Evaluation of cardiac infarction by real time ultrasonic strain imaging

An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system for strain imaging comprising:

• a source of ultrasound echo signals;
• an image processor, coupled to the source of ultrasound echo signals, which is configured to produce a first sequence of image frames over a first heart cycle;
• a processor configured to execute computer program instructions adapted to produce actions of:
• a strain calculator coupled to the image processor and configured to process the image frames to estimate strain values during the first image frame sequence;
• a color mapper configured to produce a color map based at least in-part on the strain values generated by the strain calculator;
• and
• a color map warper that is responsive to the color map and a new sequence of image frames generated by the image processor during a subsequent heart cycle, wherein the color map warper is configured to warp the color map to fit each of the image frames of the new sequence to generate a plurality of warped color maps;
• and
• a display configured to display the image frames of the new sequence in real time, each in combination with one of the plurality of warped color maps.