ABSTRACT
A number of non-invasive techniques are now available to assess the effects of drugs on cardiac function. Non-invasive assessments of cardiovascular functions are attractive when assessing whether a new untested chemical entity affects the activity of the heart. Like any technique for measuring biological activity, non-invasive techniques for assessing cardiac function need to be validated. The validation may take various forms, but for non-invasive techniques the measurements should correlate well with the same parameters being assessed by direct invasive measurements. The particular advantage of non-invasive over invasive assessments of cardiac function is that serial observations can be made over time, allowing the short-and long-term affect of therapeutic interventions to be assessed. The interpretation of measurements of cardiac function, whether obtained by invasive or non-invasive techniques, but more especially with the latter, has to be carried out with care. Echocardiography utilises ultrasonic signals reflected from cardiac structures, thus allowing continuous recordings of the motion of these cardiac structures.
