A method for non-invasively computing left atrial pressure

Previous work has shown that left atrial pressure can be non-invasively measured from mitral regurgitation velocity at the onset of left ventricular ejection. Here, the authors introduce a computer assisted approach to computing left atrial pressure based on this technique which reduces the need for manual measurement of times and velocities from the Doppler spectra. This process includes the creation of a signal-averaged mitral regurgitation Doppler spectrum that combines data from multiple beats into a single, more coherent spectrum, with a more clearly delineated velocity envelope.