Method and apparatus for analyzing heart function using 4D ECG synchronized heart cavity tomoscintigraphy

A computer program storage medium readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said computer process comprising at least the steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining from data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a reference position of a first portion of the heart selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane, at least a portion of the septum and the valvular plane with at least a portion of the septum;
• determining from said data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a position of the the first portion of the heart at each time bin;
• for each time bin, determining a movement for matching the first portion at the considered time bin with the reference position of the first portion;
• using the determined movement for correcting the 3dimensional images at the different time bins, and
• using the corrected 3dimensional images for determining an accurate localisation an of the heart.

A computer program storage medium readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said computer process comprising at least the steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining from data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a position of a portion of the heart selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane, at least a portion of the septum and the valvular plane with at least a portion of the septum;
• labeling in the image from said position at least a region of interest selected from the group consisting of left ventricle, right ventricle, left auricle, right auricle, ventricles, auricles, left auricle and left ventricle, right auricle and right ventricle.

A computer program storage medium readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said computer process comprising at least the steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram is tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining for each pixel of the part considered and for the portion of heart cycle considered, an actual slope of activity in function of time bins, and
• determining a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope.

A computer program storage medium readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said computer process comprising at least the steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining a correlation, time bin per time bin, for the pixels of the part considered, between the actual activity and the average activity of the part considered, and
• determining, from the correlation, a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered.

A computer program storage medium readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said computer process comprising at least the steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of the peel of the right ventricles, said ventricle having the general shape of a tube with a point of cuvature extending between two valves;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered;
• using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered.

A computer program storage medium readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said computer process comprising at least the steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of the right ventricle, said ventricle having the general shape of a tube with a point of cuvature extending between two valves;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining for each pixel of the part considered and for the portion of heart cycle considered, an actual slope of activity in function of time bins, and
• determining a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered and using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered, and
• representing the status parameter of the pixel in said two dimensional representation.

A computer program storage medium readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said computer process comprising at least the steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining a correlation, time bin per time bin, for the pixels of the part considered, between the actual activity and the average activity of the part considered, and
• determining, from the correlation, a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered and using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered, and
• representing the status parameter of the pixel in said two dimensional representation.

A computer program storage medium readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said computer process comprising at least the steps of:
• reading data from the electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy giving images of the activity pixel at each time bin;
• determining from said images a variation parameter for pixels over a non-spatial dimension;
• determining at least from said variation parameter at least two segments selected from the group consisting of the ventricular segments and the auricular segments;
• determining from said at least two segments, a segment selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane and the septum.

A method for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• normalizing the activity at each time bin;
• determining a rigid model comprising a reference;
• determining, for each time bin, the correction movement for matching the reference and correcting fot this in each time bin;
• determining the time bins for end-systole and end-diastole;
• determining the phase and amplitude of pixels of the 3dimensional images;
• filtering temporally and spatially
• substracting the background
• segmenting the images;
• temporal and spatial filtering;
• labeling the ventricles and the auricles
• computing at least a parameter selected from the group consisting of activity curves, thickness of at least a portion of the septum, ventricular movements;
• determining of 2D representations ofsegmenrtal motion, and
• displaying results.

A method for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining from data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a reference position of a first portion of the heart selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane, at least a portion of the septum and the valvular plane with at least a portion of the septum;
• determining from said data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a position of the the first portion of the heart at each time bin;
• for each time bin, determining a movement for matching the first portion at the considered time bin with the reference position of the first portion;
• using the determined movement for correcting the 3dimensional images at the different time bins, and
• using the corrected 3dimensional images for determining an accurate localisation of the heart.

A method for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining from data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a position of a portion of the heart selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane, the septum and the valvular plane with at least a portion of the septum;
• labeling in the image from said position at least a region of interest selected from the group consisting of left ventricle, right ventricle, left auricle, right auricle, ventricles, auricles, left auricle and left ventricle, right auricle and right ventricle.

A method for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining for each pixel of the part considered and for the portion of heart cycle considered, an actual slope of activity in function of time bins, and
• determining a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope.

A method for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining a correlation, time bin per time bin, for the pixels of the part considered, between the actual activity and the average activity of the part considered, and
• determining, from the correlation, a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered.

A method for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of the peel of the right ventricles, said ventricle having the general shape of a tube with a point of cuvature extending between two valves;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered;
• using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered.

A method for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of the right ventricle, said ventricle having the general shape of a tube with a point of cuvature extending between two valves;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining for each pixel of the part considered and for the portion of heart cycle considered, an actual slope of activity in function of time bins, and
• determining a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered and using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered, and
• representing the status parameter of the pixel in said two dimensional representation.

A method for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining a correlation, time bin per time bin, for the pixels of the part considered, between the actual activity and the average activity of the part considered, and
• determining, from the correlation, a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered and using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered, and
• representing the status parameter of the pixel in said two dimensional representation.

A method for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
• reading data from the electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy giving images of the activity pixel at each time bin;
• determining from said images a variation parameter for pixels over a nonspatial dimension;
• determining at least from said variation parameter at least two segments selected from the group consisting of the ventricular segments and the auricular segments;
• determining from said at least two segments, a segment selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane and the septum.

An apparatus for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said apparatus comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• normalizing the activity at each time bin;
• determining a rigid model comprising a reference;
• determining, for each time bin, the correction movement for matching the reference and correcting fot this in each time bin;
• determining the time bins for end-systole and end-diastole;
• determining the phase and amplitude of pixels of the 3dimensional images;
• filtering temporally and spatially
• substracting the background
• segmenting the images;
• temporal and spatial filtering;
• labeling the ventricles and the auricles
• computing at least a parameter selected from the group consisting of activity curves, thickness of at least a portion of the septum, ventricular movements;
• determining of 2D representations ofsegmenrtal motion, and
• displaying results.

An apparatus for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said apparatus comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining from data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a reference position of a first portion of the heart selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane, at least a portion of the septum and the valvular plane with at least a portion of the septum;
• determining from said data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a position of the the first portion of the heart at each time bin;
• for each time bin, determining a movement for matching the first portion at the considered time bin with the reference position of the first portion
• using the determined movement for correcting the 3dimensional images at the different time bins, and
• using the corrected 3dimensional images for determining an accurate localisation of the heart.

An apparatus for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said apparatus comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining from data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a position of a portion of the heart selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane, at least a portion of the septum and the valvular plane with at least a portion of the septum;
• labeling in the image from said position at least a region of interest selected from the group consisting of left ventricle, right ventricle, left auricle, right auricle, ventricles, auricles, left auricle and left ventricle, right auricle and right ventricle.

An apparatus for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said apparatus comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining for each pixel of the part considered and for the portion of heart cycle considered, an actual slope of activity in function of time bins, and
• determining a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope.

An apparatus for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said apparatus comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining a correlation, time bin per time bin, for the pixels of the part considered, between the actual activity and the average activity of the part considered, and
• determining, from the correlation, a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered.

An apparatus for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said apparatus comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of the peel of the right ventricles, said ventricle having the general shape of a tube with a point of cuvature extending between two valves;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered;
• using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered.

An apparatus for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said apparatus comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of the right ventricle, said ventricle having the general shape of a tube with a point of cuvature extending between two valves;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining for each pixel of the part considered and for the portion of heart cycle considered, an actual slope of activity in function of time bins, and
• determining a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered and using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered, and
• representing the status parameter of the pixel in said two dimensional representation.

An apparatus for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said apparatus comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining a correlation, time bin per time bin, for the pixels of the part considered, between the actual activity and the average activity of the part considered, and
• determining, from the correlation, a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered and using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered, and
• representing the status parameter of the pixel in said two dimensional representation.

An apparatus for executing in a computing system the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said apparatus comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data from the electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy giving images of the activity pixel at each time bin;
• determining from said images a variation parameter for pixels over a non-spatial dimension;
• determining at least from said variation parameter at least two segments selected from the group consisting of the ventricular segments and the auricular segments;
• determining from said at least two segments, a segment selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane and the septum.

An apparatus for synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said apparatus comprising a computing system for executing the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said computing system comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• normalizing the activity at each time bin;
• determining a rigid model comprising a reference;
• determining, for each time bin, the correction movement for matching the reference and correcting fot this in each time bin;
• determining the time bins for end-systole and end-diastole;
• determining the phase and amplitude of pixels of the 3dimensional images;
• filtering temporally and spatially
• substracting the background
• segmenting the images;
• temporal and spatial filtering;
• labeling the ventricles and the auricles
• computing at least a parameter selected from the group consisting of activity curves, thickness of at least a portion of the septum, ventricular movements;
• determining of 2D representations ofsegmenrtal motion, and
• displaying results.

An apparatus for synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said apparatus comprising a computing system for executing the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said computing system comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining from data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a reference position of a first portion of the heart selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane, at least a portion of the septum and the valvular plane with at least a portion of the septum;
• determining from said data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a position of the the first portion of the heart at each time bin;
• for each time bin, determining a movement for matching the first portion at the considered time bin with the reference position of the first portion;
• using the determined movement for correcting the 3dimensional images at the different time bins, and
• using the corrected 3dimensional images for determining an accurate localisation of the heart.

An apparatus for synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said apparatus comprising a computing system for executing the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said computing system comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining from data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging a position of a portion of the heart selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane, at least a portion of the septum and the valvular plane with at least a portion of the septum;
• labeling in the image from said position at least a region of interest selected from the group consisting of left ventricle, right ventricle, left auricle, right auricle, ventricles, auricles, left auricle and left ventricle, right auricle and right ventricle.

An apparatus for synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said apparatus comprising a computing system for executing the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said computing system comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining for each pixel of the part considered and for the portion of heart cycle considered, an actual slope of activity in function of time bins, and determining a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope.

An apparatus for synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said apparatus comprising a computing system for executing the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said computing system comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining a correlation, time bin per time bin, for the pixels of the part considered, between the actual activity and the average activity of the part considered, and
• determining, from the correlation, a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered.

An apparatus for synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said apparatus comprising a computing system for executing the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said computing system comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of the peel of the right ventricles, said ventricle having the general shape of a tube with a point of cuvature extending between two valves;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered;
• using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered.

An apparatus for synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said apparatus comprising a computing system for executing the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said computing system comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of the right ventricle, said ventricle having the general shape of a tube with a point of cuvature extending between two valves;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining for each pixel of the part considered and for the portion of heart cycle considered, an actual slope of activity in function of time bins, and
• determining a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered and using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered, and
• representing the status parameter of the pixel in said two dimensional representation.

An apparatus for synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said apparatus comprising a computing system for executing the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said computing system comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data obtained from the synchronized electrocardiogram tomographic imaging corresponding to 3dimensional images at different time bins, said images being defined by pixels;
• determining pixels defining at least a part of a wall of a region of interest of the heart;
• determining for said part an average activity at each time bin,
• determining for said part for at least a part of the heart cycle, an average slope of activity in function of time bins;
• determining a correlation, time bin per time bin, for the pixels of the part considered, between the actual activity and the average activity of the part considered, and
• determining, from the correlation, a status parameter of pixels defining the part considered, by comparison for the pixel considered, the actual slope of activity with the average slope;
• determining a 3dimensional parameter for the pixels considered and using a transform for showing said 3 dimensional parameter in a 2dimensional representation, said transform defining the 3D position of each considered pixel by a first parameter following the tube from a first valve up to the other valve and defining the position of the pixel correlated to a distance between the pixel considered and the first valve following the tube, and a second parameter correlated to the position of the pixel in a plane passing through the pixel considered, and
• representing the status parameter of the pixel in said two dimensional representation.

An apparatus for synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said apparatus comprising a computing system for executing the treatment of data obtained from synchronized electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy, said data being correlated to image giving the activity of a heart comprising auricles, ventricles, valves and septum, said image comprising at least:

• (a) a first portion consisting of the pixels showing the auricles and ventricles during the cardiac cycle, each cycle comprising successive time bins with an end-systole time and end-diastole time, and (b) a second portion consisting of pixels substantially not involved with said cardiac activity, said apparatus comprising a processor, an input/output device, and a data storage device, said computing system comprising at least means for executing the followings:
• reading data from the electrocardiogram tomoscintigraphy giving images of the activity pixel at each time bin;
• determining from said images a variation parameter for pixels over a nonspatial dimension;
• determining at least from said variation parameter at least two segments selected from the group consisting of the ventricular segments and the auricular segments;
• determining from said at least two segments, a segment selected from the group consisting of the valvular plane and the septum.