title: Myocardial kinematics from tagged MRI based on a 4-D B-spline model.
abstract: Current research investigating the modeling of left ventricular dynamics for accurate clinical assessment of cardiac function is extensive. Magnetic resonance (MR) tagging is a functional imaging method which allows for encoding of a grid of signal voids on cardiac MR images, providing a mechanism for noninvasive measurement of intramural tissue deformations, in vivo. We present a novel technique of employing a four-dimensional (4-D) B-spline model which permits concurrent determination of myocardial beads and myocardial strains. The method entails fitting the knot planes of the 4-D B-spline model for fixed times to a sequence of triplets of orthogonal sets of tag surfaces for all imaged volumetric frames within the constraints of the model's spatio-temporal internal energy. From a three-dimensional (3-D) displacement field, the corresponding long and short-axis Lagrangian normal, shear, and principal strain maps are produced. As an important byproduct, the points defined by the 3-D intersections of the triplets of orthogonal tag planes, which we refer to as myocardial beads, can easily be determined by our model. Displaying the beads as a movie loop allows for the visualization of the nonrigid movement of the left ventricle in 3-D.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Image Analysis Laboratory, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Tustison
authors.forename: Victor G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Dávila-Román
authors.forename: Amir A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Amini
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009038:Motion; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D016276:Ventricular Function; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology