New technology that allows doctors to see three-dimensional images of heart arteries in the catheterization lab passed its first major testing hurdle — moving doctors closer to understanding its impact on clinical practice, researchers report in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions, an American Heart Association journal.

Still in the early stages of testing, the 3-D images may allow cardiologists to more accurately and quickly assess the length, branching pattern, and angles of heart arteries and any blockages.

“Coronary interventions may be improved by having a realistic, 3-D image of the coronary artery tree,” said John. D. Carroll, MD, an investigator for the study and professor of medicine and director of interventional cardiology in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Colorado in Aurora, Colo.

The new software, which uses existing X-ray systems, could reduce the need for multiple X-rays, thus decreasing patients’ exposure to radiation and contrast dye and cutting the time doctors spend analyzing the images.

In the study, researchers compared these standard 2-D images to automatically generated, computer-reconstructed 3-D images of 23 patients’ coronary artery systems. To generate realistic 3-D images, the detector was rapidly rotated around the patient during the injection of contrast dye, a technique called rotational angiography.

“This is the first in-human use,” Carroll said about the feasibility study. “The next step is to test it in multiple centers around the world. In addition, we’ll formally test it to see the impact on clinical care. The bottom line is that this is very exciting technology that holds great promise.”

Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

Philips Healthcare funded the study.