ABSTRACT
Speckle tracking provides a means for measuring myocardial strain and strain rate, and it offers significant advantages over the alternative technique of tissue Doppler imaging. This chapter reviews the basic principles of speckle tracking and describes how the tracking of myocardial kernels allows speckle tracking software to plot curves of segmental displacement, velocity, strain and strain rate in the longitudinal, radial and circumferential planes. The clinical applications of speckle tracking in the evaluation of cardiomyopathies, such as cardiac amyloidosis, and in cardio-oncology are also discussed.
