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Updated: Jan 16, 2026
Echocardiographic Measurement of Right Ventricular Diastolic Parameters in Mouse
Published on: April 27, 2019
The impact of heart rate on echocardiographic measures of left ventricular function: novel insights facilitated by
Ada Woelfert1, Ole Christian Mjølstad1,2, Ane Cecilie Dale1,2
1Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Box 8905, Trondheim 7491, Norway.
Insights
Heart rate significantly impacts left ventricular (LV) measurements like global longitudinal strain (GLS) and ejection fraction (LVEF). This study highlights the need to consider heart rate in echocardiography and showcases deep learning
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Imaging
- Artificial Intelligence
Background:
- Echocardiographic measurements of the left ventricle (LV) are crucial for cardiac disease management.
- The influence of heart rate on these LV measurements is not fully understood.
- Current methods for LV assessment may be limited by manual analysis constraints.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between varying heart rates and key LV echocardiographic parameters.
- To evaluate the efficacy of a deep learning (DL) method for automated LV measurements.
- To determine the impact of heart rate on LV global longitudinal strain (GLS), ejection fraction (LVEF), and volumes (LVEDV, LVESV).
Main Methods:
- Fifty participants with pacemakers underwent atrial pacing to increase heart rate from 50 to 140 beats/min.
- Echocardiographic 10-beat cine-loops were recorded at each heart rate increment.
- A multi-step deep learning (DL) model was employed for fully automated measurement of GLS, LVEF, LVEDV, and LVESV.
Main Results:
- A total of 10,161 heart cycles were analyzed with 97% feasibility.
- Increasing heart rate led to significant, near-linear reductions in all LV measures.
- From 60 to 140 beats/min, GLS decreased by 32%, LVEF by 33%, and LVEDV by 31%.
Conclusions:
- Heart rate is a significant factor influencing echocardiographic LV function and volume measurements.
- Clinical interpretation of echocardiograms must account for the patient's heart rate.
- Deep learning offers a promising avenue for rapid, accurate, and reproducible cardiovascular research analyses.
Background:
Echocardiographic measurements of the left ventricle (LV) are fundamental in diagnosing and monitoring cardiac disease. Still, current understanding of how heart rate influences these measurements is incomplete. We aimed to explore the relationship between heart rate and LV global longitudinal strain (GLS), ejection fraction (LVEF), end-diastolic (LVEDV), and end-systolic volumes (LVESV), using atrial pacing and a transparent multi-step deep learning (DL)-based method for fully automated measurements.
Methods And Results:
Fifty participants with permanent pacemakers were enrolled. Heart rate was increased by atrial pacing in increments of 10 beats/min, from 50 to 140 beats/min, with echocardiographic 10-beat cine-loops recorded at each step. A DL-based method was utilized to measure GLS, LVEF, LVEDV, and LVESV at all levels.A total of 10 161 heart cycles were analysed, with 97% feasibility. As heart rate increased, all LV measures displayed significant and near-linear reductions. From 60 to 140 beats/min, GLS decreased by 32% (95% CI: 19-44%), LVEF by 33% (95% CI: 19-47%), LVEDV by 31% (95% CI: 19-43%), and LVESV by 10% (95% CI: -5% to 24%). Processing time per cardiac cycle was 1.3 (0.4) s, corresponding to 3.7 h for the entire dataset.
Conclusion:
Heart rate significantly influences echocardiographic measures of LV function and volume, emphasizing the necessity of incorporating heart rate into clinical interpretation and reporting of echocardiographic measurements. This study further demonstrates the potential of DL to advance cardiovascular research by enabling rapid, accurate, and reproducible analyses, previously unachievable due to the inherent constraints of manual measurements.
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