Quantitative shape descriptors of left ventricular cine-CT images

In order to assess regional diastolic function of the left ventricle (LV), LV rapid-acquisition computed tomographic (cine-CT) images were used to build finite element models. To quantitatively evaluate the accuracy of the geometric reconstruction technique used in building these models, a new measure of shape similarity is introduced. The results obtained from the new measure were compared and contrasted to the results obtained from traditional shape similarity measures. All of these measures were used to compare the endocardial and epicardial LV contours obtained from video images of the same hearts. The results show that the imaging procedure accurately reproduces shape, and further suggest that the descriptor shows the sensitivity and resolution required to distinguish between images separated by as little as 3 mm.