Method and apparatus for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data from a patient

• US 6,628,743 B1
• Filed: 11/26/2002
• Issued: 09/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company LLC (GE Healthcare Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company LLC (GE Healthcare Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Carreau, Kristin Leigh, Pan, Tin-Su, Reddy, Shankara B., Drummond, Danielle
• Primary Examiner(s): BRUCE, DAVID VERNON
• Application Number:
  US10/065,859
• Time in Patent Office: 308 Days
• Field of Search: 378/4, 378/8, 378/15, 378/98.12, 378/901
• US Class Current: 378/8
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7285 for synchronising or triggering a physiological measurement or image acquisition with a physiological event or waveform, e.g. an ECG signal A61B6/5205, A61B6/541, A61B8/5207, A61B8/543 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/032 Transmission computed tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/481 involving the use of contrast agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/503 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/504 for diagnosis of blood vessels, e.g. by angiography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/507 for determination of haemodynamic parameters, e.g. perfusion CT
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/541 involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0883 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/543 involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 378/901 Computer tomography program or processor

Abstract

A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient includes acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner, processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization, acquiring a subsequent plurality of volumes of cardiac data from the medical scanner, processing the subsequent plurality of volumes of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization, and reconstructing and visualizing the first and subsequent plurality of image sets from the acquired first and the subsequent plurality of volumes of cardiac data, respectively. The method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient includes processing the cardiac images for detection and diagnosis of heart diseases.

Claims

1. An apparatus for the acquisition and analysis of cardiac image data, comprising:

a medical scanner for generating first and second volumes of cardiac image data in a single exam;

a data acquisition system for acquiring at least one of said first or second volumes of cardiac image data;

an image reconstructor for reconstructing a viewable image from at least one of said first or second volumes of cardiac image data;

a database for storing information from said data acquisition system and said image reconstructor;

an operator interface for managing at least one of said medical scanner, said data acquisition system, said image reconstructor, or said database;

a computer comprising at least one post-processing algorithm for analyzing the reconstructed volume of cardiac image data and displaying said at least one viewable image, said computer being responsive to said operator interface; and

said post-processing algorithm comprising instructions for automatically delineating a region of said at least one viewable image representative of at least one of the myocardial muscle or the left ventricle, automatically volume rendering an image of at least one of the myocardial muscle or the left ventricle, and automatically determining an image of a phase of the cardiac cycle representative of at least one of end diastole or end systole.

2. A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner in the absence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;

processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

acquiring a series of volumes of cardiac data from the medical scanner in the presence of absorbed contrast enhancing media and at specified time intervals from the time of contrast injection;

processing the series of volumes of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

reconstructing and visualizing a first image set from the acquired first volume of cardiac data and a series of image sets at specified time intervals from the time of contrast injection from the acquired series of volumes of cardiac data; and

determining myocardial perfusion by segmenting contours of the myocardium and comparing the tissue enhancement in the region between the segmented contours over a plurality of image sets.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining absolute levels of myocardial perfusion by comparing the tissue enhancement in the region between the segmented contours to expected normal perfusion levels established for a control population.

4. A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

acquiring a first volume of cardiac data over the course of at least one heart cycle from a single pass of the heart by a medical scanner in the absence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;

processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

determining an anatomical region of interest from the acquired first volume of cardiac data;

acquiring a series of volumes of cardiac data, representative of at least a subset of the anatomical region of interest, from the medical scanner, at a scan slice thickness greater than the scan slice thickness used for said acquiring a first volume of cardiac data, in the presence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;

processing the series of volumes of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization; and

reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and series of volumes of cardiac data, respectively.

5. A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner;

processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

acquiring at least a second volume of cardiac data from the medical scanner;

processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and at least a second volumes of cardiac data, respectively; and

determining myocardial perfusion by segmenting contours of the myocardium and comparing the tissue enhancement in the region between the segmented contours over a plurality of image sets.

6. A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner;

processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

acquiring at least a second volume of cardiac data from the medical scanner at a scan slice thickness greater than the scan slice thickness used for said acquiring a first volume of cardiac data;

processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization; and

reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and at least a second volumes of cardiac data, respectively.

7. A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner;

processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

acquiring at least a second volume of cardiac data from the medical scanner;

processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and at least a second volumes of cardiac data, respectively; and

post-processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for visualization and analysis of information relating to perfusion.

8. A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner;

processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

acquiring at least a second volume of cardiac data from the medical scanner;

processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and at least a second volumes of cardiac data, respectively; and

delineating a region representative of the myocardial muscle within at least one ventricle.

9. A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

acquiring a first volume of cardiac data over the course of at least one heart cycle from a single pass of the heart by a medical scanner in the absence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;

processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

acquiring at least a second volume of cardiac data from the medical scanner in the presence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;

processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and at least a second volumes of cardiac data, respectively;

determining an anatomical region of interest from the acquired first volume of cardiac data;

post-processing at least one of the first volume or the at least a second volume of cardiac data to produce cardiac images for visualization and functional analysis; and

delineating a region representative of the myocardial muscle within at least one ventricle.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said delineating a region comprises:

identifying a first contrast enhanced region having a first level of contrast enhancement from a second contrast enhanced region having a second level of contrast enhancement;

separating the first and second contrast enhanced regions;

assigning the first contrast enhanced region to the region representative of the myocardial muscle for determining a myocardial muscle volume; and

assigning the second contrast enhanced region to the region representative of the left ventricle absent the myocardial muscle for determining a left ventricle volume.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said post-processing further comprises:

volume rendering an image of the left ventricle representative of at least one of the myocardial muscle volume or the left ventricle volume at a specified phase of the cardiac cycle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said volume rendering comprises:

selecting a cardiac phase and a cardiac region of interest for volume rendering;

acquiring the cardiac volume data for the selected cardiac phase;

reconstructing an image of the cardiac region of interest at the selected cardiac phase in a 3D model; and

displaying the reconstructed 3D model image.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said post-processing further comprises:

determining an image of a phase of the cardiac cycle representative of at least one of end diastole or end systole.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said determining an image comprises:

applying an EKG as a reference for identifying the time windows in the cardiac cycle representative of end systole and end diastole, the end systole time window being defined by the EKG reading following a first QRS, and the end diastole time window being defined by the EKG reading prior to a second QRS;

determining from the acquired first volume and at least a second volume of cardiac data the image of the phase of the cardiac cycle having the largest left ventricle volume;

determining from the acquired first volume and at least a second volume of cardiac data the image of the phase of the cardiac cycle having the smallest left ventricle volume;

designating the image of the phase of the cardiac cycle having the largest left ventricle volume as end diastole; and

designating the image of the phase of the cardiac cycle having the smallest left ventricle volume as end systole.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said post-processing further comprises:

reconstructing images of the heart at the end diastole and end systole phases; and

displaying the reconstructed images.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said post-processing further comprises:

calculating at least one of end diastole volume, end systole volume, stroke volume, ejection fraction, cardiac output, myocardial muscle wall thickness, left ventricle volume, or motion of the myocardial muscle wall.

17. A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

acquiring a first volume of cardiac data over the course of at least one heart cycle from a single pass of the heart by a medical scanner in the absence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;

processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

determining an anatomical region of interest from the acquired first volume of cardiac data;

acquiring a series of volumes of cardiac data, representative of at least a subset of the anatomical region of interest, from the medical scanner in the presence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;

processing the series of volumes of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;

reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and series of volumes of cardiac data, respectively; and

post-processing the series of volumes of cardiac data for visualization and analysis of information relating to perfusion.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said post-processing comprises:

creating a series of at least one of short-axis reformatted images or volume-rendered 3D images of the heart from the series of volumes of cardiac data;

segmenting an anatomical region of the heart;

partitioning the anatomical region into at least one segment of interest for providing information relating to perfusion defects; and

visualizing the degree of perfusion in the anatomical region.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said segmenting an anatomical region comprises:

segmenting at least one of the myocardium, septum, right ventricle, or left ventricular.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein said visualizing the degree of perfusion comprises:

visualizing enhanced pixels in response to the contrast enhancing media.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said visualizing enhanced pixels comprises:

visualizing the enhanced pixels in response to the contrast enhancing media in at least one of a grey scale or a color scheme and in at least one of short axis images or long axis images of the heart.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein said post-processing the series of volumes of cardiac data for visualization and analysis further comprises:

visualizing images of enhanced pixels of an anatomical region of interest superimposed on a region of interest of the myocardium.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

visualizing the superimposed images at a selected point in time.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

visualizing the superimposed images at different time points for showing the dynamic changes of perfusion over the time duration involved in acquiring the series of volumes of cardiac data.

25. The method of claim 18, wherein said post-processing further comprises:

calculating a temporal profile of contrast enhancement for a contrast enhanced anatomical region for measuring the time to reach a specified level of enhancement.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein said post-processing further comprising:

displaying the temporal profile.