Variational Framework for Assessment of the Left Ventricle Motion

Abstract

Impairment of left ventricular contractility due tocardiovascular diseases is reflected in left ventricle (LV) motionpatterns. An abnormal change of torsion or long axis shortening LVvalues can help with the diagnosis and follow-up of LVdysfunction. Tagged Magnetic Resonance (TMR) is a widely spreadmedical imaging modality that allows estimation of the myocardialtissue local deformation. In this work, we introduce a novelvariational framework for extracting the left ventricle dynamicsfrom TMR sequences. A bi-dimensional representation space of TMRimages given by Gabor filter banks is defined. Tracking of thephases of the Gabor response is combined using a variationalframework which regularizes the deformation field just at areaswhere the Gabor amplitude drops, while restoring the underlyingmotion otherwise. The clinical applicability of the proposedmethod is illustrated by extracting normality models of theventricular torsion from 19 healthy subjects.