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A New View of the Heart

Cardiologists Improve Testing with Real-Time 3D Echocardiogram

September 1, 2003

Instead of waiting hours or days for the results of an echocardiogram, patients can now get answers in about an hour, thanks to a new device called 3D Echo. While traditional echocardiograms show one slice of the heart at a time, 3D Echo acoustically scans multiple slices and reconstructs a live 3D image. It reveals parts of the heart previously missed -- such as the right side and one of the valves -- and helps get more accurate diagnosis of conditions such as hardened arteries.


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Martha J. Heil
mheil@aip.org
American Institute of Physics
Tel: 301-209-3088