Directional analysis of cardiac motion field from gated fluorodeoxyglucose PET images using the Discrete Helmholtz Hodge Decomposition

Objectives Extract directional information related to left ventricular (LV) rotation and torsion from a 4D PET motion field using the Discrete Helmholtz Hodge Decomposition (DHHD). Materials and methods Synthetic motion fields were created using superposition of rotational and radial field components and cardiac fields produced using optical flow from a control and patient image. These were decomposed into curl-free (CF) and divergence-free (DF) components using the DHHD. Results Synthetic radial components were present in the CF field and synthetic rotational components in the DF field, with each retaining its center position, direction of motion and diameter after decomposition. Direction of rotation at apex and base for the control field were in opposite directions during systole, reversing during diastole. The patient DF field had little overall rotation with several small rotators. Conclusions The decomposition of the LV motion field into directional components could assist quantification of LV torsion, but further processing stages seem necessary.