Advances in Cardiac Imaging: Innovations, AI Integration, and Clinical Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Significant progress in cardiac imaging in recent years, being the cornerstone of modern cardiology and thus revolutionizing the diagnostic and management of heart conditions. Advances in cardiac imaging, such as 3D echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or the development of image analysis techniques based on artificial intelligence (AI), have significantly improved diagnostic accuracy and restructured diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, enhancing our ability to manage cardiovascular disease.

Echocardiography has become significantly more advanced through the development of speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE), which provides detailed information about myocardial deformation and strain and improves the detection of subclinical myocardial dysfunction. Also, three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE), through its better visualization of cardiac structures, provides precise anatomical details, which are crucial for surgical planning.

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has evolved enormously, enabling the quantification of myocardial fibrosis and edema by T1 and T2 mapping techniques, providing essential information for the diagnosis and management of conditions such as myocarditis, cardiomyopathies, and myocardial infarction. In addition, the evaluation of complex congenital heart diseases has improved thanks to the advent of four-dimensional flow CMR (4D flow CMR).

Also, evaluation 4D flow CMR of coronary arteries by computed tomography (CT) has progressed due to the increase in image quality with the introduction of high-resolution and dual-energy CT, which allow for a better visualization of coronary plaques and for the better characterization of their composition.

The most relevant topic toward which most technological development efforts converge and which promises to facilitate increasingly accurate and early diagnoses is represented by AI technologies, which now offer a transformative opportunity for cardiovascular imaging. From the development of new deep learning models for cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), artificial intelligence-based improvements in cardiac CT, integration with cardiac ultrasound and predictive analysis using multimodal data to the ethical implications and fairness of AI applications, research in this direction promises to solve a comprehensive range of problems.

As cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of mortality globally, the integration of new cardiovascular imaging techniques, including AI, is not only innovative but also necessary to improve diagnostic accuracy and encourage personalized patient care.

We are pleased to invite you to share your recent research outputs on the use of the latest imaging modalities in cardiovascular disease, including manuscripts, original articles or review articles providing new information about cardiovascular imaging.

This Special Issue aims to highlight the most promising insights in cardiac imaging, focusing on technological innovations, applications of AI in improving imaging techniques, and their clinical implications.

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Assessment of cardiovascular disease using echocardiography, cardiac CT, MRI, SPECT/PET;
• New diagnostic modalities including dual-energy CT , 4D flow CMR , T1 and T2 CMR mapping techniques with tissue characterization;
• The use of machine learning or deep learning tools for diagnostic strategies for coronary artery disease;
• Three-dimensional printing in cardiovascular disease;
• AI applications in cardiovascular imaging.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Luminita Iliuta
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• echocardiography
• artificial intelligence
• digital cardiology
• MRI
• CT
• cardiac catheterization