Abstract
Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) is a new echocardiographic technique employing the Doppler principle to measure the regional left ventricular (LV) myocardial and mitral annular velocities. Pulsed TDI is well-suited for measuring the peak velocity and the timing of LV wall motion along the short- and long-axes. It has introduced new insights into LV physiology and become a useful tool for evaluating LV function overcoming the load-dependence of conventional Doppler techniques. Color TDI has introduced a further development into strain imaging and tissue tracking imaging using velocity information. The modality allows truly quantitative measurement of regional myocardial function without being influenced by whole-heart motion. Intraventricular asynchrony in patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy can be assessed with this technique. This noninvasive method also has potential in diagnosis of tissue characterization in patients with various myocardial diseases.
