The heart is a complex three-dimensional structure with mechanical properties that are inhomogeneous, non-linear, time-variant and anisotropic. These properties affect major physiological factors within the heart, such as the pumping performance of the ventricles, the oxygen demand in the tissue and the distribution of coronary blood flow.
During the cardiac cycle the heart muscle tissue is deformed as a consequence of the active contraction of the muscle fibers and their relaxation respectively. A mapping of this deformation would give increased understanding of the mechanical properties of the heart. The deformation induces strain and stress in the tissue which are both mechanical properties and can be described with a mathematical tensor object.
The aim of this project is to develop a visualization tool for the strain tensor objects that can aid a user to see and/or understand various differences between different hearts and spatial and temporal differences within the same heart. Preferably should the tool be general enough for use with different types of data.
Source: Linköping University
Author: Rönnbrant, Anders
