Corridor4DM: the Michigan method for quantitative nuclear cardiology

Abstract

Quantitative software for the analysis and review of myocardial perfusion emission computed tomography images is an indispensable tool in the nuclear physician's evaluation of patients with known or suspected heart disease. The Corridor4DM (4DM) application (formerly known as 4DM-SPECT), developed at the University of Michigan Medical Center, is a quantitative software application providing automated processing, analysis, and reporting of myocardial perfusion and function from cardiac emission computed tomography studies in a tightly integrated, user-centered environment. With health care placing increased emphasis on higher quality and efficiency in diagnostic imaging, quantitative analysis and review software applications need to provide a comprehensive environment supporting correlative review of multimodality images, integrated report generation, and remote review capabilities. The current and future design capabilities of the 4DM software application are discussed with respect to the changing landscape of imaging, where cardiac computed tomography, positron emission tomography, structured reporting, and remote review are expanding the base requirement specifications for quantitative software.