Method and system for automatic analysis of blood vessel structures and pathologies in support of a triple rule-out procedure

1. A system for automatically performing a triple rule-out procedure using imaging data, the system comprising:

an imaging apparatus configured to generate imaging data including a heart region, a pulmonary artery region, and an aorta region of a patient; and

a processor operably coupled to the imaging apparatus to receive the generated imaging data, the processor configured to:

(a) identify the heart region from the generated imaging data;

(b) analyze the identified heart region to detect a coronary pathology;

(c) identify an aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data;

(d) analyze the identified aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

(e) identify a pulmonary artery object from the pulmonary artery region of the imaging data;

(f) analyze the identified pulmonary artery object to detect a pulmonary embolism;

(g) generate a report including any detected coronary pathology, any detected aortic dissection, and any detected pulmonary embolism;

(h) identify an abdominal aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data and

(i) identify an ascending aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data and to model the identified ascending aorta object to define a normal form and to identify a location of a deviation between the defined normal form and the identified ascending aorta object.

2. A system for automatically performing a triple rule-out procedure using imaging data, the system comprising:

an imaging apparatus configured to generate imaging data including a heart region, a pulmonary artery region, and an aorta region of a patient; and

a processor operably coupled to the imaging apparatus to receive the generated imaging data, the processor configured to:

(a) identify the heart region from the generated imaging data;

(b) analyze the identified heart region to detect a coronary pathology;

(c) identify an aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data;

(d) analyze the identified aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

(e) identify a pulmonary artery object from the pulmonary artery region of the imaging data

(f) analyze the identified pulmonary artery object to detect a pulmonary embolism;

(g) generate a report including any detected coronary pathology, any detected aortic dissection, and any detected pulmonary embolism;

(h) identify an abdominal aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data; and

(i) identify an ascending aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data and to model the identified ascending aorta object to define a normal form and to identify a location of a deviation between the defined normal form and the identified ascending aorta object;

wherein the instructions configured to identify the heart region comprise:

projecting the received imaging data into a first plane of three dimensions of the received imaging data;

applying a first threshold to the first plane of data, wherein the first threshold is selected to eliminate a first pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest first connected component from the first threshold applied data;

calculating a first center of mass of the identified largest first connected component to define a first coordinate and a second coordinate;

projecting the received imaging data into a second plane of the three dimensions, wherein the second plane is perpendicular to the first plane;

applying a second threshold to the second plane of data, wherein the second threshold is selected to eliminate a second pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest second connected component from the second threshold applied data; and

calculating a second center of mass of the identified largest second connected component to define a third coordinate;

wherein a center of a heart region is defined from the defined first coordinate, the defined second coordinate, and the defined third coordinate; and

further wherein the heart region has a width in each of the three dimensions.

3. A system for automatically performing a triple rule-out procedure using imaging data, the system comprising:

an imaging apparatus configured to generate imaging data including a heart region, a pulmonary artery region, and an aorta region of a patient; and

a processor operably coupled to the imaging apparatus to receive the generated imaging data, the processor configured to:

(a) identify the heart region from the generated imaging data

(b) analyze the identified heart region to detect a coronary pathology;

(c) identify an aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data;

(d) analyze the identified aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

(e) identify a pulmonary artery object from the pulmonary artery region of the imaging data;

(f) analyze the identified pulmonary artery object to detect a pulmonary embolism;

(g) generate a report including any detected coronary pathology, any detected aortic dissection, and any detected pulmonary embolism;

(h) identify an abdominal aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data; and

(i) identify an ascending aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data and to model the identified ascending aorta object to define a normal form and to identify a location of a deviation between the defined normal form and the identified ascending aorta object;

wherein the instructions configured to analyze the identified heart region comprise:

identifying an aorta object from the identified heart region;

identifying a coronary artery exit point from the identified aorta object;

identifying a coronary artery vessel tree between the identified coronary artery exit point and the aorta object;

determining a blood vessel radius for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

determining a blood vessel center for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

identifying an area of calcium from the determined blood vessel radius and the determined blood vessel center; and

calculating an obstruction severity of the identified area of calcium.

4. A non-transitory computer-readable medium with programmed instructions to perform a triple rule-out procedure using imaging data, the instructions comprising:

receiving imaging data including a heart region, a pulmonary artery region, an ascending aorta region, and a thoraco-abdominal aorta region of a patient;

identifying the heart region from the imaging data;

analyzing the identified heart region to detect a coronary pathology;

identifying an ascending aorta object from the ascending aorta region of the imaging data;

analyzing the identified ascending aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

identifying an abdominal aorta object from the thoraco-abdominal aorta region;

analyzing the identified abdominal aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

identifying a left main pulmonary artery object and a right main pulmonary artery object from the pulmonary artery region of the imaging data;

analyzing the identified left main pulmonary artery object and the identified right main pulmonary artery object to detect a pulmonary embolism; and

generating a report including any detected coronary pathology, any detected aortic dissection, and any detected pulmonary embolism;

wherein identifying the heart region comprises:

projecting the received imaging data into a first plane of three dimensions of the received imaging data;

applying a first threshold to the first plane of data, wherein the first threshold is selected to eliminate a first pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest first connected component from the first threshold applied data;

calculating a first center of mass of the identified largest first connected component to define a first coordinate and a second coordinate;

projecting the received imaging data into a second plane of the three dimensions, wherein the second plane is perpendicular to the first plane;

applying a second threshold to the second plane of data, wherein the second threshold is selected to eliminate a second pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest second connected component from the second threshold applied data; and

calculating a second center of mass of the identified largest second connected component to define a third coordinate;

wherein a center of a heart region is defined from the defined first coordinate, the defined second coordinate, and the defined third coordinate; and

further wherein the heart region has a width in each of the three dimensions.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium with programmed instructions to perform a triple rule-out procedure using imaging data, the instructions comprising:

receiving imaging data including a heart region, a pulmonary artery region, an ascending aorta region, and a thoraco-abdominal aorta region of a patient;

identifying the heart region from the imaging data

analyzing the identified heart region to detect a coronary pathology;

identifying an ascending aorta object from the ascending aorta region of the imaging data;

analyzing the identified ascending aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

identifying an abdominal aorta object from the thoraco-abdominal aorta region;

analyzing the identified abdominal aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

identifying a left main pulmonary artery object and a right main pulmonary artery object from the pulmonary artery region of the imaging data

analyzing the identified left main pulmonary artery object and the identified right main pulmonary artery object to detect a pulmonary embolism; and

generating a report including any detected coronary pathology, any detected aortic dissection, and any detected pulmonary embolism;

wherein analyzing the identified heart region comprises:

identifying an aorta object from the identified heart region;

identifying a coronary artery exit point from the identified aorta object;

identifying a coronary artery vessel tree between the identified coronary artery exit point and the aorta object;

determining a blood vessel radius for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

determining a blood vessel center for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

identifying an area of calcium from the determined blood vessel radius and the determined blood vessel center; and

calculating an obstruction severity of the identified area of calcium.

6. A method for automatically performing a triple rule-out procedure using imaging data, the method comprising:

receiving imaging data including a heart region, a pulmonary artery region, an ascending aorta region, and a thoraco-abdominal aorta region of a patient;

identifying the heart region from the imaging data

analyzing the identified heart region to detect a coronary pathology;

identifying an ascending aorta object from the ascending aorta region of the imaging data

analyzing the identified ascending aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

identifying an abdominal aorta object from the thoraco-abdominal aorta region;

analyzing the identified abdominal aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

identifying a left main pulmonary artery object and a right main pulmonary artery object from the pulmonary artery region of the imaging data

analyzing the identified left main pulmonary artery object and the identified right main pulmonary artery object to detect a pulmonary embolism; and

generating a report including any detected coronary pathology, any detected aortic dissection, and any detected pulmonary embolism;

wherein identifying the heart region comprises:

projecting the received imaging data into a first plane of three dimensions of the received imaging data;

applying a first threshold to the first plane of data, wherein the first threshold is selected to eliminate a first pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest first connected component from the first threshold applied data;

calculating a first center of mass of the identified largest first connected component to define a first coordinate and a second coordinate;

projecting the received imaging data into a second plane of the three dimensions, wherein the second plane is perpendicular to the first plane;

applying a second threshold to the second plane of data, wherein the second threshold is selected to eliminate a second pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest second connected component from the second threshold applied data; and

calculating a second center of mass of the identified largest second connected component to define a third coordinate;

wherein a center of a heart region is defined from the defined first coordinate, the defined second coordinate, and the defined third coordinate; and

further wherein the heart region has a width in each of the three dimensions.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein analyzing the identified heart region comprises:

identifying an aorta object from the identified heart region;

identifying a coronary artery exit point from the identified aorta object;

identifying a coronary artery vessel tree between the identified coronary artery exit point and the aorta object;

determining a blood vessel radius for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

determining a blood vessel center for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

identifying an area of calcium from the determined blood vessel radius and the determined blood vessel center; and

calculating an obstruction severity of the identified area of calcium.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising presenting the identified coronary artery vessel tree to the user for analysis of the identified area of calcium.