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Identifying and tracking a guide wire in the coronary arteries during angioplasty from X-ray images
D Palti-Wasserman1, A M Brukstein, R P Beyar
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Julius Silver Institute, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Insights
This study presents a new algorithm for tracking the guide wire (GW) during angioplasty. This method enables monitoring of myocardial function by analyzing GW motion, crucial for patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cardiovascular Interventions
- Medical Imaging Analysis
Background:
- Angioplasty involves guide wire (GW) placement in coronary arteries.
- Balloon inflation can cause temporary coronary occlusion and myocardial dysfunction.
- Monitoring cardiac function during angioplasty is critical.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a semiautomatic algorithm for identifying and tracking the GW during angioplasty.
- To extract information about myocardial function from GW motion.
- To create a tool for real-time monitoring of cardiac function during interventions.
Main Methods:
- A semiautomatic algorithm utilizing GW characteristics within limited active windows.
- Image preprocessing using modified Laplacian or Marr-Hildreth filters to enhance GW visibility.
- GW tracking via Hough transform with second-degree polynomial fitting in each window.
Main Results:
- Successful identification and tracking of the GW in images from angioplasty procedures.
- Demonstration of GW motion as a potential indicator of myocardial function.
- A refined algorithm with a single parameter set achieving robust tracking across multiple images.
Conclusions:
- The developed algorithm offers a promising approach for monitoring myocardial function during angioplasty.
- Analyzing GW motion provides valuable insights into cardiac performance during interventions.
- This technique can aid in improving patient safety and outcomes in cardiovascular procedures.
Abstract:
During angioplasty, a guide wire (GW) is routinely placed in the coronary artery. Balloon inflation during angioplasty causes transient occlusion of the coronary artery and regional dysfunction. Thus, it is of major importance to monitor myocardial function, which may be impaired during this period. Since the GW moves with the coronary arteries, information regarding myocardial function can potentially be extracted from the GW motion. An algorithm is suggested which is a step toward such monitoring. The algorithm presented is a semiautomatic procedure for identifying and tracking the GW using specific characteristics of the GW. This algorithm is based on working in limited active windows. A preprocessing stage which enhances the GW by the use of a modified Laplacian filter or a modified Marr-Hildreth filter is introduced. The second stage of the algorithm is the tracking of the GW, which is based on fitting a second-degree polynomial to the GW using the Hough transform in each window. To further improve the results further modifications of the basic algorithms that were taken. A single set of parameters, which enabled good tracking for a large number of images taken during angioplasty, was fitted to the final algorithm.