Automated method for Doppler echocardiography image analysis

An automated method using image processing and computer modeling tools has been developed for the extraction of clinical data from Doppler echocardiography images. Currently, medical data from Doppler images is extracted manually and is subject to large inter- and intra-observer variability. An automated Doppler analysis method is important for improving the analysis accuracy and robustness, especially for patients with abnormal heart-rates. The presented methodology works on signals from the mitral valve (MV) and the tricuspid valve (TV), and detects the envelope of the velocity versus time function, the maximal velocity envelope (MVE). From the MVE, clinical parameters are extracted (peak velocity, area beneath the curve). Experimental results show a strong correlation between the automatically extracted parameters and parameters acquired manually.