Measurement of vetricle volumes with cardiac MRI
US5273040A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 14, 1991 |
| Grant date | Dec 28, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 14, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/20224
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A first image (20) and a second image (22) are taken through the patient's heart region at small time displaced intervals. The first and second images are subtracted (24) to generate a difference image which is indicative of the tissue which has moved during the short time interval, i.e. the boundary of the ventricles. Voxels from regions outside the boundary are adjusted to remove lung tissue (40), and ventricle boundary or edge voxels (48) and analyzed to generate a non-blood tissue histogram (62). Voxels within the boundary are analyzed to generate a blood tissue histogram (60). The histograms are fit (66, 74) to smooth curves which represent the probability distribution or confidence that each voxel value represents blood or non-blood tissue. Contiguous voxels within the boundary are counted (96) and adjusted for voxel size (98) to create an indication of left and right ventricle volume (100l, 100r). In the preferred embodiment, the ventricle volume is determined by summing the confidence value that each voxel within the boundary represents blood.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.