Method and apparatus for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data from a patient

A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

• acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner in the absence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;
• processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• acquiring a series of volumes of cardiac data from the medical scanner in the presence of absorbed contrast enhancing media and at specified time intervals from the time of contrast injection;
• processing the series of volumes of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• reconstructing and visualizing a first image set from the acquired first volume of cardiac data and a series of image sets at specified time intervals from the time of contrast injection from the acquired series of volumes of cardiac data;
• and
• determining myocardial perfusion by segmenting contours of the myocardium and comparing the tissue enhancement in the region between the segmented contours over a plurality of image sets.

A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

• acquiring a first volume of cardiac data over the course of at least one heart cycle from a single pass of the heart by a medical scanner in the absence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;
• processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• determining an anatomical region of interest from the acquired first volume of cardiac data;
• acquiring a series of volumes of cardiac data, representative of at least a subset of the anatomical region of interest, from the medical scanner, at a scan slice thickness greater than the scan slice thickness used for said acquiring a first volume of cardiac data, in the presence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;
• processing the series of volumes of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• and
• reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and series of volumes of cardiac data, respectively.

A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

• acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner;
• processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• acquiring at least a second volume of cardiac data from the medical scanner;
• processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and at least a second volumes of cardiac data, respectively;
• and
• determining myocardial perfusion by segmenting contours of the myocardium and comparing the tissue enhancement in the region between the segmented contours over a plurality of image sets.

A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

• acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner;
• processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• acquiring at least a second volume of cardiac data from the medical scanner at a scan slice thickness greater than the scan slice thickness used for said acquiring a first volume of cardiac data;
• processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• and
• reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and at least a second volumes of cardiac data, respectively.

A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

• acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner;
• processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• acquiring at least a second volume of cardiac data from the medical scanner;
• processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and at least a second volumes of cardiac data, respectively;
• and
• post-processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for visualization and analysis of information relating to perfusion.

A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

• acquiring a first volume of cardiac data from a medical scanner;
• processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• acquiring at least a second volume of cardiac data from the medical scanner;
• processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and at least a second volumes of cardiac data, respectively;
• and
• delineating a region representative of the myocardial muscle within at least one ventricle.

A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

• acquiring a first volume of cardiac data over the course of at least one heart cycle from a single pass of the heart by a medical scanner in the absence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;
• processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• acquiring at least a second volume of cardiac data from the medical scanner in the presence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;
• processing the at least a second volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and at least a second volumes of cardiac data, respectively;
• determining an anatomical region of interest from the acquired first volume of cardiac data;
• post-processing at least one of the first volume or the at least a second volume of cardiac data to produce cardiac images for visualization and functional analysis;
• and
• delineating a region representative of the myocardial muscle within at least one ventricle.

A method for acquiring and analyzing cardiac data of a patient, comprising:

• acquiring a first volume of cardiac data over the course of at least one heart cycle from a single pass of the heart by a medical scanner in the absence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;
• processing the first volume of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• determining an anatomical region of interest from the acquired first volume of cardiac data;
• acquiring a series of volumes of cardiac data, representative of at least a subset of the anatomical region of interest, from the medical scanner in the presence of absorbed contrast enhancing media;
• processing the series of volumes of cardiac data for image reconstruction and visualization;
• reconstructing and visualizing a first and at least a second image set from the acquired first and series of volumes of cardiac data, respectively;
• and
• post-processing the series of volumes of cardiac data for visualization and analysis of information relating to perfusion.