A New Technique for the Computer Determination of Time-Course of Left Ventricular Volume

Abstract

The time-course of left ventricular volume is valuable as a clinical diagnostic tool. Its usefulness is limited at present by the tedious processing required to extract volume information from cineangiograms. This paper proposes a completely computer-oriented approach to the task of volume calculation. A flexible television/computer interface converts videoangiocardiograms into digital form in real time. A simulation model is used to test various digital filtering techniques. Reduction of noise and artefacts is illustrated. A new technique is presented, using a form of video densitometry which has definite advantages over boundary detection methods.