[3-D localization of cardiac structures in real time]

Radiographic 3-D localisation enables measurements to be made that facilitate the placement of the interventional device during cardiac intervention. To enable the reader to implement the method himself, we describe the computation of 3-D coordinates, acquisition of the imaging and projection data on-line, and the accuracy that can be expected with the method. The 3-D coordinates of a cardiac structure are calculated from the image point coordinates, the projection data and the system constants of a biplane isocentric X-ray unit. Technical imaging errors are corrected a priori. The biplane projection data of a run are acquired on-line and stored in a data base. The image pair of interest is identified automatically from the inscribed run number, and assigned to the projection data from the data base. The target image point is marked on the monitor for 3-D localisation. The accuracy of the method was determined by comparing the calculated and actual cross-sectional points of a centimetre grid imaged in biplane X-ray projections. 3-D localisation took an average of 9.8 +/- 1.2 seconds. Angles and distances were assessed with a standard error of 1.1 degrees and 0.8 mm. The run number is identified correctly in 98.5% of the cases. The mean absolute location error for all points and image pairs was 0.61 +/- 0.32 mm. The accuracy and precision was 0.03 +/- 0.40 mm. Radiographic 3-D localisation can be performed readily and accurately on-line. The results obtained with the method enable interventional decisions to be optimized.