Tomographic myocardial perfusion imaging from biplane coronary angiograms using impulse response analysis

The authors designed a method to quantify and visualize regional myocardial perfusion in routine coronary angiograms. Regional time density curves were acquired over the proximal coronary arteries and the myocardial microcirculation. Impulse response analysis was applied to determine the resting mean transit time of contrast material to traverse the microcirculation. Using biplane coronary angiograms the 3-D structure of the coronary tree can be calculated. The surface of an ellipsoid can be fitted to the 3-D structure of the coronary arteries representing the epicardial surface of the heart. The values of the measured mean transit times were aligned to corresponding positions on the epicardial surface of the heart. These images allow separation of myocardial regions with different perfusion characteristics