Automated recognition of cardiac structures in echocontrast perfusion studies

Abstract

Myocardial perfusion information is crucial in the clinical evaluation of patients with coronary artery disease. A software tool dedicated to the automated analysis of contrast echocardiographic images for the evaluation of myocardial perfusion is presented in this paper. The system recognizes the internal border of the heart during the transit of an ultrasound contrast bolus injection and draws regions of interest. For each region of interest, time intensity curves are derived in order to quantify segmental perfusion.