Application of autoregressive and Fast Fourier Transform spectral analysis to tricuspid and mitral valve stenosis

Tricuspid and mitral valve flow area was determined from an apical four-chamber view. Doppler signals were recorded from normal subjects and patients with tricuspid and mitral valve stenosis by using a pulsed Doppler unit. The location of sample volume was chosen at the ventricular side of the valve orifice and within the right ventricular tract. This was done with the aid of an integrated cardiac imaging facility. The analog signal at the output of the Doppler unit was sampled and digitized using an analog/digital interface board and transferred to a personal computer. The data were then analyzed using the Fast Fourier Transform (FTT) and autoregressive (AR) modeling methods of spectral analysis and all the sonograms were obtained. Statistical comparison between the FFT and AR methods was made. The results show that the AR method offers a superior performance over the FFT method as regards the assessment of tricuspid and mitral valve stenosis.