Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026
3D Whole-heart Myocardial Tissue Analysis
Published on: April 12, 2017
Left ventricular myocardium segmentation on delayed phase of multi-detector row computed tomography
I-Chen Tsai1, Yu-Len Huang, Po-Ting Liu
1Department of Radiology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Insights
This study introduces an adaptive segmentation method to accurately measure left ventricular (LV) myocardial volume from delayed-phase multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) scans. The technique offers a stable and efficient alternative to manual contouring for diagnosing heart disease.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Cardiology
- Computational Anatomy
Background:
- Advanced ischemic heart disease often leads to left ventricular (LV) myocardial volume loss.
- Abnormal enhancement patterns in delayed-phase multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) are characteristic of this condition.
- Accurate estimation of LV myocardial volume is crucial for diagnosis and treatment planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate an adaptive segmentation method for contouring the myocardium in delayed-phase MDCT.
- To enable accurate computation of LV myocardial volume from these images.
- To provide a tool for radiologists and physicians to assist in volume estimation.
Main Methods:
- Anisotropic diffusion filtering preprocesses MDCT images to enhance contrast and reduce noise.
- Two contouring modes are used on a lead slice, with region-growing and convex-hull algorithms refining contours across slices.
- Morphological operators and width properties are utilized for final LV myocardial volume calculation.
Main Results:
- The proposed method was evaluated on 27 healthy patients.
- Computer simulations demonstrated that the method reliably identifies myocardial contours comparable to manual delineations by experienced experts.
- The results indicate high stability and accuracy in contouring.
Conclusions:
- The developed adaptive segmentation method provides robust contouring of the LV myocardium on delayed-phase MDCT.
- This technique has the potential to significantly reduce the time and effort required for manual contour sketching.
- It offers a precise and stable approach for LV myocardial volume assessment.
Rationale And Objectives:
Advanced ischemic heart disease is usually accompanied by left ventricular (LV) myocardial volume loss and an abnormal enhancing pattern on delayed phase of multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT). To assist radiologists and physicians in estimating the LV myocardial volume on delayed phase, this paper proposes an adaptive segmentation method for contouring the myocardial region in the delayed-phase MDCT and for computing the volume.
Materials And Methods:
The proposed method uses an anisotropic diffusion filter as a preprocessing procedure to enhance contrast and reduce specks in MDCT imaging. This work picks the middle of mid-ventricular level image slices as the lead slice. The proposed method develops two contouring modes to sketch the myocardium contour on the lead slice. By establishing the obtained contours as the initial contours, the region-growing method is employed to identify the contour of the myocardial region for each slice. The convex-hull finding algorithm is then used to refine the extracted contour. Finally, the width properties of the myocardial region and the morphological operators are used to obtain the entire LV myocardial volume.
Results:
Twenty-seven healthy patients who had no symptoms of ischemic heart disease are examined to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. Compared with manual contours delineated by two experienced experts, the contouring results using computer simulation reveal that the proposed method reliably identifies contours similar to those obtained using manual sketching.
Conclusion:
The proposed method provides robust contouring for the LV myocardium on delayed-phase MDCT. The potential role of this technique may substantially reduce the time required to sketch manually a precise contour with high stability.
