Compound 3-D visualization of reconstructed coronary arteries, left ventricle and aorta from biplane X-ray angiograms

The authors describe 3-D reconstruction and display techniques to integrate various parts of the heart, such as the coronary arteries, the left ventricle, and the aorta in the same 3-D image space. 3-D shapes of the coronary arteries were reconstructed by using the arterial boundaries on biplane angiograms detected almost automatically. The 3-D shapes of the left ventricle and the aorta were also reconstructed, and these 3-D images of parts of the heart were displayed in the same 2-D image plane, which provides very useful visual information on the structure of the anatomy for coronary arteries. The original data used were conventional images from two sets of biplane X-ray angiography: left ventricular and coronary angiograms recorded on a videotape. The authors used commonly imaged parts on both angiograms such as the spine and the catheter to match the scaling and mutual position of organs on the two angiograms