Three-dimensional velocity field estimation of moving cardiac walls

The quantification of the heart local motion from medical image sequences can be a very useful diagnostic tool in assessing noninvasively the heart function. Several authors have proposed to tackle this problem in two-dimensions (2D) by applying optical flow technique to cardiac image sequences. The application of this method to 2D images has nevertheless severe limitations, since it can in essence only lead to the estimation of the projected fraction of the heart motion. The authors propose in this study to assess the generalization of such a method, based on the continuum theory framework and allowing the estimation of a three-dimensional (3D) motion. In order to illustrate the potential interest of this method toward the quantification of the heart motion, the authors then describe its application to 3D data obtained in vivo on a high speed and high resolution CT scanner. The experimental results are presented and discussed.<>