Methods of detecting occlusion of the coronary artery system and imaging the heart
First Claim
1. A method of detecting partial occlusion of a coronary circulation system in a patient having a bloodstream, comprising:
- injecting the bloodstream with a bolus comprising a radioactive tracer;
obtaining measurements related to a time variation in concentration of the radioactive tracer for a plurality of adjacent regions in the patient that encompass an area greater than a left ventricle region;
determining a subset of the plurality of regions that correspond to the left ventricle region; and
assessing whether the coronary circulation system is partially occluded based at least in part on those of the measurements that correspond to the left ventricle region.
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Accused Products
Abstract
One aspect of the present invention relates to screening patients for an early stage of coronary artery disease. According to this method, a patient is screened based on the time-activity curve for a radioactive tracer passing through a left ventricle region of the patient'"'"'s body. According to another aspect of the invention, an array of gamma particle detectors is employed to obtain data for a region of interest that is larger than and encompasses a left ventricle region of the patient'"'"'s body. An analysis of the data identifies the subset of the region of interest that corresponds to the left ventricle region. According to a further aspect of the present invention, a second technique is employed to locate the left ventricle region. A still further aspect of the present invention relates to obtaining images of a patient'"'"'s heart using a high temporal resolution gamma camera.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of detecting partial occlusion of a coronary circulation system in a patient having a bloodstream, comprising:
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injecting the bloodstream with a bolus comprising a radioactive tracer;
obtaining measurements related to a time variation in concentration of the radioactive tracer for a plurality of adjacent regions in the patient that encompass an area greater than a left ventricle region;
determining a subset of the plurality of regions that correspond to the left ventricle region; and
assessing whether the coronary circulation system is partially occluded based at least in part on those of the measurements that correspond to the left ventricle region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of obtaining data relating to occlusive coronary artery disease in a patient having a bloodstream and a heart having a left ventricle, comprising:
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determining the location of the heart;
using the determined location of the heart, positioning a gamma camera to detect gamma particles emitted from a left ventricle region of the patient;
injecting the bloodstream with a bolus comprising a first radioactive tracer; and
using the gamma camera to obtain measurements related to a time variation in concentration of the first radioactive tracer in the left ventricle region. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of screening a patient for an early stage of coronary artery disease, comprising:
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injecting the patient with a bolus comprising a radioactive tracer;
measuring a first time variation in a concentration of the radioactive tracer in a left ventricle region of the patient;
employing the first time variation to screen the patient for the early stage of coronary artery disease;
- View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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12. A method of imaging a beating heart within a patient, comprising:
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injecting the patient with a bolus comprising a radioactive tracer;
using high temporal resolution gamma particle detectors, measuring the concentration of the radioactive tracer at a plurality of positions within the patient comprising the heart; and
forming an image of the heart from the measured concentrations.
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20. A method of assessing pulmonary health, comprising:
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injecting the bloodstream with a bolus comprising a radioactive tracer;
employing a first gamma particle detector to determine the bolus shape as it passes a point upstream of a heart;
determining whether the bolus shape is satisfactory for a bolus transit time measurement; and
if the bolus shape is satisfactory, measuring the bolus transit time with a second gamma particle detector and assessing pulmonary health from the bolus transit time.
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Specification