Recent technical advances in digital coronary angiography.

Abstract

Digital coronary angiography systems are widely available in interventional catheterization laboratories. Although quantitative coronary angiography is an important and widely used endpoint for research and clinical trials, the capabilities of digital imaging now available are underused in clinical practice, and potential capabilities have not yet been developed or practically implemented. This paper reviews recently published technical developments in digital angiography and fluoroscopy, including radiographic dose reduction methods that have minimal impact on image quality, image processing and display methods for improving image quality, new algorithms and validations for quantitative coronary angiography, and methods for obtaining images of and analyzing the complete three-dimensional coronary tree. These advancements may lead to reduced radiation exposure, improved image quality, better automated stenosis quantitation programs, and extraction of new and useful kinds of information from the coronary angiogram.