Segmentation and tracking of cine cardiac MR and CT images using a 3-D deformation model

Multi-slice multi-phase MR and EBT (Ultrafast CT) imaging is increasingly being used as a method for analyzing and diagnosing cardiac function. Segmentation of heart chambers facilitates computation of volume based quantities, as well as ventricular motion analysis. The authors present a 3D physically-based deformable model based approach to segmenting anisotropic cine MR and EBT images. The model has both rigid as well as nonrigid motion components. Past approaches have used deformable models without rigid components or used isotropic CT data. The authors' model adaptively subdivides the mesh in response to the forces extracted from image data. Additionally, the local mesh of the model encodes surface orientation to align the model with the desired edge directions a crucial constraint for distinguishing close anatomical structures. The authors' present results of segmenting multi-slice multi-phase cardiac MR and EBT studies with interslice resolution of 8 mm/slice, and intraslice resolution of 1 mm/pixel.<
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