__Abstract__
During the development of echocardiography, 3D echocardiography imaging represents
a major innovation in cardiovascular ultrasound (Figure 1). Advancements in computer
and transducer technologies permit real-time 3D acquisition and presentation
of cardiac structures from any view. An important milestone in the history of real-time
3D echocardiography was reached shortly after the year 2000, with the development
of fully sampled matrix-array transducers (Figure 2). These transducers provide excellent
real-time imaging of the beating heart in three dimensions and require significant technological developments in both hardware and software