Systems and methods for reporting blood flow characteristics

• US 10,169,543 B2
• Filed: 09/02/2016
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Heartflow Inc.
• Original Assignee: Heartflow Inc.
• Inventors: Taylor, Charles A., Hart, Gregory R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheng, Jacqueline
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Tho
• Application Number:
  US15/255,900
• Publication Number:
  US 20160371440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 851 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02007 Evaluating blood vessel condition, e.g. elasticity, compliance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/026 Measuring blood flow A61B3/1233, A61B3/1241 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/743 Displaying an image simultaneously with additional graphical information, e.g. symbols, charts, function plots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7475 User input or interface means, e.g. keyboard, pointing device, joystick
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/50 for simulation or modelling of medical disorders

Abstract

Embodiments include a system for displays cardiovascular information for a patient. The system may include at least one computer system configured to receive patient-specific data regarding a geometry of the patient'"'"'s heart and create a model representing at least a portion of the patient'"'"'s heart based on the patient-specific data. The computer system may determine at least one value of the blood flow characteristic within the patient'"'"'s heart based on the model. The computer system may also display a report comprising a representation of at least one artery corresponding to at least a portion the model, and display one or more indicators of the value of the blood flow characteristic on a corresponding portion of the at least one artery.

Claims

1. A system for displaying cardiovascular information of a patient, the system comprising:

at least one computer system configured to;

receive patient-specific image data regarding a geometry of one or more of the patient'"'"'s arteries;

create a model representing at least a portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries based on the patient-specific image data;

determine at least one value of a fractional flow reserve for at least the portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries based on the model;

generate a report for visual display comprising a representation of at least the portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries and a summary portion including a listing of the represented portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries adjacent to a graph of one or more markers of the value of the fractional flow reserve for each respective portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries;

display, on the graph of the summary portion of the report, an indicator of uncertainty for each determined value of the fractional flow reserve, wherein each indicator of uncertainty is displayed as a bar overlapping a respective marker of fractional flow reserve on the graph of the summary portion of the report, and wherein each indicator of uncertainty is displayed when it cannot be determined whether the respective value of the fractional flow reserve exceeds the predetermined threshold value.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more markers of the value of the fractional flow reserve is displayed as a bar on the graph.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer system is further configured to:

display on the report a confidence that the value of the fractional flow reserve exceeds a predetermined threshold.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the predetermined threshold is a threshold of functional significance of the fractional flow reserve.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the patient-specific data includes image data, and the computer system is further configured to:

analyze the patient-specific data to determine if a predetermined threshold of image quality is met; and

display an indicator of the image quality.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein each indicator of uncertainty is displayed when a respective value of the fractional flow reserve exceeds a predetermined threshold.

7. A computer-implemented method for displaying cardiovascular information of a patient, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving patient-specific image data regarding a geometry of one or more of the patient'"'"'s arteries;

creating, using a processor, a model representing at least a portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries based on the patient-specific image data;

determining, using the processor, at least one value of a fractional flow reserve for at least the portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries based on the model;

generating, electronically using the processor, a report for visual display comprising a representation of at least the portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries and a summary portion including a listing of the represented portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries adjacent to a graph of one or more markers of the value of the fractional flow reserve for each respective portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries;

displaying, using the processor, on the graph of the summary portion of the report, an indicator of uncertainty for each determined value of the fractional flow reserve, wherein each indicator of uncertainty is displayed as a bar overlapping a respective marker of fractional flow reserve on the graph of the summary portion of the report, and wherein each indicator of uncertainty is displayed when it cannot be determined whether the respective value of the fractional flow reserve exceeds the predetermined threshold value.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more markers of the value of the fractional flow reserve is displayed as a bar on the graph.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

displaying on the report a confidence that the value of the fractional flow reserve exceeds a predetermined threshold.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the predetermined threshold is a threshold of functional significance of the fractional flow reserve.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the patient-specific data includes image data, and further comprising:

analyzing the patient-specific data to determine if a predetermined threshold of image quality is met; and

displaying an indicator of the image quality.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein each indicator of uncertainty is displayed when a respective value of the fractional flow reserve exceeds a predetermined threshold.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for displaying cardiovascular information of a patient, the method including:

receiving patient-specific image data regarding a geometry of one or more of the patient'"'"'s arteries;

creating a model representing at least a portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries based on the patient-specific image data;

determining at least one value of a fractional flow reserve for at least the portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries based on the model;

generating a report for visual display comprising a representation of at least the portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries and a summary portion including a listing of the represented portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries adjacent to a graph of one or more markers of the value of the fractional flow reserve for each respective portion of the patient'"'"'s arteries;

displaying, on the graph of the summary portion of the report, an indicator of uncertainty for each determined value of the fractional flow reserve, wherein each indicator of uncertainty is displayed as a bar overlapping a respective marker of fractional flow reserve on the graph of the summary portion of the report, and wherein each indicator of uncertainty is displayed when it cannot be determined whether the respective value of the fractional flow reserve exceeds the predetermined threshold value.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the one or more markers of the value of the fractional flow reserve is displayed as a bar on the graph.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying on the report a confidence that the value of the fractional flow reserve exceeds a predetermined threshold.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the predetermined threshold is a threshold of functional significance of the fractional flow reserve.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein each indicator of uncertainty is displayed when a respective value of the fractional flow reserve exceeds a predetermined threshold.