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Published on: February 21, 2025
Cardiac phase extraction in IVUS sequences using 1-D Gabor filters
Joel Barajas1, Karla L Caballero, Oriol Rodriguez
1Computer Vision Center, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Edificio O, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain. joelbz@cvc.uab.es
Summary
This study introduces a novel method for cardiac phase analysis in intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging, enabling accurate synchronization without electrocardiograms (ECG). The technique reliably gates IVUS sequences, improving image analysis consistency.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cardiovascular Technology
Background:
- Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) image analysis is challenged by cardiac motion artifacts.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG) gating is often unavailable or problematic in IVUS systems.
- Synchronization between IVUS and ECG presents technical difficulties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a fast and robust method for assigning cardiac cycle phase to IVUS images directly from the image data.
- To enable reliable gating of IVUS sequences for improved comparability and analysis.
- To overcome limitations of ECG-based gating in IVUS analysis.
Main Methods:
- A novel method using normalized IVUS images to ensure vessel wall brightness stability.
- Extraction of vessel wall boundaries and formation of a position matrix.
- Filtering the matrix with 1-D Gabor filters and combining responses for phase assignment.
Main Results:
- The developed method successfully assigns a cardiac phase to each IVUS image.
- The technique was validated on 12 clinical IVUS pullbacks and 15 synthetic datasets.
- The method provides stable and reliable cardiac phase information directly from IVUS sequences.
Conclusions:
- The proposed method offers an effective solution for cardiac phase analysis in IVUS imaging.
- This approach enhances the automatic analysis of IVUS images by addressing cardiac motion.
- The technique facilitates sequence comparability and standardization in clinical practice.
