Kenny Nguyen/Dr. Jonathan Weinsaft - Week 3

 Week 3: 06/19/23 – 06/23/23

I spent my third week of the Summer Immersion term focusing on my research project. I am performing volumetric analysis on the heart, specifically the right ventricle, using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images to quantify volume, shape, and mass. Here, I gained a deeper understanding of the cardiac cycle which plays a pivotal role in quantifying cardiovascular features. The cardiac cycle is divided into two phases, systole (the contraction phase) and diastole (the relaxation phase).

In cardiovascular physiology, important parameters that can be derived from these volumetric quantifications are end-systolic volume (ESV) and end-diastolic volume (EDV) which represent the volume of blood remaining in the right ventricle at the end of diastole and systole, respectively. The difference between the EDV and ESV is known as stroke volume (SV). Ejection fraction (EF) can be calculated using these values to calculate the percentage of blood ejected from the ventricle with each contraction and provide an indication of the ventricle’s pumping efficiency. These parameters provide valuable information for radiologists to comprehensively assess cardiac performance and function.

Conducting these analyses have reminded me that radiologists must have a deep understanding and mastery of the tools used in cardiac evaluations. Whether it is cardiac CT, MRI, or other modalities, radiologists must understand the unique strengths and capabilities of each tool. As a biomedical engineering student, it is a privilege to see firsthand the workflow of radiologists. This allows me to witness limitations in the current protocols and see techniques used to accommodate these weaknesses to reduce variability and improve reproducibility.


Deidentified CMR for Volumetric analysis. Orange lines are tracings of right ventricle in short-axis view for post-processing. Left side: end of diastole. Right side: end of systole.

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