Patrick William Hales1, Fleur Mason2, Rebecca Burton2, Christian Bollensdorff2, Martin Bishop3, Gernot Plank3, Peter Kohl2, Jurgen Schneider1
1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxon, UK; 2Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxon, UK; 3Computational Biology Group, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxon, UK
The 3D Heart project aims to develop an efficient methodology for the acquisition of cardiac anatomical MRI data, DTI data, and histology, and to develop techniques for automated segmentation and registration of these data sets to create high resolution computer models of individual whole hearts. We present here the progress to date of this project, focussing on methodological developments for the acquisition of the high resolution DTI data sets. The challenges posed by the processing and combination of large, multiple data sets into a single comprehensive model are also discussed.