title: Correlation-based discrimination between cardiac tissue and blood for segmentation of the left ventricle in 3-D echocardiographic images.
abstract: For automated segmentation of 3-D echocardiographic images, incorporation of temporal information may be helpful. In this study, optimal settings for calculation of temporal cross-correlations between subsequent time frames were determined, to obtain the maximum cross-correlation (MCC) values that provided the best contrast between blood and cardiac tissue over the entire cardiac cycle. Both contrast and boundary gradient quality measures were assessed to optimize MCC values with respect to signal choice (radiofrequency or envelope data) and axial window size. Optimal MCC values were incorporated into a deformable model to automatically segment the left ventricular cavity. MCC values were tested against, and combined with, filtered, demodulated radiofrequency data. Results reveal that using envelope data in combination with a relatively small axial window (0.7-1.25 mm) at fine scale results in optimal contrast and boundary gradient between the two tissues over the entire cardiac cycle. Preliminary segmentation results indicate that incorporation of MCC values has additional value for automated segmentation of the left ventricle.
authors.affiliation: Medical Ultrasound Imaging Center (MUSIC), Department of Radiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Anne.Saris@radboudumc.nl.
authors.forename: Anne E C M
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Saris
authors.affiliation: Medical Ultrasound Imaging Center (MUSIC), Department of Radiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maartje M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Nillesen
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Biomechanics, Department of BioMedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Richard G P
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Lopata
authors.affiliation: Medical Ultrasound Imaging Center (MUSIC), Department of Radiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Chris L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: de Korte
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000465:Algorithms; D001769:Blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019560:Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013382:Subtraction Technique
keywords: Deformable model; Image segmentation; Left ventricle; Temporal cross-correlation; Three-dimensional echocardiography; Ultrasound