A NEW, OTHER THAN ACOUSTIC, QUANTIFICATION METHOD FOR ENDOCARDIUM DETECTION IN ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC IMAGES

A new, semiautomatic algorithm for tracing outlines of endocardium of newborns that are detectable in echocardiographic images is presented. The main advantage of the method proposed is its low sensitivity to operator errors. Moreover, in contrast to the acoustic quantification method (AQ), an analysis of archive and low quality images is available, as well as the traces obtained are smooth and free of artefacts. Thus, the new solution allows for further, fully automatic, quantitative characterization of the shape and size of the ventricle. The results are compared with manual tracings in order to demonstrate the advantage of the newly developed method. Some results from massive research on newborns with various heart defects are also presented.