result of this multiple range test and shows that there is a statistic significant difference between the Qlab and the Tomtec Echo software. The differences between the acquisitions are shown in table 4.9 and figure 4.5. This table and figure show that acquisition 3 and 7 result in a significant lower EF than acquisition 1. To determine the interobserver variability of Tomtec Echo, a one way ANOVA is done on the Tomtec Echo data, EF3DE (Tomtec Echo, •, •, •). The F-ratio of this test is 6.33 and the P-value 0.0133 > 0.01, indicating that there is no difference between the observers. This is also shown with the Tukey 99% HSD multiple range test which gives a difference of -0.017 between EW and JG with limits of 0.018. Table 4.7: ANOVA table of 3DE data. A P-value less than 0.01 indicates that these factors have a statistically significant effect on EF at the 99% confidence level. Source Sum of Squares Df Mean Square 0.238 1 0.238 F-Ratio P-Value MAIN EFFECTS A:Software 254.33 0.000 B:Observer 0.005 1 0.005 4.94 0.028 C:AnalysisNr 0.006 9 0.001 0.71 0.702 5.67 0.000 D:AcquisitionNr 0.043 8 0.005 RESIDUAL 0.173 185 0.001 TOTAL (CORRECTED) 0.471 204 The ANOVA test indicated that the acquisitions had an significant effect on the EF. Table 4.9 gives the multiple range test for acquisition number and figure gives a graphical overview of these results. Ellemiek Wintjes 4.3 Comparison of 3DE software packages 29 Table 4.8: Differences between the two software packages. The difference and interval indicate that there is a significant difference between Qlab and Tomtec Echo at the 99% confidence interval. Software LS Sigma Homogeneous Groups Count LS Mean Tomtec Echo 117 0.531 0.004 Qlab 88 0.604 0.005 Contrast Sig. Qlab - Tomtec Echo * X X Difference +/- Limits 0.073 0.012 Means and 99,0 Percent Tukey HSD Intervals 0,62 0,6 EF 0,58 0,56 0,54 0,52 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 AcquisitionNr Figure 4.5: Means and 99% Tukey HSD intervals of 3DE EF data by Acquisition number. A pair of intervals that do not overlap indicate a statistically significant difference between the means. Eindhoven University of Technology Table 4.9: Differences between the acquisitions. The differences and intervals indicate that some acquisitions differ significantly from the others, indicate with ∗. Method: 99,0 percent Tukey HSD Homogeneous Groups AcquisitionNr Count LS Mean LS Sigma 3 23 0.544 0.007 X 7 23 0.548 0.007 X X 8 21 0.561 0.007 X X X 9 23 0.562 0.007 X X X 6 23 0.571 0.007 X X X 5 23 0.572 0.007 X X X 2 23 0.578 0.007 X X 4 23 0.579 0.007 X X 1 23 0.591 0.007 X Contrast Sig. Difference +/- Limits 0.013 0.033 * 0.047 0.033 1-4 0.012 0.033 1-5 0.019 0.033 1-6 0.021 0.033 0.044 0.033 1-8 0.030 0.034 1-9 0.029 0.033 1-2 1-3 1-7 2-3 * 0.034 0.033 2-4 * -0.001 0.033 2-5 0.006 0.033 2-6 0.007 0.033 2-7 0.030 0.033 2-8 0.017 0.034 2-9 0.016 0.033 -0.035 0.033 3-5 -0.028 0.033 3-6 -0.026 0.033 3-7 -0.003 0.033 3-8 -0.017 0.034 3-9 -0.018 0.033 4-5 0.007 0.033 4-6 0.008 0.033 4-7 0.032 0.033 4-8 0.018 0.034 4-9 0.017 0.033 5-6 0.002 0.033 5-7 0.025 0.033 5-8 0.011 0.034 5-9 0.010 0.033 6-7 0.023 0.033 6-8 0.009 0.034 6-9 0.009 0.033 7-8 -0.014 0.034 7-9 -0.015 0.033 8-9 -0.001 0.034 3-4 * 4.4 Comparison of MRI software packages 4.4 31 Comparison of MRI software packages For MRI the same model can be used as for 3DE. Yi,j,k,m = EF0 + αi + βj + γk + δm + i,j,k,m (4.4) with αi the noise introduced by the analysis software , βj the variability of the observer, γk the analysis, δm the noise introduced with the acquisition of the dataset and a random error [22]. In order to determine whether or not the factors have a significant effect on the EF, an ANOVA is performed on EFMRI (•, •, •, •). Table 4.10 gives the ANOVA table of this analysis. This table shows that only the software and the observer have an effect on the EF. The acquisition of the MRI’s has no effect on the EF, although three MRI’s is not enough to determine a effect of the acquisition. A different set of data containing 6 MRI’s also indicates that the EF is not depending of the acquisition. The reason that the analysis number does not have an effect on the EF has to do with the fact that the order of the acquisitions was randomized for each analysis. To determine the effect of the different MRI software packages a multiple range test is used. Table 4.11 gives the result of this multiple range test. This table shows that there is a significant difference between Tomtec MR and CAAS at the 99% confidence interval, but no significant difference between the two methods used in CAAS. Table 4.10: ANOVA table of MRI data. A P-value less than 0.01 indicates that these factors have a statistically significant effect on EF at the 99% confidence level. Sum of Squares Source Mean Df Square F-Ratio P-Value MAIN EFFECTS A:Software 0.011 2 0.006 47.88 0.000 B:Observer 0.001 1 0.001 11.72 0.001 C:AnalysisNr 0.001 9 0.000 0.49 0.8768 D:AcquisitionNr 0.001 2 0.000 2.28 0.1094 RESIDUAL 0.008 71 0.000 TOTAL (CORRECTED) 0.025 85 Table 4.11: Differences between the two software packages. The difference and interval indicate that there is a significant difference between Tomtec MR and CAAS at the 99% confidence interval, but no significant difference between the two methods used in CAAS. LS Sigma Homogeneous Groups Software Count LS Mean CAAS SA 23 0.646 0.003 X CAAS Manual 22 0.654 0.003 X Tomtec MR 41 0.675 0.002 Contrast Sig. CAAS Manual - CAAS SA X Difference +/- Limits 0.008 0.010 CAAS Manual - Tomtec MR * -0.021 0.009 CAAS SA - Tomtec MR * -0.029 0.009 To determine the interobserver variability of Tomtec MR a one way ANOVA is done on the Tomtec Eindhoven University of Technology 32 Results MR data, EFMRI (Tomtec MR, •, •, •). The F-ratio of this test is 3.07 and the P-value 0.0878, indicating that there is no difference between the observers. This is also shown with the Tukey 99% HSD multiple range test which gives a difference of 0.005 between EW and JG with limits of 0.008. To determine the interobserver variability of CAAS a one way ANOVA is done on the CAAS data EFMRI (CAAS SA and CAAS Manual, •, •, •). The F-ratio of this test is 49,60 and the P-value 0.0000, indicating that there is a significant difference between the observers. This is also shown with the Tukey 99% HSD multiple range test which gives a difference of -0.021 between EW and JG with limits of 0.008. A one way ANOVA to determine a difference between the observers was also done on the two different CAAS methods, also showing a significant difference between the two observers. Ellemiek Wintjes 33 Chapter 5 Discussion The difference between the average EF of 3DE and MRI is about 16% of the average of the two methods. This is not what was expected as explained in the literature review, see section 2.2. The difference can be caused by two things: an actual difference between the real EF’s or a difference caused by the difference in the analysis of the data. An actual difference between the EF’s may be caused by the difference in position between MRI and 3DE. MRI is done with the patient laying on his/her back and 3DE with the patient in the left lateral decubitus position, in other words laying on his/her side. Another reason for an actual difference is a difference in heart rate between the acquisitions of the 3DE and the MRI data. In the data used in this study the heart rate of the subject was average 5 beats per minute higher in MRI than in 3DE. Another actual difference in EF can occur when the MRI’s and 3DE would not be made on the same day. In this study they are made on the same day so this factor is not expected to have an major influence. The fact that MRI requires longer breath holds might also have an effect, because the heart will start pumping faster to get more oxygen to the organs which has an effect on the EDV and ESV. A difference in the EF can also be caused by, for instance, the different analysis techniques and contour detection methods. Contour detection and tracking in MRI is easier because the contrast between blood pool and cardiac wall is clear and the wall is clearly defined, although the interpolation and partial volume effects make it more difficult to determine the actual location of the cardiac wall. In echocardiography speckle tracking is required to perform contour tracking. No information about the actual contour detection and tracking algorithms is acquired from the manufactures of the software packages. So it is not clear is this technique is used in the packages analyzed in this study. As indicated in the top right quarter of figure 4.1 the heart of the test subject seems to have a double cardiac wall which results in a faulty detection of the contours in the 3DE software packages. But even when the contours are modified to fit the outer wall, the EF with 3DE stays smaller then with MRI. Another possible reason for a difference between the EF in MRI and 3DE is the contrast and visibility of the papillary muscles. In 3DE the papillary muscles may be identified as cardiac wall because the contrast between blood and (cardiac and papillary) muscle is small. A third possible difference might occur from the fact that MRI cine images are not realtime, but interpolated over multiple, average about 20, heartbeats per cine image. One MRI dataset contains a minimum of three LA and 12 SAx slices, so the EF calculated is an average of about 15 × 20 = 300 heartbeats. One 3DE dataset is acquired in 8 heartbeats. For this study only one test subject was used. The reasons for taking only one test subject were that the EF differs from person to person and that MRI scanner time and analysis time were limited. It would have been better to have two or more test subjects, because the results for variability be better validated and the differences between the EF’s in 3DE and MRI better explained and tested. Eindhoven University of Technology 34 Discussion The differences between the acquisition methods of 3DE and MRI make one method more suitable in a given situation. 3DE should be us in patients with a pacemaker, because the magnetic field or MRI might interfere with the pacemaker. 3DE should also be used in patients with severe cardiac arrhythmias, because the triggering of the MRI sequences results in extreme long breath holds when arrhythmias are present. In patients with enlarge hearts or a small intercostal space, MRI is preferred, because in an enlarged heart the LV might no fit in the 3DE pyramid and in patients with a small intercostal space the ribs interfere with the ultrasound resulting in poor quality images. The difference between the CAAS MRI and Tomec MR software could be caused by a difference between in- and exclusion of the papillary muscles. CAAS excludes the papillary muscles and Tomtec normally includes them, but appears to exclude them when the papillary muscles touch the cardiac wall. In other words, Tomtec includes papillary muscles in ED, resulting in a higher EDV than in reality, and might often exclude them in ES, resulting in the real ESV. If the CAAS packages does the same, the average EDV would increase with about 5 ml and the ESV would remain the same. This could result in an higher EF for CAAS, and in no significant difference between the EF’s in CAAS and Tomtec. In CAAS it is only possible to include the papillary muscles in both ED and ES, not only in ED, and in Tomtec the papillary muscles cannot be defined separately. This makes it impossible to deal with the papillary muscles in the same way in both software packages. Qlab and Tomtec Echo are significantly different. This is probably the result of the difference in calculation and contour detection techniques. The analysis of 3DE data in Qlab is almost fully automated, leaving very little room for manual corrections of the contour detection. Because automated contour detection in 3DE images is more difficult than in MRI images, manual correction is often needed. It is difficult to determine if Tomtec MR or CAAS should be used in further studies. The SE of both packages appear to be equal so other factors like analysis time, interobserver variability, ease of use and clinical usefulness should be used to determine which package is recommendable. The time needed in Tomtec to analyse one dataset is significantly shorter than in CAAS. One analysis in Tomtec MR takes about 3 minutes, in CAAS the analysis of the same dataset takes about 8 minutes for the semi-automated method and 12 minutes for the manual method indicating that the semi-automated method should be used in further studies. The SA method is less labor intensive than the manual method. CAAS uses short axis based analysis and Tomtec uses long axis based analysis as do the 3DE packages. This difference might explain the substantial difference between the results of CAAS and Tomtec. When comparing 3DE and MRI data the same type of analysis should be used to avoid extra differences. Another advantage of Tomtec is that it requires much less explanation and training. The interobserver variability of Tomtec appears to be smaller, because no significant difference between the observers in Tomtec is found but in CAAS there is a significant difference between the observers, probably caused by amount of manual input needed for CAAS. A drawback of Tomtec is that the software is new and not yet fully clinically validated. The CAAS software has more options besides LV function analysis which make it more useful than Tomtec. In this study only two observers have analyzed the data. These two observers were layman, which means that the results of this study have to be verified for an experienced observer. More observers are also needed to given a definitive conclusion about the interobserver variability of the different software packages. Ellemiek Wintjes 35 Chapter 6 Conclusions • The overal conclusion of this study is that the EF determined with 3DE differs significantly from the EF determined with MRI for the one test subject used in this study. The difference between the EF of 3DE and MRI is about 16% of the average of the two methods. • There is a significant difference in EF between the CAAS MRI software and the Tomtec MRI software. • The two analysis methods used in CAAS do not differ significantly. • Qlab and Tomtec Echo are significantly different. Eindhoven University of Technology 36 Ellemiek Wintjes Conclusions 37 Chapter 7 Recommendations From the results of this study, it has been shown that specific aspects of the acquisition and analysis influence the EF. To further improve measurements, several modifications and improvements are required. 7.1 Acquisitions To improve and maintain a good quality of the acquisitions several items have to be taken into account and possible modified. These are: 1. MRI and 3DE on same day 2. 3DE first, MRI second 3. Precise and clear 3DE acquisition protocol 4. Test if 3DE can be performed while laying on back MRI and 3DE on same day Preferably the MRI and 3DE examination are done on the same day, because the EF of a subject changes from day to day. To avoid small differences between the 3DE and MRI EF it is important to keep time interval between both examinations as small as possible and the levels of stress and activity kept ow and equal for both examinations. 3DE first, MRI second Performing the 3DE first may eliminated superfluous MRI examinations, because if the analysis of the 3DE data is difficult or impossible, the MRI examination will not have to be performed. Precise and clear 3DE acquisition protocol Currently no clear and precise 3DE acquisition protocol is available in the MMC in Veldhoven. A protocol is required if different analysts are acquiring the different 3DE datasets. The effects of different analysts is not tested in this study, so a separate test to identify the effect of different analysts has to be performed. It might be useful to include a method to see whether part of the LV is blocked by a rib, like manually rotating the transducer through all possible views. Eindhoven University of Technology 38 Recommendations Test if 3DE can be performed while laying on back To eliminate real effects between the EF of MRI and 3DE a test to see if it is possible to perform 3DE while the patient is laying on his/her back might be performed. It is impossible to perform an MRI examination while laying in the left lateral decubitus position. This difference might have a substantial influence and should be tested. 7.2 Analysis To increase the reliability of the analysis the following things are important to keep in mind when designing a new study. 1. Multiple subjects 2. More observers 3. One MRI software package Multiple subjects Multiple subjects will increase the statistical power of the analysis, possibly resulting in a more definitive answers on whether or not there is a difference between the EF in MRI and 3DE. To insure comparable results, select subjects with similar cardiac pathologies and from the same age range. More observers For a reliable overal conclusion on the interobserver variability of different software package, multiple observers are required. The difference between experienced and non-experienced observers has to determined. Using multiple observers requires a clear and tested analysis protocol and training in the used software package. One MRI software package The effect of different software package can be substantial, indicating that only one software package per method should be used. If Tomtec MR is selected as the MRI software package, the MRI acquisition protocol has to be modified to meet the requirements of Tomtec MR. CAAS has are wider range of uses and analysis methods, requiring a clear analysis protocol and adequate training. The analysis times of CAAS are significantly higher than in Tomtec MR, indicating that if the number of analysis and test subjects is high, Tomtec MR is a better candidate. Ellemiek Wintjes BIBLIOGRAPHY 39 Bibliography [1] A. C. Guyton and J. E. 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Comparison of echocardiographic (us) volumetry with cardiac magnetic resonance (cmr) imaging in transfusion dependent thalassemia major (tm). Cardiovasc. Ultrasound, 5:24, 2007. [9] A. E. van den Bosch, D. Robbers-Visser, B. J. Krenning, M. M. Voormolen, J. S. McGhie, W. A. Helbing, J. W. Roos-Hesselink, M. L. Simoons, and F. J. Meijboom. Real-time transthoracic threedimensional echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular volume and ejection fraction in congenital heart disease. J. Am. Soc. Echocardiogr., 19(1):1–6, 2006. [10] E. G. Caiani, C. Corsi, J. Zamorano, L. Sugeng, P. MacEneaney, L. Weinert, R. Battani, J. L. Gutierrez, R. Koch, I de Perez, V. Mor-Avi, and R. M. Lang. Improved semiautomated quantification of left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction using 3-dimensional echocardiography with a full Eindhoven University of Technology 40 BIBLIOGRAPHY matrix-array transducer: comparison with magnetic resonance imaging. J. Am. Soc. Echocardiogr., 18(8):779–788, 2005. [11] D. Lee, A. R. Fuisz, P. H. Fan, T. L. Hsu, C. P. Liu, and H. T. Chiang. Real-time 3-dimensional echocardiographic evaluation of left ventricular volume: correlation with magnetic resonance imaging–a validation study. J. Am. Soc. Echocardiogr., 14(10):1001–1009, 2001. [12] N. P. Nikitin, C. Constantin, P. H. Loh, J. Ghosh, E. I. Lukaschuk, A. Bennett, S. Hurren, F. Alamgir, A. L. Clark, and J. G. Cleland. New generation 3-dimensional echocardiography for left ventricular volumetric and functional measurements: comparison with cardiac magnetic resonance. Eur. J. Echocardiogr., 7(5):365–372, 2006. [13] C. Jenkins, R. Leano, J. Chan, and T. H. Marwick. Reconstructed versus real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography: comparison with magnetic resonance imaging. J. Am. Soc. Echocardiogr., 20(7):862–868, 2007. [14] C. Jenkins, J. Chan, L. Hanekom, and T. H. Marwick. Accuracy and feasibility of online 3-dimensional echocardiography for measurement of left ventricular parameters. J. Am. Soc. Echocardiogr., 19(9):1119–1128, 2006. [15] C. Jenkins, K. Bricknell, L. Hanekom, and T. H. Marwick. Reproducibility and accuracy of echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular parameters using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., 44(4):878–886, 2004. [16] E. G. Caiani, P. Coon, C. Corsi, S. Goonewardena, D. Bardo, P. Rafter, L. Sugeng, V. Mor-Avi, and R. M. Lang. Dual triggering improves the accuracy of left ventricular volume measurements by contrast-enhanced real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography. J. Am. Soc. Echocardiogr., 18(12):1292–1298, 2005. [17] L. Sugeng, V. Mor-Avi, L. Weinert, J. Niel, C. Ebner, R. Steringer-Mascherbauer, F. Schmidt, C. Galuschky, G. Schummers, R. M. Lang, and H. J. Nesser. Quantitative assessment of left ventricular size and function: side-by-side comparison of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography and computed tomography with magnetic resonance reference. Circulation, 114(7):654–661, 2006. [18] T. Sharir. Gated myocardial perfusion imaging for the assessment of left ventricular function and volume: from spect to pet. J. Nucl. Cardiol., 14(5):631–633, 2007. [19] O. I. Soliman, B. J. Krenning, M. L. Geleijnse, A. Nemes, J. G. Bosch, R. J. van Geuns, S. W. Kirschbaum, A. M. Anwar, T. W. Galema, W. B. Vletter, and F. J. Ten Cate. Quantification of left ventricular volumes and function in patients with cardiomyopathies by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography: a head-to-head comparison between two different semiautomated endocardial border detection algorithms. J. Am. Soc. Echocardiogr., 20(9):1042–1049, 2007. [20] Statgraphics on-line manuals. Statgraphics Centurion, 2008. [21] dr. A. Di Bucchianico. Statistic Compendium, chapter Statistical software, page 36. Depatment of Mathematics and Computer science, 2000. [22] D. C. Montgomery and G. C. Runer. Applied statistics and probabiliy for engineers. John Wiley and Sons, 3th edition, 2003. [23] V. S. Lee. Cardiovascular MRI: physical principles to pratical protocols. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia PA., 1th edition, 2006. Ellemiek Wintjes BIBLIOGRAPHY 41 [24] Book chapter: What is Echo? Further details unkown. [25] B. J. Krenning, M. M. Voormolen, and J. R. Roelandt. Assessment of left ventricular function by three-dimensional echocardiography. Cardiovasc. Ultrasound, 1:12, 2003. Eindhoven University of Technology 42 Imaging modalities Appendix A Imaging modalities The left ventricle of the heart is often seen as an object with two main axes: the long and the short axis. The long axis is defined as the line that passes through the center of the mitral valve orifice and the left ventricular apex. In a long axis view the left ventricle has a kind of U shape. The short axis is perpendicular to the long axis and shows a circular or elliptical cross section of the left ventricle. A.1 Cardiac MRI For the creation of a cardiac MRI dataset several steps are required. First a the subject has to be prepared for a cardiac MRI study. This preparation involves placing of MRI compatible electrocardiogram (ECG) leads, and the placement of the coil. The coil can be a special cardiac coil or a body coil. The ECG leads are required for the gating of the acquisition as will be explained in section A.1.2. During the next step the scanning parameters have to be set. These parameters involve the shimming plane, the imaging planes, the slice thickness, the number of cardiac phases and several other parameters. This step is followed by the actual scanning and storage of the acquired data. A.1.1 Imaging planes One of the first steps in LV function analysis MRI study is the selection of the region of interest (ROI) and main imaging planes. The ROI is the heart and is a combination of slices through the three main planes of the heart. These planes depict the left ventricle in three orthogonal planes: the horizontal long axis (fourchamber view), vertical long axis (two-chamber view), and short axis planes. Regularly an additional fourth view is used: a three-chamber view or left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). A schematic overview of these four planes can be seen in figure A.1. [23] The process of obtaining the desired planes a complex routine. This has to do with the fact that, in contrast to most other MRI applications, the imaging planes used in cardiac MRI are defined with respect to the orientation of the heart. These imaging planes are double oblique relative to the conventional axial, sagittal and coronal axes of imaging, and they differ from subject to subject depending on the particular orientation of the left ventricle, which can vary with respect to the body. The actual selection of the imaging planes is done with the help of the interactive scan mode. This routine consists of 5 steps for the three main planes and 1 additional step for the three-chamber view. [23] Step 1: Finding a transverse image through the left ventricle and septum. The approach starts with routine scout images, which include standard coronal images of the chest. From this coronal view, a transaxial image is positioned through the heart. This image depicts both left and right ventricles and the interventricular septum. Ellemiek Wintjes A.1 Cardiac MRI 43 Figure A.1: Conventional imaging planes of the heart. On the left, a whole heart view depicts the plane defining the short axis view, as shown on the right, together with the planes defining the horizontal, vertical and three chamber long axis views. Taken from Lee [23], page 267. Step 2: Defining a two-chamber scout from the transverse image. Based on the axial image identified in step 1, an oblique coronal slice is positioned through the left ventricle that is parallel to the interventricular septum and passes through the left ventricular apex. This will produce a long axis view of the heart referred to as a two-chamber scout view. Step 3: Obtaining a short axis view from the two-chamber scout and the transverse image. In subjects whose hearts are vertically orientated, the two chamber scout view may serve as a good vertical long axis view. In general, for true vertical long axis, additional adjustment is needed (see Step 5). A plane aligned perpendicular to the long axis of the heart on both the two-chamber scout view and the original transverse image gives a short axis view. The short axis view is used for subsequent positioning of the long axis. Step 4: Defining a horizontal long axis view from a short axis and two-chamber scout. Using the short axis and the two-chamber scout, the horizontal long axis (four chamber view) can be positioned by bisecting the left ventricle in the horizontal plane. As a guide to the horizontal plane, the line should bisect both the left and right ventricles and be parallel to the diaphragm. Step 5: Obtaining a vertical long axis view from the horizontal long axis and short axis. Using the horizontal long axis view (four-chamber) and the short axis view, a true vertical long axis view can be defined by bisecting the left ventricle in the vertical plane. The resulting image shows the left ventricle, left atrium and mitral valves. Three-chamber view. The three-chamber view can be acquired by positioning a long axis view orthogonal to the short axis view, similar to the four-chamber view but tilted obliquely through the left ventricular outflow tract. [23] Eindhoven University of Technology 44 Imaging modalities Figure A.2: Left ventricular wall regions identified on the standard imaging views. Taken from Lee [23], page 270. Figure A.2 gives a schematic overview of the imaging planes and an identification of the left ventricular wall regions. A.1.2 Synchronization of acquisitions with motion After the positioning of imaging planes the actual acquisition can start. The k-space data are typically collected across multiple heart beats. For some sequences, such as spin echo anatomic imaging or contrast-enhanced infarct imaging, data are typically collected at the end of the cardiac cycle, when there is minimal motion during diastole. For functional imaging, such as cine gradient echo imaging or phase contrast flow quantification, data are collected throughout the cardiac cycle and then partitioned into separate k-space frames. Each k-space frame corresponds to a short segment of the cardiac cycle and reflects a snapshot of the heart during the cardiac cycle. When viewed together in a cinematic loop these produce a beating heart video clip. In this way cine MRI enables the viewer to assess cardiac motion. [23] To achieve optimal MR images the scanned object has to be as motionless as possible. The heart is far from motionless and as it is located in the chest cavity it is also influenced by breathing. This results in a modified scanning procedure which synchronizes the acquisition with cardiac and breathing motion. Synchronization with breathing is achieved by scanning during end expiratory breath holds. Before a Ellemiek Wintjes A.1 Cardiac MRI 45 scan starts the subject is instructed to inhale, exhale and to suspend respiration. Because the time respiration can be suspended is normally limited to 15 to 20 seconds, the duration of a scan is limited. Electrocardiogram Because the k-space data are collected across several heart beats and all cardiac phases need to be imaged the acquisition has to be synchronized with cardiac motion. If this synchronization is optimal the images produced accurately reflect the state of the heart during its different stages of contraction and relaxation and have minimal motion artifacts. Synchronization with cardiac motion is achieved with electrocardiographic (ECG) gating or triggering. Gating versus triggering. The terms gating and triggering can be confusing. They are often used interchangeably. Generally, gating refers to any means relating MR data acquisition to the phase of the cardiac cycle during which the data were acquired. Gating can be either prospective or retrospective. Triggering is one form of prospective gating, whereby the MR sequence is initiated with the R wave. When the data acquisition for the given R-R interval is completed, the scanner waits for the next R wave. Imaging that begins immediately after the R wave starts just before the onset of ventricular systole. For some sequences diastolic images may be desired. To obtain diastolic images with R-wave triggering, a trigger delay can be introduced. This delay of at least 150-250 msec is introduced between the detection of the R wave and the start of imaging. [23] Retrospective gating Many ECG-gated sequences can also be performed with retrospective gating. Retrospective gating means that the data are acquired continuously, along with a recording of the ECG tracing. After the acquisition, the imaging data are retrospectively sorted based on the time of the echoes relative tot the R-wave. Retrospectively gated sequences provide information about imaging through the entire cardiac cycle, including the full duration of diastole, provided that the patient’s heart rhythm is sufficiently regular. Compared to prospectively gated sequences, the image reconstruction of retrospectively gated sequences is more complex and computationally intensive. With retrospective gating, the temporal spacing of the frames can be defined by the user, regardless of the true or effective TR of the sequence. An electrocardiogram (ECG) tracing depicts the electrical activity of the heart. A P-wave, QRS complex and T wave are often identifiable. The P-wave represents atrial depolarization and the onset of atrial contraction. The QRS complex reflects the electrical activity associated with ventricular depolarization preceding systole. The onset of left ventricular systolic contraction occurs about 50 msec after the R wave, and contraction lasts for about 150-250 msec. The T wave represents repolarization of the ventricle. Until the next QRS, the ventricle remains in diastole. There are two main reasons why the synchronization may fail in the scanner: patient arrhythmias and failure of the system to detect the R wave for triggering. For ECG-triggered sequences, data acquisition assumes a regular heart rate. Following the R wave, the system begins collecting data, portions of which are assigned to different k-space domains corresponding to different time points in the cardiac cycle. If the heart rate is regular, then all the data collected shortly after the R wave will reflect the left ventricle in systole, while the data toward the end of the R-R interval will image the ventricle in diastole. If the heart rate is irregular and a second heartbeat comes much earlier as expected, it is possible that the data collected toward the end of the acquisition window which should correspond to diastole, will instead reflect systole. This corrupts the data as the k-space of the images which should depict diastole now contains a mix of systolic and diastolic data. The acquisition time in subjects with irregular heart rates is also longer than expected, because not not all heartbeats can Eindhoven University of Technology 46 Imaging modalities be used to collect data. Although an occasional irregular beat is tolerable, frequent irregularities cause poor quality and misleading images. [23] The most problematic source of artifactual triggering is due to the magnetohydrodynamic effect of moving blood within the magnetic field. Electrical charges moving through a magnetic field induce a voltage. Blood contains many charged particles like Na+ and Cl− , among others. When these ions move through blood vessels in the setting of a magnetic field, a voltage can be detected, particularly during systole or the ST portion of the ECG tracing. Distortion of the ST portion and peaking or elevation of the T waves results in faulty triggering wherever the T wave is higher than the R wave. Triggering off the T wave means that much of systole is missed. Vectorcardiographic (VCG) triggered or gated approaches reduce artifactual triggering from the magnetohydrodynamic effect. With VCG, the electrical activity of the heart is depicted both temporally and spatially, using measured signal from all three leads. Because the orientation of the electrical axis of the heart is different from the artifacts associated with the magnetohydrodynamic effect, the vectorcardiogram is more accurate at detecting cardiac activity. Occasionally, adequate ECG tracings cannot be obtained, perhaps because of a subject’s body habitus or other interference with signal measurement, such as a large pericardial effusion. Peripheral pulse gating is a viable alternative when central gating is not possible. Like plethysmography, peripheral pulse gating detects the pulse wave of blood as it transits trough the fingers. Typically peripheral pulse gating monitors are clipped to the fingertips or toes. Only MR-compatible peripheral pulse monitors should be used. [?] A.2 Echocardiography A cardiac imaging modality used in this study is real-time 3D echocardiography. This technique uses ultrasound to create 3-D moving images of the heart. Echo studies are carried out using specialized ultrasound machines. Ultrasound of different frequencies (in adults usually 2 to 4 MHz) is transmitted from a transducer (probe) which is placed on the subjects anterior chest wall. This is transthoracic echo (TTE). The subject usually lies in the left lateral decubitus position and ultrasound gel is placed on the transducer to provide good conduction. The left lateral decubitus position means that the patient is laying on his/her left side. Continuous electrocardiograph (ECG) recording is performed to time cardiac events. There are a number of standard positions on the chest wall for the transducer. These are echo windows or acoustic windows that allow good penetration by ultrasound without too much masking and absorption by lung or ribs. Figure A.3 gives an overview of the most commonly used acoustic windows. A.2.1 Reconstructed Reconstructed 3D echocardiography indicates that a 3D volume is generated from a set of 2D images. These 2D images are made using one of the following techniques: freehand scanning, linear acquisition, fan-like scanning, stepwise rotational scanning or continuous rotational scanning, see figure A.4. Freehand scanning uses a device that locates the ultrasound transducer and the imaging planes. These devices allow free movement of the transducer at one acoustic window or at different acoustic windows. A linear acquisition is performed by a computer-controlled movement of the ultrasound transducer in a linear direction. With fan-like scanning a pyramidal shaped data set is obtained by moving the ultrasound transducer in a fan-like arc at prescribed angles. In stepwise rotational scanning the transducer is rotated around its central axis, resulting in a conical volume data set. Continuous rotational scanning is done with an internally rotating array. The 2D data set are transformed into a 3D data set. These 3D data sets are then used to calculated the different cardiac volumes. [25]. Ellemiek Wintjes A.2 Echocardiography 47 Figure A.3: The main acoustic windows. [24] A.2.2 ECG triggering A.2.3 Real-time In real-time 3D scanning a phased-array matrix transducer is used. In this transducer, multiple recordings are automatically performed to cover the full left ventricle [25]. The pyramidal shaped data set is often divided into 4 different parts, each part rotated over a certain amount of degrees and made in one heartbeat. The parts are triggered to every other R-wave on an ECG to allow recalibration of the transducer and storage of the data. One entire volume is made in a single end-expiratory breath-hold lasting about 10 seconds. To allow for the data to be used for volume and EF analyse the 3DE has to be made from the apical window. This ensures that the entire left ventricle is enclosed in the data set. Sometimes ultrasound contrast is used to enhance the images acquired with 3DE. Ultrasound contrast agents are gas-filled microbubbles that are administered intravenously to the systemic circulation. iE33 Settings The iE33 ultrasound machine has 3 different settings for the density in the 3D mode. The three density levels are: Low, Medium and High. This density is related to the image resolution, or line density. The line density sets the volume of the image displayed and the pyramidal shaped volume. The higher the density, the smaller the volume. Other settings for the 3D mode include Full Volume Optimization (FV Opt) Live 3D and Non-triggered Full Volume. FV Opt control enables a change in resolution of the image to see a larger volume. The FV Opt control has three settings : Volume Size, Frame Rate and Acq Beats. The range of these settings is dependent on the density settings. Volume Size increases the number of acquisition beats and increases the volume size for all density settings. The highest setting is only available when Density is set to Low and Allow Large 3D Volume Acquisition is selected. Frame Rate increases the number of acquisition beats so that each subvolume is approximately halved, enabling an enhancement in frame rate. Acq Beats minimizes the number of acquisition beats, decreasing the time Eindhoven University of Technology 48Cardiovascular Ultrasound 2003, 1 Imaging modalities http://www.cardiovascularultrasound.com/content/1/1/12 Figure 1 methods of data acquisition for transthoracic 3D-echocardiography Different Figure A.4:ofDifferent methods of data acquisition for transthoracic 3D-echocardiography. Real-time Different methods data acquisition for transthoracic 3D-echocardiography. Continuous rotation results, unlike stepwise imaging provides a pyramidal dataset instantly. Taken from Krenning rotational scanning, in a curved shape of the original images. Real-time imaging provides[25]. a pyramidal dataset instantly. it takes to acquire a Full Volume. Table A.1 gives an overview of the effects of the FV Opt settings. static part of the transducer. The original images are transheart without the need for ECG and respiratory gating ferred to a workstation for reconstruction of the datasets and semi-automated analysis of the LV endocardial contours [10]. This allows rapid calculation of LV volumes, ejection fraction and wall motion analysis. Such a special dedicated system offers advantages for follow-up studies, stress echocardiography and during interventional procedures (e.g. resynchronisation therapy). Initial experience indicates that this near real-time approach is an alternative to real-time volumetric systems for global and regional wall motion analysis of the LV. Real-time imaging The ideal way of three-dimensional echocardiography is on-line acquisition of a three-dimensional dataset of the avoiding spatial motion artefacts. The first real-time 3D system has been developed by Von Ramm et al. [11] at Duke University and most experience is with this system (Volumetric Medical Imaging). This system makes use of a sparse matrix phased array transducer of 512 elements to scan a 60° × 60° pyramidal tissue volume using parallel processing technology which permits the reception of 16 lines for each transmitted signal (16:1) at a rate of 17 volumes/sec with a depth of 16 cm. Image display for analysis consists of 2 independent B-modes or 3 C-mode scans (these are cross-sections parallel to the transducer face which are displayed simultaneously in selected orientations. LV volumes are calculated with dedicated analytic software from either a series of parallel C-scans (short-axis views) or a series of rotated Page 3 of 7 (page number not for citation purposes) Ellemiek Wintjes A.2 Echocardiography Density Low Medium High 49 Table A.1: Overview of the effects of the FV Opt settings Effects of FV Opt Settings Volume Size Acquisition Beats Frame Rate Largest volume Large volume and Fast with large medium image volume and quality medium image quality Large volume and Medium volume Fast with medium good image qual- and good image volume and good ity quality image quality Medium volume Small volume and Fast with small and best image best image quality volume and best quality image quality Eindhoven University of Technology 50 Tables Appendix B Tables Table B.1: Overview of times used for acquisition and analysis of the data of the literature review. Time (Minutes) Jenkins 2007 b Jenkins 2007 a RT-3DE Acquisition Analysis 20 1 to 2 10,5 ± 1 1 CMR Acquisition Analysis 15 10 15 ± 2,5 4 to 6 Jenkins 2006 1 15 to 20 10 to 15 40 to 50 10 to 15 4 10,5 ± 1 Jenkins 2004 1 10,5 ± 1 6±2 Soliman 2007 15 ± 5 Van den 2006 Bosch 4±2 Remarks Online RT-3DE analysis (Qlab) Offline RT-3DE analysis (Tomtec) Full volume reconstruction (Tomtec 4D analysis version 2.0) Multiplane interpolation (Tomtec 4D analysis version 1.2) 17 ± 5 Table B.2: Number of frames in each 3DE of subject 1 and the ES phase selected in Qlab Number of ES frame Study Qlab frames 1 16 7 2 17 7 3 17 7 4 18 8 5 16 8 6 18 8 7 18 8 8 17 7 9 18 8 Ellemiek Wintjes 51 Appendix C Analysis Protocol Caas MRV The 6 MRI’s made from subject 2 were analyzed once with the four different analysis methods in CAAS MRV. Figure C.1, figure C.2, and figure C.3 show the EF, EDV and ESV calculated with the 4 different methods. The fully automated and automated with LA correction showed unexpected results and a higher variability. This resulted in an analyses protocol which included the semi-automated and the manual analyses methods. EF 0,75 0,70 0,65 Ejection Fraction n 0,60 Auto Auto LA 0,55 Semi Auto Manual 0,50 0,45 0,40 0,35 1 2 3 4 5 6 Research Figure C.1: Ejection Fraction calculated with the 4 different methods. Eindhoven University of Technology 52 Analysis Protocol Caas MRV EDV 250 200 150 Volume [ml] Auto Auto LA Semi Auto Manual 100 50 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Research Figure C.2: End-diastolic volumes with 4 different methods. ESV 120 100 Volume [ml] 80 Auto Auto LA 60 Semi Auto Manual 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 Research Figure C.3: End-systolic volumes with 4 different methods. Ellemiek Wintjes 6 53 Appendix D Matlab files D.1 Qlab Combining multiple Qlab files %File to combine data from multiple analysis in Qlab. %Data must be saved when the volume curves are not visible. %Save file as: measurement number and analysis number. 31.xls for third %data set and first analysis. clear all close all aantalmetingen=9; %number of measurements aantalanalyses=10; %Number of analysis ejectiefractie=[]; edvolume=[]; esvolume=[]; for i=1:aantalmetingen for j=1:aantalanalyses k=num2str(i); l=num2str(j); filename=strcat(k,l,’.xls’); [ejfractie,edvol,esvol,ejfractieest,esvolest]= Qlabdataanalyse(filename); %function to extract data from Qlab xls file. ejectiefractie(i,j)=ejfractie; %measurements in rows (row 1: measurement 1, row 2: measurement 2) %analysis in columns (column 1: first analysis) edvolume(i,j)=edvol; esvolume(i,j)=esvol; ejectiefractieest(i,j)=ejfractieest; %value estimated by program esvolumeest(i,j)=esvolest; %value estimated by program end end ejectiefractie edvolume esvolume ejectiefractieest esvolumeest xlswrite(’Qlabresultaten.xls’,ejectiefractie,’ejectionfraction’,’B1’); %xls file with data on different tabs. xlswrite(’Qlabresultaten.xls’,ejectiefractieest,’ejectionfraction’,’B11’); xlswrite(’Qlabresultaten.xls’,edvolume,’end diastolic volume’,’B1’); Eindhoven University of Technology 54 Matlab files xlswrite(’Qlabresultaten.xls’,esvolume,’end systolic volume’,’B1’); xlswrite(’Qlabresultaten.xls’,esvolumeest,’end systolic volume’,’B11’); Import data from Qlab file function[ejfractie,edvolume,esvolume,ejfractieest,esvolumeest]= Qlabdataanalyse(filename) fid = fopen(filename, ’r’); for k=1:500 tmp=fscanf(fid,[’%s’’%e’]); nieuw(k,:)=cellstr(tmp); end fclose(fid); strings=char(nieuw(220:260,:)); ejfractiebeginstr=str2num(strings(20,2:4)); %The value is a value containing a point. This routine make a number out of it. ejfractieeindstr=str2num(strings(20,8:10)); ejfractiebeginstr=num2str(ejfractiebeginstr); ejfractieeindstr=num2str(ejfractieeindstr); ejfractiebeginstr=strcat(ejfractiebeginstr(1),ejfractiebeginstr(4)); ejfractieeindstr=strcat(ejfractieeindstr(1)); ejfractiestr=strcat(ejfractiebeginstr,’.’,ejfractieeindstr); %punt getal maken ejfractie=str2num(ejfractiestr); edvolumeeindtest=str2num(strings(7,8:10)); % sum = 0 if a number cannot be made because a . is present, %and there are 3 digits before the point. if sum(edvolumeeindtest) == 0 %edvolume can contain 2 or 3 digits before the point. edvolumebeginstr=str2num(strings(7,2:6)); %3 digits before point edvolumeeindstr=str2num(strings(7,10)); edvolumebeginstr=num2str(edvolumebeginstr); edvolumebeginstr=strcat(edvolumebeginstr(1),edvolumebeginstr(4),edvolumebeginstr(7)); else edvolumebeginstr=str2num(strings(7,2:4)); % 2 digits before point edvolumeeindstr=str2num(strings(7,8:10)); edvolumebeginstr=num2str(edvolumebeginstr); edvolumebeginstr=strcat(edvolumebeginstr(1),edvolumebeginstr(4)); end edvolumeeindstr=num2str(edvolumeeindstr); %insert point edvolumeeindstr=strcat(edvolumeeindstr(1)); edvolumestr=strcat(edvolumebeginstr,’.’,edvolumeeindstr); edvolume=str2num(edvolumestr); % esvolumeeindtest=str2num(strings(33,8:10)); % if sum(esvolumeeindtest) == 0 % esvolumebeginstr=str2num(strings(33,2:6)); % esvolumeeindstr=str2num(strings(33,10)); % esvolumebeginstr=num2str(esvolumebeginstr); % esvolumebeginstr=strcat(esvolumebeginstr(1),esvolumebeginstr(4),esvolumebeginstr(7)); % else esvolumebeginstr=str2num(strings(33,2:4)); esvolumeeindstr=str2num(strings(33,8:10)); esvolumebeginstr=num2str(esvolumebeginstr); esvolumebeginstr=strcat(esvolumebeginstr(1),esvolumebeginstr(4)); % end esvolumeeindstr=num2str(esvolumeeindstr); Ellemiek Wintjes D.2 Tomtec 55 esvolumeeindstr=strcat(esvolumeeindstr(1)); esvolumestr=strcat(esvolumebeginstr,’.’,esvolumeeindstr); esvolume=str2num(esvolumestr); %-------------------------------------------------------------------------%estimated data ejfractieestbeginstr=str2num(strings(27,2:4)); ejfractieesteindstr=str2num(strings(27,8:10)); ejfractieestbeginstr=num2str(ejfractieestbeginstr); ejfractieesteindstr=num2str(ejfractieesteindstr); ejfractieestbeginstr=strcat(ejfractieestbeginstr(1),ejfractieestbeginstr(4)); ejfractieesteindstr=strcat(ejfractieesteindstr(1)); ejfractieeststr=strcat(ejfractieestbeginstr,’.’,ejfractieesteindstr); ejfractieest=str2num(ejfractieeststr); esvolumeestbeginstr=str2num(strings(40,2:4)); esvolumeesteindstr=str2num(strings(40,8:10)); esvolumeestbeginstr=num2str(esvolumeestbeginstr); esvolumeestbeginstr=strcat(esvolumeestbeginstr(1),esvolumeestbeginstr(4)); esvolumeesteindstr=num2str(esvolumeesteindstr); esvolumeesteindstr=strcat(esvolumeesteindstr(1)); esvolumeeststr=strcat(esvolumeestbeginstr,’.’,esvolumeesteindstr); esvolumeest=str2num(esvolumeeststr); D.2 Tomtec Combining multiple Tomtec echo files %program to combine multiple Tomtec txt files. clear all close all aantalmetingen=9; %number of data sets aantalanalyses=3; %number of analysis analyseset=’medium’ %name of folder ejectiefractie=[]; edvolume=[]; esvolume=[]; for i=1:aantalmetingen for j=1:aantalanalyses k=num2str(i); l=num2str(j); filename=strcat(analyseset,’\’,k,l,’.txt’); [ejfractie,edvol,esvol]= Tomtecdataanalyse(filename); ejectiefractie(i,j)=ejfractie; edvolume(i,j)=edvol; esvolume(i,j)=esvol; end end ejectiefractie edvolume esvolume xlswrite(’Tomtecresultaten.xls’,ejectiefractie,’ejectionfraction’,’B1’); xlswrite(’Tomtecresultaten.xls’,edvolume,’end diastolic volume’,’B1’); xlswrite(’Tomtecresultaten.xls’,esvolume,’end systolic volume’,’B1’); Eindhoven University of Technology 56 Matlab files Import data from Tomtec echo file %function file to extract data from tomtec txt files. function[ejfractie edvolume esvolume]=Tomtecdataanalyse(filename) fid = fopen(filename, ’r’); for k=1:16 tmp=fscanf(fid,[’%s’’%e’]); nieuw(k,:)=cellstr(tmp); end fclose(fid); strings=char(nieuw); ejfractie=str2num(strings(15,:)); edvolume=str2num(strings(7,:)); esvolume=str2num(strings(3,:)); D.3 Caas MRV Combining multiple Caas files %file must be saved as dataset number, analysisnumber, analysis type. clear all close all aantalmetingen=3; %number of data sets aantalanalyses=5; %number of analysis analysetype =’1’; % 1 = semi-automatisch 2= manual ejectiefractie=[]; edvolume=[]; esvolume=[]; for i=1:aantalmetingen for j=1:aantalanalyses k=num2str(i); l=num2str(j); filename=strcat(’resultaten\’,k,l,analysetype,’.csv’); [ejfractie,edvol,esvol,esphase]= Caasdataanalyse(filename); ejectiefractie(i,j)=ejfractie; edvolume(i,j)=edvol; esvolume(i,j)=esvol; esphase(i,j)=esphase; end end ejectiefractie edvolume esvolume esphase xlswrite(’Caasresultaten.xls’,ejectiefractie,’ejectionfraction’,’B1’); xlswrite(’Caasresultaten.xls’,edvolume,’end diastolic volume’,’B1’); xlswrite(’Caasresultaten.xls’,esvolume,’end systolic volume’,’B1’); xlswrite(’Caasresultaten.xls’,esphase,’end systolic phase’,’B1’); Import data from Caas file function[ejfractie,edvolume,esvolume,esphase]= Caasdataanalyse(filename) Ellemiek Wintjes D.3 Caas MRV 57 fid = fopen(filename); test = fscanf(fid,’%s’); fclose(fid); strings=[]; %empty matrix for string parts remain=test; %see strtoken for k=1:100 [token, remain] = strtok(remain, ’;’); strings=strvcat(strings,token); end data=strings(54:65,:); %The data are always on the same location in the file, %in between these lines. %esphase esphasestr=str2num(data(3,2:4));%Make numbers out of string with phase esphasestr=num2str(esphasestr); %make string from number (to remove extra white spaces) esphasestr=strcat(esphasestr(1),esphasestr(4)); %To combine the digits esphase=str2num(esphasestr); %phase number %ejfractie ejfractiebeginstr=str2num(data(10,2:4)); ejfractieeindstr=str2num(data(10,8:14)); ejfractiebeginstr=num2str(ejfractiebeginstr); ejfractieeindstr=num2str(ejfractieeindstr); ejfractiebeginstr=strcat(ejfractiebeginstr(1),ejfractiebeginstr(4)); ejfractieeindstr=strcat(ejfractieeindstr(1),ejfractieeindstr(4),ejfractieeindstr(7), ejfractieeindstr(10)); ejfractiestr=strcat(ejfractiebeginstr,’.’,ejfractieeindstr); ejfractie=str2num(ejfractiestr); %edvolume edvolumeeindtest=str2num(data(11,8:14)); if sum(edvolumeeindtest) == 0 edvolumebeginstr=str2num(data(11,2:6)); edvolumeeindstr=str2num(data(11,10:18)); edvolumebeginstr=num2str(edvolumebeginstr); edvolumebeginstr=strcat(edvolumebeginstr(1),edvolumebeginstr(4),edvolumebeginstr(7)); else edvolumebeginstr=str2num(data(11,2:4)); edvolumeeindstr=str2num(data(11,8:16)); edvolumebeginstr=num2str(edvolumebeginstr); edvolumebeginstr=strcat(edvolumebeginstr(1),edvolumebeginstr(4)); end edvolumeeindstr=num2str(edvolumeeindstr); edvolumeeindstr=strcat(edvolumeeindstr(1),edvolumeeindstr(4),edvolumeeindstr(7), edvolumeeindstr(10)); edvolumestr=strcat(edvolumebeginstr,’.’,edvolumeeindstr); edvolume=str2num(edvolumestr); %esvolume esvolumeeindtest=str2num(data(12,8:14)); if sum(esvolumeeindtest) == 0 esvolumebeginstr=str2num(data(12,2:6)); esvolumeeindstr=str2num(data(12,10:18)); esvolumebeginstr=num2str(esvolumebeginstr); esvolumebeginstr=strcat(esvolumebeginstr(1),esvolumebeginstr(4),esvolumebeginstr(7)); else esvolumebeginstr=str2num(data(12,2:4)); esvolumeeindstr=str2num(data(12,8:16)); esvolumebeginstr=num2str(esvolumebeginstr); esvolumebeginstr=strcat(esvolumebeginstr(1),esvolumebeginstr(4)); Eindhoven University of Technology 58 Matlab files end esvolumeeindstr=num2str(esvolumeeindstr); esvolumeeindstr=strcat(esvolumeeindstr(1),esvolumeeindstr(4),esvolumeeindstr(7), esvolumeeindstr(10)); esvolumestr=strcat(esvolumebeginstr,’.’,esvolumeeindstr); esvolume=str2num(esvolumestr); Ellemiek Wintjes 59 Appendix E Data Each table in this appendix contains the analysis data of one observer and one software package. So the first two tables contain data of 10 analyses of the 9 different 3DE data sets analyzed by EW in QLab and Tomtec, respectively. The third table contains the data of 3 analyses of the same 9 3DE analyzed by JG in Tomtec. On the right side of each table an average and SD of the data per 3DE is given, the average taken over EF method (software package, observer, •, nac ), and for the EF data also the standard error (SE) defined as √SD . On the bottom right of each table the total average and SD and for EF SE of N an EF method (software package, observer, •, •) is given. Data that are framed are outliers. Eindhoven University of Technology 60 Data Table E.1: subject 1: Ejection fraction, raw data Echo Qlab Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average EW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 s SE Echo1 0.578 0.664 0.626 0.656 0.628 0.601 0.579 0.609 0.618 0.650 0.621 0.030 0.010 Echo2 0.620 0.606 0.620 0.609 0.626 0.577 0.596 0.624 0.583 0.642 0.610 0.020 0.006 Echo3 0.623 0.558 0.604 0.540 0.582 0.583 0.627 0.584 0.530 0.595 0.583 0.032 0.010 Echo4 0.637 0.625 0.594 0.598 0.614 0.632 0.600 0.628 0.612 0.569 0.611 0.021 0.007 Echo5 0.613 0.584 0.632 0.648 0.653 0.640 0.608 0.583 0.635 0.646 0.624 0.026 0.008 Echo6 0.638 0.633 0.617 0.579 0.558 0.595 0.574 0.597 0.567 0.608 0.597 0.027 0.009 Echo7 0.536 0.554 0.584 0.584 0.525 0.539 0.559 0.510 0.549 0.571 0.551 0.024 0.008 Echo8 0.540 0.549 0.569 0.581 0.591 0.581 0.625 0.545 0.499 0.607 0.580 0.028 0.010 Echo9 0.567 0.503 0.558 0.563 0.620 0.578 0.643 0.634 0.539 0.627 0.583 0.046 0.015 Total 0.596 0.036 0.004 s SE Echo Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average Tomtec EW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Echo1 0.557 0.499 0.529 0.555 0.571 0.537 0.538 0.513 0.570 0.548 0.542 0.024 0.007 Echo2 0.567 0.546 0.544 0.549 0.533 0.539 0.539 0.522 0.521 0.518 0.538 0.015 0.005 Echo3 0.497 0.493 0.506 0.506 0.505 0.479 0.464 0.493 0.489 0.492 0.492 0.013 0.004 Echo4 0.522 0.490 0.551 0.529 0.503 0.501 0.508 0.523 0.543 0.506 0.518 0.019 0.006 Echo5 0.496 0.498 0.529 0.488 0.485 0.512 0.537 0.527 0.513 0.502 0.509 0.018 0.006 Echo6 0.527 0.533 0.564 0.542 0.537 0.527 0.565 0.523 0.525 0.520 0.536 0.016 0.005 Echo7 0.534 0.547 0.517 0.547 0.530 0.544 0.538 0.548 0.510 0.538 0.535 0.013 0.004 Echo8 0.529 0.517 0.518 0.509 0.535 0.517 0.492 0.571 0.482 0.502 0.517 0.025 0.008 Echo9 0.538 0.502 0.519 0.523 0.529 0.526 0.490 0.499 0.531 0.492 0.515 0.017 0.005 Total 0.522 0.023 0.002 Average s SE Echo Analysis Analysis Analysis Tomtec JG 1 2 3 Echo1 0.628 0.556 0.540 0.575 0.047 0.027 Echo2 0.480 0.504 0.575 0.520 0.049 0.029 Echo3 0.495 0.492 0.531 0.506 0.021 0.012 Echo4 0.575 0.579 0.632 0.596 0.032 0.019 Echo5 0.488 0.553 0.543 0.528 0.035 0.020 Echo6 0.471 0.510 0.567 0.516 0.048 0.028 Echo7 0.471 0.515 0.492 0.493 0.022 0.013 Echo8 0.608 0.528 0.538 0.558 0.043 0.025 Echo9 0.497 0.619 0.579 0.565 0.062 0.036 0.540 0.048 0.009 s SE Total MR Tomtec Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 EW MR1 0.669 0.663 0.659 0.668 0.679 0.663 0.656 0.661 0.665 0.660 0.664 0.007 0.002 MR2 0.688 0.680 0.684 0.677 0.675 0.682 0.681 0.685 0.675 0.674 0.680 0.005 0.002 MR3 0.683 0.677 0.685 0.670 0.677 0.672 0.674 0.684 0.669 0.682 0.677 0.006 0.002 Total 0.674 0.009 0.002 Ellemiek Wintjes 61 MR Tomtec Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis JG 1 2 3 4 Average s SE MR1 0.662 0.673 0.663 0.666 0.666 0.005 0.002 MR2 0.676 0.665 0.669 0.655 0.666 0.009 0.004 MR3 0.693 0.672 0.676 0.678 Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Semi Auto 1 2 3 4 5 EW 0.675 0.009 0.005 0.669 0.007 0.002 Average s SE MR1 0.641 0.645 0.634 0.654 0.627 0.640 0.010 0.005 MR2 0.656 0.633 0.636 0.628 0.626 0.636 0.012 0.005 MR3 0.628 0.623 0.625 0.640 0.649 Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Semi Auto 1 2 3 JG 0.633 0.011 0.005 0.636 0.011 0.003 Average s SE MR1 0.662 0.655 0.661 0.659 0.004 0.003 MR2 0.665 0.657 0.670 0.664 0.006 0.004 MR3 0.648 0.646 0.648 0.647 0.001 0.001 0.656 0.009 0.003 Average s SE Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Manual EW 1 2 3 4 5 MR1 0.645 0.693 0.638 0.659 0.637 0.645 0.023 0.012 MR2 0.656 0.637 0.638 0.643 0.648 0.644 0.008 0.003 MR3 0.648 0.643 0.641 0.630 0.616 0.640 0.013 0.006 0.643 0.008 0.002 Average s SE Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Manual JG 1 2 3 MR1 0.652 0.667 0.667 0.662 0.009 0.005 MR2 0.657 0.665 0.679 0.672 0.011 0.008 MR3 0.663 0.660 0.666 Total 0.663 0.003 0.002 0.665 0.008 0.003 Eindhoven University of Technology 62 Data Table E.2: subject 1: End-diastolic volume, raw data Echo Qlab Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average EW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 s Echo1 125.30 136.70 133.60 133.70 131.70 137.50 132.50 135.10 127.30 132.60 132.60 3.82 Echo2 139.10 132.70 139.20 138.00 145.20 128.90 131.30 143.00 127.30 142.70 136.74 6.29 Echo3 126.90 116.40 129.80 120.80 128.90 126.80 137.70 140.00 119.60 126.00 127.29 7.46 Echo4 139.50 130.00 134.30 139.10 136.60 134.80 129.70 143.40 127.30 125.60 134.03 5.79 Echo5 131.40 133.70 126.30 140.30 133.80 133.90 137.00 125.10 134.70 140.40 133.66 5.10 Echo6 139.70 136.40 133.10 122.80 134.60 140.50 136.20 136.00 128.80 130.90 133.90 5.30 Echo7 129.50 134.90 130.20 127.70 122.10 137.40 129.40 123.30 126.60 134.90 129.60 5.01 Echo8 112.00 119.40 123.00 117.70 116.90 124.60 117.30 104.50 106.90 117.70 118.58 3.89 Echo9 127.30 123.50 125.90 122.40 127.30 123.10 137.90 137.20 131.20 135.60 129.14 5.95 Total 130.89 7.16 Echo Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average Tomtec EW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 s Echo1 141.52 126.98 141.35 162.59 145.09 134.71 131.76 137.01 143.12 133.60 139.77 9.80 Echo2 146.29 154.81 148.75 143.85 143.81 138.45 139.40 142.60 134.73 132.09 142.48 6.69 Echo3 125.28 134.93 139.96 135.77 143.62 141.66 133.77 145.09 141.98 144.03 138.61 6.16 Echo4 146.40 141.96 146.09 140.00 140.81 144.37 137.62 137.45 147.29 144.02 142.60 3.58 Echo5 124.77 128.98 141.60 138.62 136.16 151.76 143.62 141.73 142.03 142.83 139.21 7.70 Echo6 141.40 145.20 145.29 145.70 138.51 145.71 147.45 142.32 136.64 142.71 143.09 3.47 Echo7 153.71 149.18 154.08 150.29 146.77 145.69 139.37 148.54 150.81 144.54 148.30 4.43 Echo8 127.10 140.18 127.12 130.48 137.37 130.49 137.11 138.48 130.35 134.19 133.29 4.80 Echo9 145.82 148.62 134.17 143.70 144.23 138.67 147.24 152.63 138.85 146.12 144.00 5.44 Total 141.26 7.05 Average s Echo Analysis Analysis Analysis Tomtec JG 1 2 3 Echo1 146.89 148.56 136.33 143.93 6.63 Echo2 136.65 147.06 123.43 135.71 11.84 Echo3 122.21 111.96 129.77 121.32 8.94 Echo4 133.50 134.22 129.35 132.35 2.63 Echo5 148.50 151.89 145.80 148.73 3.05 Echo6 124.35 129.00 120.53 124.63 4.24 Echo7 124.92 136.44 128.22 129.86 5.93 Echo8 109.86 92.67 119.19 107.24 13.46 Echo9 101.83 104.30 116.59 107.57 7.90 127.93 15.40 Total MR Tomtec Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 EW s MR1 181.00 180.20 178.70 184.00 183.20 179.50 182.80 180.00 182.10 182.40 181.39 1.76 MR2 182.10 180.10 181.70 181.80 181.20 183.40 181.70 182.40 181.60 182.90 181.89 0.91 MR3 183.50 180.80 183.20 180.40 180.80 184.10 183.10 181.80 182.60 182.90 182.32 1.29 Total 181.87 1.37 Ellemiek Wintjes 63 MR Tomtec Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average JG 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 s MR1 177.20 182.20 186.20 184.60 182.55 3.93 MR2 178.70 181.50 181.80 177.40 179.85 2.15 MR3 175.30 177.40 179.20 186.50 181.03 4.82 181.15 3.48 Average s Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Semi Auto 1 2 3 4 5 EW MR1 206.11 205.85 203.87 214.04 196.42 205.26 6.29 MR2 206.79 198.86 200.49 198.24 199.49 200.77 3.47 MR3 204.89 199.47 199.38 212.13 213.01 205.78 6.60 203.94 5.71 Average s Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Semi Auto 1 2 3 JG MR1 206.59 203.91 211.80 205.25 1.90 MR2 201.26 203.47 205.89 203.54 2.32 MR3 204.34 201.89 203.22 203.15 1.23 203.82 1.81 Average s Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis 2 3 4 5 Manual EW 1 MR1 215.79 219.94 214.75 229.66 219.36 219.89 6.81 MR2 219.21 211.82 218.44 203.86 216.12 213.89 6.30 MR3 219.18 211.51 213.01 214.05 217.90 Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Manual JG 1 2 3 214.44 3.33 215.90 5.94 Average s MR1 203.66 204.74 207.37 205.26 1.91 MR2 190.86 201.23 205.66 203.45 3.13 MR3 201.25 201.41 205.56 202.74 2.44 203.86 2.36 Total Eindhoven University of Technology 64 Data Table E.3: subject 1: End-systolic volume, raw data Echo Qlab Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average EW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 s Echo1 52.90 45.90 49.90 46.00 48.90 54.80 55.80 52.90 48.70 46.40 50.22 3.68 Echo2 52.80 52.20 52.80 53.90 54.30 54.50 53.10 53.80 53.10 51.00 53.15 1.05 Echo3 47.80 51.50 51.40 55.60 53.80 52.90 51.30 58.20 56.10 51.10 52.97 3.03 Echo4 50.70 48.70 54.50 55.90 52.70 49.70 51.90 53.40 49.40 54.20 52.11 2.43 Echo5 50.90 55.60 46.50 49.40 46.50 48.20 53.60 52.20 49.20 49.80 50.19 2.95 Echo6 50.60 50.10 51.00 51.70 59.50 56.90 58.00 54.80 55.70 51.30 53.96 3.44 Echo7 60.10 60.20 54.10 53.10 58.00 63.30 57.00 60.40 57.10 57.90 58.12 3.05 Echo8 51.50 53.90 53.00 49.30 47.80 52.20 44.00 47.60 53.60 46.30 49.75 3.50 Echo9 55.10 61.40 55.70 53.50 48.40 52.00 49.30 50.30 60.50 50.60 53.68 4.51 Total 52.75 3.90 Echo Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average Tomtec EW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 s Echo1 62.73 63.67 66.62 72.32 62.23 62.38 60.83 66.71 61.50 60.38 63.94 3.66 Echo2 63.36 70.32 67.87 64.92 67.19 63.79 64.28 68.15 64.60 63.68 65.82 2.38 Echo3 63.03 68.46 69.16 67.10 71.07 73.84 71.74 73.61 72.59 73.17 70.38 3.45 Echo4 69.92 72.33 65.54 65.90 69.96 71.99 67.65 65.62 67.24 71.08 68.72 2.65 Echo5 62.90 64.80 66.64 70.94 70.12 74.02 66.49 67.08 69.12 71.15 68.33 3.35 Echo6 66.92 67.86 63.38 66.77 64.08 68.94 64.19 67.88 64.87 68.43 66.33 2.03 Echo7 71.57 67.59 74.35 68.11 68.99 66.37 64.40 67.20 73.87 66.76 68.92 3.30 Echo8 59.86 67.72 61.30 64.13 63.87 63.03 69.68 59.46 67.55 66.78 64.34 3.52 Echo9 67.44 73.97 64.52 68.54 67.92 65.79 75.06 76.50 65.14 74.18 69.91 4.54 Total 67.41 3.86 Average s Echo Analysis Analysis Analysis Tomtec JG 1 2 3 Echo1 54.65 65.93 62.75 61.11 5.81 Echo2 71.04 72.95 52.44 65.47 11.33 Echo3 61.72 56.84 60.90 59.82 2.61 Echo4 56.74 56.50 47.54 53.59 5.24 Echo5 76.04 67.83 66.57 70.14 5.14 Echo6 65.73 63.17 52.16 60.35 7.21 Echo7 66.05 66.13 65.15 65.78 0.54 Echo8 43.09 43.71 55.09 47.30 6.76 Echo9 51.21 39.70 49.08 46.66 6.12 58.91 9.46 Total MR Tomtec Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 EW s MR1 59.90 60.80 60.90 61.20 58.70 60.50 62.90 61.00 61.10 62.00 60.90 1.12 MR2 56.80 57.70 57.40 58.70 58.90 58.30 57.90 57.50 59.10 59.60 58.19 0.88 MR3 58.10 58.40 57.80 59.50 58.40 60.40 59.70 57.50 60.50 58.20 58.85 1.08 Total 59.31 1.54 Ellemiek Wintjes 65 MR Tomtec Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Average JG 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 s MR1 59.90 59.50 62.80 61.70 60.98 1.55 MR2 57.90 60.70 60.10 61.30 60.00 1.48 MR3 53.80 58.10 58.10 60.10 58.77 1.15 60.02 1.58 Average s Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Semi Auto 1 2 3 4 5 EW MR1 74.00 73.13 74.61 73.97 73.24 73.79 0.61 MR2 71.18 72.96 72.96 73.68 74.54 73.07 1.24 MR3 76.20 75.26 74.71 76.32 74.86 75.47 0.75 74.11 1.34 Average s Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Semi Auto 1 2 3 JG MR1 69.89 70.27 71.70 70.08 0.27 MR2 67.37 69.73 68.02 68.37 1.22 MR3 71.90 71.48 71.46 71.61 0.25 70.01 1.64 Average s Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis 2 3 4 5 Manual EW 1 MR1 76.59 67.62 77.71 78.20 79.71 78.05 1.30 MR2 75.48 76.86 79.03 72.78 76.16 76.06 2.26 MR3 77.18 75.53 76.52 79.17 83.66 Total MR Caas Analysis Analysis Analysis Manual JG 1 2 3 77.10 1.54 76.99 1.86 Average s MR1 70.92 68.23 68.95 69.37 1.39 MR2 65.45 67.46 66.03 66.74 1.01 MR3 67.82 68.55 68.64 68.34 0.45 68.32 1.39 Total Eindhoven University of Technology 66 Abbreviations Appendix F Abbreviations 3DE AV ECG EDV EF ESV FVR LA LV SA SAx SD SE SV RV Ellemiek Wintjes 3D Echocardiography Atrioventricular Electrocardiogram End diastolic volume Ejection fraction End systolic volume Full volume reconstruction Long axes Left ventricle/ ventricular Semi-automated Short axes Standard deviation Standard error Stroke volume Right ventricle/ ventricular