Continuum mechanics meets echocardiography imaging: investigation on the principal strain lines in human left ventricle

We present recent investigations on the state of strain in human left ventricle based on the synergy between continuum mechanics and echocardiographic imaging. When data from three-dimensional Speckle Tracking Echocardiography are available, special strain directions can be detected on the epicardial and endocardial surfaces, which are well-known in continuum mechanics as principal strain lines (PSLs), further classified into primary and secondary strain lines. An appropriate investigation on PSLs can help to identify lines where strains are largest as primary and smallest as secondary. As PSLs change when cardiac diseases appear, the challenge is that the analysis may allow for the identification of new indicators of cardiac function.