Parametric shape representation by a deformable NURBS model for cardiac functional measurements.

This paper proposes a method of parametric representation and functional measurement of 3-D cardiac shapes in a deformable nonuniform rational B-splines (NURBS) model. This representation makes it very easy to automatically evaluate the functional parameters and myocardial kinetics of the heart, since quantitative analysis can be followed in a simple way. In the model, local deformation and motion on the cardiac shape are expressed in adjustable parameters. Especially, an effective integral algorithm is used for volumetric measurement of a NURBS shape since the volume is the most basic parameter in cardiac functional analysis. This method promises the numerical computation to be very convenient, efficient, and accurate, in comparison with traditional methods. Practical experiments are carried out, and results show that the algorithm can get satisfactory measurement accuracy and efficiency. The parametric NURBS model in cylindrical coordinates is not only very suitable to fit the anatomical surfaces of a cardiac shape, but also easy for geometric transformation and nonrigid registration, and able to represent local dynamics and kinetics, and thus, can easily be applied for quantitative and functional analysis of the heart.