Abstract: An apparatus for determining a disease parameter describing a type of cardiac disease includes a unit for reading input parameters representing 3D myocardial velocity fields with voxel wise 3D velocity information. The velocity vectors represent velocity of a voxel of a region of the heart at a predefined time point or time interval; a velocity vector depicts a voxel wise 3D velocity of the myocardium with different magnitude. A processor applies an algorithm to obtain a rotation parameter and/or strain-rate-tensor representing local curl of the input parameters and local rate of strain at a certain spatial point, at a certain time point or time interval. A processor calculates the disease parameter on the basis of the rotation parameter and strain-rate-tensor, dividing an absolute value of the rotation parameter by an eigenvalue. The disease parameter reflects a proportion to overall deformation of local layer shearing with regard to local pure deformation.

Abstract: A method for determining a disease parameter (K) describing a type of cardiac disease, comprising reading in a set of input parameters (f), wherein the input parameters represent a field of velocity vectors, each velocity vector representing a velocity of motion of a voxel of a region of the heart at a predefined time point or time interval. Furthermore the method comprises applying a processing algorithm on the set of input parameters in order to obtain at least a rotation parameter (R) and/or at least a strain-rate-tensor (SRT), the rotation parameter representing the local rotational rate of the set of input parameters and the strain-rate-tensor representing a local rate of strain at a certain special point at a certain time point or time interval and the step of calculating the disease parameter on the basis of the rotation parameter and/or the strain-rate-tensor.