Towards a new diagnosis aid of cardiovascular diseases using 2D-multimodal data registration and 3D-data superimposition

This contribution deals with the diagnostic aid for cardiovascular diseases using a simultaneous exploitation of nuclear medicine imaging and X-ray cine angiography. The aim of this work is to build both 2D and a 3D-representation of the superimposition of the coronary tree (stemmed from X-ray angiography) with the myocardial perfusion data (obtained with single-photon emission computed tomography). These new images lead to a better understanding of the relationship between arterial stenosis and consequences on myocardium perfusion. The 2D-registration of the two modalities is first presented. The 3D-reconstruction of vessels using multiple angiographic viewpoints is then developed. Tests performed on a phantom showed that the mean distance between the back projections of 3D-reconstructed artery points into the coronarographies and the corresponding initial 2D-points used by the 3D-reconstruction equals 6 mm. Similar results were obtained for five patients.