System and method for estimating artery compliance and resistance from 4D cardiac images and pressure measurements

1. A method of estimating arterial compliance and resistance of a patient, comprising:

determining an arterial inflow estimate over a plurality of time points based on medical image data of a patient;

receiving an arterial pressure measurement of the patient;

synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate; and

estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medical image data comprises 4D medical image data and determining an arterial inflow estimate over a plurality of time points based on medical image data of a patient comprises:

segmenting one or more cardiac chambers in each of a plurality of frames of the 4D medical image data;

estimating a blood pool volume in each of the plurality of frames of the 4D medical image data based on the segmented one or more cardiac chambers; and

estimating arterial inflow at each of the plurality of time points based on a temporal derivative of the blood pool volume at a respective frame corresponding to each of the plurality of time points.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein segmenting one or more cardiac chambers in each of a plurality of frames of the 4D medical image data comprises:

segmenting a left ventricle and a right ventricle in each of the plurality of frames of the 4D medical image data.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein estimating arterial inflow at each of the plurality of time points based on a temporal derivative of the blood pool volume at a respective frame corresponding to each of the plurality of time points comprises:

estimating a ventricular blood flow at each of the plurality of time points by calculating the temporal derivative of the blood pool volume at the respective frame corresponding to each of the plurality of time points; and

estimating the arterial inflow at each of the plurality of time points as equal to and opposite the ventricular blood flow at each of the plurality of time points.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate comprises:

selecting a cardiac cycle from the arterial pressure measurement, resulting in a pressure curve for the selected cardiac cycle;

stretching a systolic portion of the pressure curve such that an ejection time in the pressure curve is equal to an ejection time in a volume curve resulting from estimating the blood pool volume in each of the plurality of frames in the 4D medical image data; and

shifting the pressure curve to synchronize the pressure curve with the volume curve.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate further comprises:

filtering the pressure curve and the volume curve prior to stretching the systolic portion of the pressure curve.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein shifting the pressure curve to synchronize the pressure curve with the volume curve comprises:

adjusting a remaining portion of the pressure curve other than the systolic portion such that a total time of the cardiac cycle for the pressure curve is equal to a total time of a cardiac cycle for the volume curve; and

aligning the pressure curve with the volume curve in time.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate comprises:

adjusting the at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement to match a heart rate of the patient during acquisition of the medical image data.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement comprises:

estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement using a Windkessel model.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement using a Windkessel model comprises:

calculating arterial pressure over the plurality of time points based on the arterial inflow estimate over the plurality of time points using the Windkessel model to represent an artery; and

estimating compliance and resistance parameters of the Windkessel model to minimize a cost function that compares the arterial pressure calculated using the Windkessel model and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medical image data comprises flow images and determining an arterial inflow estimate over a plurality of time points based on medical image data of a patient comprises:

measuring arterial inflow over the plurality of time points in the flow images.

12. An apparatus for estimating arterial compliance and resistance of a patient, comprising:

means for determining an arterial inflow estimate over a plurality of time points based on medical image data of a patient;

means for receiving an arterial pressure measurement of the patient;

means for synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate; and

means for estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the medical image data comprises 4D medical image data and the means for determining an arterial inflow estimate over a plurality of time points based on medical image data of a patient comprises:

means for segmenting one or more cardiac chambers in each of a plurality of frames of the 4D medical image data;

means for estimating a blood pool volume in each of the plurality of frames of the 4D medical image data based on the segmented one or more cardiac chambers; and

means for estimating arterial inflow at each of the plurality of time points based on a temporal derivative of the blood pool volume at a respective frame corresponding to each of the plurality of time points.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the means for synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate comprises:

means for selecting a cardiac cycle from the arterial pressure measurement, resulting in a pressure curve for the selected cardiac cycle;

means for stretching a systolic portion of the pressure curve such that an ejection time in the pressure curve is equal to an ejection time in a volume curve resulting from estimating the blood pool volume in each of the plurality of frames in the 4D medical image data; and

means for shifting the pressure curve to synchronize the pressure curve with the volume curve.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the means for synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate further comprises:

means for filtering the pressure curve and the volume curve prior to stretching the systolic portion of the pressure curve.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the means for shifting the pressure curve to synchronize the pressure curve with the volume curve comprises:

means for adjusting a remaining portion of the pressure curve other than the systolic portion such that a total time of the cardiac cycle for the pressure curve is equal to a total time of a cardiac cycle for the volume curve; and

means for aligning the pressure curve with the volume curve in time.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the means for synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate comprises:

means for adjusting the at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement to match a heart rate of the patient during acquisition of the medical image data.

18. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the means for estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement comprises:

means for estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement using a Windkessel model.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the means for estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement using a Windkessel model comprises:

means for calculating arterial pressure over the plurality of time points based on the arterial inflow estimate over the plurality of time points using the Windkessel model to represent an artery; and

means for estimating compliance and resistance parameters of the Windkessel model to minimize a cost function that compares the arterial pressure calculated using the Windkessel model and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with computer program instructions for estimating arterial compliance and resistance of a patient, the computer program instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

determining an arterial inflow estimate over a plurality of time points based on medical image data of a patient;

receiving an arterial pressure measurement of the patient;

synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate; and

estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20 , wherein the medical image data comprises 4D medical image data and determining an arterial inflow estimate over a plurality of time points based on medical image data of a patient comprises:

segmenting one or more cardiac chambers in each of a plurality of frames of the 4D medical image data;

estimating a blood pool volume in each of the plurality of frames of the 4D medical image data based on the segmented one or more cardiac chambers; and

estimating arterial inflow at each of the plurality of time points based on a temporal derivative of the blood pool volume at a respective frame corresponding to each of the plurality of time points.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21 , wherein estimating arterial inflow at each of the plurality of time points based on a temporal derivative of the blood pool volume at a respective frame corresponding to each of the plurality of time points comprises:

estimating a ventricular blood flow at each of the plurality of time points by calculating the temporal derivative of the blood pool volume at the respective frame corresponding to each of the plurality of time points; and

estimating the arterial inflow at each of the plurality of time points as equal to and opposite the ventricular blood flow at each of the plurality of time points.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21 , wherein synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate comprises:

selecting a cardiac cycle from the arterial pressure measurement, resulting in a pressure curve for the selected cardiac cycle;

stretching a systolic portion of the pressure curve such that an ejection time in the pressure curve is equal to an ejection time in a volume curve resulting from estimating the blood pool volume in each of the plurality of frames in the 4D medical image data; and

shifting the pressure curve to synchronize the pressure curve with the volume curve.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23 , wherein synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate further comprises:

filtering the pressure curve and the volume curve prior to stretching the systolic portion of the pressure curve.

25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23 , wherein shifting the pressure curve to synchronize the pressure curve with the volume curve comprises:

adjusting a remaining portion of the pressure curve other than the systolic portion such that a total time of the cardiac cycle for the pressure curve is equal to a total time of a cardiac cycle for the volume curve; and

aligning the pressure curve with the volume curve in time.

26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20 , wherein synchronizing at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement with at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial inflow estimate comprises:

adjusting the at least one cardiac cycle of the arterial pressure measurement to match a heart rate of the patient during acquisition of the medical image data.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20 , wherein estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement comprises:

estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement using a Windkessel model.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 27 , wherein estimating arterial compliance and resistance of the patient based on the arterial inflow estimate and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement using a Windkessel model comprises:

calculating arterial pressure over the plurality of time points based on the arterial inflow estimate over the plurality of time points using the Windkessel model to represent an artery; and

estimating compliance and resistance parameters of the Windkessel model to minimize a cost function that compares the arterial pressure calculated using the Windkessel model and the synchronized arterial pressure measurement.