Thin Plate Splines Method for 3D Reconstruction of the Left Ventricle with Use a Limited Number of Ultrasonic Sections
This paper addresses the testing of thin plate splines (TPS) interpolation method for the left ventricle (LV) 3D-reconstruction based on a limited number of ultrasonic sections obtained during echocardiography to apply the global and regional cardiac structure and function. With the use of TPS technique, the LV inner and outer surfaces were reconstructed based on three short-axes and one long-axes sections of the LV standard transthoracic imaging. The LV 3D-reconstruction by means of the heart transesophageal examination was chosen as a reference point. To evaluate the accuracy of LV 3D-reconstruction on TPS approach, the mean relative error (R) of LV surfaces interpolation and the relative change of cardiac wall thickness (dH/H) during the end (passive) phase of LV diastolic filling as a measure of the myocardium diastolic stiffness were calculated. According to ~8% value of R and qualitative distribution of dH/H in LV wall regions, we concluded that the proposed method of LV 3D-reconstruction shows a sufficient accuracy for practical use and future development.