Segmentation of the long-axis late-enhancement cardiac mri

Abstract

The invention relates to a system () for delineating endocardial and epicardial contours of the heart in an image computed from long-axis image data, using a template defining curves for delineating the endocardial and epicardial contours in the image, the system () comprising a template-positioning unit () for positioning the template on the basis of short-axis image data, a scar map initialization unit () for initializing a scar map for use in adapting the template to the image, based on a prior segmentation of the endocardial and epicardial surfaces on the basis of the short-axis image data, and an adaptation unit () for adapting the template to the image, using a criterion function, the criterion function comprising terms describing the attraction of the template to image features and terms describing internal interactions within the template, and wherein at least one term of the criterion function is defined on the basis of the scar map. Identifying image pixels comprised in the scar map improves the definition of the criterion function by including at least one and possibly a plurality of criterion function terms defined on the basis of the scar map. Including criterion function terms defined on the basis of the scar map for adapting the template (i.e. a deformable model) for defining the endocardial and epicardial contours to the long-axis image data helps avoiding exclusion of the scar tissue from the delineated myocardial tissue and thus improves the delineation of the endocardial and epicardial contours of the heart.