A method for acquiring a cardiac image from a patient having a paced heart rhythm, an abnormal EKG, or an irregular heartbeat, is disclosed. A gated electrocardiogram signal having local maxima and minima values and trigger points is received. For a period of time, the time between each trigger point and the associated local maxima or minima is determined. In response to the trigger point occurring at the associated local maxima or minima, a zero time differential for a corrected trigger for gating is calculated, and in response to the trigger point not occurring at the associated local maxima or minima, a time differential for the corrected trigger for gating based on the time difference between the trigger point and the associated local maxima or minima is calculated.