A virtual exploring mobile robot for left ventricle contour tracking

In this paper we describe a totally new and original approach for combining global and local information in medical image processing. We implemented a virtual mobile robot and trained it using fuzzy neural networks to recognize segments of the myocardium while he navigates autonomously around the left ventricle (LV) of the heart. On its journey around the heart, the virtual exploring robot applies appropriate local edge detection to delineate fully automatically the borders of the myocardium. This may sound unconventional but it has proven effective enough to be integrated in a clinical analytical software tool.