[Automated evaluation and analysis of isotopic heart function tests with minimal cardiac transit times]

The clinical evaluation of cardiac function by non-invasive means with the help of radioactive isotopes registering minimal cardiac transit times (MTTs) is increasingly employed in routine diagnosis. In order to economise on work load and time expenditure and for the purpose of an objective and complete evaluation of data, automatic data processing is desirable. This paper describes a program that consists of 4 sections: 1. examination 2. generation of data 3. processing of data 4. evaluation of data. The program permits a nearly total automated data generation, analysis, calculation, classification, final clinical evaluation and the automated production of a medical report. This greatly reduces the time spent per examination to approximately 5 minutes. The automated evaluation of the data is based on clinical experience with approximately 3.500 measurements in patients with the most frequent cardiac diseases. The result is an objective statement of causes of MTT changes and is highly useful for medical routine application. The control and the final inclusion of the findings into the spectrum of other clinical results remains the subject of the physician's judgement. The advantage of the method is the evaluation of all cardiac segments. This pertains to the evaluation of both atria and both ventricles, as well as of the entire central circulation with and without participation of the lung.