Computers in cardiac imaging

Imaging has become a widely used technique for the evaluation of cardiac disease. Computer technology and techniques have had an enormous impact on many of the available cardiac imaging methods. These methods include echocardiography, digital angiography, radionuclide imaging, X-ray computed tomography and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Computers have performed a number of functions in these cardiac imaging methods, including image acquisition, formation, management, display, enhancement and analysis. This article describes each of these roles that computer technology and techniques currently play in cardiac imaging and concludes with an assessment of the impact that computers have had on the various cardiac imaging methods.