cSound
Researchers have created software that can model internal organs in ‘extreme 4D’.
The system, dubbed cSound, is currently being used by cardiologist Bijoy Khandheria, who has been fixing broken hearts for more than three decades.
Dr Khandheria describes the images as ‘exquisite’, and says it’s like opening up someone’s chest and watching their heart beat.’
‘Traditionally, ultrasound has allowed us to see the heart but not in as much detail as we might like,’ he said.
‘We used the signal to image the heart layer by layer, almost like a butcher using a knife, and then mentally splice the layers together to see the whole picture’.
Dr Khandheria and his colleagues at Aurora St Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, have recently started ‘extreme 4D’ software.
The images are so clear that it allows doctors to see how blood swirls around clots in arteries.
This can then be used to measure the severity of blood leakage around the valves and assess the damages.
‘It’s almost as if I took out the valve and started turning it with my hands,’ said Dr Khandheria.
