Endocardial border detection in contrast enhanced echocardiographic cineloops using a pulse coupled neural network

Endocardial border detection is a crucial step for the quantitative analysis of overall and regional left ventricular function from echocardiographic images. Echocardiographic contrast agents with transpulmonary passage are being used increasingly in clinical practice for left ventricular cavity opacification. We investigate the feasibility of using pulse coupled neural networks to identify, the left ventricular endocardial border in contrast-enhanced echocardiographic cineloops.