1. A method of extracting time-value curves for use in determining a protocol for a diagnostic imaging procedure to be performed on a patient, comprising: (a) determining a series of 0 through T M-dimensional data sets of pixel values from a series of images of a cardiovascular system of the patient acquired using an imaging system, wherein M is an integer, T is an integer, the 0 data set corresponds to a data set at a time 1=0, the T data set corresponds to a data set at a time t=T, and wherein a pixel at a location represented by a variable x has an enhancement profile vector defined as: 
 y x =[y x (0) y x (1). .. y x ( T− 1) y x ( T )] and an enhancement level y of the pixel at the location x is defined over time as: 
 y x ( t )= y x (0)+ s x ( t )+η x ( t ) wherein y x (0) is a baseline enhancement level for the pixel, s is a change in signal due to flow of a fluid in the patient and η is a noise term; (b) computing a predetermined number of correlated segments of the cardiovascular system corresponding to two regions of interest thereof by computing a similarity metric of a time series of pixel values in the images of the series; (c) computing one of the time-value curves for each of the two regions of interest; and (d) determining the protocol for the diagnostic imaging procedure based at least in part upon data extracted from the time value curves computed for the two regions of interest of the cardiovascular system of the patient.