Patent ID: 11915426
Assignee: 3MENSIO MEDICAL IMAGING B.V.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  A | IPC A  G

Claim 16:
17. A method for dynamically assessing a heart valve from a sequence of consecutive volumetric image frames of such heart valve, which images are separated in time by a certain time interval and refer to different phases of a heart cycle, the method comprising:
identifying the heart valve in at least one image of the sequence;
receiving from a user a seed point indicating a center of the heart valve;
using the seed point to determine a long axis of the heart by estimating a location of an apex point within a ventricle of the heart that is connected to the heart valve and a center-lumen line within the ventricle, wherein the center-lumen line is determined by adjusting the center-lumen line towards a center of mass of a ventricle blood pool;
determining a cost image representing probability that a voxel belongs to a contour of the heart valve from the long axis of the heart, wherein the contour of the heart valve corresponds to an annulus of the heart valve;
finding a minimal cost path within the cost image, wherein the minimal cost path corresponds to the contour of the heart valve;
transforming points of the minimal cost path to 3D coordinates to obtain a 3D representation of the contour of the heart valve;
propagating the contour of the heart valve as obtained to other images of the sequence; and
performing dynamic analysis of the heart valve based on the contour of the heart valve as propagated.