Volumetric Holography of Cardiac Defects in Humans: Initial Clinical Experience Using Tomographic Echocardiographic Data

We have previously described a method to develop holograms that does not entail the presence of laser light source in the clinical environment. Although we have demonstrated the feasibility of holography from cardiac ultrasound data to depict normal and abnormal cardiac anatomy in experimental studies, the ability of holography from ultrasound data to image structural cardiac anomalies in patients is not known. In this exploratory study, we addressed the question of whether it was possible to image cardiac pathology by holography in patients with mitral valve disease, atrial septal defects, and ventricular aneurysms. Parallel, tomographic echocardiographic data obtained during transesophageal echocardiography were used to generate holograms of cardiac disorders. Holographic three-dimensional (3-D) reproduction contains up to 1024 by 1024 pixels and full gray scale in each of the individual slices. Holograms of cardiac defects depicted their true spatial location, which not only enhanced the anatomic appreciation of the defect itself, but also revealed the depth and the relationship of the structures in proximity of the defect. Thus, 3-D imaging of cardiac anomalies by volumetric multiplexed holography is feasible.