A New View of the Heart

Instead of waiting hours or days for the results of an echocardiogram, patients can now get answers in about an hour, thanks to a new device called 3D Echo. While traditional echocardiograms show one slice of the heart at a time, 3D Echo acoustically scans multiple slices and reconstructs a live 3D image. It reveals parts of the heart previously missed -- such as the right side and one of the valves -- and helps get more accurate diagnosis of conditions such as hardened arteries.