Automatic left ventricle segmentation using iterative thresholding and an active contour model with adaptation on short-axis cardiac MRI.

An automatic left ventricle (LV) segmentation algorithm is presented for quantification of cardiac output and myocardial mass in clinical practice. The LV endocardium is first segmented using region growth with iterative thresholding by detecting the effusion into the surrounding myocardium and tissues. Then the epicardium is extracted using the active contour model guided by the endocardial border and the myocardial signal information estimated by iterative thresholding. This iterative thresholding and active contour model with adaptation (ITHACA) algorithm was compared to manual tracing used in clinical practice and the commercial MASS Analysis software (General Electric) in 38 patients, with Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. The ITHACA algorithm provided substantial improvement over the MASS software in defining myocardial borders. The ITHACA algorithm agreed well with manual tracing with a mean difference of blood volume and myocardial mass being 2.9 +/- 6.2 mL (mean +/- standard deviation) and -0.9 +/- 16.5 g, respectively. The difference was smaller than the difference between manual tracing and the MASS software (approximately -20.0 +/- 6.9 mL and -1.0 +/- 20.2 g, respectively). These experimental results support that the proposed ITHACA segmentation is accurate and useful for clinical practice.