Patent ID: 7321676
Filing Date: 2008-01-22
Classification: A61B,G01R

Abstract:
1. A morphological apparatus for determining physiological characteristics of a patient's heart from a digital diagnostic image representation, the apparatus comprising: a means for processing the diagnostic image representation into a heart blood volume image representation, which depicts interior volumes of the patient's heart; a ventricle apex approximating means for determining an approximation of an apex of one of the ventricles from the heart blood volume image representation, wherein the ventricle apex approximating means includes a selector means for selecting a region of the image representation that is left, posterior, and down; a ventricle axis approximating means for determining an approximation of an axis of the ventricle, which intersects the ventricle apex; a ventricle axis redefining means for redefining the approximation of the ventricle axis into a more accurate determination of the ventricle axis; a ventricle apex redefining means for redefining the ventricle apex approximation in accordance with the redefined ventricle axis; and an iterative repeating means which alternately controls the ventricle axis redefining means to redefine the ventricle axis in accordance with the redefined ventricle apex and the ventricle apex redefining means to redefine the ventricle apex in accordance with the redefined ventricle axis.