Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) developed a fast MRI-based 3D visualization technique that helps surgeons and cardiologists better plan repairs for children born with complex heart defects. This CHOP-developed technique offers easy-to-understand 3D movies that show how the heart moves and how blood flows at the same time, giving doctors a clear, real-time picture they typically need several different tests and significant time and labor to create. The results were reported in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging.
In the study, the CHOP team changed how MRI images are shown, so the heart muscle and heart valves stand out while other tissues are hidden. The result is clear 3D pictures that look like color Doppler ultrasound but don’t have problems with sound poor penetration of the sound waves. Using this method, doctors can create instant 4D heart movies from MRI scans instead of tracing each frame.
In a series of pediatric cases, CHOP researchers used the technique to inform decisions about repair versus replacement and guide surgical planning. The team also developed new ways to depict flow – such as color coding and directional flow lines – so MRI can present tissue and flow together.
“Volume rendering lets us create near instant 4D heart movies fast enough to avoid slow manual tracing – while serving as a useful complement to ultrasound,” said study co-author Matthew Jolley, MD, pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist and cardiologist at CHOP. “However, image quality still depends on the underlying MRI, and some analyses may require traditional methods.”
To promote broader use, CHOP and collaborators released SlicerHeart, a suite of free cardiac image-processing tools built on the open-source 3D Slicer platform, available for research and clinical work in congenital heart disease.
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (1R01HL153166), The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Pediatric Valve Center, the Cora Topolewski Fund at CHOP Pediatric Valve Center, Additional Ventures and the CHOP Research Institute.
Jolley et al. “Rapid Visualization of Valves and Myocardium Using Volume Rendering of 3D Cardiac MRI, 4D Cine, and 4D Flow Images.” Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging. Online February 12, 2026. DOI: 10.1148/ryct.250129.
Learn more here: https://www.rsna.org/media/press/2026/2642
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Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) developed a fast MRI-based 3D visualization technique that helps surgeons and cardiologists better plan repairs for children born with complex heart defects. This CHOP-developed technique offers easy-to-understand 3D movies that show how the heart moves and how blood flows at the same time, giving doctors a clear, real-time picture they typically need several different tests and significant time and labor to create. The results were reported in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging.
In the study, the CHOP team changed how MRI images are shown, so the heart muscle and heart valves stand out while other tissues are hidden. The result is clear 3D pictures that look like color Doppler ultrasound but don’t have problems with sound poor penetration of the sound waves. Using this method, doctors can create instant 4D heart movies from MRI scans instead of tracing each frame.
In a series of pediatric cases, CHOP researchers used the technique to inform decisions about repair versus replacement and guide surgical planning. The team also developed new ways to depict flow – such as color coding and directional flow lines – so MRI can present tissue and flow together.
“Volume rendering lets us create near instant 4D heart movies fast enough to avoid slow manual tracing – while serving as a useful complement to ultrasound,” said study co-author Matthew Jolley, MD, pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist and cardiologist at CHOP. “However, image quality still depends on the underlying MRI, and some analyses may require traditional methods.”
To promote broader use, CHOP and collaborators released SlicerHeart, a suite of free cardiac image-processing tools built on the open-source 3D Slicer platform, available for research and clinical work in congenital heart disease.
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (1R01HL153166), The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Pediatric Valve Center, the Cora Topolewski Fund at CHOP Pediatric Valve Center, Additional Ventures and the CHOP Research Institute.
Jolley et al. “Rapid Visualization of Valves and Myocardium Using Volume Rendering of 3D Cardiac MRI, 4D Cine, and 4D Flow Images.” Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging. Online February 12, 2026. DOI: 10.1148/ryct.250129.
Learn more here: https://www.rsna.org/media/press/2026/2642
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