Automated Short-Axis Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Image Acquisitions

Abstract

This study investigates the use of an automated observer-independent planning system for short-axis cardiovascular magnetic resonance (MR) acquisitions in the clinical environment. The capacity of the automated method to produce accurate measurements of left ventricular dimensions and function was quantitatively assessed in normal subjects and patients. Fourteen healthy volunteers and 8 patients underwent cardiovascular MR (CMR) acquisitions for ventricular function assessment. Short-axis datasets of the left ventricle (LV) were acquired in 2 ways: manually planned and generated in an automatic fashion. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), ejection fraction (EF), and left ventricular mass (LVM) were derived from the 2 datasets. The agreement between the manual and automatic planning methods was assessed. The mean differences between the manual and automated CMR planning methods for the normal subjects and patients were 5.89 mL and 1.93 mL (EDV), 1.14 mL and -0.41 mL (ESV), 0.81% and 0.89% (EF), and 4.35 g and 3.88 g (LVM), respectively. There was no significant difference in ESV and EF. LVM significantly differed in both groups, whereas EDV was significantly different in the normal subjects and insignificantly different in the patients. The variability coefficients were 2.8 and 3.59 (EDV), 3.3 and 5.03 (ESV), 1.79 and 2.65 (EF), and 4.36 and 2.27 (LVM) for the normal subjects and patients, respectively. The mean angular deviation of the LV axes turned out to be 8.58 +/- 5.76 degrees for the normal subjects and 8.35 +/- 5.15 degrees for the patients. Automated CMR planning method can provide accurate measurements of LV dimensions in normal subjects and patients, and therefore, can be used in the clinical environment for functional assessment of the human cardiovascular system.