Simulation of the echocardiographic image acquisition process based on a 3D cardiac tissue reconstruction

The formation of the echocardiographic signal, that goes from the transducer to the 2D echo image, was simulated upon a 3D cardiac tissue image. Images of tissue are obtained by mathematical simulation, and a series of histological slices of cardiac tissue. These slices were observed using an optical microscope at calibration of 10 microns per pixel. Slices are corrected for translation and rotation errors in order to obtain the 3D reconstruction. Cardiac contraction dynamics are simulated with a simple three-transformation model. Transducers are simulated with a cosine-moduled Gaussian three-dimensional spread function. The system outputs two signals: a radio-frequency image and an echocardiographic image. Texture features are analyzed as a function of cardiac dynamics. The results of the analysis shows the influence of the cellular and connective components of cardiac tissue in the echocardiographic response.