A model-based integrated approach to track myocardial deformation using displacement and velocity constraints

Accurate estimation of heart wall dense field motion and deformation could help to better understand the physiological processes associated with ischemic heart diseases, and to provide significant improvement in patient treatment. We present a new method of estimating left ventricular deformation which integrates instantaneous velocity information obtained within the mid-wall region with shape information found on the boundaries of the left ventricle. Velocity information is obtained from phase contrast magnetic resonance images, and boundary information is obtained from shape-based motion tracking of the endo- and cardial boundaries. The integration takes place within a continuum biomechanical heart model which is embedded in a finite element framework. We also employ a feedback mechanism to improve tracking accuracy. The integration of the two disparate but complementary sources overcomes some of the limitations of previous work in the field which concentrates on motion estimation from a single image-derived source