Dynamic model of the left ventricle for use in simulation of myocardial perfusion SPECT and gated SPECT.

Simulation is a useful tool in cardiac SPECT to assess quantification algorithms. However, simple equation-based models are limited in their ability to simulate realistic heart motion and perfusion. We present a numerical dynamic model of the left ventricle, which allows us to simulate normal and anomalous cardiac cycles, as well as perfusion defects. Bicubic splines were fitted to a number of control points to represent endocardial and epicardial surfaces of the left ventricle. A transformation from each point on the surface to a template of activity was made to represent the myocardial perfusion. Geometry-based and patient-based simulations were performed to illustrate this model. Geometry-based simulations modeled (1) a normal patient, (2) a well-perfused patient with abnormal regional function, (3) an ischaemic patient with abnormal regional function, and (4) a patient study including tracer kinetics. Patient-based simulation consisted of a left ventricle including a realistic shape and motion obtained from a magnetic resonance study. We conclude that this model has the potential to study the influence of several physical parameters and the left ventricle contraction in myocardial perfusion SPECT and gated-SPECT studies.

[1]  Benjamin M. W. Tsui,et al.  Modeling respiratory mechanics in the MCAT and spline-based MCAT phantoms , 1999 .

[2]  Takahiro Higuchi,et al.  Gated SPET quantification of small hearts: mathematical simulation and clinical application , 2000, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[3]  A. Aisen,et al.  Three-dimensional left ventricular wall motion in man. Coordinate systems for representing wall movement direction. , 1984, Investigative radiology.

[4]  Jinah Park,et al.  Deformable models with parameter functions for cardiac motion analysis from tagged MRI data , 1996, IEEE Trans. Medical Imaging.

[5]  Jinah Park,et al.  Analysis of left ventricular wall motion based on volumetric deformable models and MRI-SPAMM , 1996, Medical Image Anal..

[6]  A. Weyman,et al.  Angular Displacement of the Papillary Muscles During the Cardiac Cycle , 1979, Circulation.

[7]  B E Sobel,et al.  Influence of Cardiac and Respiratory Motion on Tomographic Reconstructions of the Heart: Implications for Quantitative Nuclear Cardiology , 1982, Journal of computer assisted tomography.

[8]  Ronald J. Jaszczak,et al.  Four-dimensional superquadric-based cardiac phantom for Monte Carlo simulation of radiological imaging systems , 1999 .

[9]  B M Tsui,et al.  Evaluation of cardiac cone-beam single photon emission computed tomography using observer performance experiments and receiver operating characteristic analysis. , 1993, Investigative radiology.

[10]  E. Braunwald,et al.  The Stunned Myocardium: Prolonged, Postischemic Ventricular Dysfunction , 1982, Circulation.

[11]  William P. Segars,et al.  A realistic spline-based dynamic heart phantom , 1998 .

[12]  J. Dumesnil,et al.  A Mathematical Model of the Dynamic Geometry of the Intact Left Ventricle Its Application to Clinical Data , 1979, Circulation.

[13]  D. Lalush,et al.  Block-iterative techniques for fast 4D reconstruction using a priori motion models in gated cardiac SPECT. , 1998, Physics in medicine and biology.

[14]  Tohru Shiga,et al.  A new dynamic myocardial phantom for the assessment of left ventricular function by gated single-photon emission tomography , 2000, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[15]  William Paul Segars,et al.  Development of a new dynamic NURBS-based cardiac-torso (NCAT) phantom , 2001 .

[16]  E. Hoffman,et al.  Mechanics of the single left ventricle: a study in ventricular-ventricular interaction II. , 1998, Circulation.

[17]  Matt A. King,et al.  Evaluation of right and left ventricular volume and ejection fraction using a mathematical cardiac torso phantom. , 1997, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[18]  S. Vatner,et al.  Regional myocardial functional and electrophysiological alterations after brief coronary artery occlusion in conscious dogs. , 1975, The Journal of clinical investigation.

[19]  E. Hoffman,et al.  3-D phantom to simulate cerebral blood flow and metabolic images for PET , 1990 .

[20]  Should scatter be corrected in both transmission and emission data for accurate quantitation in cardiac SPET? , 2000, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[21]  William H. Press,et al.  Numerical Recipes in C, 2nd Edition , 1992 .

[22]  S N Chatziioannou,et al.  Overestimation of the LVEF by quantitative gated SPECT in simulated left ventricles. , 2001, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[23]  J. Reiber.  Marcus cardiac imaging. A Companion to Braunwald's Heart Disease. DJ Skorton, HR Schelbert, GL Wolf, BH Brundage, editors. , 1997, International Journal of Cardiac Imaging.

[24]  D R Haynor,et al.  The use of importance sampling techniques to improve the efficiency of photon tracking in emission tomography simulations. , 1991, Medical physics.

[25]  P B Hoffer,et al.  Computerized three-dimensional segmented human anatomy. , 1994, Medical physics.

[26]  M. King,et al.  A mathematical model of motion of the heart for use in generating source and attenuation maps for simulating emission imaging. , 1999, Medical physics.