Automated myocardium segmentation in late gadolinium enhanced MR images

Background Late Gadolinium Enhanced (LGE) MRI has proven clinical value for diagnosis and prognosis of postinfarct patients. A prerequisite for accurate myocardial scar assessment is the reliable segmentation of the myocardium. However, in post-infarct patients, the myocardial scar is often connected to the blood pool, while the contrast between them is typically poor. The ambiguous border between myocardial scar and blood pool substantially complicates manual contouring, and potentially gives rise to overor under-estimation of the scar.