title: Real-time image equalization for coronary X-ray angiography.
abstract: Coronary angiograms, which provide detailed images of contrast-filled coronary arteries, also show other large structures such as the diaphragm, spine and adjacent lung field. A real-time image processing method to attenuate these unwanted features is presented. Side-by-side comparisons of images selected from cine runs before and after processing show that the arteries in the processed images can be visualized more easily due to their higher contrast as other structures are made less prominent. It is also shown experimentally that this method allows more quantitative comparisons of the contrast of vessels in different parts of an image.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biophysics, Imaging Research, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Science Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. robertn@cardioview.com
authors.forename: Normand
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Robert
authors.forename: Philip T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Komljenovic
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fort
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rowlands
mesh_terms: D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction / Q000295:instrumentation; D003199:Computer Systems; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging