Segmental quantitative analysis of myocardial contrast echocardiography images using a bullseye representation

In this study, we describe a new method for representing myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) images, which provides an integrated and objective evaluation of left ventricular (LV) myocardial perfusion. MCE images were obtained in parasternal short axis views at mitral valve, papillary muscles and apical levels in an animal model of acute myocardial infarction. A software was developed to analyse MCE images, providing: 1) manual definition of myocardial borders; 2) automated division of LV in 16 segments; 2) quantitation of blood flow and texture analysis in each LV segment; 3) Color and numerical quantitation of blood flow distribution and texture entropy for each segment displayed as a bulls-eye representation of the 16 LV segments. This bull-eye representation provides additional quantitative information regarding global distribution of perfusion.