Abstract: A computer system automatically takes a sequence of stepping images from peripheral angiography and mosaics them into a single full-leg display by globally matching the bone and the vessel by measuring an overlapping ratio and by locally refining detailed anatomical features using deformation. The system combines multiple evidence in the entire overlapped image/candidate rows and maximizes the ratio of overlap. This approach takes evidence from the multiple rows and provides a more reliable result. In addition, local refinement is applied to compensate for the possible mismatch and nonlinear patient movement.

Abstract: This invention provides a method for determining the position range of the heart from a sequence of projection images which are acquired for 3-D volume reconstruction, such as SPECT myocardial projection data. The essence of this invention is the use of 1-D pseudo motion analysis so that the detection is insensitive to the image intensity distribution. Heart position is determined by comparing the sampled heart motion against a standard heart motion and determining similarities between the two as an indication of the position range of the sampled heart including the proximate center, upper and lower limits of motion.