Patent ID: 7454248

Claim:
A method for acquiring a cardiac image from a patient having a pacer for pacing a heart rhythm, an abnormal EKG, or an abnormal heartbeat, the method comprising: receiving a gated electrocardiogram signal having local maxima and minima values and trigger points; determining for a period of time the time between each trigger point and the local maxima or minima associated therewith; in response to the trigger point occurring at the associated local maxima or minima, calculating a zero time differential for a corrected trigger for gating; in response to the trigger point occurring prior to the associated local maxima or minima, calculating a time delay for the corrected trigger; in response to the trigger point occurring after the associated local maxima or minima, calculating a time advancement for the corrected trigger; sending the corrected trigger to a cardiac image acquisition device for gating, wherein the gating is substantially synchronized with the local maxima or minima of the gated electrocardiogram signal; placing a signal injection device proximate the pacer of the patient and injecting a signal across a skin barrier of the patient toward the pacer; in response to the signal received at the pacer, pacing the patient's heart in a fixed asynchronous pacing mode; and acquiring a cardiac image of the patient's fixed asynchronously paced heart.