Facilitating four-dimensional quantitative analysis of aortic MRI for clinical use

Marfan Syndrome leads to the weakening of the thoracic aorta and ultimate rupture causing death of the patient. Current monitoring method involves measuring the diameter of the aorta near the heart. Our approach is to develop a new technology that will provide clinicians the ability to evaluate the size, shape and motion of the entire thoracic aorta using four-dimensional cardiac MRI. This project alters the existing research algorithms to provides an integrated application for processing the images and provides novel measurements about the aorta from a data set of 32 normal subjects and 38 patients with serial scans.