Coronary Blood Flow Measurement from X-Rays Images - Experiment Performed on the Artery Model

摘要

The paper presents the experimental validation of the coronary blood flow measured from coronarographic images. The method of flow measurement earlier presented is based on elements of the indicator-dilution theory and on the idea of using two sequences of images obtained during standard coronarographic examination. Measurements of the image intensity along the cross-section lines of the artery were performed on the sequence with the standard injection of contrast and with the small quantity of slowly injected contrast. These two sequences enable the construction of the contrast relative concentration curve in the defined earlier cross-section vs. time. The global volumetric blood flow can be calculated as a ratio of the quantity of the indicator injected during the indicator-dilution sequence by the value of the area under concentration curve. Experimental validation was performed using a simple artery model. Results of the flow calculation for five cross-section lines positioned in different intensity levels regions of the image show that the error is below 20%.