Method of localizing the myocardium of the heart and method of determining perfusion parameters thereof

• US 20020087072A1
• Filed: 12/05/2001
• Published: 07/04/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Breeuwer, Marcel
• Granted Patent: US 7,047,061 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/420
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30048 Heart; Cardiac
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/66 of image moments or centre of gravity

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of deriving the myocardial region from one or more MR images. Left and right ventricle contours (1, 2) are determined. The thickness or width (D) of the myocardial region is computed from the distance between these contours in a predetermined part (A) of the image (images). The location of the myocardial region outside the preset region is derived on the basis of this distance.

Claims

1. A method of determining a position of the myocardium of the heart from an image or a series of images of the heart of a patient as acquired, for example, by means of the MR measuring technique, characterized in that a left ventricle contour and a right ventricle contour of the heart are determined, that a thickness measure of the myocardium is derived from the distance of said contours in a predetermined region in which both contours of the ventricles extend and that outside said region the position of the myocardium is bounded by the left ventricle contour and an outer contour that extends outside the left ventricle contour at a distance that is equal to the thickness measure.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the thickness measure of the myocardium is determined by selection of the largest distance or the mean distance between the left ventricle contour and the right ventricle contour in the predetermined region.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the thickness measure is determined by multiplying the distance between the two contours by a predetermined factor that is greater than one.

4. A method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the predetermined region in which both contours of the ventricles extend is bounded by two tangent lines that, in distinct locations, partly coincide with or are tangent to the right ventricle contour and intersect one another at a center of gravity of the left ventricle.

5. A method of determining, for example, while utilizing MR images, perfusion parameters of the heart of a patient while administering a contrast liquid, notably a method of determining the perfusion parameters of the myocardium of the heart, characterized in that the method as claimed in one of the claims 1 to 4 is used to determine the position of the myocardium, that the myocardium is segmented, that a time intensity curve that represents the variation in time of the concentration of the contrast liquid in the myocardium is determined for at least one segment, and that the perfusion parameters are derived from the time intensity curve.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the at least one segment whose time intensity curve is determined is a predetermined position in the myocardium.

7. A method as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the myocardium is segmented by way of lines of intersection through the left ventricle contour and the outer contour that originate from the center of gravity of the left ventricle.

8. A method as claimed in the claims 4 and 5 or 7, characterized in that at least two lines of intersection that segment the myocardium are formed by the tangent lines that bound the region in which the left ventricle contour and the right ventricle contour extend at some distance from one another.

9. A method as claimed in one of the claims 5 to 8, characterized in that a time window that is bounded by a starting time T_B and a finishing time T_E is determined for the analysis of the variation of the time intensity curve, that for the left ventricle an instant T_LV is determined at which a maximum is reached in the variation of a time intensity curve of the left ventricle, that the starting time T_B is determined to be the instant at which the time intensity curve of the left ventricle reaches a predetermined fraction of said maximum, where T_B is smaller than T_LV, and that the finishing time T_E is derived from the variation of the time intensity curve of the myocardium by adding a predetermined time delay W to the instant T_MYO at which this curve reaches a maximum value.

10. A data processing system for determining a position of the myocardium of the heart from an image or a series of images of the heart of a patient as acquired, for example, by means of the MR measuring technique, characterized in that the data processing system is arranged to determine a left ventricle contour and a right ventricle contour of the heart derive that a thickness measure of the myocardium from the distance of said contours in a predetermined region in which both contours of the ventricles extend, wherein outside said region the position of the myocardium is bounded by the left ventricle contour and an outer contour that extends outside the left ventricle contour at a distance that is equal to the thickness measure.

11. A computer program for determining a position of the myocardium of the heart from an image or a series of images of the heart of a patient as acquired, for example, by means of the MR measuring technique, comprising instructions to determine a left ventricle contour and a right ventricle contour of the heart derive that a thickness measure of the myocardium from the distance of said contours in a predetermined region in which both contours of the ventricles extend, wherein outside said region the position of the myocardium is bounded by the left ventricle contour and an outer contour that extends outside the left ventricle contour at a distance that is equal to the thickness measure.