Understanding Myocardial Mechanics

This one-day course is designed to provide cardiologists and sonographers with the fundamental skills required to analyze high-quality 2D images for myocardial performance. This course will be taught by Jeffrey C. Hill, BS, RDCS, FASE and is the first Philips course solely dedicated to the assessment of myocardial mechanics and strain imaging by speckle tracking echocardiography (STE). The course includes both basic and advanced teaching of myocardial function and is designed for physicians and sonographers that are interested in improving their skills in the interpretation of strain imaging.

Attendees will begin the program by learning the basics of myocardial function including how to interpret normal and abnormal strain waveforms. The program will extend to lectures and live demonstrations including technical tips and emphasis on the caveats, pearls and pitfalls of the application. Several basic and challenging case examples that would be encountered in routine, clinical practice will also be presented. In addition, the attendees will develop a stepwise approach to acquisition and interpretation of strain imaging.

Prerequisite skills: Attendees should have basic knowledge of 2D echocardiography for the assessment of regional and global function. An understanding of the basics of strain imaging is desirable.