Ultrasono-tomograms of the heart and great vessels in living human subjects were obtained by the application of a concave transducer in the ultrasonic reflection technique with the introduction of Compound or PPISector scanning in the proximity immersed method, all of which were controlled in synchronization with EGG current.
From the tomogram thus obtained, the anatomical situation of the heart and great vessels, the intracardiac structures, the size of the cardiac chambers and the thickness of the cardiac and vascular walls were able to be measured in an instantaneous static state. Then the functional changes of the various cardiac structures were indicated in dynamic state by combination with the Time-Position-Indication method. The displacement and velocity of the cardiac structures during pulsation were able to be measured also.
In addition, since these methods are non-operative, they are free from major discomfort for the patient and can be repeated frequently for control purposes. Therefore, this method is considered very useful for clinical diagnostic purposes in cardiovascular diseases.
At the present stage, the tomograms of the heart and great vessels being obtained experimentally, there are still many engineering problems which are now under investigation to be solved for the improvement of tomograms.