title: Video-based measuring of quality parameters for tricuspid xenograft heart valve implants.
abstract: Defective heart valves are often replaced by implants in open-heart surgery. Both mechanical and biological implants are available. Among biological implants, xenograft ones-i.e., valves grafted from animals such as pigs, are widely used. Good implants should exhibit certain typical anatomical and functional characteristics to successfully replace the native tissue. Here, we describe a video-based system for measuring quality parameters of xenograft heart valve implants, including the area of the orifice and the fluttering of the valves' leaflets, i.e., their flaps (or cusps). Our system employs automatic methods that provide a precise and reproducible way to infer the quality of an implant. The automatic analysis of both a valve's orifice and the fluttering of its leaflets offers a more comprehensive quality assessment than current, mostly manual methods. We focus on valves with three leaflets, i.e., aortic, pulmonary, and tricuspid valves.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Signal Processing, Universityof Lübeck, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany. alexandru.condurache@isip.uniluebeck.de
authors.forename: Alexandru Paul
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Condurache
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scharfschwerdt
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mertins
authors.forename: Til
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aach
mesh_terms: D001705:Bioprosthesis; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D010781:Photography / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014261:Tricuspid Valve / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000637:transplantation*; D014741:Video Recording / Q000379:methods*