Functional bull's eye based on three dimensional velocity information to quantify left ventricle motion in gated-SPECT

The description and quantification of the regional function of the cardiac left ventricle (LV) involve making quantitative measurements of the heart movement. In this work we present a functional bull's eye or polar map that depicts three dimensional coded velocity information from gated-SPECT images. The polar map is built based on the standards defined by the AHA and comprises 17 segments. The use of the proposed map was tested in images from 5 normal subjects and 4 patients with intraventricular dyssynchrony submitted to cardiac resynchronization therapy. Preliminary results have shown good indications of potential application of the technique to the diagnosis and the follow up of such patients. The functional polar map is independent of the heart size, so it makes possible the creation of normal pattern standards. Such standards would allow the application of the method in a broad range of applications involving the analysis of the heart movement.