THREE-DIMENSIONAL REAL-TIME X-RAY RECONSTRUCTION OF CORONARY STENOSIS

PRECISION IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE SEVERITY OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE IS CRITICAL FOR EVALUATING THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS SUCH AS DIET, LIPID- LOWERING DRUGS, CORONARY BYPASS SURGERY, AND BALLOON ANGIO- PLASTY (PTCA). IT IS ALSO ESSENTIAL IN ASSESSING PROGNOSIS AND CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE FORM OF THERAPY FOR INDIVIDUAL PATIENTS. VISUAL INTERPRETATION OF THE CORONARY ARTERIOGRAMIS THE STANDARD FOR DEFINING THE PATHOANATOMY IN CORONARY HEART DISEASE. HOWEVER, THERE ARE INHERENT LIMITATIONS IN THIS METHOD OF INTERPRETATION. TYPICALLY, THE OBSERVER WILLDERIVE AN ESTIMATE OF THE PERCENT OF VESSEL DIAMETER NARROW-ING BY LOOKING AT AND AVERAGING TWO VIEWS TAKEN AT RIGHT ANGLES TO EACH OTHER. A SIGNIFICANT ERROR OF ESTIMATING LUMEN-SIZE MAY RESULT WHEN AN ATHEROSCLEROTIC PLAQUE IS NOT PERFECTLY ROUND OR CONCENTRICALLY LOCATED WITHIN THE LUMEN; IN FACT, THE MAJORITY OF LESIONS ARE ECCENTRIC AND MANY HAVEIRREGULAR SHAPES. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AN IMPROVED, OBJECTIVE METHOD FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHIC DATA. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY APPLY-ING REFINEMENTS OF A NOVEL ALGORITHM TO ALREADY DEVELOPED COMPUTERIZED DENSITOMETRIC TECHNIQUES. THE ALGORITHM MAY READILY BE APPLIED TO A LARGE NUMBER OF IMAGE FRAMES. THE GOAL OF THE EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP A REAL-TIME ALGORITHM FOR ANGIOGRAPHIC DATA, WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR RELIABLE DECISIONS FOR CHOOSING THERAPY AND IMMEDIATE DECISIONS WHILE DOING BALLOON ANGIOPLASTY. THE ALGORITHM IS ALSO EXPECTED TO HAVEWIDESPREAD APPLICATIONS IN INDUSTRY.