Automatic quantitative analysis of cardiac MR perfusion images

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a powerful technique for imaging cardiovascular diseases. The introduction of cardiovascular MRI into clinical practice is however hampered by the lack of efficient and accurate image analysis methods. This paper focuses on the evaluation of blood perfusion in the myocardium (the heart muscle) from MR images, using contrast-enhanced ECG-triggered MRI. We have developed an automatic quantitative analysis method, which works as follows. First, image registration is used to compensate for translation and rotation of the myocardium over time. Next, the boundaries of the myocardium are detected and for each position within the myocardium a time-intensity profile is constructed. The time interval during which the contrast agent passes for the first time through the left ventricle and the myocardium is detected and various parameters are measured from the time-intensity profiles in this interval. The measured parameters are visualized as color overlays on the original images. Analysis results are stored, so that they can later on be compared for different stress levels of the heart. The method is described in detail in this paper and preliminary validation results are presented.