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(Circulation. 1996;93:1321-1327.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Evolution of Echocardiography

Harvey Feigenbaum, MD

From the Department of Medicine, Cardiac Laboratory, University Hospital and Outpatient Center 5420, Indianapolis, Ind.

Correspondence to Harvey Feigenbaum, MD, Department of Medicine, Cardiac Laboratory, University Hospital and Outpatient Center 5420, 550 N University Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46202-5250.

Key Words: echocardiography • tests • ultrasonics

	Introduction

 
The word "evolution" is usually reserved for changes of natural phenomena and thus is appropriate to be used with echocardiography or diagnostic ultrasound in general. Unlike most medical diagnostic tests or procedures, diagnostic ultrasound exists in nature. Some mammals, such as bats and aquatic mammals, have the natural ability to visualize their environments sonically. The sonic imaging capability that these animals have is truly amazing. I have often equated ultrasonic instrument manufacturers with the aircraft industry. Humans have known that creatures with wings could fly. Since nature did not endow humans with wings, we had to build machines with wings so that we could fly like birds. In many ways, we are doing the same thing with diagnostic ultrasound. Nature did not see fit to give us sonic imaging capability, so we must build appropriate machines so that we can visualize ultrasonically, as other mammals do naturally.

The evolution of medical diagnostic ultrasound, and echocardiography in particular, has been dramatic, and its ultimate capabilities are still unrealized. The origins of this technology date back to Curie and Curie,^{1 2} who first discovered piezoelectricity. A variety of subsequent discoveries were made that culminated in the first patent for ultrasonic, nondestructive flaw detection, issued to Sokolov in 1937.³ Firestone⁴ received a patent in 1942 for a somewhat similar device. Developments in this field accelerated quickly during World War II, when this application was used for naval sonar.

After the end of World War II, numerous investigators sought peaceful uses for wartime technology. Sonar . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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