Strain Rate Tensor estimation in cine cardiac MRI based on elastic image registration

In this paper we propose an alternative method to estimate and visualize the strain rate tensor (ST) in magnetic resonance images (MRI) when phase contrast MRI (PCMRI) and tagged MRI (TMRI) are not available. This alternative is based on image processing techniques. Concretely, an elastic image registration algorithm is used to estimate the movement of the myocardium at each point. Our experiments with real data prove that the registration algorithm provides a useful deformation field to estimate the ST fields. A classification between regional normal and dysfunctional contraction patterns, as compared with professional diagnosis, points out that the parameters extracted from the estimated ST can represent these patterns.