Computer aided measurement of local myocardial perfusion in MRI

Gadolinium-DTPA has been proved to be a safe and adequate contrast agent for MRI studies of ischemic heart disease. An important problem arising in quantitative image sequence analysis is the heart movement, mainly due to respiration. An X window based interactive software package allows one to align the images, to calculate regional perfusion-time curves and parametric images showing the maximal perfusion speed. A typical analysis procedure starts with the computer assisted detection of the outer contours of the heart. Based on the calculation of the centre of gravity of the heart region, alignment is carried out. Several regions of interest can now be selected in order to measure the regional perfusion characteristics. The parametric image, showing the maximal perfusion speed, appears to be particularly useful for delineating regions of reduced perfusion.< >