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Updated: May 14, 2026
11:09
High-Resolution Cardiac Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography for Small Animals
Published on: December 16, 2022
Regional cardiac function assessment in 4D CT: comparison between SQUEEZ and ejection fraction.
Amir Pourmorteza1, Karl H Schuleri, Daniel A Herzka
1Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205 USA. amir.p@jhmi.edu
Summary
A new method, SQUEEZ, uses computed tomography (CT) to analyze endocardial trabeculae motion, accurately quantifying local myocardial contraction. This technique shows significant differences between infarct and remote regions, outperforming vendor software.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Medical Physics
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Computed tomography (CT) advances enable visualization of fine cardiac structures like endocardial trabeculae.
- Assessing local myocardial contraction is crucial for diagnosing cardiac conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel method for quantifying local myocardial contraction using CT imaging.
- To introduce the "stretch quantifier of endocardial engraved zones" (SQUEEZ) metric.
Main Methods:
- Developed a method to detect and track endocardial trabeculae on CT images.
- Utilized the relative motion of these features to calculate the SQUEEZ metric.
- Compared SQUEEZ results with a CT vendor's analysis software and delayed enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI).
Main Results:
- SQUEEZ demonstrated a significant difference between infarct and remote myocardial regions (p<0.0001), validated by dMRI.
- The vendor's software exhibited lower spatial resolution and artifacts in regional function maps.
- SQUEEZ requires minimal human operator interaction.
Conclusions:
- SQUEEZ is a robust, automated method for assessing local myocardial contraction from CT data.
- SQUEEZ offers superior performance compared to existing vendor software for regional function analysis.
- This technique holds potential for improved diagnosis and management of myocardial infarction.
