The ambiguousness of 3D

Excerpt

Most major television manufacturers have understood that 3D imaging is exciting and have integrated this feature into their machines. In paradox, the development of 3D techniques in applied medicine has taken serious delay. Fortunately, the medical industry has now taken measures to enable rapid progress in this field. Until recently, 3D imaging was of little use in daily practice but the emergence of new techniques has brought us to change our routine. Up until now, many cardiologists believed that 3D imaging was only useful in assisting surgeons particularly for valvular imaging. Even if most of echocardiographers have the capacity to mentally transform 2D imaging into spatial views of anatomical structures, this becomes insufficient when complex and precise procedures are performed. One of the best examples, mentioned by Beitnes et al. [1] in their introduction section, is Mitraclip placement, a procedure in which 3D transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) demonstrates its unquestionable additional value. Although Mitraclip placement is possible using 2D TEE [2], 3D imaging enables an obvious reduction in procedure duration, and as a consequence definite reduction in radiation exposure [3]. …