ABSTRACT
This technique may not be suitable for stress echocardiography because it requires acquisition of multiple 2D images at each stage. On the other hand, the real-time volumetric method, which requires only one cycle for 3D data acquisition, has overcome the problem of prolonged acquisition time.12-19
using first-generation real-time 3D echocardiography, the 3D imaging allowed more rapid acquisition of the echocardiographic images than 2D imaging. In this 3D system, however, 3D datasets were sliced to view only the 2D images of the LV because this method could not visualize the 3D anatomic image immediately after scanning. In addition, the image quality of first-generation real-time 3D (RT3D) echocardiography was comparatively poor because of relatively low spatial resolution.14,15
Consequently, 3D echocardiography has not been widely used for stress echocardiography in clinical practice.
