Reconstruction and Visualization of Fiber and Laminar Structure in the Normal Human Heart from Ex Vivo Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DTMRI) Data

• DOI: 10.1097/rli.0b013e3181238330
• Publication Date: 2009-03-03T23:01:54Z
• Authors: Damien Rohmer; Arkadiusz Sitek; Grant T. Gullberg
• Keywords: Orthotropic material; Structure tensor; Human heart

Objective: The human heart is composed of a helical network muscle fibers organized to form sheets that are separated by cleavage planes responsible for the orthotropic mechanical properties cardiac muscle. purpose this study reconstruction and visualization these structures in 3 dimensions. Methods: Anisotropic least square filtering followed fiber sheet tracking techniques were applied diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging data excised heart. Fibers reconstructed using first eigenvectors tensors. second third visualized as surfaces. Results: shown lie have transmural structure, which correspond histologic studies published literature. Quantitative measurements show appose into laminar orientations without dominant populations. Conclusions: A algorithm was developed demonstrate complex 3-dimensional orientation myocardium.