A novel motion detection method for improving the quality of two-dimensional echocardiographic images

Two-dimensional echocardiographic pictures from elderly patients are often technically unsatisfactory. It may be helpful or even necessary to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of these images before interpreting them. A novel picture-averaging method for obtaining the improved image is described here. The procedure may be performed with either live video or video taped two-dimensional echocardiograms and does not require an electrocardiogram signal for triggering images from the same cardiac phase of successive heart beats. Instead, the triggering is performed by comparing video frames with a reference image, automatically selecting only the frames that are most nearly equivalent to the reference picture and averaging the selected images to obtain an enhanced, time-averaged picture. Frames that are rejected by the method are those in which motion has been detected relative to the reference image, often caused by slight beat-to-beat image changes that accompany breathing. This enhancement may facilitate the interpretation and measurement of echocardiographic data, thus improving the diagnosis and management of heart disease in these patients.