Detection of left ventricular contours from MRI images

Diagnosis and treatment of heart function deficiencies is of paramount medical importance, as heart problems constitute an important cause of death. This diagnosis is based on analysis of data collected from images such as MRI scans. This paper presents a component of a Java based package that assesses the geometry of the left ventricle to determine its function. This component is used in the detection of the heart's left ventricular contours from a stack of MRI images. The implementation of this component is based on a variation of the active contour method, and provides a blend of interactivity and automated propagation in detecting the left ventricular contours of the images.