thesis

summary
Title Real-time Illustrative Visualization of Cardiovascular Hemodynamics
Author R.F.P. van Pelt
Co-promotor A. Vilanova
Promotor B.M. ter Haar Romeny, M. Breeuwer
Research group Eindhoven University of Technology
Biomedical Image Analysis
Multivalued Image Analysis and Visualization
Collaborators Philips Healthcare
King’s College London – Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering
TU Vienna – Institute of Computer Graphics and Algorithms
Pages 240
Date June 2012
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abstract
Insight into the dynamics of the heart and the vascular blood flow improves understanding of the complex cardiovascular system and its pathologies. Contemporary MRI techniques enable acquisition of multiple image series that supply information about the anatomy and function of the heart. This includes acquisition of quantitative time-resolved volumetric blood-flow information.

Better understanding of the hemodynamics conceivably leads to improved diagnosis and prognosis of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, clinical research in hemodynamics focusses on both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the blood-flow data. The currently typical series-by-series and slice-by-slice analysis is a tedious and highly challenging task, even for skilled physicians.

We aim to alleviate this task by means of comprehensive visualization and interaction. Therefore, we present a range of probing tools that facilitate local interactive exploration of 4D blood flow velocity fields. The probes serve as a basis for various visualization approaches. We introduce novel illustrative visualization approaches, and enhance established flow visualization techniques.

Illustrative visualization styles endeavor reduction of visual clutter, requiring sensible abstraction of the high-dimensional data. We have investigated various approaches to simplify the abundance of information contained in the acquired blood-flow data. This includes segmentation of the luminal geometry, hierarchical clustering of the time-resolved blood flow velocity field, as well as decomposition of the velocity field into rotational and irrotational parts.

The results were evaluated with domain experts, measuring the value of the visualizations, the interaction approaches, and the involved user parameters. The feedback obtained from these evaluation studies has yielded valuable insights concerning the presented visualization and interaction techniques.

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