Determination of arbitrary cardiac phases using non-electrical signals

A method of selecting an arbitrary cardiac phase using non-electrical signals for cardiac gating, the method comprising:

• identifying a trigger point identifying onset of a systole or diastole phase on a signal, the trigger point existing at time t1;
• specifying a time δt before the trigger point and extending from a time t0 to a time t1, wherein time t0 is earlier than time t1;
• and,
• selecting a time interval T over which an image will be reconstructed, wherein
• the time interval T extends from time t0 to a time t2, wherein time t2 is later than time t0.

A method of image reconstruction using cardiac gating, the method comprising:

• providing a non-electrical signal indicative of a plurality of consecutive cardiac cycles, for each cardiac cycle, the method further comprising:
• identifying a trigger point identifying onset of a systole or diastole phase, the trigger point existing at time t1;
• specifying a time δt before the trigger point and extending from a time t0 to a time t1, wherein time t0 is earlier than time t1;
• selecting a time interval T over which an image will be reconstructed, wherein the time interval T extends from time t0 to a time t2, wherein time t2 is later than time t0;
• and,
• reconstructing an image over at least one time interval T.

A storage medium encoded with a machine readable computer program code, said code including instructions for causing a computer to implement a method for selecting an optimal trigger point in a cardiac cycle, the method comprising:

• providing an input signal including non-electrical cardiac related data;
• analyzing the input signal to detect candidate features;
• sorting through the candidate features to select optimal features;
• and,
• selecting an optimal trigger point.

A storage medium encoded with a machine readable computer program code, said code including instructions for causing a computer to implement a method for selecting an arbitrary cardiac phase for cardiac gating, the method comprising:

• identifying a trigger point identifying onset of a systole or diastole phase on a signal, the trigger point existing at time t1;
• specifying a time δt before the trigger point and extending from a time t0 to a time t1, wherein time t0 is earlier than time t1;
• and
• selecting a time interval T over which an image will be reconstructed, wherein
• the time interval T extends from time t0 to a time t2, wherein time t2 is later than time t0.