Patent ID: 6438403
Filing Date: 2002-08-20
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
A method for analyzing cardiac functionality of a heart comprising the steps of:a) acquiring a set of image data that includes respective intensity values for a plurality of four-dimensional voxels within a region of interest; b) identifying a seed voxel from the plurality of four-dimensional voxels; c) identifying neighbor voxels to the seed voxel; d) determining for each of the neighbor voxels an indication that the voxel corresponds to blood, the indication being based on an intensity value of the voxel; e) determining new neighbors to the neighbor voxels that correspond to blood; f) repeating steps d and e for the new neighbors until all voxels of interest have been evaluated, resulting in a final set of voxels, each of which has the indication that the voxel corresponds to blood; g) comparing a first number of new neighbors identified during a first iteration of steps d and e with a second number of new neighbors identified during a previous iteration of steps d and e and discontinuing repeating steps d and e when the first number is greater that the second number indicating a migration into an adjacent chamber; and, h) reconstructing one or more cardiac images from the final set of voxels.