Detecting myocardial boundaries of left ventricle from a single frame 2DE image

摘要

A new method for detecting myocardial boundaries of the left ventricle from a short-axis viewed, two-dimensional echocardiographic (2DE) image is presented. The method extracts the outer boundary based on an ideal echo-intensity image model and relaxation algorithm, while the endocardial border is detected by the principle employed by Klingler et al. with some modifications. The only a priori information needed in this method is to assign the approximated contraction center of the left ventricle. Neither the searching limits used in the radial search method nor information about rough positions of myocardial borders used in a plan-based detection scheme is required. Practical examples are given and illustrated. Methods for the generalization of the proposed method are discussed.