Duke has been a leader in the field of echocardiography for more than three decades. Lab faculty, in conjunction with the Pratt School of Engineering, are responsible for critical advances in the field, including the invention and development of two-dimensional and three-dimensional technologies.

The Duke Echocardiography Lab is actively involved in clinical trials and research projects to improve diagnostic and prognostic methodology, focusing on:

• Myocardial perfusion imaging
• 3-D imaging
• Tissue Doppler
• Speckle tracking for strain and strain rate imaging

Outcomes research performed in conjunction with Duke Clinical Research Institute has become an important focus of the laboratory.

The lab is also integrally involved in providing services as a core lab in conjunction with COResearch (a business unit of Duke Medical Strategies, Inc. and the Duke Clinical Research Institute). Working collaboratively, many of the lab's cardiology faculty and sonographers process and analyze echocardiogram studies from clinical trial sites that are sent to the lab from throughout the country and the world. 

The lab has also worked with a number of different industry sponsors, including Acusphere, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pointe Biomedical, Philips, and GE. 

The training program in echocardiography provides basic and advanced training in the performance and interpretation of echocardiograms, including two-dimensional, Doppler, transesophageal, stress, and contrast applications. Cardiology fellows play an active role in the daily functioning of the Duke Echocardiography Laboratory, which performs some 30,000 procedures per year. All fellows achieve Level II training at the completion of their fellowship program.

In most cases, cardiology fellows have a two-month rotation through the lab during both their first and second years. Third- and fourth-year fellows who participate in the activities of the laboratory for extended periods are primarily involved in research and advanced training.