(Sami ur Rahman)
Optimal catheter selection for coronary angiography
In this project we are investigating how best catheter can be selected for a patient during coronary angiography. Due to the anatomical variation of aorta and coronary arteries in different humans, one common catheter cannot be used for all patients. The cardiologists test different catheters for a patient and select the best catheter according to the patient's anatomy. This procedure is time consuming and there is a chance of cancer from excessive exposure to radiation. To overcome these problems, we propose a computer aided catheter selection procedure.
In our approach we try to find a map between the patient’s aorta and coronary arteries anatomy and catheters geometry. Our approach involves segmentation of aorta and coronary arteries, finding the centerline and computing the Curve Angle (CA) and Curve Length (CL) between aorta and coronary arteries. We then compute CA and CL of catheters and suggest the catheter with closest CA and CL to the aorta's and coronary arteries' CA and CL. This solution avoids testing of many catheters during catheterization. The cardiologist (especially those with less experience) already gets the recommendation about the optimal catheter for the patient prior to the intervention.
S. ur Rahman and S. Wesarg
Patient specific optimal catheter selection for right coronary artery. (to appear)
In: SPIE Medical Imaging 2011, 2011.