Gated cardiac tomography

An ECG gated tomographic system is described and its application to routine diagnosis of cardiac wall dyskinesis discussed. The tomographic sections are gathered by a single section scanning system (Aberdeen Section Scanner). Technetium labelled red blood cells are used as the imaging agent. The time of the occurrence of the ECG R-wave is superimposed on the tomographic projection data stream and the gated images produced subsequently. The average patient study requires 15 min. Images at 8 phases of the cardiac cycle are generated at each of 5 levels, 16 mm apart, covering the length of the left ventricle. The images are stored as a three dimensional matrix and may be analysed in sections at any orientation. Fourier analysis of computer generated short axis sections are used to generate a set of coefficients describing the contraction of the left ventricle. The coefficients for each patient study are displayed as a series of two dimensional polar images, schematically displaying the spatial distribution of the coefficient over the left ventricle. These polar images are further analysed by comparison with distributions obtained from normal patient studies. The calculated deviations from the normal are then used to diagnose the magnitude and position of any dyskinesis. Initial results show that the tomographic system is capable of routinely detecting inferior cardiac wall dyskinesis, showing an advantage over non tomographic techniques.