11/1 Development and clinical evaluation of coronary CT-angiography using intelligent data acquisition strategies

		An example of an ECG-gated 64-slice MDCT cardiac scan with close-up views of the coronary arterial branches.

Retrospectively electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated Multi-Detector Computed Tomography (MDCT) data acquisition was initially intended to be used mainly for assessment of coronary arteries. This is currently a major field of scientific interest world-wide which includes validation of the technique in comparison with catheter angiography and assessment of different acquisition and reconstruction techniques. However, this technique has been shown to be useful also for assessment of cardiac valves and for extracardial structures such as the aorta and the lung parenchyma adjacent to the heart. Our initial studies focused mainly on imaging of the heart and extracardial structures in diastole. Faster rotation times and newly developed software tools will allow assessment of functional properties of the heart and extracardial structures in addition to morphological properties.

The aims of our initial clinical studies are the assessment of the optimal acquisition and reconstruction techniques for coronary artery imaging using MDCT in comparison with catheter angiography. The patient population of these studies consists of consecutive patients referred for diagnostic catheter angiography of the coronary arteries. Static and functional high-resolution models of peripheral vessels and coronary arteries in different stages of the heart cycle will be provided for the image analysis group and especially for patient specific simulations in the field of computational hemodynamics. The IDR will be one of the first research sites worldwide using a 64 row MDCT. This new scanner generation provides many new possibilities and opportunities for non-invasive cardiac imaging. Our goal is the application for ECG-controlled virtually motion-free cardiac and cardiovascular imaging which provides high resolution 3-D reconstructions (0.4mm isotropic spatial resolution) in up to 24 phases of the cardiac cycle.