Cardiac 2-D Shear Wave Imaging Using a New Dedicated Clinical Ultrasound System: A Phantom Study

The purpose of this study was to assess cardiac shear wave imaging implemented in a new MACH 30 ultrasound machine (SuperSonic Imaging, Aix-en-Provence, France) and interfaced with a linear probe and a phased array probe, in comparison with a previously validated Aixplorer system connected to a linear probe (SuperSonic Imaging) using Elasticity QA phantoms (Models 039 and 049, CIRS Inc., Norfolk, VA, USA).

Quantile-quantile plots were used for distribution agreement. The accuracy of stiffness measurement was assessed by the percentage error and the mean percentage error (MPE), and its homogeneity, by the standard deviation of the MPE. A p value <0.01 was considered to indicate statistical significance.

The accuracy of dedicated cardiac sequences for linear probes was similar for the two systems with an MPE of 8 ± 14% versus 20 ± 21% (p = not significant) with the SuperSonic MACH 30 and Aixplorer, respectively, and was influenced by target stiffness and location of the measurement in the field of view, but without drift over time. The optimal transthoracic cardiac probe workspace was located between 4 and 10 cm, with an MPE of 29.5 ± 25% compared with 93.3 ± 130% outside this area (p < 0.0001). In this area, stiffness below 20 kPa was significantly different from the reference (p < 0.0001). The sectorial probe revealed no MPE difference in any of the measurement areas, with no significant lateral or axial gradient.

The new Supersonic MACH 30 system upgraded with a sectorial probe and specific cardiac settings provided homogenous stiffness measurements, especially when operating at depths between 4 and 10 cm. These phantom results may be useful in designing future in vivo studies.