Patent ID: 7877130

Claim:
A computer implemented method for imaging and identifying non-viable myocardial tissue in a patient's heart, the method performed by the computer comprising the steps of: obtaining images of a section of the myocardium; segmenting an endocardial border and epicardial border of the section of the myocardium; dividing the segment of the section of the myocardium into sectors; measuring one or more a plurality of selected features of the sectors of the myocardium; applying the measured plurality of one or more features to a decision function to create a decision surface, wherein the decision function that creates said decision surface is a function ƒ(x) that maps a multidimensional vector x formed of said selected feature measurements to a scalar real value indicative of whether a tissue sector is viable or non-viable; determining from said decision surface whether each sector contains viable or non-viable myocardial tissue; and displaying an image that shows each sector of the myocardium and an indication of its viability, wherein said steps of obtaining images, segmenting an endocardial border and epicardial border, dividing the section into sectors, measuring a plurality of selected features, determining whether each sector contains viable or non-viable myocardial tissue, and displaying an image are perfoimed by a computer processor.