The mortality in undrained abdominal abscesses is high with a mortality rate ranging between 45 and 100%. The outcome in abdominal abscesses, however, has improved due to advances in image guided percutaneous interventional techniques. The main indications for the catheter drainage include treatment or palliation of sepsis associated with an infected fluid collection, and alleviation of the symptoms that may be caused by fluid collections by virtue of their size, like pancreatic pseudocele or lymphocele. The single liver abscesses may be drained with ultrasound guidance only, whereas the multiple abscesses usually require computed tomography (CT) guidance and placement of multiple catheters. The pancreatic abscesses are generally drained routinely and urgently. Non-infected pancreatic pseudocysts may be simply observed unless they are symptomatic or cause ...
We present a case of cerebral aspergillosis in an immunocompetent patient. The MRI signal characteristics were compared with the histologic findings. Irregular low-signal zones were demonstrated between the wall of the abscess and the central necrosis on T2-weighted images; the pathology specimen revealed concentrated iron in these transitional zones but no hemosiderin. Iron is an essential element for the growth of fungal hyphae. The low-signal zones may represent the areas where there was active proliferation of aspergillus, and the unique location of the low signal may be a helpful imaging characteristic for the diagnosis of an aspergillus abscess. (orig.)
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) images of live rats with sterile and pyogenic abscesses, hematomas, and various implanted and spontaneous neoplasms demonstrated good contrast differentiation between pathologic and surrounding normal tissues. This differentiation was maximal when both the T1 and T2 tissue relaxation times were used as criteria. Neoplasms have a broad range of T1 and T2 values and may be confused with abscesses or hematomas. Tissue rate constants (1/T1 and 1/T2) are mainly dependent on total water content, the exception being fat, which has a 1/T2 value much shorter than that expected on the basis of water content alone.
The value of CT in respect of preoperative determination of tumour status and of tumour classification was studied using 127 histologically identified ovarial tumours as basis in a blind study via mutual image classification by the two participating institutes. The medium accuracy of diagnosis was 82%, but the results were found to be greatly dependent on tumour histology. Quotas of more than 90% were obtained in case of functional cysts, cystomas, cystadeno-carcinomas and dermoids, whereas classification was less successful with the other types of tumours such as germ cell tumours, tumours of the sexually differentiated stroma, metastases and tubo-ovarial abscesses.
Purpose: To evaluate a T_2-weighted URSE sequence for the assessment of pulmonary infiltrations in comparison to CT. Methods: 28 MRT scans of 22 patients with confirmed pneumonia were recorded on a 1.5 Tesla apparatus with an expiratory and diastolic triggered, T_2-weighted ultrafast-spin-echo sequence in axial slice mode with the following parameters: TR_e_f_f/T_E/Turbofactor 2000-4000/90 ms/21-23; slice thickness/separation 6/0.6 mm; FOV 360 mm; 24 slices. 24 spiral CTs (sice thickness/table advance: 1-2 mm/10 mm) were available for comparison. The separate evaluation of MRTs and CTs was performed by three radiologists in a consensus procedure with regard to pulmonary lesions (e.g., infiltration, round foci, net patterns) and image quality of the MRTs (4-step scale). Results: In 71% of the cases the CTs and MRTs agreed with the diagnosis and representation of the lesions, in 25% MRT was superior. MRT was better for the detection of pulmonary ...
The diagnostic imaging findings in hepatic amoebiasis and the capabilities of percutaneous drainage have already been described but some debate is open on both diagnosis and treatment. It is reported the experience with the ultrasound (US) and Computed Tomography (CT) studies of the hepatic amoebic abscess and its management. [Italian] I reperti con diagnostica per immagini nell'amebiasi epatica e le possibilita' del drenaggio percutaneo sono stati gia' illustrati; esistono tuttavia controversie sul piano sia diagnostico che terapeutico. Obiettivo di questo lavoro e' quello di riportare l'esperienza personale nella diagnostica con ecografia e tomografia computerizzata (TC) e nel trattamento degli ascessi amebici del fegato.
Image enhancement is of great importance in medical imaging where image resolution remains a crucial point in many image analysis algorithms. In this paper, we investigate brain hallucination...Full Text Available
This case report demonstrates an hepatic amebic abscess by scintigrapy, utilizing a new radiopharmaceutical designed specifically for that purpose. The abscess is delineated as a positive lesion after twenty four hours. The agent, "1"3"1I-labeled bromometronidazole, may prove to be specific for the diagnosis of these abscesses. (orig.).
The computer vision approach to image analysis is discussed from two aspects. First, this approach is constrasted to the pattern recognition approach. Second, how external knowledge and information and models from other fields of science and engineering can be used for image and scene analysis is discussed. In particular, the connections between computer vision and computer graphics are pointed out.
In this chart review the authors describe 51 cases of PSOAS abscess treated at Hospital Universitario del Valle in Cali, Colombia in the last 10 years. It is not a rare condition and require high index of suspicion. epidemiology, bacteriology, diagnosis and treatment are discussed.
Over the past decade, dramatic increases in computational power and improvement in image analysis algorithms have allowed the development of powerful computer-assisted analytical approaches...Full Text Available
Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is the second most common primary malignant hepatic neoplasm. We describe two cases of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma which initially presented as liver abscess both clinically and radiologically. Mucin-hypersecretion from the tumor cells and extensive necrosis or secondary bacterial infection was responsible for the radiologic appearance of a liver abscess.=20
To find out the sonographic findings that are useful to differentiate hepatic abscess from peripheral cholangiocarcinoma. Twenty-two hepatic abscesses and 22 peripheral cholangiocarcinomas which had been confirmed histologically were included in this study. Objective points were echo characteristics of the lesion, internal septation, presence of peripheral low echoic rim, demarcation from normal liver(well or poorly defined), posterior enhancement, multiplicity, dilatation of bile duct(obstructive or non-obstructive), intrahepatic duct stone, pleural effusion, and intra-abdominal fluid collection. Echo characteristics of the lesion were classified in-to four types. Type I; Predominantly echogenic with hypoechoic portion, type II; Echogenic without hypoechoic portion, type III; Predominantly hypoechoic with echogenic portion, type IV; Hypoechoic without echogenic portion. 1)Nine abscesses and 2 peripheral cholangiocarcinomas ...
... order probabilistic modelling, multisensor monitoring of ... object recognition, image registration and point ... of the Berkeley Continuous Media Toolkit. ...
Real-time neutron radiography (NTV) has been used for practical applications at the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR). At present, however, the direct image from the TV system is still poor in resolution and low in contrast. In this paper several image improvements are demonstrated, such as a frame summing technique, which are effective in increasing image quality in neutron radiography. Image integration before the A/D converter has a beneficial effect on image quality and the high quality image reveals details invisible in direct images, such as: small holes by a reversed image, defects in a neutron converter screen through a high quality image, a moving object in a contoured image, a slight difference between two low-contrast images by a subtraction ...
Real-time neutron radiography (NTV) has been used for practical applications at the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR). At present, however, the direct image from the TV system is still poor in resolution and low in contrast. In this paper several image improvements are demonstrated, such as a frame summing technique, which are effective in increasing image quality in neutron radiography. Image integration before the A/D converter has a beneficial effect on image quality and the high quality image reveals details invisible in direct images, such as: small holes by a reversed image, defects in a neutron converter screen through a high quality image, a moving object in a contoured image, a slight difference between two low-contrast images by a subtraction ...
The role of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of preoperative and postoperative complications caused by acquired cholesteatomas will be described in this paper. The pre- and postoperative imaging of the temporal bone was performed with HRCT and MRI. HRCT and MRI were performed in the axial and coronal plane. MRI was done with T2 weighted and T1 weighted sequences both before and after the intravenous application of contrast material. All imaging findings were confirmed clinically or surgically. The preoperative cholesteatoma-caused complications depicted by HRCT included bony erosions of the ossicles, scutum, facial canal in the middle ear, tympanic walls including the tegmen tympani, and of the labyrinth. The preoperative cholesteatoma-caused complications depicted by MRI included signs indicative for labyrinthitis, and brain abscess. ...
Eleven patients who had undergone cardiac surgery were studied by means of high-field MR imaging (1.5 T). Six patients had aortic root and valve replaced with a Bjork-Shiley (BS) composite tubular aortic graft prosthesis for acute dissection of ascending aorta. In the other 5 patients with rheumatic calcific aortic disease, the valve had been replaced with a BS prosthesis. As a whole, MR studies were 14. Previous evaluations of magnetic field effects had seem carried out ex vivo on both BS valves and BS composite prostheses, on surgical ligation clips (Tantalium and Stainless) and on stainless wires for sternal closure. In 4 patients (2 BS composite grafts, and 2 BS valves) MRI diagnosed chronic dissection of both arch and descending aorta. In 1 of them, with a bs valve, associated localized acute dissection of ascending aorta was observed. In 3 patients with BS composite grafts, MRI revealed pseudo-aneurysms (including a thrombosed one) at the graft level. In one ...
This paper examines the seismic signatures of discrete, finite-length fractures, and outlines an approach for elastic, prestack reverse-time imaging of discrete fractures. The results of this study highlight the importance of incorporating fracture-generated P-S converted waves into the imaging method, and presents an alternate imaging condition that can be used in elastic reverse-time imaging when a direct wave is recorded (e.g., for crosswell and VSP acquisition geometries).
60 patients between 17 and 72 years of age were investigated. First, an enteroclysis was performed in typical manner. The applicated methylcellulosis was blended with positive oral MR contrast media (Magnevist oral, Schering). After enteroclysis, MRI of the abdomen was performed using T1- and T2-weighted breathhold sequences (Flash 2D pre- and postcontrast and TSE) in axial and coronal planes. The length of the affected bowel and the stenosis seen with enteroclysis correlated well with the visible thickening of the small bowel wall and the stenosis seen in MRI. Using MRI, additional findings could be obtained in 28 patients, such as fistulas, abscesses or a hydronephrosis, or a better assessment of the stenosis was possible with MRI, because of the avoidance of overshadowing of the affected bowel loop with MRI. A brilliant MR-tomographic imaging of the small bowel is possible under the condition, that the small bowel contrast is optimal. The ...
MR studies of 6 patients with intracranial tuberculoma are reviewed. All patients also underwent CT scans which showed hypo- or isodense lesions with abnormal enhancement following contrast administration. MR showed lesions with prolongation of the T1 relaxation time in every case. On the T2-weighted sequences, the signal properties of the tuberculoma varied according to the stage of evolution of the lesion. Incipient tuberculomas appeared as scattered areas of hypointensity surrounded by edema. Mature tuberculomas were composed of a dark necrotic center surrounded by an isointense capsule which was, in turn, surrounded by edema. In one patient, the center of the lesion was hyperintense probably because of liquefaction and pus formation (tuberculous abscess). While both, CT and MR, were equally sensitive in visualizing the intracranial tuberculoma in every patient, MR was slightly superior in demonstrating the extent of the lesion, especially for brainstem ...
To assess the utility of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the study of pediatric patients with clinical suspicion of pituitary disease. We studied 18 patients aged 7 to 18 years.Fifteen had hormonal disturbances, two presented amenorrhea and 1 complained of headache, fever and symptoms of polyuria and polydipsia. All the patients were examined using a Siemens SP 42 1-Tesla MRI scanner. Sagittal and coronal T1-weighted spin-echo images were obtained; in addition T2-weighted spin-echo or fast spin-echo imaging was performed in ten cases and intravenous gadolinium was administered in nine. We found 9 patients with hypothalamic-pituitary dysgenesis, 2 with germinoma, 2 cases of pituitary hemosiderosis in patients with thalassemia, 2 cases of microadenoma, one abscess, one case of idiopathic central diabetes insipidus and one of Langerhans cell histiocytosis. MR enabled us to assess pituitary structural ...
Digital libraries need more than just a retrieval based on keywords, which can be inefficient for some applications. Thus, a document retrieval based on content of the digitized image version of the document can be a more appropriated approach. This paper discusses the retrieval of document images by means of identifying a variety of elements present in the document's image body. We propose a new strategy to identify and combine features extracted from a document image. We also consider the task of constructing an optimized feature set to improve the retrieval performance and to validate our experiments on an assorted database. Experimental results show that the proposed segmentation together with a wisely feature combination increase the overall retrieval performance. Moreover the retrieved images demonstrate the generality and effectiveness of our ...
The reconstruction of coronal and Sagittal Image of Brain C. T. is helpful to diagnosis of Brain. Three Dimensional Reconstruction software package allows to display three dimensional Image clerived from a series of Horizontal, Sagittal and Coronal Brain C. T. images. It useful in determine approach of operation, to define portals of deep radiation therapy.
Power system analysis shows the output from the solar arrays varies as a function .... Each array corresponds to a raw image browse product, which is generated by .... low outgassing, ability to withstand long-term exposure to the space ...
Modern imaging technologies visualize different aspects of disease in a non-invasive way. Considerable progress has been made in the fusion of images from different imaging modalities using software approaches. One goal of fusion software is to align anatomical and functional images and allow improved spatial localization of abnormalities. The resulting correlation of the anatomical and functional images may clarify the nature of the abnormality and help diagnose or stage the underlying disease. Whereas successful image fusion software has been developed for the brain, only limited success has been achieved for image alignment in other parts of the body. The development and current status of alternative approaches are presented. Dual-modality imaging is described with devices ...
The authors describe the application of an approximate fuzzy C-means (AFCM) clustering algorithm as a data dimension reduction approach to medical magnetic resonance images (MRI). Image data consisted of one T1-weighted, two T2-weighted, and one T2*-weighted (magnetic susceptibility) image for each cranial study and a matrix of 10 images generated from 10 combinations of TE and TR for each body lymphoma study. All images were obtained with a 1.5 Tesla imaging system (GE Signa). Analyses were performed on over 100 MR image sets with a variety of pathologies. The cluster analysis was operated in an unsupervised mode and computational overhead was minimized by utilizing a table look-up approach without adversely affecting accuracy. Image data were first segmented into 2 coarse ...
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post proceedings of the international workshop Computer Vision Approaches to Medical Image Analysis, CVAMIA 2006, held in Graz, Austria in May 2006 as a satellite event of the 9th European Conference on Computer Vision, EECV 2006. The 10 revised full papers and 11 revised poster papers presented together with 1 invited talk were carefully reviewed and selected from 38 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on clinical applications, image registration, image segmentation and analysis, and the poster session. (orig.)
We report on a hard X-ray phase imaging microscopy (a phase-difference microscopy) that consists of an objective and a transmission grating. The simple optical system provides a quantitative phase image, and does not need a wave field mostly coherent on the objective. Our method has a spatial resolution almost same as that of the absorption contrast microscope image obtained by removing the grating. We demonstrate how our approach provides a phase image from experimentally obtained images. Our approach is attractive for easily appending a quantitative phase-sensitive mode to normal X-ray microscopes, and has potentially broad applications in biology and material sciences.
This paper introduces a parallel measurement approach for fast infrared-based human temperature screening suitable for use in a large public area. Our key idea is based on the combination of simple image processing algorithms, infrared technology, and human flow management. With this multidisciplinary concept, we arrange as many people as possible in a two-dimensional space in front of a thermal imaging camera and then highlight all human facial areas through simple image filtering, image morphological, and particle analysis processes. In this way, an individual's face in live thermal image can be located and the maximum facial skin temperature can be monitored and displayed. Our experiment shows a measured 1ms processing time in highlighting all human face areas. With a thermal imaging ca...
A novel non-invasive approach to the on-line identification of BWR two-phase flow regimes is investigated. The proposed approach receives neutron radiography images of coolant flow recordings as its input and performs feature extraction on each image via simple and directly computable statistical operators. The extracted features are subsequently used as inputs to an ensemble of self-organizing maps whose outputs demonstrate swift and accurate classification of each image into its corresponding flow regime. The novelty of the approach lies in the use of the self-organizing map which generates the different classes by itself, according to feature similarity of the corresponding images; this contrasts traditional artificial neural networks where the user has to define both the number of distinct classes as well as to supply separate training ...
Purpose: To evaluate a T{sub 2}-weighted URSE sequence for the assessment of pulmonary infiltrations in comparison to CT. Methods: 28 MRT scans of 22 patients with confirmed pneumonia were recorded on a 1.5 Tesla apparatus with an expiratory and diastolic triggered, T{sub 2}-weighted ultrafast-spin-echo sequence in axial slice mode with the following parameters: TR{sub eff}/T{sub E}/Turbofactor 2000-4000/90 ms/21-23; slice thickness/separation 6/0.6 mm; FOV 360 mm; 24 slices. 24 spiral CTs (sice thickness/table advance: 1-2 mm/10 mm) were available for comparison. The separate evaluation of MRTs and CTs was performed by three radiologists in a consensus procedure with regard to pulmonary lesions (e.g., infiltration, round foci, net patterns) and image quality of the MRTs (4-step scale). Results: In 71% of the cases the CTs and MRTs agreed with the diagnosis and representation of the lesions, in 25% MRT was superior. MRT was better for the detection of pulmonary ...
A multiprocessor architecture inspired by the Disney multiplane camera is proposed. For many applications, this approach produces a natural mapping of processors to objects in a scene. Such a mapping promotes parallelism and reduces the hidden-surface work with minimal interprocessor communication and low-overhead cost. Existing graphics architectures store the final picture as a monolithic entity. The architecture here stores each object's image separately. It assembles the final composite picture from component images only when the video display needs to be refreshed. This organization simplifies the work required to animate moving objects that occlude other objects. In addition, the architecture has multiple processors that generate the component images in parallel. This further shortens the time needed to create a composite picture. In addition to generating images for ...
Bit Plane Complexity Segmentation (BPCS) digital picture steganography is a technique to hide data inside an image file. BPCS achieves high embedding rates with low distortion based on the theory that noise-like regions in an image's bit-planes can be replaced with noise-like secret data without significant loss in image quality. . In this framework we will propose a collaborate approach for select frame for Hiding Data within MPEG Video Using Bit Plane Complexity Segmentation. This approach will invent high secure data hidden using select frame form MPEG Video and furthermore we will assign the well-built of the approach; during this review the author will answer the question why they used select frame steganography. In additional to the security issues we will use the digital video as a cover to the data hidden. The reason behind opt the video cover in this ...
Full text: A 51-year-old woman with end stage renal failure secondary to Haemolytic Uraemic syndrome underwent a cadaveric renal transplant. A routine post transplant DTPA scan was performed which demonstrated satisfactory renal transplant perfusion and function. Incidental note was made of tracer uptake in the pelvis in the mid-line, which was suspected to be a uterine fibroid. This was confirmed on ultrasonography and at surgery. One week post transplantation the patient became acutely unwell and at laparotomy a perforated diverticular abscess was drained. Intraoperatively the transplant kidney was examined and the surgeon thought there was a area of infarction. This was confirmed on biopsy. As the patient's creatinine was rising a repeat DTPA study was performed. Perfusion and function of the transplant kidney was virtually absent while Doppler studies showed no flow. The patient however continued to produce urine and the creatinine was stable. Subsequently a ...
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of TACE with microspheres preloaded with doxorubicin in unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (UCH). Twenty patients with UCH were observed; 9 refused, preferring other palliative care or chemotherapy, and 11 agreed to be treated with one or more cycles of DC beads loaded with doxorubicin (100-150 mg) in a TACE procedure between February 2006 and September 2007. A total of 29 individual TACE procedures were performed. Follow-up imaging was performed on all patients before, immediately after, and 4 weeks after each TACE procedure to evaluate the response and need for further treatment. Each patient received i.v hydration, antibiotics, and medications against nausea and pain before TACE. Survival rate was calculated using Kaplan-Meier survival curve. A response rate of 100% followed RECIST criteria was observed. Eight of eleven patients are alive, with a median survival of 13 months. TACE was ...
Walled-off pancreatic necrosis (WOPN), formerly known as pancreatic abscess is a late complication of acute pancreatitis. It can be lethal, even though it is rare. This critical review provides an overview...Full Text Available
Subtractive imaging in confocal fluorescence light microscopy is based on the subtraction of a suitably weighted widefield image from a confocal image. An approximation to a widefield image can be obtained by detection with an opened confocal pinhole. The subtraction of images enhances the resolution in-plane as well as along the optic axis. Due to the linearity of the approach, the effect of subtractive imaging in Fourier-space corresponds to a reduction of low spatial frequency contributions leading to a relative enhancement of the high frequencies. Along the direction of the optic axis this also results in an improved sectioning. Image processing can achieve a similar effect. However, a 3D volume dataset must be acquired and processed, yielding a result essentially identical to subtractive imaging ...
Based on a recently introduced phase X-ray imagingapproach, a dual-detector prototype was developed for in-line X-ray phase imaging and phase retrieval utilizing a micro-focus X-ray source and two computed radiography (CR) cassette detectors. The system was built on a horizontal optical rail to facilitate manual adjustment of the positions of the X-ray source, the sample and the detectors. The novel design of the detector-1 is essential, it detects a portion of radiation to form an attenuation image; allows the rest of radiation to reach the detector-2 to form a phase contrast image, and the two images are used to retrieve a phase map. The two detectors are balanced for optimal phase-retrieval with reasonable radiation dose to the object to be imaged. The system was examined in terms of the linearity, the fractions of the X-ray photons ...
The role of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of preoperative and postoperative complications caused by acquired cholesteatomas will be described in this paper. The pre- and postoperative imaging of the temporal bone was performed with HRCT and MRI. HRCT and MRI were performed in the axial and coronal plane. MRI was done with T2 weighted and T1 weighted sequences both before and after the intravenous application of contrast material. All imaging findings were confirmed clinically or surgically. The preoperative cholesteatoma-caused complications depicted by HRCT included bony erosions of the ossicles, scutum, facial canal in the middle ear, tympanic walls including the tegmen tympani, and of the labyrinth. The preoperative cholesteatoma-caused complications depicted by MRI included signs indicative for labyrinthitis, and brain abscess. ...
PurposeEctopic expression of light-sensitive proteins, such as channelrhodopsin-2, represent a novel approach for restoring light-detection capabilities to degenerated retina. A...Full Text Available
The ability to achieve tumor selective expression of therapeutic genes is an area that needs improvement for cancer gene therapy to be successful. One approach to address this is through the...Full Text Available
Currently, accurate diagnosis of breast lesions depends on a triple assessment approach comprising clinical, imaging and pathologic examinations. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is widely adopted...Full Text Available
Motivation: Cell tracking is an important method to quantitatively analyze time-lapse microscopy data. While numerous methods and tools exist for tracking cells in 2D time-lapse images,...Full Text Available
In many radiotherapy clinics, geometric uncertainties in the delivery of 3D conformal radiation therapy and intensity modulated radiation therapy of the prostate are reduced by aligning the...Full Text Available
In a fluoroscopic imaging system, image quality and patient dose are both affected by the optical system linking the image intensifier with the video camera. The effect on patient exposure of increasing the optical iris aperture size over that required for other procedures performed on the same imaging system was investigated for the air-contrast barium enema examination. Using a large-area transmission ionisation chamber to monitor the Roentgen-area-product of entrance exposure, a decrease in fluoroscopic radiation of greater than 50% was clinically documented for a fluoroscopic system utilising kVp and mA variable automatic brightness control. For this iris change, the video image was of acceptable quality for positioning and monitoring the patient, and no deleterious effect was detected in the conduct of the air-contrast exam. The availability of a variable-sized ...
The real-time neutron radiography system of the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR) has been practically applied to penetrating the side plates containing boron burnable poison to test MTR type reactor fuels and to investigation of moving objects. Compared with the image obtained by the direct film method, however, the image from the TV system is in low-contrast and poor-resolution. This paper presents some digital processing approaches to improve the image quality and the neutron TV system is successfully applied to neutron computed tomography (NCT). The frame summing technique is effective to increase the quality of the radiographic image. By using the NTV system in NCT, the projection data are able to be acquired in a single measurement as observing the projection image on a CRT monitor. Two weighting functions based on the Fourier-convolution algorithm are ...
The real-time neutron radiography system of the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR) has been practically applied to penetrating the side plates containing boron burnable poison to test MTR type reactor fuels and to investigation of moving objects. Compared with the image obtained by the direct film method, however, the image from the TV system is in low-contrast and poor-resolution. This paper presents some digital processing approaches to improve the image quality and the neutron TV system is successfully applied to neutron computed tomography (NCT). The frame summing technique is effective to increase the quality of the radiographic image. By using the NTV system in NCT, the projection data are able to be acquired in a single measurement as observing the projection image on a CRT monitor. Two weighting functions based on the Fourier-convolution algorithm are ...
The introduction of CT scan and, more recently, magnetic resonance imaging, has radically changed the diagnostic approach to tumors developed in the internal auditory canal and cerebellopontine angle. CT scan with intravenous injection visualizes tumors lying in the cerebellopontine angle. Magnetic resonance imaging, especially using gadolinium, is a very accurate means for diagnosing tumors of both the auditory canal and cerebellopontine angle.
This book contains 18 selections. Some of the titles are: Labelling of amphetamines with /sup 123/I: Receptors for amphetamines; New amphetamine derivatives; Potential new approaches for the development of brain imaging agents for single-photon applications; and IM SPECT with the pinhole collimator.
This book contains 18 selections. Some of the titles are: Labelling of amphetamines with /sup 123/I: Receptors for amphetamines; New amphetamine derivatives; Potential new approaches for the development of brain imaging agents for single-photon applications; and IM SPECT with the pinhole collimator.
In this paper we present a novel approach to personal photo album management allowing the end user to efficiently access the collection without any need for tedious manual annotation or indexing of the photos. The proposed work exploits methods and technology from the field of computer vision and pattern recognition for face detection, face representation and image annotation to automatically create description of images useful for content-based searching and retrieval. In fact, even if most of the used techniques are not reliable enough to address the general problem of content-based image retrieval, we show that, in a limited domain such as the one of personal photo album, it is possible to obtain results that improve the browsing capabilities of current photo album management systems. In particular, starting from the observation that most personal photos depict a usually small number of people in a ...
Noninvasive prediction of vertebral body strength under compressive loading condition is a valuable tool for the assessment of clinical fractures. This paper presents an effective specimen-specific approach for noninvasive prediction of human vertebral strength using a nonlinear finite element (FE) model and an image based parameter based on the quantitative computed tomography (QCT). Nine thoracolumbar vertebrae excised from three cadavers with an average age of 42 years old were used as the samples. The samples were scanned using the QCT. Then, a segmentation technique was performed on each QCT sectional image. The segmented images were then converted into three-dimensional FE models for linear and nonlinear analyses. A new material model was implemented in our nonlinear model being more...
To more accurately measure fluorescent signals from microarrays, we calibrated our acquisition and analysis systems by using groundtruth samples comprised of known quantities of red and green gene-specific DNA probes hybridized to cDNA targets. We imaged the slides with a full-field, white light CCD imager and analyzed them with our custom analysis software. Here we compare, for multiple genes, results obtained with and without preprocessing (alignment, color crosstalk compensation, dark field subtraction, and integration time). We also evaluate the accuracy of various image processing and analysis techniques (background subtraction, segmentation, quantitation and normalization). This methodology calibrates and validates our system for accurate quantitative measurement of microarrays. Specifically, we show that preprocessing the images produces results significantly closer to the known ground-truth for ...
60 patients between 17 and 72 years of age were investigated. First, an enteroclysis was performed in typical manner. The applicated methylcellulosis was blended with positive oral MR contrast media (Magnevist oral, Schering). After enteroclysis, MRI of the abdomen was performed using T1- and T2-weighted breathhold sequences (Flash 2D pre- and postcontrast and TSE) in axial and coronal planes. The length of the affected bowel and the stenosis seen with enteroclysis correlated well with the visible thickening of the small bowel wall and the stenosis seen in MRI. Using MRI, additional findings could be obtained in 28 patients, such as fistulas, abscesses or a hydronephrosis, or a better assessment of the stenosis was possible with MRI, because of the avoidance of overshadowing of the affected bowel loop with MRI. A brilliant MR-tomographic imaging of the small bowel is possible under the condition, that the small bowel contrast is optimal. The ...
The paper studies subphrenic inflammatory abscesses and splenic fluid collections after splenectomy for trauma. These complications may appear early or late postoperatively; they are easily demonstrated with computerized tomography, which permits accurate spatial assessment of the lesions and appropriate treatment with percutaneous drainage. It has been also investigates the diagnostic accuracy of the CT in subphrenic inflammatory conditions after emergency splenectomy for traumatic spleen rupture and found that CT is a precious tool for rapid and easy diagnosis and follow-up of subphrenic abscesses treated with percutaneous drainage. [Italian] Scopo del lavoro e' di valutare il ruolo della tomografia computerizzata nelle flogrosi subfreniche secondarie a splenectomia d'urgenza per rottura traumatica della milza, documentando come tale metodica risulti accurata nel diagnosticare e monitorare in modo semplice e rapido ...
The purpose of this study is to develop a geometrically accurate imaging protocol at 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) treatment planning. In order to achieve this purpose, a methodology is developed to investigate the geometric accuracy and stability of 3 T MRI for SRS in phantom and patient evaluations. Forty patients were enrolled on a prospective clinical trial. After frame placement prior to SRS, each patient underwent 3 T MRI after 1.5 T MRI and CT. MR imaging protocols included a T1-weighted gradient echo sequence and a T2-weighted spin echo sequence. Phantom imaging was performed on 3 T prior to patient imaging using the same set-up and imaging protocols. Geometric accuracy in patients and phantoms yielded comparable results for external fiducial reference deviations and internal landmarks between 3 T and 1.5 T MRI ...
The high incidence and mortality rates of prostate cancer have stimulated research for prevention, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment. DNA ploidy status of tumour cells is an important parameter with diagnostic and prognostic significance. In the current study, DNA ploidy analysis was performed using image cytometry technique and digital image processing and analysis. Tissue samples from prostate patients were stained using the Feulgen method. Images were acquired using a digital imaging microscopy system consisting of an Olympus BX-50 microscope equipped with a color CCD camera. Segmentation of such images is not a trivial problem because of the uneven background, intensity variations within the nuclei and cell clustering. In this study specific algorithms were developed in Matlab based on the most prominent image segmentation ...
Medical imaging using single gamma-ray-emitting radionuclides typically makes use of parallel hole collimators or pinholes in order to achieve good spatial resolution. However, a tradeoff in sensitivity is inherent in the use of a collimator, and modern preclinical single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) systems detect a very small fraction of emitted gamma rays, often less than 0.1%. A system for small animal SPECT imaging which uses no collimators could potentially achieve very high sensitivity-several tens of percent-with reasonably sized detectors. This would allow two significant improvements in preclinical studies: images could be obtained more rapidly, allowing higher throughput for screening applications, or for dynamic processes to be observed with very good time resolution; and images could be obtained with less radioactive tracer, making possible the in vivo ...
The principle of radiodiagnosis consists in the fact the X-ray beam is attenuated at different degrees by distinct tissues. For this reason, the anatomical structures have distinct radiological opacities, that produce the radiographic image. The progresses in radiology are related to the development if new radiographic image formation systems that enable an amplification in the quality, with low dose and/or risk to the patient. The objective of this work is the sensitometric valuation of a screen-film combination, that is still the most used, for the standardization, of radiographic images. Thinking about this, were constructed homogeneous phantoms of the chest, skull and pelvis, for the calibration of X-ray beams, with the purpose of obtaining radiographic images of good quality, basing in the routine of a radiodiagnosis service and in the scientific knowledge. Questions were ...
Success in improving treatment outcomes in childhood cancer has been achieved almost exclusively through multicenter and multidisciplinary clinical and applied research over several decades. While biologically rational as well as empirical approaches have led to combination chemotherapy and multimodality approaches to therapy, which have given rise to evidence-based practice standards, similar scientific rigor has not always been as evidently applied to modalities utilized to assess initial disease burden and, more important, response to investigational approaches to therapy. As the empirical approach to therapeutic advances has likely maximized its benefit, future progress will require translation of biologic discovery most notably from the areas of genomics and proteomics. Hence, attempts to improve efficacy of therapy will require a parallel effort to minimize collateral damage of future therapeutic ...
Video images of laser beams imprinted with distinguishable features are used for alignment of 192 laser beams at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Algorithms designed to determine the position of these beams enable the control system to perform the task of alignment. Centroiding is a common approach used for determining the position of beams. However, real world beam images suffer from intensity fluctuation or other distortions which make such an approach susceptible to higher position measurement variability. Matched filtering used for identifying the beam position results in greater stability of position measurement compared to that obtained using the centroiding technique. However, this gain is achieved at the expense of extra processing time required for each beam image. In this work we explore the possibility of using a field programmable logic array (FPGA) to speed up ...
The book is intended as a source of information for general practioners and for medical students doing their practical training. Efficient application of imaging methods is explained with great emphasis on practical aspects, concentrating on typical tasks to be solved for adult patients with internal disease or surgical problems. The material is arranged by various organic systems of the body. Graded diagnostics for a stepwise approach to the final diagnosis is the concept described, and is shown to be of advantage to the patient and in terms of cost and time.
Supplementing the collection of artificial neural network methodologies devised for monitoring energy producing installations, a general regression artificial neural network is proposed for the identification of the two-phase flow that occurs in the coolant channels of boiling water reactors. The utilization of a limited number of image features derived from radiography images affords the proposed approach with efficiency and non-invasiveness. Additionally, the application of counter-clustering to the input patterns prior to training accomplishes an 80% reduction in network size as well as in training and test time. Cross-validation tests confirm accurate on-line flow regime identification.
Supplementing the collection of artificial neural network methodologies devised for monitoring energy producing installations, a general regression artificial neural network is proposed for the identification of the two-phase flow that occurs in the coolant channels of boiling water reactors. The utilization of a limited number of image features derived from radiography images affords the proposed approach with efficiency and non-invasiveness. Additionally, the application of counter-clustering to the input patterns prior to training accomplishes an 80% reduction in network size as well as in training and test time. Cross-validation tests confirm accurate on-line flow regime identification.
This paper describes new strategies for the brain-specific delivery of radionuclides that can be used to evaluate regional cerebral perfusion by single photon imaging techniques. A description of several examples of interesting new strategies that have recently been reported is presented. A new approach at this institution for the brain-specific delivery of radioiodinated iodophenylalkyl-substituted dihyronicotinamide systems is described which shows good brain uptake and retention in preliminary studies in rats. Following transport into the brain these agents appear to undergo facile intracerebral oxidation to the quaternized analogues which do not recross the intact blood-brain barrier and so are effectively trapped in the brain. 49 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.
The goals of this paper are to describe new strategies being pursued at several institutions for the brain-specific delivery of radionuclides that can be used to evaluate regional cerebral perfusion by single photon imaging techniques. A comprehensive review of the literature is beyond the scope of these proceedings and our goal is to, therefore, present a description of several examples of interesting new strategies that have recently been reported. In addition, the authors also describe a new approach being pursued at their institution for the brain-specific delivery of radioiodinated iodophenylaklyl-substituted dihydronicotiamide systems which shows good brain uptake and retention in preliminary studies in rats. Following transport into the brain these agents appear to undergo facile intracerebral oxidation to the quaternized analogues which do not cross the intact blood-brain-barrier and are effectively trapped in the brain.
Removing noise from data is often the first step in data analysis. Denoising techniques should not only reduce the noise, but do so without blurring or changing the location of the edges. Many approaches have been proposed to accomplish this; in this paper, they focus on one such approach, namely the use of non-linear diffusion operators. This approach has been studied extensively from a theoretical viewpoint ever since the 1987 work of Perona and Malik showed that non-linear filters outperformed the more traditional linear Canny edge detector. They complement this theoretical work by investigating the performance of several isotropic diffusion operators on test images from scientific domains. They explore the effects of various parameters such as the choice of diffusivity function, explicit and implicit methods for the discretization of the PDE, and approaches for the spatial ...
We investigated the efficacy of combined FDG-PET/CT imaging for the diagnosis of small-size uveal melanomas and the feasibility of combining separate, high-resolution (HR) FDG-PET with MRI for its improved localization and detection. Patients, methods: 3 patients with small-size uveal melanomas (0.2-1.5 ml) were imaged on a combined whole-body PET/CT, a HR brain-PET, and a 1.5 T MRI. Static, contrast-enhanced FDG-PET/CT imaging was performed of head and torso with CT contrast enhancement. HR PET imaging was performed in dynamic mode 0-180 min post-injection of FDG. MRI imaging was performed using a high-resolution small-loop-coil placed over the eye in question with T2-3D-TSE and T1-3D-SE with 18 ml Gd-contrast. Patients had their eyes shaded during the scans. Lesion visibility on high-resolution FDGPET images was graded for confidence: 1: none, 2: suggestive, ...
Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) with unique multi-photon excitation photoluminescence properties have recently been intensively explored as novel contrast agents for low-backgroundbiomedical imaging. In this work, we functionalize UCNPs with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) grafted amphiphilic polymer. The PEGylated UCNPs are loaded with a commonly used chemotherapy molecule, doxorubicin (DOX), by simple physical adsorption via a supramolecular chemistry approach for intracellular drug delivery. The loading and releasing of DOX from UCNPs are controlled by varying pH, with an increased drug dissociation rate in acidic environment, favorable for controlled drug release. Upconversion luminescence (UCL) imaging by a modified laser scanning confocal microscope reveals the time course of intracel...
The objective of this study was to develop full body CAD geometry of a seated 50th percentile male. Model development was based on medical image data acquired for this study, in conjunction with extensive data from the open literature. An individual (height, 174.9?cm, weight, 78.6???0.77?kg, and age 26?years) was enrolled in the study for a period of 4?months. 72 scans across three imaging modalities (CT, MRI, and upright MRI) were collected. The whole-body dataset contains 15,622 images. Over 300 individual components representing human anatomy were generated through segmentation. While the enrolled individual served as a template, segmented data were verified against, or augmented with, data from over 75 literature sources on the average morphology of the human body. Non-Uniform Rational...
Gold and silver nanoparticles display extraordinarily large apparent refractive indices near their plasmon resonance (PR) wavelengths. These nanoparticles show good contrast in a narrow spectral band but are poorly resolved at other wavelengths in differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy. The wavelength dependence of DIC contrast of gold/silver nanoparticles is interpreted in terms of Mie's theory and DIC working principles. We further exploit this wavelength dependence by modifying a DIC microscope to enable simultaneous imaging at two wavelengths. We demonstrate that gold/silver nanoparticles immobilized on the same glass slides through hybridization can be differentiated and imaged separately. High-contrast, video-rate images of living cells can be recorded both with and without illuminating the gold nanoparticle probes, providing definitive probe identification. Dual-wavelength DIC microscopy thus ...
Fifteen strains of CDC group 1 coryneform and biochemically similar bacteria were isolated from clinical specimens. Of the 15 strains isolated, 11 were derived from abscesses and purulent lesions, mostly...Full Text Available
The tapeworm Spirometra mansonoides infects man worldwide, particularly in Asian countries. Rarely, the central nervous system is involved; such a case is presented here. In the total of 12 reported cases, including the case described, the worm presented clinically as a mass suspicious for neoplasm or chronic abscess cavity. Surgical removal was invariably curative in each case. Although infrequent, the possibility of tapeworm infection should be entertained in the evaluation of intracranial masses in patients who have visited exotic locales. PMID:2191089
In order to analyze changes in human settlement in Xuzhou city during the past 20 years, changes in land cover and vegetation were investigated based on multi-temporal remote sensing Landsat TM images. We developed a hierarchical classifier system that uses different feature inputs for specific classes and conducted a classification post-processing approach to improve its accuracy. From our statistical analysis of changes in urban land cover from 1987 to 2007, we conclude that built-up land areas have obviously increased, while farmland has seen in a continuous loss due to urban growth and human activities. A NDVI difference approach was used to extract information on changes in vegetation. A false change information elimination approach was developed based on prior knowledge and statistic...
Colorectal carcinoma is a highly prevalent and common cause of cancer in Taiwan. There is still no available cure for this malignant disease. To address this issue, we applied the multimodality of molecular imaging to explore the efficacy of diagnostic and therapeutic nanoradiopharmaceuticals in an animal model of human colorectal adenocarcinoma [colorectal cancer (CRC)] that stably expresses luciferase (luc) as a reporter. In this study, an in vivo therapeutic efficacy evaluation of dual-nanoliposome (100 nm in diameter) encaged vinorelbine (VNB) and "1"1"1In-oxine on HT-29/luc mouse xenografts was carried out. HT-29/luc tumor cells were transplanted subcutaneously into male SCID mice. Multimodality of molecular imagingapproaches including bioluminescence imaging (BLI), gamma scintigraphy, whole-body autoradiography (WBAR) and in vivo tumor growth tracing, histopathology and biochemistry/hematology ...
27 cases including 7 outpatients, underwent intraarterial DSA using 4-F nylon catheter, by transbrachial arterial approach. Much of DSAs were performed in Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR), which has high spatial resolution. In all cases, image quality satisfied clinical demands. No major complication occured in this series. Transbrachial arterial digital subtraction angiography is excellent and safe method for screening of vascular disease. (author).
Ultrasound tomography is an attractive imaging method for the detection of breast cancer. The complex anatomy of the breast with its different spatial scales and material property contrasts make accurate reconstructions very challenging. This paper proposes a hybrid approach whereby Travel-of-Flight and Diffraction Tomography are combined together to achieve high-resolution and high-accuracy sound-speed reconstructions. The method is validated with several numerical phantoms.
Optical measurement of the Doppler shift of laser backscatter, using a near-IR, visible, or ultraviolet laser, is potentially more robust and field reliable than coherent, heterodyne measurement with an IR laser. The direct measurement of the displacement of Fabry-Perot interference fringes is possible, but entails expensive, technically challenging, imaging detectors. The 'edge technique' permits Doppler shift measurements with relatively simple detectors and detector electronics, and has been implemented with Fabry-Perot etalons and with atomic line filters. Simple analytical models of the fringe imaging and edge detection techniques are presented, permitting ready calculation of the potential performance of either, for various atmospheric conditions and for various lidar hardware configurations. The predictions of the analytical models are confirmed by computer models, which in turn allow more detailed considerations of complicating factors ...
Cardiac disease research relies increasingly on small animal models and non-invasive imaging methods such as positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DE-MRI) using gadolinium-based contrast agents appear to be a visualizing infracted myocardium with high spatial resolution. Polar map (or bull's-eye image) was used to determination of the myocardial infarction area. Polar map is a comprehensive interpretation of the left ventricle. The infarct size was computed as the fraction of the total polar map areas. The threshold was computed as the percentage of mean intensity of the normal region. In other study, 50% predefined threshold value in varying range (30?70%) was most commonly use. However, predefined threshold value isn't acceptance in all case. The purpose of this study was to investigate methodological ...
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a fully quantitative technology for imaging metabolic pathways and dynamic processes in vivo. Attenuation correction of raw PET data is a prerequisite for quantification and is typically based on separate transmission measurements. In PET/CT attenuation correction, however, is performed routinely based on the available CT transmission data. Recently, combined PET/magnetic resonance (MR) has been proposed as a viable alternative to PET/CT. Current concepts of PET/MRI do not include CT-like transmission sources and, therefore, alternative methods of PET attenuation correction must be found. This article reviews existing approaches to MR-based attenuation correction (MR-AC). Most groups have proposed MR-AC algorithms for brain PET studies and more recently also for torso PET/MR imaging. Most MR-AC strategies require the use of complementary MR and transmission images, ...
A variety of surveillance operations require the ability to track vehicles over a long period of time using sequences of images taken from a camera mounted on an airborne or similar platform. In order to be able to see and track a vehicle for any length of time, either a persistent surveillance imager is needed that can image wide fields of view over a long time-span or a highly maneuverable smaller field-of-view imager is needed that can follow the vehicle of interest. The algorithm described here was designed for the persistence surveillance case. In turns out that most vehicle tracking algorithms described in the literature[1,2,3,4] are designed for higher frame rates (> 5 FPS) and relatively short ground sampling distances (GSD) and resolutions ({approx} few cm to a couple tens of cm). But for our datasets, we are restricted to lower resolutions and GSD's ({ge}0.5 m) and limited ...
Complex abdominal lesions include a variety of pathologies, such as septated, infected, and hemorrhagic cysts, abscesses, tumors, and fluid collections of different ethiology. These lesions present diagnostic difficulties with both Ultrasonography (US) and Computed Tomography (CT), since findings may not be present or, when present, are not specific. Keeping these limitations in mind, we evaluated 105 patients (111 abdominal lesions) with both US and CT in order to compare their adequacy in predicting the nature of the lesion. On the basis of US and CT results, complex abdominal lesions were divided in four classes: class I includes 43 cases in which both examinations gave the same contribution to the definition of the nature of the lesion, class II (14 lesions, mainly sperimentated cysts), in which US was superior to CT, class III includes 45 cases of hemorrhagic cysts, abscesses, fluid collections and, less frequently, cystic tumors; class IV ...
Raytheon's Santa Barbara Remote Sensing (SBRS) division designed and built the MTSAT-1R Japanese Advanced Meteorological Imager for the Japanese Ministry of Transport between March, 1999 and July, 2002. In order to meet the stressing requirements of a geosynchronous orbit, a combination of structural, thermal, and optical (STOP) analyses were used to design and optimize the beryllium three-mirror anastigmat (TMA) telescope. This modeling approach was used to characterize and minimize the thermal distortion around local midnight. On-orbit temperatures and structural deformations were predicted using thermal Desktop/SINDA and PATRAN/NASTRAN software, respectively. The resulting optical performance was evaluated using Raytheon developed HEXAGON software. The telescope design was successfully optimized to attain specified visible channel performance for most of the 24 hour orbit.
This report summarizes the work done at the University of Massachusetts in the area of Image Understanding of static scene domains. The goal of this research project was to demonstrate a practical knowledge-based approach to computer vision that utilized multiple levels of parallel processing. Some problems dealt with included extracting lines, grouping together regions and lines from the same surface, computing pose from geometry, and matching corresponding features in different views. Special attention was also given to the extraction of curved lines and curved surfaces. The static scene domains consisted of both ROAD and HOUSE scenes, each containing approximately fourteen (14) different objects per scene.
Energy savings from the use of daylighting in commercial buildings are realized through implementation of photoelectric lighting controls that dim electric lights when sufficient daylight is available to provide adequate workplane illumination. The dimming level of electric lighting is based on the signal of a photosensor. Current simulation approaches for such systems are based on the questionable assumption that the signal of the photosensor is proportional to the task illuminance. This paper presents a method that simulates the performance of photosensor controls considering the acceptance angle, angular sensitivity, placement of the photosensor within a space, and color correction filter. The method is based on the multiplication of two fisheye images: one generated from the angular sensitivity of the photosensor and the other from a 180- or 360-degree fisheye image of the space as ''seen'' by the photosensor. The paper ...
We describe a position sensitive photon counting microchannel plate based detector with an improved quadrant anode (QA) readout system. The technique relies on a combination of the four planar elements pattern and an additional fifth electrode. The charge cloud induced by single particle detection is split between the electrodes. The measured charge values uniquely define the position of the initial event. QA has been first published in 1976 by Lampton and Malina. This anode configuration was undeservedly forgotten and its potential has been hardly underestimated. The presented approach extends the operating spatial range to the whole sensitive area of the microchannel plate surface and demonstrates good linearity over the field of view. Therefore, the novel image sensor results in spatial resolution better then 50?m and count rates up to one million events per second.
We describe a position sensitive photon counting microchannel plate based detector with an improved quadrant anode (QA) readout system. The technique relies on a combination of the four planar elements pattern and an additional fifth electrode. The charge cloud induced by single particle detection is split between the electrodes. The measured charge values uniquely define the position of the initial event. QA has been first published in 1976 by Lampton and Malina. This anode configuration was undeservedly forgotten and its potential has been hardly underestimated. The presented approach extends the operating spatial range to the whole sensitive area of the microchannel plate surface and demonstrates good linearity over the field of view. Therefore, the novel image sensor results in spatial...
For neutron radiography (NR), photographic techniques have been mainly used for many years. To observe a dynamic event and to test many samples, the real-time neutron radiography (i.e. neutron television - NTV) system has been introduced at the E-2 experimental tube of the Kyoto University Research Reactor (KUR). The NTV system has been practically applied to penetrating the side plates containing boron burnable poison to test MTR type reactor fuel, to investigation of moving objects and to neutron computed tomography (NCT). New approaches using some advanced neutron converters, a high sensitive and resolution TV camera and a high performance image processing system are being undertaken for standard indicators, visualization on air-water two-phase flow, NCT and so on. (author).
The recent acceleration of effort to elucidate and explore the coordination chemistry of technetium has been prompted mainly by the need for a new generation of radiotracers in nuclear medicine, preferentially for tomograhic studies. Current approaches and their limitations in designing "9"9"mTc complexes capable of penetrating cell membranes of the target organs, and remaining there sufficiently long, are reviewed. With the predominance of Tc(V) oxo compounds, especially for brain imaging agents, new N4 and N2S2 coordinate complexes have been developed by shifting from bidentate to tetradentate ligands with a variable side chain or other adjustable reactivity. The search for myocardial imaging agents has focused on a variety of mixed ligand complexes of Tc(III) and most promising [Tc(CNR)_6]"+ complexes of Tc(I). 64 refs. (author).
The combination of functional and morphological imaging technologies such as positron emission tomography (PET) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) has shown its value in the clinical and preclinical field. However, CT provides only very limited soft-tissue contrast and exposes the examined patient or laboratory animal to a high X-ray radiation dose. In comparison to CT, magnetic resonance tomography (MRI) provides excellent soft-tissue contrast and allows for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMRS) or functional MRI (fMRI). Thus, the combination of PET and MRI has been pursued for several years. First approaches have succeeded using conventional photo multiplier tube (PMT) technology together with light fibers to transfer scintillation light away from the high magnetic field. Latest...
Lung cancer staging according to the TNM system is based on morphological assessment of the primary cancer, lymph nodes and metastases. All aspects of this important oncological classification are measurable with MRI. Pulmonary nodules can be detected at the clinically relevant size of 4-5 mm in diameter. The extent of mediastinal, hilar and supraclavicular lymph node affection can be assessed at the same time. The predominant metastatic spread to the adrenal glands and spine can be detected in coronal orientation during dedicated MRI of the lungs. Search focused whole body MRI completes the staging. Various additional MR imaging techniques provide further functional and clinically relevant information during a single examination. In the oncological context the most important techniques are imaging of perfusion and tumor motion. Functional MRI of the lungs complements the pure staging and improves surgical approaches and ...
We present two cases of fetal neck masses that were initially diagnosed by ultrasound and further evaluated with prenatal MRI. MRI findings aided in further delineating the neck masses, increasing confidence in the final diagnosis (cervical teratoma and cystic hygroma). With the fetal airway typically filled with fluid that is of high signal on T2-weighted sequences, MRI images in three planes could identify whether the fetal larynx and trachea were partially or completely compressed by the neck tumor. This information was particularly useful in determining if a controlled delivery such as ex utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) was necessary and aided the surgeons in planning their approach to establishing airway control in the delivery room. (orig.)
Because of the superior tissue contrast, high spatial resolution, and multiplanar capabilities, fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can depict fetal brain pathologies with high accuracy. Pathological fetal brain development may result from malformations or acquired conditions. Differentiation of these etiologies is important with respect to managing the actual pregnancy or counseling future pregnancies. As a widened ventricular system is a common hallmark of both maldevelopment and acquired conditions, it may cause problems in the differential diagnosis. Fetal MRI can provide detailed morphological information, which allows refinement of the diagnosis of ventricular enlargement in a large number of cases. Systematic work-up of morphological details that may be recognized on MR images provides an approach for achieving a correct diagnosis in cases of ventricle enlargement. (orig.)
The PLANCK SURVEYOR is a European Space Agency satellite mission to image the very faint anisotropies in the temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. Maynooth is actively participating in an international collaboration of scientists involved with the optical design of the High Frequency Instrument (HFI). This paper outlines research which has been undertaken in Maynooth concerned with numerical modelling of the optical characteristics of the multi-frequency array of detectors making up the HFI instrument. In the study the commercial software package ZEMAX was used to model the coupling of the focal plane HFI detectors to the PLANCK telescope. This package is particularly useful in the optical design of PLANCK because of the powerful optimisation features of the software. It is thus possible to readily determine the optimum positioning of the detectors in the focal plane of the telescope. Although the package is based on a numerical ray ...
The study reports ultrasonography and computerise tomography findings in 16 patients with amoebic abscesses, 12 of whom lived in a temperate peripheral area north-east of Naples (Italy). All patients have a clinical-diagnostic condition called sub-urban amoebiasis. The personal experience with the US guided therapeutic drainage of amoebic abscess with repeated cavity washing, which is important for positive parasitology. Combined US and CT assessment facilitated the diagnosis of amoebiasis and its differentiation from pyogenic abscess and hepatoma. [Italian] La colonizzazione epatica rappresenta la localizzazione piu' comune dell'amebiasi extraintestinale e gli ascessi epatici ne costituiscono la manifestazione piu' frequente sviluppandosi nel 3-9 % dei pazienti affetti da infezione parassitaria. Diversi studi confermano che la terapia medica dell'amebiasi risulta piu' efficace ...
The high spatial resolution of state-of-the-art commercial satellite imagery provides a good basis for recognising and monitoring even small-scale structural changes within nuclear facilities and for planning of routine and/or challenge inspections of nuclear sites. Despite the advantages of the improved spatial resolution some problems exist that may make the interpretation of the changes more difficult: Firstly, the results of the change analysis can be very complex and unclear at a glance. Secondly, shadow formation and off-nadir images due to different sensor and solar conditions at the acquisition times can cause false signals or overlap real changes. In view to the fast-growing amount of data from different sensor types there are then some requirements of an effective change detection procedure for safeguards purposes: i. The techniques involved should possess a certain amount of robustness in terms of small misregistration errors, different atmospheric ...
Purpose/Objective: At present, treatment verification between portal and reference images is performed based on manually-identified features by radiation oncologist, which is both time-consuming and potentially error-prone. There is a demand for the computerized verification procedure in clinical application. The purpose of this study is to develop a computerized portal verification scheme for pelvic treatment fields. Materials/Methods: The automated verification system involves image acquisition, image feature extraction, feature matching between reference and portal images and quantitative evaluation of patient setup. Electronic portal images with a matrix size of 256 x 256 and 12 bit gray levels were acquired using a liquid matrix electronic portal imaging device. Simulation images were acquired by digitizing simulation films using a TV ...
In this paper, we propose a method based on the Laplacian in the frequency domain for video text detection. Unlike many other approaches which assume that text is horizontally-oriented, our method is able to handle text of arbitrary orientation. The input image is first filtered with Fourier-Laplacian. K-means clustering is then used to identify candidate text regions based on the maximum difference. The skeleton of each connected component helps to separate the different text strings from each other. Finally, text string straightness and edge density are used for false positive elimination. Experimental results show that the proposed method is able to handle graphics text and scene text of both horizontal and nonhorizontal orientation. PMID:20733217
Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of {beta}-amyloid (A{beta}) plaques in the brain is a potentially valuable tool for studying the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It may also be applicable for measuring the effectiveness of therapeutic drugs aimed at lowering A{beta} plaques in the brain. We have successfully reported a series of {sup 18}F-labeled fluoropegylated stilbenes for PET imaging studies. Encouraging results clearly demonstrated the usefulness of {sup 18}F-labeled stilbenes as potential A{beta} plaque-imaging agents. In the present study, we applied a similar approach to a styrylpyridine backbone structure. Among all derivatives examined (E)-2-(2-(2-(2-fluoroethoxy)ethoxy)ethoxy)-5-(4-dimethylaminostyryl) -pyridine (2) displayed high binding affinity in postmortem AD brain homogenates (K {sub i}=2.5{+-}0.4 nM, with [{sup 125}I]IMPY as radioligand). ...
The full text follows. A thermal neutron imaging facility (TNIF) capable of real time neutron radiography and computed tomography was developed for the University of Texas TRIGA Mark II (UT-TRIGA) reactor from 1994-1998. The facility was developed with a through reactor beam port capable of producing a 5.2 x 10{sup 6} n/cm{sup 2}/s thermal neutron flux with a gamma dose rate of less than 1 mR/s after collimation. The original TNIF included the UT-TRIGA reactor, neutron collimation array, sample positioning system, neutron image intensifier tube, video camera, computerized image acquisition system, and a radiation shield. A 0.7 mm slit in cadmium was easily detectable using neutron radiography, and 1.4 mm diameter holes bored in an aluminum block were easily resolved using computed neutron tomography. Precise lower limits of the system resolution have hot been determined. The TNIF is currently being revamped to begin work ...
An exhaustive compendium of normal and abnormal imaging is presented. The following systems and procedures are illustrated by over 2800 captioned illustrations: liver, spleen, and hepatobiliary imaging; perfusion and ventilation lung imaging; thyroid imaging; salivary gland imaging; bone imaging; brain imaging; radionuclide cisternography; blood flow studies; gallium imaging; nuclear cardiology; and renal imaging. Not included in the atlas are adrenal imaging procedures and emission computed tomography. (ERB)
Pinta is a system for segmentation and visualization of anatomical structures obtained from serial sections reconstructed from magnetic resonance imaging. The system approaches the segmentation problem by assigning each volumetric region to an anatomical structure. This is accomplished by satisfying constraints at the pixel level, slice level, and volumetric level. Each slice is represented by an attributed graph, where nodes correspond to regions and links correspond to the relations between regions. These regions are obtained by grouping pixels based on similarity and proximity. The slice level attributed graphs are then coerced to form a volumetric attributed graph, where volumetric consistency can be verified. The main novelty of our approach is in the use of the volumetric graph to ensure consistency from symbolic representations obtained from individual slices. In this fashion, the system allows errors to be made at ...
Fabrication of diffused titanium optical guides on a LiNbO/sub 3/ crystal substrate requires precise quality assurance. Light couplers in particular must be positioned within micron specifications. This requirement is the reason that the width of lines detected during microscopic inspection of the crystal is such an important parameter for quality evaluation. To assist in the inspection of these optical guides, a line width estimation program has been developed for an IBM PC based microscope inspection system. A digital image processing approach is used to develop an algorithm which can be tailored by the user for specific signal and noise characteristics. Default filter parameters, which can be updated and saved interactively by the user, are stored in a file on disk. The final program can be executed stand-alone or through a commercially available, menu-driven, image processing software package. Details concerning the ...
The video documents the results of a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR-Phase II) project conducted for DARPA focusing on the use of all-source overhead remote sensor imagery for monitoring underground nuclear tests and related activities. The documentation includes: (1) the main unclassified body of the report; (2) a separate ground truth Annex; and (3) a separate classified Annex. Autometric's approach was to investigate the exploitation potential of the various sensors, especially the fusion of products from them in combination with each other and other available collateral data. This approach featured empirical analyses of multisensor/multispectral imagery and collateral data collected before, during, and after an actual underground nuclear test (named 'BEXAR'). Advanced softcopy digital image processing and hardcopy image interpretation techniques were investigated ...
Both the increased complexity of integrated circuits, resulting in six or more levels of integration, and the increasing use of flip-chip packaging have driven the development of integrated circuit (IC) failure analysis tools that can be applied to the backside of the chip. Among these new approaches are focused ion beam (FIB) tools and processes for performing chip edits/repairs from the die backside. This paper describes the use of backside FIB for a failure analysis application rather than for chip repair. Specifically, they used FIB technology to prepare an IC for inspection of voided metal interconnects (lines) and vias. Conventional FIB milling was combined with a super-enhanced gas assisted milling process that uses XeF{sub 2} for rapid removal of large volumes of bulk silicon. This combined approach allowed removal of the TiW underlayer from a large number of Ml lines simultaneously, enabling rapid localization and plan view ...
Problems of classification and regression estimation in which objects are represented by multidimensional arrays of features are considered. Many practical statements can be reduced to such problems, for example, the popular approach to the description of images as a set of patches and a set of descriptors in each patch or the description of an object in the form of a set of distances from it to certain support objects selected based on a set of features. For solving problems concerning the objects thus described, a generalization of the relevance vector model is proposed. In this generalization, specific regularization coefficients are defined for each dimension of the multidimensional array of the object description; the resultant regularization coefficient for a given element in the mul...
we report an ultrafast synchrotron x-ray phase contrast imaging study of the primary breakup mechanism of a coaxial air-assisted water jet. We demonstrate that there exist great similarities in the phenomenology of primary breakup with that of the secondary breakup. Especially, a membrane-mediated breakup mechanism dominates the breakup process for a wide range of air speeds. This finding reveals the intrinsic connections of these two breakup regimes and has deep implications on the unified theoretical approach in treating the breakup mechanism of high speed liquid jet.
We have developed a novel laser ray-tracing method to measure aberrations in optical systems. It consists of delivering narrow laser pencils (by a laser scanner), recording the spots that are formed on the image plane (with a CCD camera), and computing the position of each centroid. This approach could be considered an experimental (approximate) implementation of standard numerical ray tracing. Several tests and experiments, including a direct comparison with a Hartmann-Shack wave-front sensor, provided highly satisfactory results that confirmed the validity of the method and revealed potential advantages. PMID:18073906
The goals of this paper are to describe the fabrication and complete evaluation of a dihydropyridine <- -> pyridinium salt type redox system for the delivery of radioiodinated agents to the brain. Tissue distribution studies of "1"2"5I-labeled 4-iodoaniline and the redox agents were performed in rats. ["1"2"5I]Iodoaniline initially showed moderate brain uptake with subsequent release of the radioactivity from the brain. ["1"2"5I]Iodoaniline, however, when coupled to a dihydropyridine carrier showed significantly higher uptake and retention in the brain. (author).
We have investigated the nanotexture and crystallographic orientation of aragonite in a coral skeleton using synchrotron-based scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Polarization-dependent STXM imaging at 40-nm spatial resolution was used to obtain an orientation map of the c-axis of aragonite on a focused ion beam milled ultrathin section of a Porites coral. This imaging showed that one of the basic units of coral skeletons, referred to as the center of calcification (COC), consists of a cluster of 100-nm aragonite globules crystallographically aligned over several micrometers with a fan-like distribution and with the properties of single crystals at the mesoscale. The remainder of the skeleton consists of aragonite single-crystal fibers in crystallographic continuity with the nanoglobules comprising the COC. Our observation provides information on the nm-scale processes that led to biomineral ...
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has rapidly attained a major position among the examinations used in the diagnostic approach of multiple sclerosis because it is highly sensitive in demonstrating lesions. However, these lesional images may have several meanings, and there is the problem of distinguishing between oedema, which is said to reflect recent lesions, and gliosis which is thought to betray old lesions. The intrinsic MRI parameters studied (i.e. relaxation times) are unable to make this distinction, whereas it is provided by paramagnetic contrast media such as gadolinium. There is no correlation between the changes observed at MRI and the severity of the disease. Another problem is the accuracy of lesion localization, since visualization is predominantly macroscopic. This raises several questions about the demonstration of correlations between clinical signs and site of the lesion(s). At the moment, several teams of ...
To analyze and review the most common focal lesions of the external auditory canal (EAC), describing the computed tomography (CT) findings. The CT images of EAC were reviewed in a series of 167 patients. Abnormal findings were recorded in 13 cases. The CT images were correlated with otoscopic and/or intraoperative findings. There were four cases of osteoma (one located outside the EAC); all of which were treated surgically, as was the one case of exostosis. Six patients presented debris in EAC, coinciding with clinical evidence of external otitis. There were two cholesteatomas derived from EAC, one of them secondary to survery to treat osteoma. On patient was diagnosed as having a basal cell carcinoma of the ear, extending to EAC, but refused to undergo surgery. Five patients presented small triangular laminae of dense bone arising from the upper wall of the EAC which were defined as abnormal variants of the fusion of the temporal squamous ...
A first-principles task-based approach to the design of medical ultrasonic imaging systems for breast lesion discrimination is described. This study explores a new approximation to the ideal Bayesian observer strategy that allows for object heterogeneity. The new method, called iterative Wiener filtering, is implemented using echo data simulations and a phantom study. We studied five lesion features closely associated with visual discrimination for clinical diagnosis. A series of human observer measurements for the same image data allowed us to quantitatively compare alternative beamforming strategies through measurements of visual discrimination efficiency. Employing the Smith-Wagner model observer, we were able to breakdown efficiency estimates and identify the processing stage at which performance losses occur. The methods were implemented using a commercial scanner and a cyst phantom to explore development of spatial ...
Accurate lung tumor tracking in real time is a keystone to image-guided radiotherapy of lung cancers. Existing lung tumor tracking approaches can be roughly grouped into three categories: (1) deriving tumor position from external surrogates; (2) tracking implanted fiducial markers fluoroscopically or electromagnetically; (3) fluoroscopically tracking lung tumor without implanted fiducial markers. The first approach suffers from insufficient accuracy, while the second may not be widely accepted due to the risk of pneumothorax. Previous studies in fluoroscopic markerless tracking are mainly based on template matching methods, which may fail when the tumor boundary is unclear in fluoroscopic images. In this paper we propose a novel markerless tumor tracking algorithm, which employs the correlation between the tumor position and surrogate anatomic features in the image. The positions of ...
The purpose of this study was to assess experimentally and clinically the usefulness of Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR) in angiographic examinations. FCR had a spatial resolution with much lower X-ray exposure doses, although the resolution of FCR was generally inferior to conventional films. When a contrast medium of 1% iodine concentration was used, FCR pinpointed a mass 1.5 mm in diameter; and conventional film could detect a mass 2.2 mm in diameter. The contrast of iodine in FCR examinations was stable. A high sensitivity of imaging plate allowed a wide range of visualization. In 148 selective angiographic examinatinons for 138 patients, FCR-subtraction images were superior to conventional film angiography for contrast resolution; it had a high sensitivity in detecting areas, such as the mediastimun and left lobe of the liver, and tumor stains in capillary phase. The capability of FCR arteriogram was as good as film arteriogram even with a ...
The purpose of this study was to assess experimentally and clinically the usefulness of Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR) in angiographic examinations. FCR had a spatial resolution with much lower X-ray exposure doses, although the resolution of FCR was generally inferior to conventional films. When a contrast medium of 1% iodine concentration was used, FCR pinpointed a mass 1.5 mm in diameter; and conventional film could detect a mass 2.2 mm in diameter. The contrast of iodine in FCR examinations was stable. A high sensitivity of imaging plate allowed a wide range of visualization. In 148 selective angiographic examinatinons for 138 patients, FCR-subtraction images were superior to conventional film angiography for contrast resolution; it had a high sensitivity in detecting areas, such as the mediastimun and left lobe of the liver, and tumor stains in capillary phase. The capability of FCR arteriogram was as good as film arteriogram even with a ...
... Title : Optical Images Due to Lenses and Mirrors. ... Abstract : The properties of real and virtual images formed by lenses and mirrors are reviewed. ...
ICP emission analyses are prone to errors due to changes in power level, nebulization rate, plasma temperature, and sample matrix. As a result, accurate analyses of complex samples often require frequent bracketing with matrix matched standards. Information needed to track and correct the matrix errors is contained in the emission spectrum. But most commercial software packages use only the analyte line emission to determine concentrations. Changes in plasma temperature and the nebulization rate are reflected by changes in the hydrogen line widths, the oxygen emission, and neutral ion line ratios. Argon and off-line emissions provide a measure to correct the power level and the background scattering occurring in the polychromator. The authors` studies indicated that changes in the intensity of the Ar 404.4 nm line readily flag most matrix and plasma condition modifications. Carbon lines can be used to monitor the impact of organics on the analyses and calcium and argon lines can be ...
A large part of mechanical and durability characteristics of cement-based materials comes from the performances of the hydrated cement, cohesive matrix surrounding the granular skeleton. Experimental studies, in situ or in laboratory, associated to models, have notably enhanced knowledge on the cement material and led to adapted formulations to specific applications or particularly aggressive environments. Nevertheless, these models, developed for precise cases, do not permit to specifically conclude for other experimental conclusions. To extend its applicability domain, we propose a new evolutive approach, based on reactive transport expressed at the microstructure scale of the cement. In a general point of view, the evolution of the solid compounds of the cement matrix, by dissolutions or precipitations, during chemical aggressions can be related to the pore solution evolution, and this one relied to the ionic exchanges with the external environment. By the ...
Pyogenic sacroiliitis is a rare entity in children. Diagnosis is often delayed because of its variable clinical presentation, low suspicion by the examining physician, and rare findings on radiographs. Delayed diagnosis, however, results in complications such as iliopsoas abscess. We report the case of a 12-year-old girl hospitalized with a 21-day history of fever, pain in the left iliac fossa, and flexion contracture of the hip. On examination, she had fever (38.9 ^oC), psoitis, localized tenderness at the left sacroiliac joint, and pain elicited by lateral compression of the pelvis. The abdominal examination was normal. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 130mm in the first hour, C-reactive protein was 186mg/l, and the white blood cell count was 18,400/mm^3, with 79% neutrophils. Urin...
Low resolution visual polarimetric photographic imagery of the Galveston Bay oil spill from a tanker accident on July 28, 1990 was obtained and analyzed. The low resolution imagery (30 to 100 meters) was obtained concurrently with high resolution (1 meter), and is representative of what would be seen by a polarimetric satellite. Orthogonal red-green-blue (RGB) polarimetric images obtained with color photography were digitized by KODALUX on to a CD ROM. These polarimetric images were then used to calculate the percent polarization. The positive and negative percent polarized radiation scattered by each of the sea surface waves is seen individually in high resolution imagery. (Percent polarization is defined as positive when the dominant radiation is perpendicular to the plane of incidence and negative when it is parallel). The analysis of low resolution polarimetry is approached in a different manner than high resolution; in ...
Field emitter devices are being developed for the gigatron, a high-efficiency, high frequency and high power microwave source. One approach being investigated is porous silicon, where a dense matrix of nanoscopic pores are galvanically etched into a silicon surface. In the present paper pore morphologies were used to characterize these materials. Using of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) images of both N-type and P-type porous layers, it is found that pores propagate along the <100> crystallographic direction, perpendicular to the surface of (100) silicon. Distinct morphologies were observed systematically near the surface, in the main bulk and near the bottom of N-type (100) silicon lift-off samples. It is seen that the pores are not cylindrical but exhibit more or less approximately square cross sections. X-ray diffraction spectra and electron diffraction patterns verified that bulk porous ...
This report of progress and future objectives timetable is based on an included schematic of goals and objectives and the project abstract which is included as Appendix 1. Five matters are summarized in the order of (1) novel methods of calcified bone confocal microscopy and reconstruction image analysis of decalcified beagle and human cortical bone serial sections, (2) macroscopic cross-correlation of beagle and human cortical and cancellous bone fractions with CT analysis, (3) guidance to the most radiobiologically important skeletal regions of interest with the just completed {sup 90}Sr bone tumor map from life time beagle studies, (4) deposition patterns of radioactive agents that participate in apatite crystal nucleation processes in bone and leave radiation-excited electrons trapped in bone mineral, and (5) the budget period timetable. The discovery that beta particles from {sup 166}Ho (T{sub {1/2}} =26 hr, {beta}{sub max} = 1.8 MeV) phosphonic acid bone ...
The combination of functional and morphological imaging technologies such as positron emission tomography (PET) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) has shown its value in the clinical and preclinical field. However, CT provides only very limited soft-tissue contrast and exposes the examined patient or laboratory animal to a high X-ray radiation dose. In comparison to CT, magnetic resonance tomography (MRI) provides excellent soft-tissue contrast and allows for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMRS) or functional MRI (fMRI). Thus, the combination of PET and MRI has been pursued for several years. First approaches have succeeded using conventional photo multiplier tube (PMT) technology together with light fibers to transfer scintillation light away from the high magnetic field. Latest PET/MRI developments use solid-state light detectors that can be operated even at high magnetic fields. Initial pilot studies with prototype animal PET/MRI ...
Theoretical prediction of nuclear masses is analyzed as a pattern recognition problem on the N-Z plane. A global pattern is observed by plotting the differences between measured masses and Liquid Drop Model (LDM) predictions. After unfolding the data by removing the smooth LDM mass contributions, the remaining microscopic effects have proved difficult to model, although they display a striking pattern. These deviations carry information related to shell closures, nuc]ear deformation and the residual nuclear interactions. In the present work the more than 2000 known nuclear masses are studied as an array in the N-Z plane viewed through a mask, behind which the approximately 7000 unknown unstable nuclei that can exist between the proton and neutron drip lines are hidden. We show here that employing a Fourier transform deconvolution method these by masses can be predicted with similar accuracy than standard methods. We believe that a more general approach needs to be ...
Theoretical prediction of nuclear masses is analyzed as a pattern recognition problem on the N-Z plane. A global pattern is observed by plotting the differences between measured masses and Liquid Drop Model (LDM) predictions. After unfolding the data by removing the smooth LDM mass contributions, the remaining microscopic effects have proved difficult to model, although they display a striking pattern. These deviations carry information related to shell closures, nuc]ear deformation and the residual nuclear interactions. In the present work the more than 2000 known nuclear masses are studied as an array in the N-Z plane viewed through a mask, behind which the approximately 7000 unknown unstable nuclei that can exist between the proton and neutron drip lines are hidden. We show here that employing a Fourier transform deconvolution method these by masses can be predicted with similar accuracy than standard methods. We believe that a more general approach needs to be ...
A computer-aided detection (CAD) system was evaluated for its ability to detect microcalcifications and masses on images obtained with a digital phase-contrast mammography (PCM) system, a system characterised by the sharp images provided by phase contrast and by the high resolution of 25-{mu}m-pixel mammograms. Fifty abnormal and 50 normal mammograms were collected from about 3,500 mammograms and printed on film for reading on a light box. Seven qualified radiologists participated in an observer study based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The average of the areas under ROC curve (AUC) values for the ROC analysis with and without CAD were 0.927 and 0.897 respectively (P = 0.015). The AUC values improved from 0.840 to 0.888 for microcalcifications (P = 0.034) and from 0.947 to 0.962 for masses (P = 0.025) respectively. The application of CAD to the PCM system is a promising approach for the detection of ...
Acceptance testing of mammographic imaging systems technical is the first approach in order to guarantee that mammograms will be achieved with the minimum radiation dose compatible with an image quality suitable for diagnose purposes. The aim of this study is to assess the practical applicability of different protocols in acceptance test of digital mammographic systems. This study has been carried out on the results of the acceptance tests of five flat panel digital mammographic systems. Parameters established in the systems technical specifications and those evaluated in the consulted protocols were tested. Due to the fact that the legislation in our country does not demand to consider a specific protocol, the results obtained were also compared considering different existing protocols. Results show discrepancies between manufacturers limiting values and those established in the protocols. Some parameters, such as the ...
Biofuels may contribute to both rural economic development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Gota Verde Project in Yoro, Honduras, attempts to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of small-scale biofuel production for local use by implementing a distinctive approach to feedstock production that encourages small farm sizes, mixed cropping of biofuel feedstock from Jatropha and food crops, particularly corn and beans, grown side by side on the same farmland and the total involvement of small rural farmers. But is the project sustainable? Using EC-Assess, the Earth Charter ethics-based assessment tool, to assess the sustainability of this project, the author found that in some assessment categories the actions surpassed the intended objectives, showing that the project was achieving certain Earth Charter goals without specifically stating its intention to address them. (Contains 3 images, 3 figures and 2 notes.)
In a forthcoming paper we describe a new approach to rapidity gap survival (RGS) in the production of high-mass systems (H = dijet, Higgs, etc.) in exclusive double-gap diffractive pp scattering, pp -> p + H + p. It is based on the idea that hard and soft interactions are approximately independent (QCD factorization), and allows us to calculate the RGS probability in a model-independent way in terms of the gluon generalized parton distributions (GPDs) in the colliding protons and the pp elastic scattering amplitude. Here we focus on the transverse momentum dependence of the cross section. By measuring the ''diffraction pattern'', one can perform detailed tests of the interplay of hard and soft interactions, and even extract information about the gluon GPD in the proton from the data.
In this paper we present the results of our analyses of multidiurnal low-resolution Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) thermal data for coal fire-related thermal anomaly detection. Results are presented for data of the Jharia coal mining region of India. We combine three relatively new approaches: first, we use low-resolution MODIS data for coal fire area analyses, which has only been undertaken by a few authors. Second, we analyse data from four different times of day (morning, afternoon, evening and predawn) and for three different bands (MODIS bands 20, 32 and a ratio thereof); and third, we use an unbiased automated algorithm for thermal anomaly extraction of local thermal anomalies. The MODIS data analysed stem from the years 2001 and 2005. In 2001, MODIS data were ...
Current medical visualization technology intended for positional guidance in surgical applications may only ever have limited utility in the operating room due to the preexisting visual requirements of surgical practice. Additionally, visual systems impose limits as a result of their high latency, poor image resolution, problems with stereopsis and physical strain upon the user. Audio technology is relatively unexamined in the broad range of available methodologies for medical devices. The potential to translate surgical instrument position into audio feedback presents a novel solution to the human factors and engineering problems faced by visual display technology because audio technology employs a rich and as yet unburdened sensory modality. We describe an experimental system we have developed for investigating this new interface design approach using commercially available hardware. PMID:10173065
Purpose - This paper aims to discuss the procedures and methods developed at Washington State University to digitize and make accessible historic moving images. Design/methodology/approach - The paper describes the selection and the use of low-cost technologies to transfer analog film to digital formats. Issues related to the conversion, description, and online hosting of digital films are also addressed. Findings - Though the steps involved in digitizing film are not trivial, the benefits of access both for the public and archives staff outweigh the expense and labor involved. The procedures described in this paper involve low upfront costs and are sustained through cost recovery fees. Research limitations/implications - The focus of this paper is on managing, describing, and providing on...
In this paper we present the results of time series analysis for a coal mining region based on partial unmixing. We test the method also known as mixture tuned matched filtering on an eight image Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+ time series covering the period from 1987 to 2003. Common change detection methods often include the comparison of two interactively generated classification results, such as derived from Maximum Likelihood classification. These approaches often yield highly accurate results. However, disadvantages include a strong analyst bias and hardly repeatable results. For a quantitative monitoring of a single surface class' development over time they are often not recommendable. Our goal was to test an unbiased quantitative way to assess the development of coal surfaces, such...
Grating cloaks are a variation of dielectric carpet (or ground- plane) cloaks. The latter were introduced by Li and Pendry. In contrast to the numerical work involved in the quasi-conformal carpet cloak, the refractive-index profile of a conformal grating cloak follows a closed and exact analytical form. We have previously mentioned that finite-size conformal grating cloaks may exhibit better cloaking than usual finite-size carpet cloaks. In this letter, we directly visualize their performance using photorealistic ray-tracing simulations. We employ a Newtonian approach that is advantageous compared to conventional ray tracing based on Snell's law. Furthermore, we quantify the achieved cloaking quality by computing the cross-correlations of rendered images. The cross-correlations for the grating cloak are much closer to 100% (i.e., ideal) than those for the Gaussian carpet cloak.
Scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) was used to map thermal conductivity images in an ultrafine-grained copper surface layer produced by surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). It is found that the deformed surface layer shows different thermal conductivities that strongly depend on the grain size of the microstructure: the thermal conductivity of the nanostructured surface layer decreases obviously when compared with that of the coarse-grained matrix of the sample. The role of the grain boundaries in thermal conduction is analyzed in correlation with the heat conduction mechanism in pure metal. A theoretical approach, based on this investigation, was used to calculate the heat flow from the probe tip to the sample and then estimate the thermal conductivities at different scanning positions. Experimental results and theoretical calculation demonstrate that SThM can be used as a tool for the thermal property and microstructural analysis of ...
Chose the arid interior district Shiyang River basin four issues of Landsat/TM images from 1986 to 2006 to visually interpret, and analyze the natural succession of ecological environment and the landscape pattern characteristic under the human activity interference. The results showed that in past 20years, the number of landscape patch has increased, but the average patch size was decreasing, which explained that the landscape fragmentation degree was increasing, the landscape integrity was declining. The edge density of landscape remained invariable basically, which explained its stability maintained good. The diversity and evenness index continually enhanced, the diversity increased from 0.73 in 1986 to 0.84 in 2006. The mean core patch area of study area reduced from134.47hm2 in 1994 t...
One of the salient features of human perception is its invariance under dilatation in addition to the Euclidean group, but its non-invariance under special conformal transformation. We investigate a holographic approach to the information processing in image discrimination with this feature. We claim that a strongly coupled analogue of the statistical model proposed by Bialek and Zee can be holographically realized in scale invariant but non-conformal Euclidean geometries. We identify the Bayesian probability distribution of our generalized Bialek-Zee model with the GKPW partition function of the dual gravitational system. We provide a concrete example of the geometric configuration based on a vector condensation model coupled with the Euclidean Einstein-Hilbert action. From the proposed geometry, we study sample correlation functions to compute the Bayesian probability distribution.
Strong gravitational lensing of an extended object is described by a mapping from source to image coordinates that is nonlinear and cannot generally be inverted analytically. Determining the structure of the source intensity distribution also requires a description of the blurring effect due to a point spread function. This initial study uses an iterative gravitational lens modeling scheme based on the semilinear method to determine the linear parameters (source intensity profile) of a strongly lensed system. Our 'matrix-free' approach avoids construction of the lens and blurring operators while retaining the least squares formulation of the problem. The parameters of an analytical lens model are found through nonlinear optimization by an advanced genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimizer (PSO). These global optimization routines are designed to explore the parameter space thoroughly, mapping model degeneracies in detail. We develop a ...
The approval (2003) and enforcement (2005) of a smoking ban in Italy have been viewed by many as an unexpectedly successful example of policy change. The present paper, by applying a processualist approach, concentrates on two policy cycles between 2000 and 2005. These had opposing outcomes: an incomplete decisional stage and an authoritative decision, enforced two years later. Through the analysis of the different phases of agenda setting, alternative specification and decision making, we have compared the quality of participation of policy entrepreneurs in the two cycles, their political strategies and, in these, the relevance of issue image. The case allows us to direct the attention of scholars and practitioners to an early phase of the policy implementation process - which we have nam...
ABSTRACT Crack tip opening angle (CTOA) is becoming one of the most accepted methods for characterizing fully plastic fracture. It provides a measure of the resistance to fracture for a material in cases where there is a large degree of stable-tearing crack extension during the fracture process. Our current pipeline research uses the CTOA test as an alternative, or addition, to the CTOD (crack tip opening displacement) and the fracture energy characterization provided by the J-integral approach. A test technique was developed for measurement of CTOA that uses a modified double cantilever beam (MDCB) specimen. A digital camera and image analysis software were used to record the progression of the crack tip and to estimate the CTOA. In this article, CTOA data on crack growth orientations per...
This article explores composition skills and modalities for locative, multimedia texts by reporting experiences from a locative iPhone application that plays church music and explains that music's history in churches in Rome, Italy. Using a research by design approach, we did three rounds of observation, paper sketches, and user testing of prototypes. We found that an effective locative text must be adapted to the place in which it is intended to be experienced. The locative text must be specific, possibly referring to what the audience can see or experience at the place, and thus it is important to know how people usually behave in that particular place. Images are of little relevance in a mobile guide, except for exterior shots, which may help users to locate interesting buildings. Sound...
Heterogeneous anisotropic diffusion problems arise in the various areas of science and engineering including plasma physics, petroleum engineering, and image processing. Standard numerical methods can produce spurious oscillations when they are used to solve those problems. A common approach to avoid this difficulty is to design a proper numerical scheme and/or a proper mesh so that the numerical solution validates the discrete counterpart (DMP) of the maximum principle satisfied by the continuous solution. A well known mesh condition for the DMP satisfaction by the linear finite element solution of isotropic diffusion problems is the non-obtuse angle condition that requires the dihedral angles of mesh elements to be non-obtuse. In this paper, a generalization of the condition, the so-called anisotropic non-obtuse angle condition, is developed for the finite element solution of heterogeneous anisotropic diffusion problems. The new condition is ...
A prospective comparative study with pathology was performed to assess the clinical value of Computed Tomography (CT) and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) for nodal staging in lung cancer. A total of 329 nodal stations were dissected or sampled and 755 lymph nodes were examined at histology. On a pre-station basis, CT had greater sensitivity (74%) than EUS (56%), but EUS was more specific (83% versus 93%). The accuracy rates of the two techniques were similar. In conclusion, endoscopic ultrasound should be part of a routine preoperative diagnostic approach to non-small-cell lung cancer., because of its high specificity. Results can be improved when EUS and CT are combined., which suggests that these imaging modalities should be used together in selected patients for the noninvasive staging of non-small-cell lung cancer to identify local lymphatic spread.
We propose a combined experimental (Atomic Force Microscopy) and theoretical study of the structural and dynamical properties of nucleosomes. In contrast to biochemical approaches, this method allows to determine simultaneously the DNA complexed length distribution and nucleosome position in various contexts. First, we show that differences in the nucleo-proteic structure observed between conventional H2A and H2A.Bbd variant nucleosomes induce quantitative changes in the in the length distribution of DNA complexed with histones. Then, the sliding action of remodeling complex SWI/SNF is characterized through the evolution of the nucleosome position and wrapped DNA length mapping. Using a linear energetic model for the distribution of DNA complexed length, we extract the net wrapping energy of DNA onto the histone octamer, and compare it to previous studies.
The sources of non-white noise in Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are many. Familiar sources include low-frequency drift due to hardware imperfections, oscillatory noise due to respiration and cardiac pulsation and residual movement artefacts not accounted for by rigid body registration. These contributions give rise to temporal autocorrelation in the residuals of the fMRI signal and invalidate the statistical analysis as the errors are no longer independent. The low-frequency drift is often removed by high-pass filtering, and other effects are typically modelled as an autoregressive (AR) process. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach: Nuisance Variable Regression (NVR). By inclusion of confounding effects in a general linear model (GLM), we first confirm that the spatial distribution of the various fMRI noise sources is similar to what has already been described in the ...
The sources of non-white noise in Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are many. Familiar sources include low-frequency drift due to hardware imperfections, oscillatory noise due to respiration and cardiac pulsation and residual movement artefacts not accounted for by rigid body registration. These contributions give rise to temporal autocorrelation in the residuals of the fMRI signal and invalidate the statistical analysis as the errors are no longer independent. The low-frequency drift is often removed by high-pass filtering, and other effects are typically modelled as an autoregressive (AR) process. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach: Nuisance Variable Regression (NVR). By inclusion of confounding effects in a general linear model (GLM), we first confirm that the spatial distribution of the various fMRI noise sources is similar to what has already been described in the ...
The purpose of this study was to test a large sample of different coronary artery stents using four image reconstruction approaches with respect to lumen visualization, lumen attenuation, and image noise in 64-slice multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) in vitro and to provide a catalogue of currently used coronary artery stents when imaged with state-of the-art MDCT. We examined 68 different coronary artery stents (57 stainless steel, four cobalt-chromium, one cobalt-alloy, two nitinol, four tantalum) in a coronary artery phantom (vessel diameter 3 mm, intravascular attenuation 250 HU, extravascular density -70). Stents were imaged in axial orientation with standard parameters: 32x0.6 collimation, pitch 0.24, 680 mAs, 120 kV, rotation time 0.37 s. Four different image reconstructions were obtained with varying convolution kernels and section thicknesses: ...
A detailed experimental investigation of the application of fractal geometry concepts in determining the turbulent burning velocity in the wrinkled flame regime of turbulent premixed combustion was conducted. The fractal dimension and cutoff scales were determined for six different turbulent flames in the wrinkled flame regime, where the turbulence intensity, turbulent length scale, and equivalence ratio were varied. Unlike previous reports, it has proved possible to obtain the fractal dimension and inner and outer cutoffs from individual flame images. From this individual data, the pdf distributions of all three fractal parameters, along with the distribution of the predicted increase in surface area, may be determined. The analysis of over 300 flame images for each flame condition provided a sufficient sample size to accurately define the pdf distributions and their means. However, the predicted S{sub T}/S{sub L}, calculated using fractal ...
The implementation of wind energy conversion systems in the built environment renewed the interest and the research on Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT), which in this application present several advantages over Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT). The VAWT has an inherent unsteady aerodynamic behavior due to the variation of angle of attack with the angle of rotation, perceived velocity and consequentially Reynolds number. The phenomenon of dynamic stall is then an intrinsic effect of the operation of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine at low tip speed ratios, having a significant impact in both loads and power. The complexity of the unsteady aerodynamics of the VAWT makes it extremely attractive to be analyzed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models, where an approximation of the continuity and momentum equations of the Navier-Stokes equations set is solved. The complexity of the problem and the need for new design approaches for VAWT for the built ...
Osteonecrosis (ON) of the hip joint remains an unsolved therapeutical problem. Diagnosis of ON of the hip has been improved by the technical progress of imaging modalities and better understanding pathomorphology. Over a long period only plain radiographs have been available. Scintigraphy and computed tomography contributed to differential diagnosis and early detection of bone necrosis. Diagnosis in an early reversible stage is of importance. Understanding of pathophysiology, early diagnosis and therapeutical approach has been significantly improved by MR imaging. Using the ARCO system all imaging modalities and their diagnostic viability are described in the five ARCO stages. At the end a diagnostic algorithm will be proposed. (orig.) [German] Die Osteonekrose des Hueftgelenks (ON) stellt noch immer ein nicht geloestes therapeutisches Problem dar. Die diagnostischen Moeglichkeiten bei der ON wurden in ...
Purpose: For planning the therapeutic strategies and estimating the prognosis in esophageal cancer, N-staging is very important. To date, MRI still is of minor importance as imaging modality of the mediastinum despite promising developments in the past, like ECG-gating or 'averaging' sequences, e.g. LOTA (Long-term averaging), which facilitate mediastinal and thoracic MR-imaging. In a prospective approach, the value of MRI based N-staging was examined with respect to LOTA-sequences. Material and Methods: Within from weeks prior to esophagectomy, standardized MRI of the esophagus was performed in 15 patients (10 squamous-cell-carcinomas and 5 adenocarcinomas) using a 1.5 T whole body scanner. Imaging quality was classified based on depiction of aortic wall or tracheal wall layers. Criteria for malignant infiltration were a diameter of more than 15 mm or a round appearance of a lymph node together with ...
The treatment of bony, osteochondral, and ligamentous injuries of the tibio-talar requires precise preoperative planning by radiological investigation. This is essential to a correct understanding of the underlying pathology and will allow a proper classification of the injury, which is the basis of treatment. Conventional radiography using anteroposterior and lateral X-rays with comparative views of the noninjured side and, if necessary, rotated spot views and tomography are of high value especially in osteochondral fractures of the talus. Intraoperative control images in both planes after osteosynthesis are mandatory. For evaluation of the postoperative course and severity of arthrosis formation, the classification system of Bargon has proved its worth. In addition, tomography of the tibio-talar joint in two planes is useful especially in tibial pilon fractures, some malleolar fractures, and peripheral talar fractures. In talar fracture dislocations with ...
Conventional radiography has been the accepted nondestructive testing (NDT) method used for many years to either ''accent'' or ''reject'' a field weld in the pipeline industry. However, conventional radiography requires the expense of film, developing chemicals, and manpower for film development. It also normally has a delay of 2 hours or more between when the weld was radiographed and when the radiographic film of the weld is available for interpretation. Over the last few years, a newer approach to performing radiographic testing, called ''realtime'' radiography, has been used in several different types of field inspection operations. The realtime radiography system forms the image with optical imaging in lieu of photographic film. Objectives of this project were: (Task 1) Integration of realtime x-ray system ...
Background/Objectives:Imaging technology is an important part of the diagnosis and management of spinal trauma. Indications and findings in post-traumatic imaging of the vertebral...Full Text Available
performs Gaussian pyramid operation on an image performs expand pyramid operation on an image mosaic two images using 'reduce' and 'expand' pyramid ...
This report describes the design of, and image reconstruction capacity of a Hadamard Raman Microscopic imager. Microscopy of benzoic acid and graphite electrodes, as well as electrophoretic blotting, are described. (CBS)
Background: Cu-diacetyl-bis(N{sup 4}-methylthiosemicarbazone) [Cu-ATSM], although excellent for oncology applications, may not be suitable for delineating cardiovascular or neurological hypoxia. For this reason, new Cu hypoxia positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents are being examined to search for a higher selectivity for hypoxic or ischemic tissue at higher oxygen concentrations found in these tissues. Two approaches are to increase alkylation or to replace the sulfur atoms with selenium, resulting in the formation of selenosemicarbazones. Methods: Three {sup 64}Cu-labeled selenosemicarbazone complexes were synthesized and one was screened for hypoxia selectivity in vitro using EMT-6 mouse mammary carcinoma cells. Rodent biodistribution and small animal PET images were obtained from BALB/c mice implanted with EMT-6 tumors. One alkylated thiosemicarbazone was synthesized and examined. Results: Of the three ...
Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculations can be accurate but are also computationally intensive. In contrast, convolution superposition (CS) offers faster and smoother results but by making approximations. We investigated MC denoising techniques, which use available convolution superposition results and new noise filtering methods to guide and accelerate MC calculations. Two main approaches were developed to combine CS information with MC denoising. In the first approach, the denoising result is iteratively updated by adding the denoised residual difference between the result and the MC image. Multi-scale methods were used (wavelets or contourlets) for denoising the residual. The iterations are initialized by the CS data. In the second approach, we used a frequency splitting technique by quadrature filtering to combine low frequency components derived from MC simulations with high frequency components derived ...
We propose new method of assessment of histological images for medical diagnostics. 2-D image is preprocessed to form 1-D landscapes or 1-D signature of the image contour and then their complexity is...Full Text Available
In vivo two-photon imaging through the pupil of the primate eye has the potential to become a useful tool for functional imaging of the retina. Two-photon excited fluorescence images...Full Text Available
This paper describes Image Engine, an object-oriented, microcomputer-based, multimedia database designed to facilitate the storage and retrieval of digitized biomedical still images, video, and text...Full Text Available
Adaptive image processing is one of the most important techniques in visual information processing, especially in early vision such as image restoration, filtering, enhancement, and segmentation. This work focuses on applications of advanced CI techniques in image processing applications
A real time neutron radiography system has been developed at the University of Michigan Phoenix Memorial Laboratory (PML) and has recently been used to test the imaging capabilities of a neutron imaging device developed by Lixi, Inc. of Downers Grove, Illinois. This device uses an input phosphor that is high in gadolinium to generate a light image which is then sent through an intensifier stage to provide images that can be viewed by eye, video camera, or standard 35 mm camera. It was determined that this device provides images of much higher resolution and sensitivity than those obtained with the imaging system currently being used at PML. Using computerized image enhancement techniques, the images obtained with the Lixi neutron imaging device can then be further enhanced or processed to obtain ...
A real time neutron radiography system has been developed at the University of Michigan Phoenix Memorial Laboratory (PML) and has recently been used to test the imaging capabilities of a neutron imaging device developed by Lixi, Inc. of Downers Grove, Ill. This device uses an input phosphor that is high in gadolinium to generate a light image which is then sent through an intensifier stage to provide images that can be viewed by eye, video camera, or standard 35 mm camera. It was determined that this device provides images of much higher resolution and sensitivity than those obtained with the imaging system currently being used at PML. Using computerized image enhancement techniques, the images obtained with the Lixi neutron imaging device can then be further enhanced or processed to obtain ...
Modeling artificial scanning electron microscope (SEM) and scanning ion microscope images has recently become important. This is because of the need to provide repeatable images with a priori determined parameters. Modeled artificial images are highly useful in the evaluation of new imaging and metrological techniques, like image-sharpness calculation, or drift-corrected image composition (DCIC). Originally, the NIST-developed artificial image generator was designed only to produce the SEM images of gold-on-carbon resolution sample for image-sharpness evaluation. Since then, the new improved version of the software was written in C++ programming language and is in the Public Domain. The current version of the software can generate arbitrary samples, any drift function, and many other features. This ...
Certain radioiodine containing amides useful as brain imaging agents are disclosed. The compounds of the subject invention are represented by the formula
Certain radioiodine containing amides useful as brain imaging agents are disclosed. The compounds of the subject invention are represented by the formula.
A diverse set of digital image-processing applications exists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. While many of these include some sort of image analysis or restoration, virtually all of them require image-enhancement procedures. In this paper we describe the principal image-processing facility at the Laboratory, followed by a discussion of several of the major image-processing application areas.
Between 1970 and 1981, 348 patients underwent definitive irradiation. Of these patients 6 (1.7 per cent) sustained severe rectal injury as manifest by major rectal bleeding, rectal stricture, rectal mucosal slough and rectal ulceration. Severe rectal injury was observed in 0 of 13 patients (0 per cent) treated with 125iodine, 3 of 329 (1 per cent) treated with 6,400 to 6,800 rad external irradiation, 2 of 39 (5 per cent) treated with 7,000 to 7,300 rad external irradiation, and 1 of 7 (14 per cent) treated with 198gold and external irradiation. The impact of radiation dose, radiation therapy technique and surgical trauma was assessed. Rectal injury was managed by supportive measures in 2 patients and by diverting colostomy in 3 with benefit. One patient underwent abdominoperineal resection. A small bowel fistula and an intra-abdominal abscess developed, and the patient died.
The ability of Yersinia pestis to forestall the mammalian innate immune response is a fundamental aspect of plague pathogenesis. In this study, we examined the effect of Ail, a 17-kDa outer membrane protein that protects Y. pestis against complement-mediated lysis, on bubonic plague pathogenesis in mice and rats. The Y. pestis ail mutant was attenuated for virulence in both rodent models. The attenuation was greater in rats than in mice, which correlates with the ability of normal rat serum, but not mouse serum, to kill ail-negative Y. pestis in vitro. Intradermal infection with the ail mutant resulted in an atypical, subacute form of bubonic plague associated with extensive recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN or neutrophils) to the site of infection in the draining lymph node and the formation of large purulent abscesses that contained the bacteria. Systemic spread and mortality were greatly attenuated, however, and a productive adaptive immune ...
Two local repair procedures, one without (9) and the other with (14) a bulbocavernosus muscle graft were performed on 20 patients with a radiation induced rectovaginal fistula. Four patients had two procedures successively. The initial success rate of both procedures was 7/9 and 14/14 respectively. Though the initial result of the bulbocavernosus graft was obviously better, in many of the local repair procedures, subclinical radiation damage progressed, resulting in recurrence of rectovaginal fistula (5), rectovesical fistula (4), pararectal abscess (2) etc. After a mean follow up of around 10 years, the success rate of fistula repair decreased to 5/9 and 13/14 and only 2/9 and 6/14 finally remained without a colostomy. A local repair operation should be restricted to carefully selected cases. The musculus gracilis is proposed as a better vascular graft. If the general condition of the patient does not allow more aggressive reconstructive procedures, fistula repair ...
Based on studies on the genetic and molecular basis of Shigella flexneri invasive properties, we have constructed and evaluated a double mutant of S. flexneri serotype 5 for utilization as a live attenuated oral vaccine against shigellosis. The first mutation, icsA, blocks intracellular spread of bacteria as well as cell-to-cell infection. It affects the capacity of the invasive pathogen to form large abscesses in epithelia. The second mutation, iuc, eliminates production of the siderophore aerobactin thus impairing growth of the bacterium within tissues. This double mutant, SC5700 appeared safe when administered intragastrically to macaque monkeys as three doses (5 x 10(10) c.f.u. each) at weekly intervals. Protection against a challenge by the wild type isolate (M90T) was observed 4 weeks after the last vaccine inoculation. Duration of carriage was considerably reduced as compared to the control group in which all animals had developed severe dysentery. ...
This report describes the results obtained during Stage 13 of a long-term research and development program concerning the development of diagnostics and monitoring methods for nuclear reactors. A brief proposal for the continuation of this program in Stage 14 is also given at the end of the report. The program executed in Stage 13 consists of three parts and the work performed in each part is summarized below. 1. Study of criticality, neutron kinetics and neutron noise in molten salt reactors (MSR). Although the original goal of the investigations of the MSR in Stage 13 was to calculate the neutron noise induced by the fluctuations of the fuel temperature, the study, solution and interpretation of the static problem, as well as to define an approximate version of the point kinetic approximation was necessary to perform. As it turned out, these tasks in themselves were more involved, and also very edifying, to solve. Hence, in this report, we confine the study of the reactor physics of ...
The present research scholars are having keen interest in doing their research activities in the area of Data mining all over the world. Especially, [13]Mining Image data is the one of the essential features in this present scenario since image data plays vital role in every aspect of the system such as business for marketing, hospital for surgery, engineering for construction, Web for publication and so on. The other area in the Image mining system is the Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) which performs retrieval based on the similarity defined in terms of extracted features with more objectiveness. The drawback in CBIR is the features of the query image alone are considered. Hence, a new technique called Image retrieval based on optimum clusters is proposed for improving user interaction with image retrieval systems by fully exploiting ...
For many years, {beta} radioactivity has been used to label molecules and follow them in various biological processes. {beta} imaging is obtained by autoradiography. Classically made on films or on photographic emulsions, autoradiography is now supplanted by radio-imagers which are very performing. The phosphor-imager, {beta}-imager and {mu}-imager are the systems mainly used today and their operating principles and properties are compared. The great advantages of these imagers are: their rapidity to obtain results and their reliability for absolute quantification. All emitters ({beta}{sup -}, {beta}{sup -} -{gamma} and {beta}{sup +}) are detectable as well as the gamma emitters of nuclear medicine, by means of their low energy electrons ejected during y emission. Phosphor-imager is well suited to energetic tracers and large series of ...
The standards mapping methods are limited by the lack of information between surface measures and wells profiles. The cross well seismic survey has proven being an effective high-resolution method for reservoirs characterization due its high frequency band. In this work, a 2-D finite differences algorithm for numerical cross well seismic simulation was developed, based in the approach of 2nd order for the time derivatives and 4th order for the space derivatives. In relation to the imaging techniques, it was introduced a reverse time migration method based in the solutions of the wave equation in time for cross well seismic data by the method of the finite differences exclusively. The results of reverse time migration has showed that layers with 90 cm thickness for P-waves could be visualized in migrated sections with excellent resolution. The high frequency cross well seismic data combined with reverse time migration have the potential for ...
This paper presents a nonlinear Bayesian regression algorithm for the purpose of detecting and estimating gas plume content from hyper-spectral data. Remote sensing data, by its very nature, is collected under less controlled conditions than laboratory data. As a result, the physics-based model that is used to describe the relationship between the observed remotesensing spectra, and the terrestrial (or atmospheric) parameters that we desire to estimate, is typically littered with many unknown "nuisance" parameters (parameters that we are not interested in estimating, but also appear in the model). Bayesian methods are well-suited for this context as they automatically incorporate the uncertainties associated with all nuisance parameters into the error estimates of the parameters of interest. The nonlinear Bayesian regression methodology is illustrated on realistic simulated data from a three-layer model for longwave infrared (LWIR) measurements from a passive instrument. This shows ...
One of the main goals in the determination of three-dimensional macromolecular structures from electron microscope images of individual molecules and complexes (single particles) is a sufficiently high spatial resolution, about 4 A, at which the interpretation with an atomic model becomes possible. To reach high resolution, an iterative refinement procedure using an expectation maximization algorithm is often used that leads to a more accurate alignment of the positional and orientational parameters for each particle. We show here the results of refinement algorithms that use a phase residual, a linear correlation coefficient, or a weighted correlation coefficient to align individual particles. The algorithms were applied to computer-generated data sets that contained projections from model structures, as well as noise. The algorithms show different degrees of over-fitting, especially at high resolution where the signal is weak. We demonstrate that the degree of ...
Deformation in the overburden proves useful in deducing spatial and temporal changes in the volume of a producing reservoir. Based upon these changes we estimate diffusive travel times associated with the transient flow due to production, and then, as the solution of a linear inverse problem, the effective permeability of the reservoir. An advantage an approach based upon travel times, as opposed to one based upon the amplitude of surface deformation, is that it is much less sensitive to the exact geomechanical properties of the reservoir and overburden. Inequalities constrain the inversion, under the assumption that the fluid production only results in pore volume decreases within the reservoir. We apply the formulation to satellite-based estimates of deformation in the material overlying a thin gas production zone at the Krechba field in Algeria. The peak displacement after three years of gas production is approximately 0.5 cm, overlying the eastern margin of the ...
One of the most interesting discoveries of the X-ray Telescope and EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on board the Hinode solar observatory is the presence of persistent high temperature high speed outflows from the edges of active regions. Measurements by EIS indicate that the outflows reach velocities of 50 km/s with spectral line asymmetries approaching 200 km/s. It has been suggested that these outflows may lie on open field lines that connect to the heliosphere, and that they could potentially be a significant source of the slow speed solar wind. A direct link has been difficult to establish, however. In this letter, we use EIS measurements of spectral line intensities that are sensitive to changes in the relative abundance of Si and S as a result of the first ionization potential (FIP) effect, to measure the chemical composition in the outflow regions of AR 10978 over a period of 5 days in December 2007. We find that Si is always enhanced ...
The fabrication and complete evaluation are described of a dihydropyridine in equilibrium pyridinium salt type redox system for the delivery of radioiodinated agents to the brain. The pivotal intermediate, N-succinimidyl (1-methylpyridinium iodide)-3-carboxylate was prepared by condensation of nicotinic acid and N-hydroxysuccinimide in the presence of dicyclohexylcarbodimide, followed by quaternization of III with methyl iodide. Tissue distribution studies of "1"2"5I-labeled 4-iodoaniline and the redox agents were performed in rats. ["1"2"5I]Iodoaniline initially showed moderate (0.58% dose/gm) brain uptake with subsequent release of the radioactivity from the brain. ["1"2"5I]Iodoaniline, when coupled to a dihydropyridine carrier showed higher uptake and retention in the brain. The ["1"2"5I]iodophenylethyl analogue showed uptake and retention in the brain to be very similar. Apparently the lipophilic agents cross the blood-brain barrier and are oxidized (quaternized) within the brain. ...
CT scans were performed on 25 patients suspected of sustaining ranal trauma. The utility of CT in both detecting renal damage and appraising the gravity of injuries was assessed. Nowadays, in fact, nephrectomy or reserved for lesions devastanting the kidney parenchyma or rupturing the renal pedicle; so it is very important to identyfy both the purposes of a better planned therapeutic approach. CT does both, being more accurate than urography in the detection of renal fractures, intra or extraparenchymal hematomas and contrast media extravasation. Urography very often shows aspecific lesion patterns and sometimes it is also falsely negative. In the present series CT was more reliable than angiography itself, particulary in the diagnosis of extra-renal hematic collections, contrast media extravasation and injuries to the other abdominal organs. Although CT may arouse the suspicion of and sometimes correctly diagnose vascular lesions, such as renal infarction, ...
This work concerns the development of a methodology the objective of which is to characterize and diagnose two-phase flow regime transitions. The approach is based on the fundamental assumption that a transition flow is less stationary than a flow with an established regime. During the first time, the efforts focused on: (1) the design and construction of an experimental loop, allowing to reproduce the main horizontal two-phase flow patterns, in a stable and controlled way; (2) the design and construction of an electrical impedance probe, providing an imaged information of the spatial phase distribution in the pipe; and (3) the systematic study of the joint time-frequency and time-scale analysis methods, which permitted to define an adequate parameter quantifying the unstationarity degree. During the second time, in order to verify the fundamental assumption, a series of experiments were conducted, the objective of which was to demonstrate the ...
This work concerns the development of a methodology the objective of which is to characterize and diagnose two-phase flow regime transitions. The approach is based on the fundamental assumption that a transition flow is less stationary than a flow with an established regime. During the first time, the efforts focused on: (1) the design and construction of an experimental loop, allowing to reproduce the main horizontal two-phase flow patterns, in a stable and controlled way; (2) the design and construction of an electrical impedance probe, providing an imaged information of the spatial phase distribution in the pipe; and (3) the systematic study of the joint time-frequency and time-scale analysis methods, which permitted to define an adequate parameter quantifying the unstationarity degree. During the second time, in order to verify the fundamental assumption, a series of experiments were conducted, the objective of which was to demonstrate the ...
Automatic segmentation of anatomical structures in medical images is a valuable tool for efficient computer-aided radiotherapy and surgery planning and an enabling technology for dynamic adaptive radiotherapy. This paper presents the design, algorithms and validation of new software for the automatic segmentation of CT images used for radiotherapy treatment planning. A coarse to fine approach is followed that consists of presegmentation, anatomic orientation and structure segmentation. No user input or a priori information about the image content is required. In presegmentation, the body outline, the bones and lung equivalent tissue are detected. Anatomic orientation recognizes the patient's position, orientation and gender and creates an elastic mapping of the slice positions to a reference scale. Structure segmentation is divided into localization, outlining and refinement, performed by ...
This paper presents the results of the Spatial Signature Analysis (SSA) Electrical-test (e-test) validation study that was conducted between February and June, 1998. SSA is an automated procedure developed by researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to address the issue of intelligent data reduction while providing feedback on current manufacturing processes. SSA was initially developed to automate the analysis of optical defect data. Optical defects can form groups, or clusters, which may have a distinct shape. These patterns can reveal information about the manufacturing process. Optical defect SSA uses image processing algorithms and a classifier system to interpret and identify these patterns, or signatures. SSA has been extended to analyze and interpret electrical test data. The algorithms used for optical defect SSA have been adapted and applied to e-test binmaps. An image of the binmap is created, and features such as geometric ...
The main objective of this dissertation is to build a numerical 3D geological model of a turbidite reservoir using well and seismic data. For the, the first step was to elaborate a depositional model using a high-resolution genetic stratigraphy approach. Simultaneously, the stratigraphic inversion over the seismic data resulted in an optimal acoustic impedance model. Both models, were used to build, by geostatistical methods, a 3-D geological model, which represents the spatial distribution of the reservoir facies. The studied case is the late Cretaceous Namorado turbidite system in the Campos basin, which is the reservoir of the Namorado oil field, located 80 km from the Brazilian coast, under a bathymetry between 110 and 250 m. The reservoir is a turbidite succession with 90 to 180 m thickness. It is composed by sand-supported conglomerates, matrix-supported conglomerate, massive sandstones, shales, marls and limestones. Four lithotypes characterise the main ...
As semiconductor device density and wafer area continue to increase, the volume of in-line and off-line data required to diagnose yield-limiting conditions is growing exponentially. To manage this data in the future, analysis tools will be required that can automatically reduce this data to useful information, e.g., by assisting the engineer in rapid root-cause diagnosis of defect generating mechanisms. In this paper, the authors describe a technology known as Spatial Signature Analysis (SSA) and its application to both optically-detected defect data as well as electrical test (e-test) bin data. The results of a validation study are summarized that demonstrate the effectiveness of the SSA approach on optical defect wafermaps through field-testing at three semiconductor manufacturing sites on ASIC, DRAM and SRAM products. This method has been extended to analyze and interpret electrical test data and to provide a pathway for correlation of this data with in-line ...
Two new cyclopentadienyl piperidine derivatives, namely ferrocene carboxylic acid 1-ethyl-3-hydroxypiperidinyl ester and ferrocene carboxylic acid 4-hydroxypiperidinyl ester, were synthesized. The ligands were then radiolabelled with "9"9"mTc using two different approaches. The first method consisted of reacting the ligand precursor with Mn(CO)_5Br in pertechnetate "9"9"mTcO_4 - in normal saline and dimethyl formamide (DMF) at 150 "oC for 1 h. The yields were 70% and 90%, respectively. For the second method, the reactions mixtures were placed in a microwave oven for 2 min at 650 watt. The yields were higher than 90% for both "9"9"mTc complexes. Biodistribution studies showed that tricarbonyl[#eta#"5-[carboxy-3-hydroxy(N-ethyl)piperidine]cyclopentadienyl] technetium(I) had the highest brain uptake. The regional distribution in the brain also demonstrated relatively higher uptake of tricarbonyl [#eta#"5-[carboxy-3-hydroxy(N-ethyl) piperidine]cyclopentadienyl] ...
Insulitis is considered the histopathological hallmark of type I diabetes. In the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse, diabetes has never been observed in the absence of insulitis. The in vivo detection of insulitis could be of relevance for early prediction of diabetes. As approximately 15% of islet-infiltrating lymphocytes express interleukin 2 receptors, the authors have labelled recombinant inter-leukin 2 with "1"2"3I and used this radiopharmaceutical to detect insulitis by gamma camera imaging. The authors studied 71 prediabetic NOD and 27 normal Balb/c mice. Labelled #alpha#-lactalbumin was used as the control protein. In the first set of experiments the tissue distribution of radiolabelled interleukin 2 in isolated organs from animals sacrificed at different time points was studied. Higher radioactivity was detected in the pancreas of NOD mice injected with labelled interleukin 2, as compared to NOD mice receiving labelled #alpha#-lactalbumin. In another set of ...
Accurate modeling of system response and scatter distribution is crucial for image reconstruction in emission tomography. Monte Carlo simulations are very well suited to calculate these quantities. However, Monte Carlo simulations are also slow and many simulated counts are needed to provide a sufficiently exact estimate of the detection probabilities. In order to overcome these problems, we propose to split the simulation into two parts, the detection system and the object to be imaged (the patient). A so-called 'virtual boundary' that separates these two parts is introduced. Within the patient, particles are simulated conventionally. Whenever a photon reaches the virtual boundary, its detection probability is calculated analytically by evaluating a multi-dimensional B-spline that depends on the photon position, direction and energy. The unknown B-spline knot values that define this B-spline are fixed by a prior 'pre-' simulation that needs to ...
Evaluation of severe functional gastrointestinal motility disorders requires an investigation of the entire gastrointestinal tract. This should be possible with a single radionuclide imaging study. The purpose of this study was (1) to define normal values of small-bowel transit in men and women and (2) to assess a possible difference between gender or test meal, since it has been shown that women have slower gastric emptying than men, and gastric emptying of solids is slower than liquids. A standard gastric-emptying test for a solid (technetium-99m sulphur colloids, 230 Kcal) and liquid (indium-111 DTPA water) test meal was performed in 12 healthy male and 12 healthy female volunteers. After 135 min, the volunteer was place in the supine position for static imaging of the abdomen every 15 min for 6 h. Decay and crossover-corrected geometric mean gastric-emptying data were fit to a modified power exponential function to determine the 10% stomach ...
This paper proposes a new approach based on missing value pattern discovery for classifying incomplete data. This approach is particularly designed for classification of datasets with a small...Full Text Available
In portal images with high energy X-ray (10 MV), it is sometimes difficult to verify the irradiation field because of the low contrast. Especially, in the abdominal and pelvic region, the deterioration of portal image quality is remarkable. To solve this problem, we took portal images using computed radiography (FCR). Also, we develop a technique in which a copper plate (3 mm) and lead foil (0.3 mm) are closely set in the front and rear of the photostimulable phosphor plate (imaging plate), for increased energy absorption. As a result, image quality was very high and we confirmed image improvement using observer performance experiments. We made a special cassette which can closely set metallic plates to imaging plate and load FCR-7000 directly. Therefore, image process becomes simple, and suitable for routine work. In ...
Two geriatic male rhesus monkeys were used for the radioisotope imaging in this research. Discussion of the radionuclide, materials, and method used to accomplish the neurologic examination and the results obtained, both during the procedure and confirmation of the results by necropsies were accompanied by color photos of scan images. Results were that the nuclear images provided accurate images of intracranial neoplasia.
Computed radiography (CR) systems use a photostimulable phosphor plate enclosed in a cassette. In CR, image acquisition is a two-stage process wherein image capture and image read out are done separately. Direct digital radiography (DR) systems, on the other hand, use detectors that have a combined image capture and image read out capability. DR systems are also called as DDR or ddR systems by some vendors. This article focuses on DR systems
Laser safety standards and eye protection (filters) are designed to limit ocular exposures to prevent retinal lesions, yet eyesafe laser exposures can disrupt vision by causing glare and flashblindness. Protective filters can have opposing effects on vision function. They reduce laser exposures but also reduce task luminance and contrast. Filters alone may interfere with vision and consequently reduce work safety and performance. It is therefore important to be able to predict the effects of both laser exposures and protective filters to assess trade-offs between protection and visual function. This paper briefly reviews the methods, concepts, and experimental database used in our laboratory to predict laser, filter, and laser-plus-filter effects on tasks involving visual detection. The modeling approach uses estimates of the spatial distribution of light in the retinal image of the laser source to predict glare, flashblindness, and retinal ...
Studies conducted at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington have focused on developing and evaluating the reliability of nondestructive testing (NDT) approaches for coarse-grained stainless steel reactor components. The objective of this work is to provide information to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the utility, effectiveness and limitation of NDT techniques as related to inservice testing of primary system piping components in pressurized water reactors. We examined cast stainless steel pipe specimens containing thermal and mechanical fatigue cracks located close to the weld roots and having inner and outer diameter surface geometrical conditions that simulate several water reactor primary piping configurations. In addition, segments of vintage centrifugally cast piping were examined to characterize the inherent acoustic noise and scattering caused by grain structures and to determine the consistency of ...
The blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal response to neural stimulation is influenced by many factors that are unrelated to the stimulus. These factors are physiological, such as the resting venous cerebral blood volume (CBV(v)) and vessel size, as well as experimental, such as pulse sequence and static magnetic field strength (B(0)). Thus, it is difficult to compare task-induced fMRI signals across subjects, field strengths, and pulse sequences. This problem can be overcome by normalizing the neural activity-induced BOLD fMRI response by a global hypercapnia-induced BOLD signal. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the BOLD normalization approach, gradient-echo BOLD fMRI at 1.5, 4, and 7 T and spin-echo BOLD fMRI at 4 T were performed in human subjects. For neural stimulation, subjects performed sequential finger movements at 2 Hz, while for global stimulation, subjects breathed a 5% CO(2) ...
The fine scale mechanical probing capability of NI-AFM was used to examine hydrogen interaction with plasticity. To realize this, an electrochemical three electrode setup was incorporated into the NI-AFM. The developed ECNI-AFM is capable of performing nanoindentation as well as imaging surfaces inside electrolytes. The developed ECNI-AFM setup was used to examine the effect of cathodically charged hydrogen on dislocation nucleation in pure metals and alloys. It was shown that hydrogen reduces the pop-in load in all of the tested materials except Cu. The reduced pop-in load can be interpreted as the HELP mechanism. Classical dislocation theory was used to model the homogeneous dislocation nucleation and it was shown that H reduces the activation energy for dislocation nucleation in H sensitive metals which are not undergoing a phase transformation. The activation energy for dislocation nucleation is related to the material specific parameters; shear modulus {mu}, ...
Neutron Coded Aperture Imaging is a nondestructive imaging technique that utilizes neutrons scattered from an object through specially designed apertures. Coded Aperture Imaging is an alternative technique to Computed Tomography for three-dimensional imaging. Coded Aperture Imaging has the advantage that all of the three-dimensional information is contained in a single image, whereas Computed Tomography requires several images or projections. This technique has been implemented by other using photographic film as an image recording medium and optical reconstruction or decoding of the images. In this work, the possibility of using a real-time neutron video camera to record the images, followed by digital decoding methodology has been investigated. Because only a small fraction of ...
The aim of this study was to assess the possibility of digital image analysis of pit-and-fissure discoloration in order to diagnose caries. Digital images showing pit-and-fissure discoloration in 100...Full Text Available
The goal of ultrasonic molecular imaging is the detection of targeted contrast agents bound to receptors on endothelial cells. We propose imaging methods that can distinguish adherent microbubbles...Full Text Available
This paper discusses the clinical application and main objective of testicular imaging. The authors present cases that represent a spectrum of the abnormalities which might be detected by testicular imaging, with special attention given to testicular torsion and the acute diseases which may mimic it clinically. Accuracy of the test is noted.
Four-dimensional (4D) radiotherapy is the explicit inclusion of the temporal changes in anatomy during the imaging, planning, and delivery of radiotherapy. One key component of 4D radiotherapy planning...Full Text Available
PurposeAuto-propagation of anatomical region-of-interests (ROIs) from the planning CT to daily CT is an essential step in image-guided adaptive radiotherapy. The...Full Text Available
This paper proposes a novel method for computing linear basis images from tensor-valued image data. As a generalization of the nonnegative matrix factorization, the proposed method aims to approximate...Full Text Available
A new gadolinium chelating NIR fluorescent molecular probe increases T1 relaxivity of water protons, facilitating combined optical and magnetic resonance imaging.
Multimodality imaging with PET/CT and SPECT/CT has become commonplace in clinical practice and in preclinical and basic medical research. Do other combinations of imaging modalities have a similar...Full Text Available
Purpose: Small animal micro-CT imaging is being used increasingly in preclinical biomedical research to provide phenotypic descriptions of genomic models. Most of this imaging is coincident...Full Text Available
Epifluorescence images of Ca2+ transients elicited by electrical stimulation of single skeletal muscle fibers were studied with fast imaging techniques that take advantage of the large fluorescence...Full Text Available
Optical coherence microscopy (OCM) is a promising technique or high resolution cellular imaging in human tissues. An OCM system for high-speed en face cellular resolution imaging...Full Text Available
This multiauthored text is aimed particularly toward the resident or registrar training in diagnostic radiology. This is a text book on the entire scope of diagnostic imaging. It includes techniques and imaging modalities of all the systems, head, face and neck. The book covers the entire gamut of diagnostic radiology.
The use of digital wound images would allow remote consultation between patients, physicians, or other caregivers over the Internet. To evaluate the efficacy and validity of digital images for assessment...Full Text Available
Parallel imaging reconstructions result in spatially varying noise amplification characterized by the g-factor, precluding conventional measurements of noise from the final...Full Text Available
Image registrations that are based on similarity measures simply adjust the parameters of an appropriate spatial transformation model until the similarity measure reaches an optimum. The numerous similarity measures that have been proposed in the past are differently sensitive to imaging modality, image content and differences in the image content, selection of the floating and target image, partial image overlap, etc. In this paper, we evaluate and compare 12 similarity measures for the rigid registration. To study the impact of different imaging modalities on the behavior of similarity measures, we have used 16 CT/MR and 6 PET/MR image pairs with known 'gold standard' registrations. The results for the PET/MR registration and for the registration of CT to both rectified and unrectified MR ...
An image slicing spectrometer (ISS) for microscopy applications is presented. Its principle is based on the redirecting of image zones by specially organized thin mirrors within a custom fabricated...Full Text Available
In portal images with high energy X-ray (10 MV), it is sometimes difficult to verify the irradiation field because of the low contrast. Especially, in the abdominal and pelvic region, the deterioration of portal image quality is remarkable. To solve this problem, we took portal images using computed radiography (FCR). Also, we develop a technique in which a copper plate (3 mm) and lead foil (0.3 mm) are closely set in the front and rear of the photostimulable phosphor plate (imaging plate), for increased energy absorption. As a result, image quality was very high and we confirmed image improvement using observer performance experiments. We made a special cassette which can closely set metallic plates to imaging plate and load FCR-7000 directly. Therefore, image process becomes simple, and suitable for routine work. In ...
ObjectiveThis study was conducted to evaluate a computer-imaging program called HAAIR (Help with Adjustment to Alopecia by Image Recovery) that was developed to provide...Full Text Available
Purpose: Reverse helical cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is a scanning configuration for potential applications in image-guided radiation therapy in which an accurate anatomic image...Full Text Available
An intemted approach to building a networking infrastructure is an absolute necessiry for meeting the multidisciplinary science networking requirements of ...
Post-mortem magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is of increasing interest not only as an alternative to autopsy but as a research tool to aid the interpretation and diagnosis of in utero MR images. The information from the post-mortem MR has allowed the development of imaging sequences applicable to in utero imaging and neonatal imaging. It has established brain development during gestation and has provided data on this to which in utero MR can be compared. The detail available from the post-mortem images is such that brain development can be studied in a non-invasive manner, a permanent record on the normal and abnormal areas is available and a greater understanding of developmental abnormalities is possible.
The central nervous system is involved in 10-20% of cases in Lyme disease. The neurological symptoms, time course of the disease and imaging findings are multifaceted. We report two patients with cervical radiculitis. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed strong enhancement of the cervical nerve roots on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images. These imaging patterns of borrelia-associated radiculitis have not been reported before. Knowledge of these imaging features may help to diagnose neuroborreliosis, which presents with non-specific symptoms. (orig.)
Weakly absorbing materials, such as biological, soft tissues, can be imaged by generating contrast due to the phase shift of X-rays. In the past decade, several methods for X-ray phase imaging were proposed and demonstrated. The performance of X-ray phase imaging is attractive in the field of medical imaging technology, and its development for practical use is expected. Many methods, however, have been developed under the assumption of the use of synchrotron radiation, which is an obstacle to practical use. The method based on Talbot (-Lau) interferometry enables us to use a compact X-ray source, and its development is expected as a breakthrough for medical applications. (author)
Aug 25, 2004 ... The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite provided this image of Typhoon Aere over the western Philippine Sea as it was ...
Selection of the appropriate radiation quality is an important aspect of optimisation for every clinical imaging task in radiology, since it affects both image quality and patient dose. Spreadsheet...Full Text Available
Abstract The authors provide a survey of how images are used in radiation therapy to improve the precision of radiation therapy plans, and delivery of radiation treatment. In contrast...Full Text Available
Portal localization images for high-energy electron beam therapy are necessary to confirm the treatment field by comparing them with a simulation image obtained before treatment or portal verification images after treatment. In this study, portal localization images were acquired using the computed radiography (CR) system and bremsstrahlung X-rays generated in the electron beam irradiations. All images obtained with phantom and the irradiations of in the electron energy of 8, 10, 12 and 15 MeV were feasible for clinical use. The CR system used in this study included general diagnostic imaging cassette and storage phosphor plate, but none of other special devices. The system can usually supply portal localization images, which maintains the quality assurance of high-energy electron beam therapy. (author)
A method of increasing information content for content-based image retrieval (CBIR) systems includes the steps of providing a CBIR database, the database having an index for a plurality of stored digital images using a plurality of feature vectors, the feature vectors corresponding to distinct descriptive characteristics of the images. A visual similarity parameter value is calculated based on a degree of visual similarity between features vectors of an incoming image being considered for entry into the database and feature vectors associated with a most similar of the stored images. Based on said visual similarity parameter value it is determined whether to store or how long to store the feature vectors associated with the incoming image in the database.
An image-analysis system, based on commercially available data visualization software (IDL [1]), allows convenient interaction with image data while still providing calculated beam parameters at a rate of up to 2 Hz. Image data are transferred from the IOC to the workstation via EPICS [2] channel access. A custom EPICS record was created in order to overcome the channel access limit of 16k bytes per array. The user can conveniently calibrate optical transition radiation (OTR) and fluorescent screens, capture background images, acquire and average a series of images, and specify several other filtering and viewing options. The images can be saved in either IDL format or APS-standard format (SDDS [3]), allowing for rapid postprocessing of image data by numerous other software tools.
This paper presents two imaging methods by using cross correlation. The one method images the subsurface by cross-correlation of the observed data and partial derivative seismograms calculated for a guessed model. The other method images the interface by use of cross-correlation of the virtual sources and the back propagated wave fields calculated from the observed data. Experimental tests show that both methods image subsurface interfaces well even if the guessed model is different from the true one. These imaging methods are reverse time migration that we perform cross-correlation as an imaging condition and have an advantage, as compared to conventional waveform inversion method, that images subsurface structure without iterative perturbation of the assumed model. (author). 18 refs., 15 figs.
Phase contrast X-ray imaging has been studied intensively using X-rays from synchrotron radiation and micro-focus X-ray tubes. However, these studies have revealed the difficulty of this technique's application to practical medical imaging. We have created a phase contrast imaging technique using a molybdenum X-ray tube with a small focal spot size for mammography. We identified the radiographic conditions in phase contrast magnification mammography with a screen-film system, where edge effect due to phase contrast overcomes geometrical unsharpness caused by the 0.1 mm-focal spot of a molybdenum X-ray tube. The edge enhancement due to phase imaging was observed in an image of a plastic tube, and then geometrical configuration of the X-ray tube, the object and the screen-film system was determined for phase imaging of mammography. In order to investigate a ...
Ultra-high resolution radiographs can be obtained using synchrotron X-rays. A collaboration team consisting of K-JIST, POSTECH and YUMC has recently commissioned a new beamline (5C1) at Pohang Light Source (PLS) in Korea for medical applications using phase contrast radiology. Relatively simple image acquisition systems were set up on 5C1 beamline, and imaging studies were performed for resolution test patterns, mammographic phantom, and animals. Resolution test patterns and mammographic phantom images showed much better image resolution and quality with the 5C1 imaging system than the mammography system. Both fish and mouse images with 5C1 imaging system also showed much better image resolution with great details of organs and anatomy compared to those obtained with a conventional mammography system. A simple and ...
We investigate theoretically subwavelength imaging by acoustic metamaterial slabs immersed in the liquid matrix. A near-field subwavelength image formed by evanescent waves is achieved by a designed metamaterial slab with negative mass density and positive modulus. A subwavelength real image is achieved by a designed metamaterial slab with simultaneously negative mass density and modulus. These results are expected to shed some lights on designing novel devices of acoustic metamaterials.
X-ray imaging is a very useful plasma diagnostic method. A theoretical analysis of the x-ray phase imaging in the method based on Fresnel diffraction is given. The authors show it is a linear band pass filter, a property suit for Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instability measurement. The evaluation permits the possibility of R-T instability measurement in x-ray phase imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging can be used in the trauma setting to detect fractures and associated soft tissue injuries of the musculoskeletal system. Magnetic resonance imaging complements plain radiography and CT for evaluating cancellous bone, cartilage and growth-plate injuries, and intra- and extraarticular supporting soft tissue structures. This review outlines typical applications and imaging consideration for injuries of the pelvis and lower extremity. (orig.) With 12 figs., 78 refs.
Image representations have gained wide acceptance in displaying data collected during optical, ultrasonic, radiographic, and thermographic inspections. Applying imaging techniques to eddy current testing is explored in this article. The authors show that flaw interpretation and characterization are made considerably simpler when images are used to visualize the impedance changes in eddy current probes.
This report considers the use of a submillimeter wavelength space-based imaging radar. The main application envisioned is midcourse decoy discrimination for strategic defense, for which it would have the capability of producing a series of images, in real time, at strategic ranges, with less than meter scale resolution and with modest power requirements. Undoubtedly, there are other applications. The requirements for a SAR and ISAR imaging radar at submillimeter wavelength are determined, and the prospect for the development of RF sources to power the radar is examined.
Lung cancer staging according to the TNM system is based on morphological assessment of the primary cancer, lymph nodes and metastases. All aspects of this important oncological classification are measurable with MRI. Pulmonary nodules can be detected at the clinically relevant size of 4-5 mm in diameter. The extent of mediastinal, hilar and supraclavicular lymph node affection can be assessed at the same time. The predominant metastatic spread to the adrenal glands and spine can be detected in coronal orientation during dedicated MRI of the lungs. Search focused whole body MRI completes the staging. Various additional MR imaging techniques provide further functional and clinically relevant information during a single examination. In the oncological context the most important techniques are imaging of perfusion and tumor motion. Functional MRI of the lungs complements the pure staging and improves surgical approaches and ...
The Tomographic Gamma Scanning (TGS) technique is a relatively new method in the field of non-destructive assay (NDA) of radioactive waste. The TGS technique combines High Resolution Gamma Spectrometry (HRGS) with Three-Dimensional (3-D) low spatial resolution transmission and emission image reconstruction techniques to achieve assay goals. When compared to the traditional methods such as Segmented Gamma Scanning (SGS), the TGS technique can yield better accuracies for cases where the radionuclide is distributed non-uniformly in a heterogeneous matrix. The TGS technique is ideally suited for low-to-moderate density waste matrices, say 1.0 g cm{sup -3} or below for 55 US gal. drums, although it can be extended to higher densities by using alternative approaches to the design or analyses. Recently Canberra Industries designed, built and characterized four such TGS systems for nuclear power plant applications. Many of the design features and the ...
The Tomographic Gamma Scanning (TGS) technique is a relatively new method in the field of non-destructive assay (NDA) of radioactive waste. The TGS technique combines High Resolution Gamma Spectrometry (HRGS) with Three-Dimensional (3-D) low spatial resolution transmission and emission image reconstruction techniques to achieve assay goals. When compared to the traditional methods such as Segmented Gamma Scanning (SGS), the TGS technique can yield better accuracies for cases where the radionuclide is distributed non-uniformly in a heterogeneous matrix. The TGS technique is ideally suited for low-to-moderate density waste matrices, say 1.0 g cm"-"3 or below for 55 US gal. drums, although it can be extended to higher densities by using alternative approaches to the design or analyses. Recently Canberra Industries designed, built and characterized four such TGS systems for nuclear power plant applications. Many of the design features and the end ...
The patient positioning and repositioning control in radiation therapy all along the treatment can be conducted using a variety of X-ray sources and imaging detector devices. The development of image guided radiation therapy techniques leads to more frequent use of this imaging control. In this article we summarize the current methods for measuring the dose delivered by X-ray imaging devices used in radiation therapy, as well as basic proposals to take account of these imaging doses for prescribing, recording and reporting radiation therapy treatment. (authors)
Constrained least-squares techniques have been used to produce a well known class of image restoration algorithms. These techniques typically involve minimizing a linear operator on a vector representation of an image, subject to a constraint. For cases where an equality constraint is appropriate the method of Lagrange multipliers can be used to produce a restored image. In this work a fractal textural model, fractional Brownian motion, is used to represent images of interest. Using a variance fractal dimension estimator a non-linear operator, that represents the squared difference between the fractal dimension of the restored image and on a priori value is minimized, subject to the constraint that the norm of the residual between the restored image and available measurement equal the norm of the additive noise.
The brain imaging properties of /sup 99m/Tc glucoheptonate, /sup 99m/Tc pertechnetate, and /sup 99m/Tc DPTA are compared. Results demonstrate that optimum images are obtained at 90, 180, and 180 min., for /sup 99m/Tc GH, /sup 99m/Tc DTPA, and /sup 99m/Tc pertechnetate, respectively. The former two images are not affected by prior bone imaging with /sup 99m/Tc pyrophosphate, while /sup 99m/Tc pertechnetate images are adversely affected. /sup 99m/Tc glucoheptonate appears to be the superior agent for brain imaging, followed by /sup 99m/Tc DTPA and /sup 99m/Tc pertechnetate.
A subsurface imaging system is utilized to test the ability of the spectral polarization difference imaging technique for deep subsurface imaging in tissues. The illumination of the system is derived from compact class III lasers in the red and NIR spectral region and, alternatively, from a white light source and selection of the appropriate illumination wavelength using band-pass optical filters. The experimental results demonstrate detection and imaging of a high-scattering object located up to 1.5 cm underneath the surface of a host chicken tissue.
Gallium imaging is increasingly being used for the early detection of complications in patients with AIDS. A 26-year-old homosexual man who was HIV antibody positive underwent gallium imaging for investigation of possible Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Widespread cutaneous focal uptake was seen, which was subsequently shown to be due to mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (MAI) septicemia. This case demonstrates the importance of whole body imaging rather than imaging target areas only, the utility of gallium imaging in aiding the early detection of clinically unsuspected disease, and shows a new pattern of gallium uptake in disseminated MAI infection.
This document - IAEA Safeguards: Implementation Blueprint of Commercial Satellite Imagery - constitutes the second report from SSC Satellitbild giving a structured view and solid guidelines on how to proceed with a conceivable implementation of satellite imagery to support Safeguards activities of the Agency. This Phase 2 report presents a large number of concrete recommendations regarding suggested management issues, work organisation, imagery purchasing and team building. The study has also resulted in several lists of actions and preliminary project plans with GANT schedules concerning training, hardware and software, as well as for the initial pilot studies. In both the Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies it is confirmed that the proposed concept of a relatively small Imagery Unit using high-resolution data will be a sound and feasible undertaking. Such a unit capable of performing advanced image processing as a tool for various safeguard tasks will give the Agency an ...
The patients studied were referred for routine abscess localization with indium-111 labelled autologous leukocytes. One series (n=15) was studied at 1 day after reinjection of labelled cells and a second series (n=9) was studied between 4 hours and 4 days after reinjection of labelled cells. The leukocytes were isolated by a gravity sedimentation method and labelled with In-111 oxinate according to Roevekamp and co-workers. The labelled cell suspension administered to the patient contained between 11 and 15 MegaBq (300-400 microCi). The indium-111 concentration in the liver and spleen was quantitated using a scintillation camera and an on-line computer system. Phantom studies were carried out to obtain conversion factors from geometric mean counts to MegaBq of activity for both liver and spleen. Once determined, the amount of activity in liver and spleen was corrected for physical decay of In-111 and expressed as a percentage of the administered activity. ...
Cholangiocarcinoma is synonymous with bile duct carcinoma, and can originate in a small intrahepatic bile duct (peripheral type), a major intrahepatic duct including the hepatic hills, an extrahepatic duct, or near the papilla of Vater (central type). In a sense bile duct carcinoma of the peripheral type is cholangiocarcinoma of the liver; it has the same gross configuration as hepatocellular carcinoma, resulting in difficulty to differentiate on the CT. The authors studied CT findings of 14 cases of pathologically proven peripheral type cholangiocarcinoma of the liver during the last 4 years. The results were as follows: 1. Of 14 cases, 8 were female and 6 were male, and the age ranged from 5th to 7th decades. 2. Preoperative clinical diagnosis were as follows: hepatoma 8 cases, abscess 5 cases and metastasis 1 case in order of frequency. 3. Diagnosis were confirmed by hepatic lobectomy in 7 cases, wedge resection in 5 cases and needle biopsy in 2 case. 4. ...
Thallium-201 myocardial imaging was performed in 80 children with coronary arterial lesions due to Kawasaki disease in order to assess the value of serial and exercise myocardial imagings. In eight of these children, abnormalities of the image were noted. Twenty children had serial thallium studies with an interval of three to 18 months, and five of these showed changes in the image including appearance of a new perfusion defect in one patient and improvement of perfusion defects in four. These changes of the myocardial image were correlated well with coronary angiographic findings obtained within a few days of the isotope studies. It was noted that the changes of the myocardial image were more frequently observed at relatively recent period recovered from Kawasaki disease. Exercise myocardial imaging using a bicycle ergometer was performed ...
The estimation of numerical values of the mean distance of closest approach of ions, a, of alkaline-earth metal ion salts in aqueous solutions, determined from activity coefficients, as well as from different theoretical approaches, is presented and discussed.
X-ray imaging using asymmetric Bragg reflection in the hard x-ray regime opens the way to improve the spatial resolution limit below 1 #mu#m by magnifying the image before detection, simultaneously providing a strong phase contrast. A theoretical formalism of the imaging process is established. Based on this algorithm, numerical simulations are performed and demonstrate that both Fresnel propagation and Bragg diffraction contribute to contrast formation. The achievable resolution of this technique is investigated theoretically; the results obtained can be used to improve future experimental setups. Furthermore, the minimum detectable phase gradient is estimated, for comparison with other phase sensitive imaging techniques. Results from biological objects demonstrate that the technique is viable for imaging both in two and three dimensions. Refraction contrast ...
In our evaluation we utilized the Asahi Mark-J NMR-CT system, with a resistive vertical quadrupolar electromagnet (0.1 Tesla) and a proton resonance frequency of 4.5 MHz. Our main imaging methods are the inversion-recovery or IR, saturation-recovery, or SR, and calculated T/sub 1/. Difference, or D images, constructed by subtracting the data of the IR signal from that of the SR signal, have also been obtained in some cases. The system allows averaging of raw data. Hybrid images were constructed from two or more images to obtain clear definition of areas of interest. By using the hybrid image, several tissues of different relaxation times can be shown in the same image. Application in our study of the newly developed hybrid image indicates its importance in the detection and diagnosis of lesion, especially the detection of the differentiation ...
Quantitative digital imaging, using planar laser light scattering techniques is being developed for the analysis of turbulent and reacting flows. Quantitative image data, implying both a direct relation to flowfield variables as well as sufficient signal and spatial dynamic range, can be readily processed to yield two-dimensional distributions of flowfield scalars and in turn two-dimensional images of gradients and turbulence scales. Much of the development of imaging techniques to date has concentrated on understanding the requisite molecular spectroscopy and collision dynamics to be able to determine how flowfield variable information is encoded into the measured signal. From this standpoint the image is seen as a collection of single point measurements. The present effort aims at realizing necessary improvements in signal and spatial dynamic range, signal-to-noise ratio and ...
Objective: An evaluation of the application of DR in thoracic spine and a comparative study of the DR with the conventional radiography. Methods: DR images and the conventional radiogram of 89 cases respectively were evaluated by 3 vice-consultant doctors and 2 chief technicians. Statistics was processed with 2 categories: (1) images were classified into grade A, B, C and condemned according to the image quality; and (2) thoracic spine are divided into upper, middle and lower portions, in which the rate of successful imaging were compared respectively. Results: The image quality of DR: 74. 1% images in grade A, 20.2% in grade B, 5.7% in grade C, and no image condemned. Conventional radiogram: 45% images in grade A, 41.6% in grade B, 11.2% in grade C, and 2.2% images condemned. The successful ...
Phase-contrast imaging with a practical cone-beam X-ray tube has been realized for clinical use in digital mammography using computed radiography (CR). To perform phase-contrast imaging, the X-ray detector must be distanced from an object so that the phase-contrast image achieves magnification; in a mammography unit dedicated to phase-contrast imaging, the magnification ratio is 1.75. When using an X-ray tube with a 0.1-mm focal spot, it appears that the penumbra in magnification blurs both projected images and the phase contrast, which generates an edge effect. However, where the sampling pitch of the CR plate is 43.75 {mu}m, the blur stretches the width of the phase contrast so that unit pixels in the detector can capture it. Note that the width of an ideal phase contrast using an X-ray point source results in a phase contrast too narrow for detection with CR. In addition to phase ...
One approach in the design of neutral oxotechnetium complexes is based on the simultaneous substitution of a tridentate dianionic ligand and a monodentate monoanionic coligand on a [Tc(V)O]"+"3 precursor. Following this ''mixed ligand'' concept, a novel "9"9"mTc complex with N,N-bis(2-mercaptoethyl)-N'N'-diethylethylenediamine as ligand and 1-octanethiol as coligand is prepared and evaluated as potential brain radiopharmaceutical. Preparation of the complex at tracer level was accomplished by using "9"9"mTc-glucoheptonate as precursor. The substitution was optimized and a coligand/ligand ratio of 5 was selected. Under this conditions the labeling yield was over 80% and a major product (with radiochemical purity > 80%) was isolated by HPLC methods and used for biological evaluation. Chemical characterization at carrier level was developed using the corresponding rhenium complex as structural model. The Re complex was also prepared by substitution method and ...
For Monte Carlo simulations to be used as an alternative solution to perform scatter correction, accurate modelling of the scanner as well as speed is paramount. General-purpose Monte Carlo packages (Geant4, EGS, MCNP) allow a detailed description of the scanner but are not efficient at simulating voxel-based geometries (patient images). On the other hand, dedicated codes (SimSET, PETSIM) will perform well for voxel-based objects but will be poor in their capacity of simulating complex geometries such as a PET scanner. The approach adopted in this work was to couple a dedicated code (SimSET) with a general-purpose package (Geant4) to have the efficiency of the former and the capabilities of the latter. The combined SimSET+Geant4 code (SimG4) was assessed on the GE Advance PET scanner and compared to the use of SimSET only. A better description of the resolution and sensitivity of the scanner and of the scatter fraction was obtained with SimG4. ...
The implementation of a three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy facility in the radiotherapy department of the Heinrich Heine University is described. Complex radiotherapy techniques with commercially available networked systems are introduced to improve clinical work. Over 18 month we have gained clinical experience with a PHILIPS Multileaf Collimator (MLC) mounted on a SL 25 linear accelerator. For a limited period the MLC was used as a conventional blocking device. The standard MLC-shapes are controlled with a stand-alone computer system. In addition, a three-dimensional treatment planning system (3-D-TPS / TMS-Radix, Helax AB) based on convolution/superposition algorithms was recently installed. Treatment optimization is achieved using static field arrangements with complete volumetric computerized tomographic patient data for 3-D-TPS. Conformal adaptation of the 95%-isodose to the Planning Target Volume (PTV, ICRU 50) results in MLC-field-shaping concerning size, position and ...
Based on their interesting properties, metal nanoparticles show the potential as an analytical tool in electronic (Burmeister et al. 2004), optical (Yguerabide and Yguerabide 1998), and catalytic applications (Liu 2006). Their characteristics depend on the composition, shape, and size of the single particles. These various properties are utilized in many different approaches such as optics, magnetics (Lang et al. 2007), and laser technology (Csaki et al. 2007). We investigated an alternative method for the synthesis of nanoparticles. In this case, an enzyme, horseradish peroxidase, induces a silver deposition and replaces a metal nanoparticle as the reaction seed. Depending on the reaction time, we could obtain particles in a range of few nanometers up to more than 250 nm. For a better understanding of the enzymatic silver deposition process, the silver particles produced by this process were analyzed by SEM, TEM, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) on a single ...
The distribution of carrier-free "2"0"3Pb-acetate, "2"0"3HgCl_2, "5"7Cocl_2, "1"3"7CsCl and "2"0"1TlCl was investigated in rats bearing thigh-implanted Morris 7777 hepatomas. Viable and nonviable tumor tissue was collected in order to determine the relative affinities of the radiopharmaceutical for these tissues. The animals were sacrificed at 4, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hrs following intravenous injection. Washout of the radioisotope from the viable tumor tissue was rapid, the maximum concentration being reached on or before 4 hrs following injection. In contrast, residual activity within the nonviable tumor tissue decreased much more slowly and in some cases even increased with time. Viable tumor-to-muscle and nonvialbe tumor-to-muscle ratios for "2"0"3Pb, "2"0"3Hg and "5"7Co were comparable to the analogous ratios reported for "6"7Ga. However, none of these isotopes approached "6"7Ga as a potential tumor imaging agent because the large ratios were ...
BackgroundThe endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal approach (EETA) to the pituitary is performed by ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeons in collaboration with neurosurgeons but also...Full Text Available
Two different approaches can be used in phylogenomics: combined or separate analysis. In the first approach, different datasets are combined in a concatenated supermatrix. In the second, datasets are...Full Text Available
Chinese and Chumash traditional medical approaches are similar in terms of disease causation, use of acupuncture or healing touch, plants, spiritual and philosophical approaches. This article provides...Full Text Available
Twenty patients with lesions in the trachea or bronchus underwent energy subtraction Fuji computed radiography (FCR). Images obtained were compared with those from conventional FCR (plain FCR). ''Very clear'' images (in which the contour of the trachea and bronchus could be clearly defined) were obtained in 12/22 (55 %) by energy subtraction FCR and in 3/22 (14 %) by plain FCR; ''clear'' images (in which the contour could be defined) in 9/22 (41 %) by energy subtraction FCR and in 18/22 (82 %) by plain FCR; and ''unclear'' images (in which the contour could not be defined) in 1/22 (5 %) by both methods. Energy subtraction FCR, as well as plain FCR, yielded high image quality for the trachea. Energy subtraction FCR was superior to plain films when tumors existed within the trachea. (Namekawa, K.).
Background Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging can help diagnose benign adrenal adenomas, but prior studies rely on nonoperative follow-up as proof of a lesion?s benign nature. We examined adrenalectomy tissues to determine if imaging characteristics correlate with histopathologic findings. Methods We retrieved data for 196 consecutive adrenalectomies in 192 patients from 2000 to 2008. Imaging results were considered to signify benign adrenal adenoma if one or more of the following was present: Hounsfield units 60% or relative contrast washout of >40%, or MR with chemical-shift imaging demonstrating loss of signal intensity on out-of-phase images. Results The sensitivity and specif...
Real Time Radiography (RTR) finds extensive applications for inspection of objects on assembly lines for rapid inspection. A typical RTR widely used includes a image intensifier, CCD camera, image processor and high resolution TV monitor in addition to radiographic source. Image intensifiers used in X-radiography employ CsI as the input detector. With the increased use of neutrons as radiation source, real time neutron radiography is also being practised widely. Image intensifiers used in neutron radiography employ gadolinium as the input screen. The neutron image intensifier system at the authors laboratory essentially consists of a 9 inch Trifield image intensifier tube, motorised zoom lens, CCD camera and a high resolution TV monitor
An imaging position sensitive detector for charged particles, neutrons, X-and gamma rays has been developed. The novel feature of this scintillation imaging radiation detector is its ability to detect individual nuclear particle scintillations with a h igh degree of spatial resolution. The key elements of this detector system are a high gain, low noise image intensifier tube, a CCD camera and commercially available image processing hardware and software. This detector system is highly effective for applications such as low fluence and real time neutron radiography, mapping of radioactive contamination in nuclear reactor fuel rods, X-ray diffraction imaging, high speed autoradiography and in general position sensitive detection of nuclear radiation. Results of some of the exploratory experiments carried out using this detector system are presented in this paper. (orig.).
A neutron imaging system (NIS) has been recently installed at the University of Texas TRIGA reactor facility. The imaging system establishes new capabilities for beam diagnostics at the Texas Cold Neutron Source (TCNS) for real-time neutron radiography (RTNR) and for neutron computed tomography (NCT) research. The NIS will also be used for other research projects. The system consists of two subsystems as follows: (1) Thomson 9-in. neutron image intensifier (NII) tube sensitive to cold, thermal, and epithermal neutrons, (2) image-processing unit consisting of vidicon camera, two high-resolution monitors, image enhancement and measurement processor, and video printer. The NIS is installed at the cold neutron beam of the TCNS for testing and cold neutron beam diagnostics.
Magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) on fast spin echo (FSE) images was evaluated in normal brain tissue as well as in brain tumors to better understand contrast of FSE images. On multislice FSE images, attenuation of the signal intensity of brain tissue due to MTC is observed. The rate of MTC (MTR) is obtained by comparing with additional single slice images. The effect of signal attenuation is greater on images with smaller interslice gap, larger number of slices, and longer echo train length. MTR of brain tumors is less than that of normal brain tissue. Among them, meningiomas have relatively high MTR, and cavernous malformation has relatively low MTR. Determination of MTC can be easily specified by obtaining multislice and single slice FSE images, and it may help differentiate brain tumors. (author).
An iterative phase retrieval algorithm was previously investigated for in-line x-ray phase imaging. Through detailed theoretical analysis and computer simulations, we now discuss the limitations, robustness, and efficiency of the algorithm. The iterative algorithm was proved robust against imaging noise but sensitive to the variations of several system parameters. It is also efficient in terms of calculation time. It was shown that the algorithm can be applied to phase retrieval based on one phase-contrast image and one attenuation image, or two phase-contrast images; in both cases, the two images can be obtained either by one detector in two exposures, or by two detectors in only one exposure as in the dual-detector scheme.
X-ray diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) is one of X-ray phase-contrast imaging methods, which is applied to inspect internal structures of weakly absorbing low-Z samples. The key problem of the DEI is how to extract phase information which is expressed by refraction-angle images from a series of DEI images measured in different positions of the rocking curve of the analyzer. Three effective extraction methods are presented in this paper: the statistical geometric-optics-approximation method, the maximum refraction-angle method and the Gaussian curve fitting method. They are compared with the existing methods, such as the D. Chapman's geometric optics approximation method and the multiple-images statistical method. A 2D computer simulation experiment is performed to draw comparisons of these methods. The experimental results prove that the above three methods have more ...
X-ray diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) is one of X-ray phase-contrast imaging methods, which is applied to inspect internal structures of weakly absorbing low-Z samples. The key problem of the DEI is how to extract phase information which is expressed by refraction-angle images from a series of DEI images measured in different positions of the rocking curve of the analyzer. Three effective extraction methods are presented in this paper: the statistical geometric-optics-approximation method, the maximum refraction-angle method and the Gaussian curve fitting method. They are compared with the existing methods, such as the D. Chapman's geometric optics approximation method and the multiple-images statistical method. A 2D computer simulation experiment is performed to draw comparisons of these methods. The experimental results prove that the above three methods have more precision of ...
Fuji computed radiography (FCR) utilizing imaging plates stimulated by a scanning lazer has been developed in Japan and come to be widely available in diagnostic radiology. This system is advantageous because many processed images can be obtained with a single exposure. However, no reports have been published on the exact conditions necessary under which the FCR image processing method will produce improved visibility of pulmonary abnormal shadows on chest radiographs. In this report, chest FCR images obtained from 50 patients were analyzed, and the best practical image processing conditions were determined for each pathological state. Fundamental analysis was also performed for spatial and contrast resolution with FUNK chart and Burger's phantom using various thickness of acryl plate. Ninety processing images per exposure were analyzed, and the best ...
Fuji computed radiography (FCR) utilizing imaging plates stimulated by a scanning lazer has been developed in Japan and come to be widely available in diagnostic radiology. This system is advantageous because many processed images can be obtained with a single exposure. However, no reports have been published on the exact conditions necessary under which the FCR image processing method will produce improved visibility of pulmonary abnormal shadows on chest radiographs. In this report, chest FCR images obtained from 50 patients were analyzed, and the best practical image processing conditions were determined for each pathological state. Fundamental analysis was also performed for spatial and contrast resolution with FUNK chart and Burger's phantom using various thickness of acryl plate. Ninety processing images per exposure were analyzed, and the best practical ...
The authors have developed a high-sensitivity real-time neutron radiography (NR) system by the use of the low power reactor of Kinki University. The system was constructed with a high efficiency neutron-photon converter, an image intensifier and a SIT TELEVISION camera. Some digital image processing techniques were applied for improving the quality of the real-time neutron images. By the use of this system, dynamic neutron imaging was performed successfully under the condition of a weak neutron field that was about two orders of magnitude lower than that of the standard NR system. The neutron flux, calculated from the fluctuation of the neutron response of the images, was nearly equal to the value measured by the foil activation method. From this fact, the efficiency for the neutron detection of the imaging system was estimated to be almost 100%. For the purpose ...
The authors have developed a high-sensitivity real-time neutron radiography (NR) system by the use of the low power reactor of Kinki University. The system was constructed with a high efficiency neutron-photon converter, an image intensifier and a SIT TELEVISION camera. Some digital image processing techniques were applied for improving the quality of the real-time neutron images. By the use of this system, dynamic neutron imaging was performed successfully under the condition of a weak neutron field that was about two orders of magnitude lower than that of the standard NR system. The neutron flux, calculated from the fluctuation of the neutron response of the images, was nearly equal to the value measured by the foil activation method. From this fact, the efficiency for the neutron detection of the imaging system was estimated to be almost 100%. For the purpose ...
Summary Solid state nuclear track detectors are used to determine the concentration of a particles in the environment. The standard method for assessing exposed detectors involves 2D image analysis. However 3D imaging has the potential to provide additional information relating to angle as well as to differentiate clustered hit sequences and possibly energy of a particles but this could be time consuming. Here we describe a new method for rapid high-resolution 3D imaging of solid state nuclear track detectors. A `LEXT' OLS3100 confocal laser scanning microscope (Olympus Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) was used in confocal mode to successfully obtain 3D image data on four CR-39 plastic detectors. Three-dimensional visualization and image analysis enabled characterization of track features. This ...
Conventional Radiography, Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR) hardcopy and CRT images were evaluated about the detectability of pulmonary nodule using the chest phantom. Conventional and digitized chest radiographs (FCR) were used, including 45 normal cases and 45 abnormal cases with a variety pulmonary nodule. Observer performance tests were conducted to compare the effects on diagnostic accuracy of Conventional Radiography, FCR hardcopy and CRT images, and diagnostic accuracy was determined with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. ROC study was performed in which six radiologists were asked to locate nodule on three modalities. Two CRT monitors were used to observed CRT images. The left side CRT monitor was divided into two parts and displayed two images which were done as same image processing as FCR hardcopy. The right side CRT monitor was divided into four parts and ...
Conventional Radiography, Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR) hardcopy and CRT images were evaluated about the detectability of pulmonary nodule using the chest phantom. Conventional and digitized chest radiographs (FCR) were used, including 45 normal cases and 45 abnormal cases with a variety pulmonary nodule. Observer performance tests were conducted to compare the effects on diagnostic accuracy of Conventional Radiography, FCR hardcopy and CRT images, and diagnostic accuracy was determined with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. ROC study was performed in which six radiologists were asked to locate nodule on three modalities. Two CRT monitors were used to observed CRT images. The left side CRT monitor was divided into two parts and displayed two images which were done as same image processing as FCR hardcopy. The right side CRT monitor was divided into four parts and ...
Purpose: The authors have developed a novel technique using an electronic portal imaging device (EPID) to verify the geometrical accuracy of delivery of dose-rate-regulated tracking (DRRT)....Full Text Available
The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of a simple deformable phantom as a QA tool for testing and validation of deformable image registration algorithms. A diagnostic thoracic imaging phantom with a deformable foam insert was used in this study. Small plastic markers were distributed through the foam to create a lattice with a measurable deformation as the ground truth data for all comparisons. The foam was compressed in the superior-inferior direction using a one-dimensional drive stage pushing a flat 'diaphragm' to create deformations similar to those from inhale and exhale states. Images were acquired at different compressions of the foam and the location of every marker was manually identified on each image volume to establish a known deformation field with a known accuracy. The markers were removed digitally from corresponding images prior to ...
Advances in laboratory animal imaging have provided new resources for noninvasive biomedical research. Among these technologies is microcomputed tomography (microCT) which is widely used to obtain high...Full Text Available
Many simulation studies in biomedicine are based on a similar sequence of processing steps, starting from images and running through geometric model generation, assignment of tissue properties, numerical...Full Text Available
To treat or prevent some of the 795,000 annual strokes in the U.S., self-expanding endo-vascular stents deployed under fluoroscopic image guidance are often used. Neuro-interventionalists need...Full Text Available
A single exposure energy subtraction technique with a metal filter and an imaging plate for the Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR) system was developed for dual-energy subtraction radiography (DES) of the chest. By the use of this technique, 206 patients with suspected lung cancer were scanned in the clinical settings. The subtracted images in 200 patients, excluding six with poor image quality, were examined. Soft-tissue images (bone cancelled images) were useful in visualizing abnormality of the airway and nodules lying under the ribs; and bone images (soft-tissue cancelled images) in detecting rib metastases and the presence or absence of calcification in nodules. Additional information was acquired in 21 % (42/200). A single exposure is capable of neglecting motion artifacts. In addition, this technique may be of value in DES, which is ...
A single exposure energy subtraction technique with a metal filter and an imaging plate for the Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR) system was developed for dual-energy subtraction radiography (DES) of the chest. By the use of this technique, 206 patients with suspected lung cancer were scanned in the clinical settings. The subtracted images in 200 patients, excluding six with poor image quality, were examined. Soft-tissue images (bone cancelled images) were useful in visualizing abnormality of the airway and nodules lying under the ribs; and bone images (soft-tissue cancelled images) in detecting rib metastases and the presence or absence of calcification in nodules. Additional information was acquired in 21 % (42/200). A single exposure is capable of neglecting motion artifacts. In addition, this technique may be of value in DES, which is ...
The simple device for scanning image is described. It has much in common with usual TV camera, with an electron beam replaced by an optical one. After the general description of the device, we present a simple experimental illustration.
Papers are presented in the areas of: Medical Technologies; Non-Destructive Evaluation; Applications of Signal/Image Processing; Laser Guide Star and Adaptive Optics; Computational Electromagnetic, Acoustics and Optics; Micro-Impulse Radar Processing; Optical Applications; TANGO Space Shuttle.
This paper presents a new deformable model using both population and patient-specific statistics to segment the prostate from CT images. There are two novelties in the proposed method. First,...Full Text Available
This review presents a summary of existing knowledge regarding the impact of testicular cancer along four broad domains, including romantic and sexual relationships, body image, and fertility....Full Text Available
Motivated by the observation that a retinal fundus image may contain some unique geometric structures within its vascular trees which can be utilized for feature matching, in this paper, we proposed...Full Text Available
ObjectivesWe have developed an image-guided surgery system based on invisible near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent light. Presently, the only clinically-available NIR...Full Text Available
Currently several groups are actively researching the integration of a megavoltage teletherapy unit with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for real-time image-guided radiotherapy. The use of a...Full Text Available
Voxel-based prescriptions of deliberately non-uniform dose distributions based on molecular imaging, so-called dose painting or theragnostic radiation therapy, require specification of a transformation...Full Text Available
An examination of the noise of polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors, in the context of flat panel x-ray imager development, is reported. The study was conducted in the spirit of exploring...Full Text Available
To investigate the usefulness of a newly developed magnetic resonance (MR) image-guided surgical robotic system for minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery. The system consists of MR image guidance [interactive scan control (ISC) imaging, three-dimensional (3-D) navigation, and preoperative planning], an MR-compatible operating table, and an MR-compatible master-slave surgical manipulator that can enter the MR gantry. Using this system, we performed in vivo experiments with MR image-guided laparoscopic puncture on three pigs. We used a mimic tumor made of agarose gel and with a diameter of approximately 2 cm. All procedures were successfully performed. The operator only advanced the probe along the guidance device of the manipulator, which was adjusted on the basis of the preoperative plan, and punctured the target while maintaining the operative field using robotic forceps. The position of the probe ...
Adaptive radiation therapy (ART) is the incorporation of daily images in the radiotherapy treatment process so that the treatment plan can be evaluated and modified to maximize the amount of radiation...Full Text Available
Although ultrasound arrays were exploited in photoacoustic imaging to improve imaging speed, ultrasound-array-based optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) has never been achieved...Full Text Available
Cancer immunotherapies can be guided by cellular imaging techniques, which can identify the presence or absence of immune-cell accumulation in the tumor tissue in-vivo and in real time. This...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVES: To define a method for measurement of the cross sectional area and volume of the quadriceps femoris muscle using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in conjunction with stereology, and to compare...Full Text Available
BackgroundMany three-dimensional (3D) images are routinely collected in biomedical research and a number of digital atlases with associated anatomical and other information have...Full Text Available
This volume contains the proceedings of a symposium entitled In Vivo Imaging of Neurotransmitter Function in Brain, Heart, and Tumors'' held August 24--25, 1990 in Montreal Canada. The six individual papers contained herein are separately abstracted and indexed for the database.
BACKGROUND: Although the importance of lymphatic function is well recognized, the lack of real-time imaging modalities limits our understanding of its role in many diseases. In a phase...Full Text Available
Background and Objectives:Sound enamel manifests peak transparency in the near-IR (NIR) at 1310-nm, therefore the near-IR is ideally suited for high contrast imaging...Full Text Available
Objective: To investigate the relationship between exposure dose and image quality for a direct digital radiography system and to determine the optimum exposure parameters for pelvic examination. Methods: A contrast-detail phantom CDRAD2.0 was exposed to different doses and the IQF of phantom images were calculated. The optimum exposure parameters were determined by ANOVA and SNK analysis. The image of an anthropomorphic phantom taken with optimized exposure parameters was verified using CEC image criteria. Results: The IQF of the images of CDRAD2.0 phantom was significantly different for different doses, as the exposure dose was greater than 0.61 mGy. The IQFs have no difference for different dose groups. The image quality between this optimized exposure dose and conventional exposure dose not was significantly different. Conclusion: The ...
RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVESNon-invasive longitudinal imaging of tumor vasculature could provide new insights into the development of solid tumors, facilitating efficient...Full Text Available
Bone metastases of an Ewing's sarcoma were detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), when bone scan, CT and plain films were still normal. This is due to the ability of MRI to detect intramedullary metastases before involvement of the cortex. (Auth.).
The performance of the Lung Imaging Fluorescence Endoscope (LIFE) system was compared with conventional bronchoscopy in 158 patients: 68 patients with invasive cancer, 42 patients with abnormal sputum...Full Text Available
A two-channel optical system has been developed to provide spatially resolved simultaneous imaging of singlet molecular oxygen (1O2) phosphorescence and photosensitizer (PS) fluorescence...Full Text Available
The capability to image tissue motion such as blood flow through an endoscope could have many applications in medicine. Spectrally encoded endoscopy (SEE) is a recently introduced technique...Full Text Available
This paper hopes to share the insights we experienced during designing, building, and running an indexing solution for a large set of radiological reports and images in a production environment for...Full Text Available
Previous ultrasound elasticity imaging experiments supported a generally accepted concept that the hardness of deep venous thrombi increases with thrombus aging. Results also showed that this...Full Text Available
We describe a closed-loop brain-computer interface that re-ranks an image database by iterating between user generated 'interest' scores and computer vision generated visual similarity measures. The interest scores are based on decoding the electroencephalographic (EEG) correlates of target detection, attentional shifts and self-monitoring processes, which result from the user paying attention to target images interspersed in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) sequences. The highest scored images are passed to a semi-supervised computer vision system that reorganizes the image database accordingly, using a graph-based representation that captures visual similarity between images. The system can either query the user for more information, by adaptively resampling the database to create additional RSVP sequences, or it can converge to a 'done' state. The done state includes a ...
Due to the widespread clinical use of imaging modalities such as ultrasonography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), previously unsuspected liver masses are increasingly being...Full Text Available
Functional imaging has revolutionized the neurosciences. In the pain field it has dramatically altered our understanding of how the brain undergoes significant functional, anatomical and chemical changes...Full Text Available
The 3-D spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) images of the retina often do not reflect the true shape of the retina and are distorted differently along the x and y...Full Text Available
Antisense radiopharmaceuticals could be used to image gene expression in the brain in vivo, should these polar molecules be made transportable through the blood–brain barrier....Full Text Available
A high-speed fiber-based network for the transmission and display of digitized full-motion cardiac images has been developed. Based on Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), the network is scaleable, meaning...Full Text Available
We studied 64 ADHD children patients group (4 {approx} 15 ys, mean age: 8 {+-} 2.6 ys. M/F: 52/12) and 12 normal group (6 {approx} 7 ys, mean age: 9.4 {+-} 3.4 ys, M/F: 8/4) of the brain had been used to analysis of blood flow between normal and ADHD group. For analysis of Children ADHD, we used 12 children's mean brain images and made Template image of SPM99 program. In crease of blood flow (P-value 0.05), the result of normalized images to Template image to offer from SPM99 program, showed significant cluster in inter-Hemispheric and occipital Lobe, in the case of normalized images to children template image, showed inter-hemispheric and parietal lobe.
Software for gel image analysis and base-calling in fluorescence-based sequencing consisting of two primary programs, BaseFinder and GelImager, is described. BaseFinder is a framework for trace processing,...Full Text Available
BackgroundThis in vitro study was conducted to compare the accuracy of two digital image receptors in identifying the location of tip of a fine endodontic file and radiographic apex...Full Text Available
Evaluation of the tolerance limits of X-ray image density accepted by the radiologist shows that for different kinds of examinations, deviations of more than 50% from optimal density lead to images which cannot be used diagnostically. Within this range diagnostic accuracy shows a distinct maximum and diminishes to the limits by 20%. These figures are related to differences in the intensifying factor of screens, sensitivity of films, sensitometric parameters of film processing as well as the doses employed with automatic exposure control devices, measured in clinical conditions. Maximum permissible tolerance limits of the whole imaging system and of its constituents are discussed using the Gaussian law of error addition. (author).
The patch and voxel methods are representative examples of the ways in which multi-slice images may be displayed three-dimensionally by means of computer-graphics. Each of them have advantages and disadvantages and they are mutually complementary. We have developed algorithms for a modified voxel method which incorporates the advantages of the patch methods. We have applied this to the three-dimensional image display of brain tumor with excellent results. The three-dimensional reconstructions used for clinical application in this study were derived from X-ray CT images.
The authors present a guide to the imaging of facial fractures. It is illustrated with conventional radiographs and computed tomograms; the magnetic resonance images primarily suggest the potential applications of this technique. This book provides a source of imaging information on facial trauma. A section on pertinent anatomy is followed by a systematic discussion of the common isolated and complex facial fractures. Perspectives are offered on some commonly seen but infrequently described relationships, such as the tripod-LeFort II association. Consideration is also given to related soft-tissue injuries. The book includes a brief chapter on the type and utility of supplementary imaging studies in the evaluation of those intracranial injuries that may occur concurrently.
Disaster impact modeling and analysis uses huge volumes of image data that are produced immediately following a natural or an anthropogenic disaster event. Rapid damage assessment is the key to time critical decision support in disaster management to better utilize available response resources and accelerate recovery and relief efforts. But exploiting huge volumes of high resolution image data for identifying damaged areas with robust consistency in near real time is a challenging task. In this paper, we present an automated image analysis technique to identify areas of structural damage from high resolution optical satellite data using features based on image content.
There is strong interest in lithium imaging, particularly because of its significance in battery materials. However, light atoms only scatter electrons weakly and atomic resolution direct imaging of lithium has proven difficult. This paper explores theoretically the conditions under which lithium columns can be expected to be directly visible using annular bright field scanning transmission electron microscopy. A detailed discussion is given of the controllable parameters and the conditions most favourable for lithium imaging.
A possible novel application of hard x-ray emitted during laser-plasma interaction was discussed. The authors established an Optical Transform Function to study the joint effect of the spectral distribution and temporal profile of the laser-produced x-ray on x-ray phase imaging. Though the laser-produced x-ray pulse duration is short and incoherent, the analysis confirms that the current x-ray phase imaging theory still holds for laser-produced x-ray phase imaging
Cross-sectional imaging has revolutionised the radiological diagnosis of pleural collections. Not only can the precise location and volume of a pleural effusion be established, but also features specific for the aetiology of the effusion can be demonstrated. Increasingly, radiologists are called upon to perform image-guided biopsies, aspirations and small bore chest drain placement, all of which have been shown to be safe and efficacious. Pneumothoraces occurring due to acute trauma and in an intensive care setting can also benefit from radiological input, both in terms of diagnosis and image-guided treatment. (orig.)
Multitemporal TM images are used to collect information about the extension and variation of water influx subsidence in coal district in order to provide a reference for the harnessing and utilization of water influx subsidence. The multitemporal TM images are used as a blended data group for the analysis of the principal components to reflect the expanding water influx subsidence in the past years. Because of the differences in the environment and imaging condition, 'unitary' order is used to enhance the 'coherence' and 'comparability' of the original TM images. 5 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.
/sup 99m/Tc biliary imaging was performed on a 34-year-old woman who was being investigated for suspected cholelithiasis. A left-sided liver was detected. On subsequent radionuclide imaging, partial visceral situs inversus and asplenia were demonstrated. Extensive roentgenographic investigation, ECG, echocardiogram, and laparotomy confirmed the radionuclide findings. Asplenia syndrome may exist without cardiovascular abnormalities and thus be undiscovered. Radionuclide imaging is important in the diagnosis of this syndrome.
We describe a position-sensitive event-counting microchannel plate detector with a quadrant anode readout system that combines the advantages of several centroid-finding readout techniques. The relative amount of charge collected by each quadrant of the anode mounted behind the output side of the microchannel plate is used to localize each event. The position-sensitive area is about 80% of the active microchannel plate surface. By changing a single voltage a remote-controlled image magnification can be achieved. Due to a correction function that minimizes image distortions the imaging characteristics of this low-cost readout system are similar to those of expensive resistive anodes.
The aim of this work is the implantation and characterization of a neutron radiography system that uses an electronic device for attainment of images in real time, for its implementation in the nuclear research reactor Argonauta at IEN/CNEN (Nuclear Engineering Institute of the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission). The Electronic Imaging System in Real Time is composed by a scintillator screen for neutron, a video camera (CCD), a digital plate and a computer with specific computational programs for digital processing of the images. The System in installed real time is apt to carry through neutron radiography inspections of static and dynamic events of several types of samples. (author)
Peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumors (peripheral PNETs) are rare in the abdomen. We report the imaging findings of four peripheral PNETs arising in the abdomen. Three were ill-demarcated tumors and one was a well-demarcated tumor, with extensive local invasion and lymph node metastasis in two cases, respectively. The tumors are of inhomogeneous attenuation and heterogeneous enhancement after intravenous administration of contrast materials. Although their imaging manifestations cannot distinguish them from other sarcomas, recognition of these imaging features may be helpful in suggesting the possibility of peripheral PNETs in some cases.
A carbon nanotube (CNT) tip, which assembled on the sharp end of a Si tip by dielectrophoresis, was structurally modified using focused ion beam (FIB). We described the imaging characterization of the FIB-modified CNT tip in noncontact AFM mode in terms of wear, deep trench accessibility, and imaging resolution. Compared to a conventional Si tip, the FIB-modified CNT tip was superior, especially for prolonged scanning over 10 h. We conclude that modified CNT tips have the potential to obtain high-quality images of nanoscale structures.
... is the sensor that converts incoming photons into a ... with CCD foundries to acquire such a sensor. ... 2007, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 44, 910 ...
High (spatial) resolution imaging detectors for X-ray astronomy were developed. Several prototype detectors built and their feasibility and baseline performance were assessed. Two of these detector types are proposed for investigations on the advanced X-ray astrophysics facility (AXAF). The readiness of a new X-ray imaging system, the charge coupled device (CCD) imaging specctrometer is outlined, and state of the art performance parameters for microchannel plate (MCP) and CCD detectors are measured. Laboratory facilities and procedures for coating MCP are developed general high resolution imagery systems are analyzed.
High (spatial) resolution imaging detectors for X-ray astronomy were developed. Several prototype detectors built and their feasibility and baseline performance were assessed. Two of these detector types are proposed for investigations on the advanced X-ray astrophysics facility (AXAF). The readiness of a new X-ray imaging system, the charge coupled device (CCD) imaging specctrometer is outlined, and state of the art performance parameters for microchannel plate (MCP) and CCD detectors are measured. Laboratory facilities and procedures for coating MCP are developed general high resolution imagery systems are analyzed.
ARIES Baker-Nunn Schmidt telescope project is converting a Baker-Nunn satellite tracking camera for Astronomical research. Original Baker-Nunn camera produces an extremely large (5X30 degree) curved focal plane at the prime focus for photographic imaging. We present here the re-designing of the camera produces a wide (4 X 4 degree) flat field of view for CCD imaging observations, which have many scientific potentials in Astronomy. Imaging performance of the CCD camera is also estimated.
Eighty-seven subtraction images of FCR were compared with subtraction images of conventional angiography. Although FCR images with reduced exposure dose (25 % of regular dose) and with diluted contrast material (150 mgI/ml, 50 % of usual concentration) were slightly inferior to the images of conventional angiography, most clinically important vessels were adequately visualized. As FCR has wider dynamic range and higher contrast resolution than conventional angiography, FCR may take over conventional angiography. (author).
The Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) is a raster image of a scanned USGS topographic map including the collar information, georeferenced to the UTM grid....
We describe a position-sensitive event-counting microchannel plate detector with a quadrant anode readout system that combines the advantages of several centroid-finding readout techniques. The relative amount of charge collected by each quadrant of the anode mounted behind the output side of the microchannel plate is used to localize each event. The position-sensitive area is about 80% of the active microchannel plate surface. By changing a single voltage a remote-controlled image magnification can be achieved. Due to a correction function that minimizes image distortions the imaging characteristics of this low-cost readout system are similar to those of expensive resistive anodes. (orig.).
We describe a position-sensitive event-counting microchannel plate detector with a quadrant anode readout system that combines the advantages of several centroid-finding readout techniques. The relative amount of charge collected by each quadrant of the anode mounted behind the output side of the microchannel plate is used to localize each event. The position-sensitive area is about 80% of the active microchannel plate surface. By changing a single voltage a remote-controlled image magnification can be achieved. Due to a correction function that minimizes image distortions the imaging characteristics of this low-cost readout system are similar to those of expensive resistive anodes.
The optimization of ethylene furnace operations using cfd-based simulations has been addressed. The optimization problems have been cast into various formulations: the Multidisciplinary feasible (MDF) approach, the All-At-Once (AAO) approach and the Individual discipline feasible (IDF) approach. These approaches mainly differ in their handling of the state equations as constraints, and hence some of the formulations place restrictions on the methods used to solve the state equations.
An approach for classification of transmission line faults is presented. The approach is based on fuzzy logic and requires the consideration of the samples of three phase currents at one end of transmission line. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach extensive simulation studies, using EMTP and MATLAB, have been carried out for different types of fault considering wide variations in the operating conditions. (author)
In order to understand the detail transient two-phase flow structure, more advanced two-phase flow instrumentation is required. One advanced technique for flow visualization is real-time neutron radiography. Reconstruction method of visualized radiographic image of liquid metal two-phase flow generated by the real-time neutron radiography system is proposed in this paper. Image processing techniques for noise reduction and image enhancement are discussed in detail. (author).
In order to understand the detail transient two-phase flow structure, more advanced two-phase flow instrumentation is required. One advanced technique for flow visualization is real-time neutron radiography. Reconstruction method of visualized radiographic image of liquid metal two-phase flow generated by the real-time neutron radiography system is proposed in this paper. Image processing techniques for noise reduction and image enhancement are discussed in detail. (author).
A series of real-time, neutron radiography, experiments are ongoing at the Texas A and M Nuclear Science Center Reactor (NSCR). These tests determine the resolving capabilities for radiographic imaging of two phase water and air flow regimes through small diameter flow channels. Though both film and video radiographic imaging is available, the real-time video imaging was selected to capture the dynamic flow patterns with results that continue to improve. (author)
Parathyroid imaging based on the principle of differential uptakes of Tc-99m and T1-201 in the anterior neck to localize parathyroid (PT) disease has been reported with widely varying results. To evaluate the usefulness of this method, we have performed PT imaging on 47 patients prior to exploratory surgery for PT disease. Using pinhole collimation and digital acquisition, a 50k count image of the thyroid was obtained 20 minutes after injection of 1mCi99m Tc-pertechnetate. Then a lmCi dose of Tl-201 chloride was injected and a series of images acquired for 30 minutes at 30 sec/image. Raw data was spatially filtered and normalized by summing sufficient T1-201 images to equal the Tc-99m image scale of maximum cts/pixel. Image subtraction (Tl-Tc) gave the final PT image. Of 10 pts who had previous neck ...
Results of the evaluation of the scattered radiation effect on the image of defects in examined products are given. The formula is suggested which characterizes the image of defects on a scintillation screen as well as accumulation factors are calculated by the Monte-Carlo method. Values of fluctuations of absorbed energy in the screen used for the evaluation of sensitivity are experimentally obtained. The effect of high-energy bremsstrahlung on the defect detection is analyzed.
For comparison of radiation exposure and risk in different diagnostic procedures for adults and children dose measurements and calculations of organs with special risk were carried out. Parameters of image formation influencing image quality as well as of exposure concerning infants and children are recorded and discussed as to radiation exposure and protection. Conclusions are drawn with respect to systems of image formation and to standards of examination and quality assurance.
The quantitative imaging of a phase object using 16 keV x-rays is reported. The theoretical basis of the techniques is presented along with its implementation using a synchrotron x-ray source. It is found that the phase image is in quantitative agreement with independent measurements of the object. 13 refs., 5 figs.
In this article, the authors recall the factors apt to influence image quality in NMR Imaging and present the european works that have been developed in MRIQA to set 5 quality assurance tests: EUROSPIN 1 to 5.
Sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency the Image Understanding Workshop is a forum for the presentation of new research in vision, image analysis, and geometric modeling. Leading scientists present overviews of projects underway at major universities and corporate research sites, as well as results of individual work. The 1987 volume contains 94 articles and technical reports in two volumes.
The characteristics of real-time neutron radiography are described briefly in this paper, and the acquirement of neutron flux, the selection of convertor and the structure of the twilight imaging system and the image-sampling and image-processing system in SPRR-300 reactor are also analyzed detailedly. The experimental result of real-time neutron radiograph is too analyzed in this paper
This manuscript reviews some of the more controversial dose-related issues in cardiac CT imaging. Discussion covers the relative merits of cardiac CT versus MR, advantages and concerns regarding gated versus nongated cardiac CT and advantages and concerns regarding the use of breast shields in girls undergoing cardiac CT imaging.
Positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies were performed on a case of neuro-Behcet's syndrome. In accordance with the clinical signs, FDG PET (using /sup 18/F-labeled 2-F-2'-desoxyglucose) revealed disseminated storage defects in the cerebrum and cerebellum. Focal regions of enhanced signal intensity were demonstrated in the parietal white matter of the cerebrum in T2-weighted images and in the brain stem by MRI. (orig.).
The image processing system for the dynamic neutron radiography has been developed. It is based on the hardware subset, composed by the method of the pipe-line and use of algorithm of local statistics. The processing speed per one pixel is shorter than 100 n sec and video-rate processing can be executed on it. Some image processes for improving the quality of the real-time neutron image, noise reduction and contrast stretching would be attempted by the use of this system. (author).
An analyzer-based X-ray phase-contrast imaging (ABI) setup has been mounted at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS) for multiple imaging radiography (MIR) purposes. The algorithm employed for treating the MIR data collected at LNLS is described, and its reliability in extracting the distinct types of contrast that can be obtained with MIR is demonstrated by analyzing a test sample (thin polyamide wire). As a practical application, the possibility of studying ophthalmic tissues, corneal sequestra in this case, via MIR is investigated.
A thermal neutron imaging facility for computed tomography and real-time neutron radiography is being developed at the University of Texas at Austin. The TRIGA reactor is a graphite-reflected Mark It pool-type research reactor. The neutron imaging facility will use beam port, which is at one end of a through part. Monte Carlo calculations were used to design the neutron collimator for this facility.
The "1"3"1I-labelled monoclonal antibodies 791T/36 and 79IT/36 Fab fragments have been evaluated in the imaging of patients with colorectal cancer, with benign colorectal tumours, and with malignant tumours of other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. The results of clinical imaging have been carefully correlated with clinical findings and direct measurement of the preferential uptake of antibody by the tumours. (UK).
A pulsed field gradient spin echo sequence has been incorporated in a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging experiment to provide an image contrast dependent on local molecular self-diffusion. The...Full Text Available
We reported three cases of acute intracranial tuberculosis including miliary tuberculosis, basal meningitis, tuberculomas and neuritis of cranial nerves. All patients had native and contrast enhanced CT and MRI scans. MRI revealed more granulomas and a better imaging contrast in the detection of basal meningitis. Neuritis was diagnosed only with the MRI. MRI scans should be prefered as the imaging procedure in clinically presumed intracranial tuberculosis. (orig.).
The clinical feasibility of using interventional examination techniques was tested with an equipment combining fluoroscopy and MR imaging. This hybrid system showed to be of advantage in a great number of interventional examinations. The 1.5 Tesla magnet proved to be superior to open MR scanning systems in terms of image quality and scanning times. (orig.).
The authors report an extension of the source imaging method for analyzing three-dimensional sources from three-dimensional correlations. The technique consists of expanding the correlation data and the underlying source function in spherical harmonics and inverting the resulting system of one-dimensional integral equations. With this strategy, they can image the source function quickly, even with the extremely large data sets common in three-dimensional analyses.
We have investigated the detection performance of GaAs detectors made with different thickness and contact geometries. A comparison is made between these detection capabilities and the imaging requirements for the following medical applications: digital mammography, digital chest radiography and nuclear medicine. Experimental results and preliminary images are presented and discussed. (author)
In this study, an apparatus suitable to photoacoustic (PA) imaging to measure blood-analysis and urinalysis is fabricated and its measurement scheme has been established for the first time. The PA imaging of urinalysis test strip, blood sugar test strip, and cholesterol test strip is performed. A calibration curve of PA measurement is obtained for a urine test strip. The detectivity is better than that obtained by an eye-measurement.
Our goal is to determine an optimized image-guided setup by comparing setup errors determined by two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) image guidance for head and neck cancer (HNC)...Full Text Available
Purpose: To assess the role of CT in the evaluation of traumatic and spontaneous oesophageal perforation. Materials and methods: From March 2001 to May 2003, we studied 12 patients (7 males and 5 females; age range: 25-66 years, mean age: 43.5 years) with suspected oesophageal perforation due to motor-vehicle accidents (4 cases), stab wound (one case), post-intubation (2 cases), foreign body ingestion (2 cases) and spontaneous (3 cases). Five patients underwent standard chest and cervical radiography; two patients with suspected foreign body ingestion also underwent a gastrografin swallow study; all of the 12 patients underwent CT of the neck, chest and abdomen before and after intravenous, and in four cases oral, administration of contrast material. Results: In 5 patients with cervical, thoracic and abdominal trauma, the CT examination showed the presence of pleuroparenchymal injury (pneumothorax, pleural effusion and subcutaneous emphysema) as well as findings suggestive of ...
A real-time two-dimensional void fraction distribution measurement of gas-liquid two-phase flow was carried out by real-time neutron radiography and real-time image processing. The JRR-3M real-time thermal neutron radiography system and a Musashi dynamic image processing system were used. Image processing methods to calculate two-dimensional and cross-sectional void fraction distributions were proposed. The void fraction distribution was calculated by non-linear processing of the neutron radiography image and displayed by pseudo-color in real-time. A simple gas-liquid two-phase flow induced by injecting gas through needles at the bottom of water pool in a rectangular vessel was tested. (orig.).
MR images of steady and pulsatile disturbed flow, obtained with use of flow-compensated spin-echo (SE) and cine pulse sequences, revealed excellent flow visualization in three dimensions. Phantoms, built from molds of actual blood vessels, reproduced laminar, disturbed, or turbulent flow. Video recording (VR), performed under conditions equivalent to those of the MR experiments, showed separation zones identical to those seen on SE images. Pulsatile flow studies showed complex patterns of vortical flow on cine images and VR. Varying pulse sequence details changed contrast but not flow patterns. The validation of MR observations by VR has implications for clinical cine imaging and low abnormal signals observed on MR angiograms.
VSP reverse-time migration is a well adaptable wave equation migration method. Its control equation not only describes all-direction propagation of seismic wave but also removes interbed multiples. Clearbout's image principle is generalized to determine image conditions, real VSP data are used to determine boundary condition, and two way reflection-free wave equation is solved by making reverse-time extrapolation. In each step of extrapolation, the migration value at relevant image point is obtained by using the image condition. The complete migration of a seismic section is achieved when reverse-time extrapolation reaches the minimum image time. In this paper it is proved theoretically and practically that this method is applicable to any velocity variation and makes the migrated section have both good resolution and high S/N ratio. Besides, this method results in high ...
The advent, in the near future, of compact X-ray sources like Thomson Back-Scattering (TBS) will allow the clinical application of advanced X-ray imaging techniques, such as phase contrast, with higher sensitivity and lower impact in terms of dose delivery. In this work, we theoretically investigated the possibility of using such sources for phase contrast imaging of micro-calcifications included in a breast tissue. In our study we analyzed the phase and amplitude distribution of the TBS source and we showed that this source can be used for phase contrast imaging since the source coherence at the sample position is sufficiently high for achieving good contrast and micrometer spatial resolution. Indeed the spatial coherence of a TBS source is closer to that of a synchrotron radiation source, and much better than that of a laboratory source. Moreover, we showed the advantages of phase imaging with respect ...
The auroras on Jupiter and Saturn can be studied with a high sensitivity and resolution by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ultraviolet (UV) and far-ultraviolet (FUV) Space Telescope spectrograph (STIS) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instruments. We present results of automatic detection and segmentation of Jupiter's auroral emissions as observed by HST ACS instrument with VOronoi Image SEgmentation (VOISE). VOISE is a dynamic algorithm for partitioning the underlying pixel grid of an image into regions according to a prescribed homogeneity criterion. The algorithm consists of an iterative procedure that dynamically constructs a tessellation of the image plane based on a Voronoi Diagram, until the intensity of the underlying image within each region is classified as homogeneous. The computed tessellations allow the extraction of quantitative information about the auroral features such as mean ...
Two peptide ligands conjugated adenine, [9-N-(tritylmercapto acetyl diglycyl aminoethyl) adenine, Tr-MAG_2-Ade] and [9-N-(tritylmercapto acetyl triglycyl aminoethyl) adenine, Tr-MAG3-Ade], are synthesized and labeled with "9"9"mTc by directly labeling method. The stability of "9"9"mTc-MAG_2- adenine and "9"9"mTc-MAG_3-adenine in vitro is measured. The uptake radios of tumor to muscle at 3h post-injection are 5.70 and 4.92, respectively. The biodistribution and scintigraphic imaging studies show that the two complexes have high localization in tumor and high contrasted tumor images can be obtained, which suggest their potential utility as tumor imaging agents. But the high radioactivity of abdomen could prevent the tumor imaging in this area. (author)
A photoacoustic (PA) imaging system based on an ultrasonic Fresnel zone plate (FZP) transducer is developed for the purpose of imaging biological tissue. This FZP transducer has a two-zone negative zone plate piezoelectric material pattern, and an optical fibre is integrated with the transducer on the symmetric axis of the zone plates to deliver laser pulses to the sample. The focal characteristic of the FZP transducer is analysed by theoretical prediction and experimental measurement, and the measured results are in good agreement with the predicted results. The limited-field back-projection deconvolution algorithm combined with the coherence-factor weighting technique is used to reconstruct the optical absorption distribution. The experiments were performed with phantoms and the blood vessels of chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane. The results demonstrate that PA imaging using the FZP transducer has the ability to ...
Positron emission tomography (PET) is the gold standard for non-invasive assessment of myocardial viability and allows accurate detection of coronary artery disease by assessment of myocardial perfusion. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides high resolution anatomical images that allow accurate evaluation of ventricular structure and function together with detection of myocardial infarction. Potential hybrid PET/MR tomography may potentially facilitate the combination of information from these imaging modalities in cardiology. Furthermore, the combination of anatomical MRI images with the high sensitivity of PET for detecting molecular targets may extent the application of these modalities to the characterization of atherosclerotic plaques and to the evaluation of angiogenetic or stem cell therapies, for example. This article reviews studies using MRI and PET in parallel to compare their performance ...
An algorithm for creating synthetic telescope images of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) density fields is presented, which utilises the adaptive nature of the SPH formalism in full. The imaging process uses Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer (MCRT) methods to model the scattering and absorption of photon packets in the density field, which then exit the system and are captured on a pixelated image plane, creating a 2D image (or a 3D datacube, if the photons are also binned by their wavelength). The algorithm is implemented on the density field directly: no gridding of the field is required, allowing the density field to be described to an identical level of accuracy as the simulations that generated it. Some applications of the method to star and planet formation simulations are presented to illustrate the advantages of this new technique, and suggestions as to how this framework could support a ...
The field of a digital-image processing has experienced dramatic growth and increasingly widespread applicability in recent years. Fortunately, advances in computer technology have kept pace with the rapid growth in volume of image data in these and other applications. Digital image processing has become economical in many fields of research and in industrial and military applications. While each application has requirements unique from the others, all are concerned with faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more extensive computation. The trend is toward real-time and interactive operations, where the user of the system obtains preliminary results within a short enough time that the next decision can be made by the human processor without loss of concentration on the task at hand. An example of this is the obtaining of two-dimensional (2-D) computer-aided tomography (CAT) images. A medical decision might ...
We propose a combined migration velocity analysis and imaging method based on Kirchhoff integral migration and reverse time migration, using the residual curvature analysis and layer stripping strategy to build the velocity model. This method improves the image resolution of Kirchhoff integral migration and reduces the computations of the reverse time migration. It combines the advantages of efficiency and accuracy of the two migration methods. Its application in tunnel seismic prediction shows good results. Numerical experiments show that the imaging results of reverse time migration are better than the imaging results of Kirchhoff integral migration in many aspects of tunnel prediction. Field data show that this method has efficient computations and can establish a reasonable velocity model and a high quality imaging section. Combination with geological information can make an ...
In the autonomous unmanned helicopter landing problem, the position of the unmanned helicopter relative to the landmark is very important. A camera carried on the unmanned helicopter can capture an image of the landmark. In earlier research, it was reported that the camera position could be estimated by features extracted from the landmark image. However, it is necessary that the landmark image should be complete, or with only slight deficiencies, in order for this estimation process to be possible. In this article, we report on an innovative design for an estimation made from a camera position giving an incomplete single image of the landmark. An adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is used to construct the mapping relation between the features of complete and incomplete landmark...
We introduce a multi-layered image cache system that is designed to work with a pool of rendering engines to facilitate an interactive, frameless, asynchronous rendering environment. Our system decouples the rendering from the display of imagery. Therefore, it decouples render frequency and resolution from display frequency and resolution, and allows asynchronous transmission of imagery instead of the compute/send cycle of standard parallel systems. It also allows local, incremental refinement of imagery without requiring all imagery to be re-rendered. Images are placed in fixed position in camera (vs. world) space to eliminate occlusion artifacts. Display quality is improved by increasing the number of images. Interactivity is improved by decreasing the number of images.
To assess whether ring enhancements of liver metastases on Mn-DPDP enhanced, early MR images were well visualized on delayed images, as compared with those of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), and to investigate the detection accuracy and conspicuity of each tumor. Twenty patients with liver metastases and 15 with HCC were studied by Mn-DPDP enhanced, T1-weighted MR images. Peripheral ring enhancement and conspicuity were investigated. Differences in detection accuracy and frequency of ring enhancement in liver metastases and HCC were assessed. In liver metastases (n= 69), 44 cases (63.8%) without ring enhancement and 25 (36.2%) with were noted on early images. Sixteen cases (23.2%) without ring enhancement, 38 (55.1%) with ring enhancement similar to the early images, and 15 (21.7%) with prominent ring enhancement were noted on delayed images. In HCC (n=37), 36 ...
More than 660 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired over the southern Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Gulf of Lyon in the Mediterranean Sea by the Second European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-2) have been analyzed since December 1996 with respect to radar signatures of marine pollution and other phenomena causing similar signatures. First results of our analysis reveal that the seas are most polluted along the main shipping routes. SAR images acquired during descending (morning) and ascending (evening) satellite passes show different percentages of oil pollution, because most of this pollution occurs during night time and is still visible on the SAR images acquired in the morning time. Moreover, we found a higher amount of oil spills on SAR images acquired during summer (April-September) than on SAR images acquired during winter (October-March). We attribute this ...
Internet bandwidth is in high demand, and one way that web sites lower the amount of bandwidth they use is by compressing their site's images. This lowers the amount of bandwidth used, and makes the site load much faster. There are of course many other useful applications for compressed images. Bit Plane Complexity Segmentation (BPCS) digital picture steganography is a technique to hide data inside an image file. BPCS achieves high embedding rates with low distortion based on the theory that noise-like regions in a bit-plane can be replaced with noise-like secret data without discernible loss in image quality. This is possible because the human eye, while very good at distinguishing anomalies in areas of homogenous texture, is bad at distinguishing anomalies in visually complex areas. However, BPCS is not a robust embedding scheme, and any lossy compression usually destroys the data. Wavelet ...
In an effort to evaluate the feasibility of introducing computed radiography (FCR) into mass screening for lung cancer, the ability of FCR to detect nodules one cm in diameter was examined using a humanoid chest phantom. Based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the detectability of FCR was compared with that of conventional radiography and photofluorography. The values of area under ROC curves were higher for FCR (0.963 for image similar to that with conventional film-intensifying screen system, image A; and 0.952 for processed image, image B) than the other two methods (0.774 for radiography and 0.789 for photofluorography). Degradation of image quality in FCR could be avoided by a wide latitude even if proper exposure techniques might not be employed. Images A and B in FCR yielded excellent delineation for nodules in the lung field and in ...
In an effort to evaluate the feasibility of introducing computed radiography (FCR) into mass screening for lung cancer, the ability of FCR to detect nodules one cm in diameter was examined using a humanoid chest phantom. Based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the detectability of FCR was compared with that of conventional radiography and photofluorography. The values of area under ROC curves were higher for FCR (0.963 for image similar to that with conventional film-intensifying screen system, image A; and 0.952 for processed image, image B) than the other two methods (0.774 for radiography and 0.789 for photofluorography). Degradation of image quality in FCR could be avoided by a wide latitude even if proper exposure techniques might not be employed. Images A and B in FCR yielded excellent delineation for nodules in the lung field and in ...
This paper describes Fuji computed radiography (FCR) of Fuji Film for NDT (non-destructive testing). Imaging plate (IP) is a two-dimensional detector of X-ray, and shows higher photographic sensitivity than X-ray film. The output emission of IP provides a good linear relationship to X-ray intensity in a wide intensity range. When this emission can be digitized, the X-ray intensity can be also digitized. IP is applied to NDT as an inspection using X-ray. FCR provides higher photographic sensitivity than the conventional X-ray film method, which results in one-fifth to one-twentieth of irradiation time. Images with stable density can be obtained independent of the intensity. Since IP has a wide dynamic range, the variation of X-ray intensity of 1:500 can be expressed in a single image by single shot. High density record including 1000 images can be done using a 5.25 inch optical disk through the digital ...