Mechanics–based analysis of the left atrium via echocardiographic imaging

A mechanics–based analysis of data from three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography can help to infer useful clinical data about the state of myocardium. Precisely, we recently conjectured that principal strain lines in the left ventricle change in presence of heart disease, and used data from healthy subjects and patients to support our conjecture. Here, we set the first steps of our analysis relative to the left atrium, describing our method of acquisition, and discussing the key mechanical characteristics delivered by the echocardiographic device for healthy subjects and patients affected by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy