Method And Apparatus For Blood Vessel Parameter Determinations
First Claim
1. A method for determining the arterial reserve of a subject having a blood flow, said blood flow having a velocity below or equal to a maximal velocity value, the method comprising the following steps:
- receiving an at least one first model, said model representing an at least one substantially fixed segment of an at least one artery of the subject at a plurality of points in time associated with and during an at least one part of an at least one first heart beat cycle, said artery segment having a proximal cross section and a distal cross section;
injecting contrast agent into the at least one artery of the subject, said subject being in a non-hyperemic state, said contrast agent is injected at an injection area having a proximal cross section and having a distance from the at least one substantially fixed segment;
determining an at least one first parameter from an at least one first angiogram representing the substantially fixed artery segment, said first angiogram taken from a first projection angle;
injecting the subject with substance that simulates hyperemia;
receiving an at least one second model, representing the at least one substantially fixed segment of the at least one artery of the subject at a plurality of points in time associated with and during an at least one part of an at least one second heart beat cycle;
injecting the contrast agent to the at least one artery of the subject, said subject being in a hyperemic state, said contrast agent is injected at the injection area;
determining an at least one second parameter from an at least one second angiogram representing the substantially fixed segment, said second angiogram taken from a second projection angle; and
determining the arterial reserve as the ratio between one of any of the at least one first parameter or a combination thereof and any of the at least one second parameter or a combination thereof.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for the determination of the flow, the coronary reserve and relative coronary reserve of a specific coronary artery. The apparatus and method employ a three-dimensional model (50) providing the volume of a segment of the artery at a plurality of points in time, and disclose various options (56) for determining the arterial flow through the artery segment during one or more heart beat cycles or parts thereof. The determination of the coronary reserve (62) and relative coronary reserve (64) follow from the volume (54) and the flow through the artery. Alternatively, the coronary reserve is determined directly from a velocity profile relating to one or more fixed artery segments and the three-dimensional model.
119 Citations
56 Claims
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1. A method for determining the arterial reserve of a subject having a blood flow, said blood flow having a velocity below or equal to a maximal velocity value, the method comprising the following steps:
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receiving an at least one first model, said model representing an at least one substantially fixed segment of an at least one artery of the subject at a plurality of points in time associated with and during an at least one part of an at least one first heart beat cycle, said artery segment having a proximal cross section and a distal cross section; injecting contrast agent into the at least one artery of the subject, said subject being in a non-hyperemic state, said contrast agent is injected at an injection area having a proximal cross section and having a distance from the at least one substantially fixed segment; determining an at least one first parameter from an at least one first angiogram representing the substantially fixed artery segment, said first angiogram taken from a first projection angle; injecting the subject with substance that simulates hyperemia; receiving an at least one second model, representing the at least one substantially fixed segment of the at least one artery of the subject at a plurality of points in time associated with and during an at least one part of an at least one second heart beat cycle; injecting the contrast agent to the at least one artery of the subject, said subject being in a hyperemic state, said contrast agent is injected at the injection area; determining an at least one second parameter from an at least one second angiogram representing the substantially fixed segment, said second angiogram taken from a second projection angle; and determining the arterial reserve as the ratio between one of any of the at least one first parameter or a combination thereof and any of the at least one second parameter or a combination thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for determining the blood flow output of a subject, the method comprising the following steps:
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receiving at least one model, representing an at least one substantially fixed segment of an at least one artery of the subject at a plurality of points in time associated with and during an at least one part of an at least one heart beat cycle, said artery segment having a proximal cross section and a distal cross section; injecting contrast agent into the at least one artery of the subject, said contrast agent is delivered to the at least one fixed segment; and determining from an at least one angiogram taken at a predetermined projection angle, arterial segment output values of the blood flow within the at least one fixed segment of the at least one artery, at times corresponding to the plurality of points in time associated with the at least one part of the at least one heart beat cycle. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method for determining the arterial reserve of a subject, the method comprising the following steps:
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receiving an at least one first model, representing at least two substantially fixed segments of an at least one artery of the subject at a plurality of points in time associated with and during an at least one part of an at least one first heart beat cycle; injecting contrast agent into the at least one artery of the subject, said contrast agent is delivered to the at least two substantially fixed segments being in a non-hyperemic state; determining from an at least one first angiogram taken at a predetermined projection angle, a first set of density curves, one density curve for each of the at least two substantially fixed segments; injecting the subject with substance that simulates hyperemia; receiving at least one second model, representing the at least two substantially fixed segments of the at least one artery being in a hyperemic state, at times corresponding to a plurality of points in time associated with an at least one part of an at least one second heart beat cycle; injecting the contrast agent to the at least one artery of the subject, said contrast agent is delivered to the at least two substantially fixed segments being in a hyperemic state; determining from an at least one second angiogram taken at a predetermined projection angle, a second set of density curves, one density curve for each of the at least two substantially fixed segment. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43)
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44. A computing platform for determining the arterial reserve of a subject from at least two images taken at a projection angle, the computing platform executing:
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a component for receiving a model of an at least one substantially fixed segment of an at least one artery, said segment having a volume; a gray level extraction component for extracting gray level representing the material filling rate and diminishing rate along the at least one artery; a parameter determination component for determining an at least one parameter associated with the blood flow through the at least one substantially fixed segment of an at least one artery; and an enhanced artery reserve component for determining the arterial reserve as a ratio between a first parameter associated with a first density curve associated with the substantially fixed segment being in a hyperemic state and a second parameter associated with a second density curve associated the substantially fixed segment being in a non-hyperemic state. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A computing platform for determining the arterial flow of a subject from at least two images, the computing platform executing:
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a component for receiving a model and volumes of an at least one substantially fixed segment of an at least one artery; a gray level extraction component for extracting gray level representing the material filling rate and diminishing rate along the at least one artery; a density curve construction component for constructing a density curve from the gray levels; a parameter determination component for determining an at least one parameter associated with the blood flow through the at least one substantially fixed segment of an at least one artery; and a curve fitting component for fitting a curve to the density curve or a part thereof; and a fractional contrast material volume component for determining the artery segment output during an at least one part of an at least one heart beat cycle of the at least one artery. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56)
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Specification