Patent ID: 6106466
Filing Date: 2000-08-22
Classification: A61B,G01S,G06T,Y10S

Abstract:
A method for delineating a three-dimensional surface of a patient's heart, comprising the steps of.(a) imaging the patient's heart to produce imaging data that define a plurality of observed images along a corresponding plurality of image planes extending through the patient's heart;(b) providing a three-dimensional mesh model derived from training data collected by imaging and tracing shapes of a plurality of other hearts;(c) identifying a plurality of predefined anatomical locations in the observed images of the patient's heart;(d) rigidly aligning the mesh model with the observed images of the patient's heart, in respect to said predefined anatomical locations;(e) producing predicted images from the mesh model as rigidly aligned, said predicted images corresponding to the images in the image planes of the imaging data;(f) optimizing a fit of the predicted images to the observed images of the patient's heart, by repetitively adjusting the mesh model to reduce an error in the fit; and(g) providing an output that defines a three-dimensional endocardial surface and a three-dimensional epicardial surface of the mesh model after said mesh model has been adjusted to optimize the fit in step (f), said output representing the three-dimensional surface of at least a portion of the patient's heart.