<title>Automatic analysis system for three-dimensional angiograms</title>

Abstract

The fast high-resolution X-ray CT scanner known as the Dynamic Spatial Reconstructor (DSR) has the facility for generating three-dimensional (3-D) coronary angiograms from a single-scan sequence during a nonselective injection of a single bolus of contrast medium. Such angiograms offer a method for visualizing the entire coronary arterial tree from any angle of view and give a possible means for detecting and quantitating coronary arterial stenoses. Previously, a skilled operator had to interact with a tedious workstation-based package to manually delineate the vascular tree and measure vessel cross-sectional areas. We have devised an automatic display-driven system for analyzing a 3-D DSR angiogram. The system consists of two separate menu-driven modules: (1) the Artery Extractor and (2) the Artery Display. The Artery Extractor performs automatic image-processing operations to extract the skeleton of the arterial tree. The Artery Display provides a graphical interface for interacting with the analyzed angiogram; using this interface, the operator can visualize structures in the angiogram and provide cues for making various measurements on the arterial tree.