A MYOCARDIAL BLOOD-FLOW ANALYSIS WORKSTATION

USE OF THE IMATRON, INC., C-100 CT SCANNER TO MEASURE MYOCARDIAL BLOOD FLOW WOULD PROVIDE CARDIOLOGISTS WITH A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL THAT IS FASTER, LESS INVASIVE, LESS EXPENSIVE, AND HAS BETTER RESOLUTION THAN CURRENTLY AVAILABLE STUDIES (THALLIUM AND PET). THERE ARE ALREADY 24 IMATRON, INC., SCANNERS IN USE WORLDWIDE. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO DEVELOP A MYOCARDIAL BLOOD-FLOW WORKSTATION FOR USEWITH THE IMATRON, INC., SCANNER. THE WORKSTATION WILL RECEIVE IMAGE DATA FROM THE SCANNER ANDTHEN PROCEED WITH THE ANALYSIS INDEPENDENTLY. IT WILL FACILITATE THE CLINICAL USE OF THE SCANNER FOR BLOOD-FLOW STUDIES BY LARGELY AUTOMATING THE ANALYSIS STEPS. THESE STEPS INCLUDE: IMAGE PROCESSING TO IMPROVE SCAN QUALITY; AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF SCANS; AUTOMATIC DETECTION AND ELIMINATION OF PROBLEMATIC SCANS; CREATION OF NORMALIZED, COLOR-ENCODED FLOW IMAGES THAT CAN BE VIEWED IN A CINE SEQUENCE; AND CREATION OF A COLOR-ENCODED FLOW FUNCTIONAL IMAGE. IN ADDITION, THERE WILL BE REGION OF INTEREST AND GAMMA VARIATE CURVE FIT ANALYSIS TOOLS. IN PHASE I, THE SOFTWARE WILL BE DEVELOPED AND TESTED USING ALREADY AVAILABLE C-100 SCAN SEQUENCES. A GROUP OF CLINICALCARDIOLOGISTS WILL REVIEW THE FUNCTIONALITY AND APPLICABILITY OF THE ANALYSIS PACKAGE. IN PHASE II, CLINICAL TESTING WILL COMMENCE, AND THE RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED TO EXISTING STUDIES.