Echocardiographer.net

A Brief Overview of Echocardiography and its History

Posted on 13. Jul, 2010 by Caitlin in Echocardiography Education

Echocardiographer.net is a haven for those looking into the field of cardiac sonography – basically, the assessment of a heart via ultrasound.

But for those who’d like a deeper look into the definition of echocardiography and its history – look no further than this entry.

What is Echocardiography?

Thanks to the ever-developing world of science, an echocardiogram is an ultrasound that provides both one and two-dimensional imaging to examine the heart. Echo techs can use an echocardiogram to display a cross-sectional “slice” of the beating heart.

When a patient receives a basic echo, or resting echo, their echo tech will place sticky patches, or electrodes, to the chest and

A transducer, which is used to measure the ultrasound for an echo test.

shoulders. These patches help record the echocardiogram, also known as the EKG or ECG. Then, the specialist will apply a colorless gel to the chest and uses the echo transducer, the part of the machine that will directly take the images of the heart, to record different parts of the chest. This results in several views of the heart.

We’ve Got the Pictures. Now What?

Once the tech has finished gathering the recordings, its time to examine the organ. The test gives the physician information about the size and shape of the heart. This information includes:

• How the chambers and valves are working
• Pumping function
• Identifying areas of the heart muscle that aren’t functioning properly due to poor blood flow or injury from previous heart attacks
• Detecting possible blood clots, fluid buildup and problems with the aorta

An echo tech gives a patient a standard, resting echocardiogram.

Cardiac sonography is not just for patients considered at risk for heart problems, like the elderly, the overweight and those who have a family history of heart disease. It’s also safe and painless enough to use to detect problems in infants and children and pediatric echocardiography is field in its own right.

How Did Echocardiography Come to Be?

This technique is a relatively new one in the medical world. The following is a timeline of major events that led to cardiac sonography as it is today.

Mid-19^th Century – Johann Christian Doppler discovers the Doppler sound effects – begins the premise for sonographic imagery.

1881 – Jacques and Pierre (husband of Marie) Curie discover the principle of piezoelectricity – another stepping stone to creating the ultrasound.

1903 – Willem Einthoven records the first ECG waves, thus developing the very first electrocardiogram. This discovery heralds cardiology’s status as a medical specialty. Those who knew how to conduct and use an electrocardigram were known as cardiovascular specialists.

1941 – Karl T. Dussikwasthe becomes the first to use an ultrasound machine, using it to examine the brain.

1950 – WD Keidel is the first to use an ultrasound to examine the heart.

1952 – JJ Wilde, JM Reid, D. Howry and W. Bliss develop the first two-dimensional ultrasound system, but didn’t attempt to use it on the heart.

1953 – Physician Inge Edler and engineer C. Hellmuth Hertz borrow a shipyard sonar machine to conduct the first human echocardiogram.

1960 – Echocardiography becomes more widely accepted as a method of cardiovascular research.

1963 – Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum, hailed as the “Father of Echocardiography” takes an unused echoencephalography machine and uses it to record cardiac images, rather than its original intent, to record images of the brain.

Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum (left), is known as the “Father of Echocardiography” and founder of the American Society of Echocardiography.

1965 – Chuck Haine, a physician at Indiana University, becomes the first cardiac sonographer.

1971 – N. Born and Paul Hugenholtz introduce the first two-dimensional scanner to produce multi-dimensional echocardiography.

1973 – Echocardiography is included as a searchable term in Index Medicus.

1975 – Feigenbaum founds the American Society of Echocardiography.

Keep an eye out for the next part of this two-part series, which will take a look into the various specialties of echocardiography.