Gated Cardiac ECT reconstruction with motion analysis

描述(由申请人提供)： 诊断冠状动脉疾病的一个有价值的工具是门控发射计算机断层扫描(ECT)，它使用单光子ECT或正电子发射断层扫描示踪剂。这些方法提供心脏周期不同阶段的心肌灌注或代谢的3D图像。相对于非门控成像，门控ECT减少了运动模糊，并允许估计重要的功能参数，如射血分数和室壁运动。然而，由于单独的门控ECT图像仅使用来自心脏周期的一小部分数据，它们相对于非门控图像增加了噪声，这降低了图像质量，并给运动分析带来了不确定性。这项建议的首要目标是开发门控ECT的处理方法，以提高重建图像的质量，同时也提高心脏运动分析的准确性。这些处理方法的基本框架是并行执行(A)图像重建和(B)运动估计，从而使一个估计过程流动以帮助稳定另一个。我们的总体假设是，与当前的独立重建和运动估计方法相比，这种联合估计过程提供了更高的精确度和精确度。这一建议的具体目的如下：1.发展两个框架系统的同步重建和运动分析；2.发展使用心脏收缩运动的连续时间、周期模型的同步估计方法；3.发展结合收缩和呼吸诱导的心脏运动分析的同步估计方法。建议的方法将使用模体和患者数据进行评估，同时考虑到计算的功能参数的准确性和人类检测心肌缺陷的能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A valuable tool in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease is gated emission computed tomography (ECT) using either single photon ECT or positron emission tomography tracers. These methods provide 3D images of myocardial perfusion or metabolism at discrete phases of the cardiac cycle. Relative to non-gated imaging, gated ECT reduces motion blur and allows an estimation of important functional parameters such as ejection fraction and wall motion. However, because individual gated ECT images are obtained using data from only a fraction of the cardiac cycle, they have increased noise relative to non-gated images, which reduces image quality and introduces uncertainty into the motion analysis. The foremost goal of this proposal is to develop processing methods for gated ECT that improve the quality of the reconstruced image in a way that also improves the accuracy of the cardiac motion analysis. The underlying framework of these processing methods is to perform in parallel (a) image reconstruction, and (b) motion estimation, thus flowing one estimation process to help stabilize the other. Our overall hypothesis is that such a joint estimation procedure provides improved accuracy and precision relative to current methods of independent reconstruction and motion estimation. The specific aims of this proposal are the following: 1. To develop simultaneous reconstruction and motion analysis for a two frame system, 2. To develop simultaneous estimation methods using a continuous-time, periodic model of cardiac contractile motion, 3. To develop simultaneous estimation methods that incorporate both contractile and respiration-induced cardiac motion analysis. The proposed methods will be evaluated using phantoms and patient data considering both the accuracy of calculated functional parameters and the ability to detect myocardial defects by humans.