Principle and realization of segmenting contour series algorithm in reverse engineering based on X-ray computerized tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yanfang; Liu Li; Yan Yonglian; Shan Baoci; Tang Xiaowei

2007-01-01

A new algorithm of segmenting contour series of images is presented, which can achieve three dimension reconstruction with parametric recognition in Reverse Engineering based on X-ray CT. First, in order to get the nested relationship between contours, a method of a certain angle ray is used. Second, for realizing the contour location in one slice, another approach is presented to generate the contour tree by scanning the relevant vector only once. Last, a judge algorithm is put forward to accomplish the contour match between slices by adopting the qualitative and quantitative properties. The example shows that this algorithm can segment contour series of CT parts rapidly and precisely. (authors)

Self-adaptive method to distinguish inner and outer contours of industrial computed tomography image for rapid prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Liming; Ye Yong; Zhang Xia; Zuo Jian

2013-01-01

A self-adaptive identification method is proposed for realizing more accurate and efficient judgment about the inner and outer contours of industrial computed tomography (CT) slice images. The convexity-concavity of the single-pixel-wide closed contour is identified with angle method at first. Then, contours with concave vertices are distinguished to be inner or outer contours with ray method, and contours without concave vertices are distinguished with extreme coordinate value method. The method was chosen to automatically distinguish contours by means of identifying the convexity and concavity of the contours. Thus, the disadvantages of single distinguishing methods, such as ray method's time-consuming and extreme coordinate method's fallibility, can be avoided. The experiments prove the adaptability, efficiency, and accuracy of the self-adaptive method. (authors)

Reconstructing building mass models from UAV images

KAUST Repository

Li, Minglei

2015-07-26

We present an automatic reconstruction pipeline for large scale urban scenes from aerial images captured by a camera mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle. Using state-of-the-art Structure from Motion and Multi-View Stereo algorithms, we first generate a dense point cloud from the aerial images. Based on the statistical analysis of the footprint grid of the buildings, the point cloud is classified into different categories (i.e., buildings, ground, trees, and others). Roof structures are extracted for each individual building using Markov random field optimization. Then, a contour refinement algorithm based on pivot point detection is utilized to refine the contour of patches. Finally, polygonal mesh models are extracted from the refined contours. Experiments on various scenes as well as comparisons with state-of-the-art reconstruction methods demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method.

Measuring multiple residual-stress components using the contour method and multiple cuts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prime, Michael B [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Swenson, Hunter [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Pagliaro, Pierluigi [U. PALERMO; Zuccarello, Bernardo [U. PALERMO

2009-01-01

The conventional contour method determines one component of stress over the cross section of a part. The part is cut into two, the contour of the exposed surface is measured, and Bueckner's superposition principle is analytically applied to calculate stresses. In this paper, the contour method is extended to the measurement of multiple stress components by making multiple cuts with subsequent applications of superposition. The theory and limitations are described. The theory is experimentally tested on a 316L stainless steel disk with residual stresses induced by plastically indenting the central portion of the disk. The stress results are validated against independent measurements using neutron diffraction. The theory has implications beyond just multiple cuts. The contour method measurements and calculations for the first cut reveal how the residual stresses have changed throughout the part. Subsequent measurements of partially relaxed stresses by other techniques, such as laboratory x-rays, hole drilling, or neutron or synchrotron diffraction, can be superimposed back to the original state of the body.

A fully automated contour detection algorithm the preliminary step for scatter and attenuation compensation in SPECT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Younes, R.B.; Mas, J.; Bidet, R.

1988-01-01

Contour detection is an important step in information extraction from nuclear medicine images. In order to perform accurate quantitative studies in single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) a new procedure is described which can rapidly derive the best fit contour of an attenuated medium. Some authors evaluate the influence of the detected contour on the reconstructed images with various attenuation correction techniques. Most of the methods are strongly affected by inaccurately detected contours. This approach uses the Compton window to redetermine the convex contour: It seems to be simpler and more practical in clinical SPECT studies. The main advantages of this procedure are the high speed of computation, the accuracy of the contour found and the programme's automation. Results obtained using computer simulated and real phantoms or clinical studies demonstrate the reliability of the present algorithm. (orig.)

Fourier Descriptor Analysis and Unification of Voice Range Profile Contours: Method and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Pabon, Peter; Ternstrom, Sten; Lamarche, Anick

2011-01-01

Purpose: To describe a method for unified description, statistical modeling, and comparison of voice range profile (VRP) contours, even from diverse sources. Method: A morphologic modeling technique, which is based on Fourier descriptors (FDs), is applied to the VRP contour. The technique, which essentially involves resampling of the curve of the…

Automatic Contour Extraction from 2D Image

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Panagiotis GIOANNIS

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Aim: To develop a method for automatic contour extraction from a 2D image. Material and Method: The method is divided in two basic parts where the user initially chooses the starting point and the threshold. Finally the method is applied to computed tomography of bone images. Results: An interesting method is developed which can lead to a successful boundary extraction of 2D images. Specifically data extracted from a computed tomography images can be used for 2D bone reconstruction. Conclusions: We believe that such an algorithm or part of it can be applied on several other applications for shape feature extraction in medical image analysis and generally at computer graphics.

Iterative Method of Regularization with Application of Advanced Technique for Detection of Contours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niedziela, T.; Stankiewicz, A.

2000-01-01

This paper proposes a novel iterative method of regularization with application of an advanced technique for detection of contours. To eliminate noises, the properties of convolution of functions are utilized. The method can be accomplished in a simple neural cellular network, which creates the possibility of extraction of contours by automatic image recognition equipment. (author)

Does thorax EIT image analysis depend on the image reconstruction method?

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zhanqi; Frerichs, Inéz; Pulletz, Sven; Müller-Lisse, Ullrich; Möller, Knut

2013-04-01

Different methods were proposed to analyze the resulting images of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) measurements during ventilation. The aim of our study was to examine if the analysis methods based on back-projection deliver the same results when applied on images based on other reconstruction algorithms. Seven mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS were examined by EIT. The thorax contours were determined from the routine CT images. EIT raw data was reconstructed offline with (1) filtered back-projection with circular forward model (BPC); (2) GREIT reconstruction method with circular forward model (GREITC) and (3) GREIT with individual thorax geometry (GREITT). Three parameters were calculated on the resulting images: linearity, global ventilation distribution and regional ventilation distribution. The results of linearity test are 5.03±2.45, 4.66±2.25 and 5.32±2.30 for BPC, GREITC and GREITT, respectively (median ±interquartile range). The differences among the three methods are not significant (p = 0.93, Kruskal-Wallis test). The proportions of ventilation in the right lung are 0.58±0.17, 0.59±0.20 and 0.59±0.25 for BPC, GREITC and GREITT, respectively (p = 0.98). The differences of the GI index based on different reconstruction methods (0.53±0.16, 0.51±0.25 and 0.54±0.16 for BPC, GREITC and GREITT, respectively) are also not significant (p = 0.93). We conclude that the parameters developed for images generated with GREITT are comparable with filtered back-projection and GREITC.

Multiphase Interface Tracking with Fast Semi-Lagrangian Contouring.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaosheng; He, Xiaowei; Liu, Xuehui; Zhang, Jian J; Liu, Baoquan; Wu, Enhua

2016-08-01

We propose a semi-Lagrangian method for multiphase interface tracking. In contrast to previous methods, our method maintains an explicit polygonal mesh, which is reconstructed from an unsigned distance function and an indicator function, to track the interface of arbitrary number of phases. The surface mesh is reconstructed at each step using an efficient multiphase polygonization procedure with precomputed stencils while the distance and indicator function are updated with an accurate semi-Lagrangian path tracing from the meshes of the last step. Furthermore, we provide an adaptive data structure, multiphase distance tree, to accelerate the updating of both the distance function and the indicator function. In addition, the adaptive structure also enables us to contour the distance tree accurately with simple bisection techniques. The major advantage of our method is that it can easily handle topological changes without ambiguities and preserve both the sharp features and the volume well. We will evaluate its efficiency, accuracy and robustness in the results part with several examples.

Three dimensional reconstruction of computed tomographic images by computer graphics method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kashiwagi, Toru; Kimura, Kazufumi.

1986-01-01

A three dimensional computer reconstruction system for CT images has been developed in a commonly used radionuclide data processing system using a computer graphics technique. The three dimensional model was constructed from organ surface information of CT images (slice thickness: 5 or 10 mm). Surface contours of the organs were extracted manually from a set of parallel transverse CT slices in serial order and stored in the computer memory. Interpolation was made between a set of the extracted contours by cubic spline functions, then three dimensional models were reconstructed. The three dimensional images were displayed as a wire-frame and/or solid models on the color CRT. Solid model images were obtained as follows. The organ surface constructed from contours was divided into many triangular patches. The intensity of light to each patch was calculated from the direction of incident light, eye position and the normal to the triangular patch. Firstly, this system was applied to the liver phantom. Reconstructed images of the liver phantom were coincident with the actual object. This system also has been applied to human various organs such as brain, lung, liver, etc. The anatomical organ surface was realistically viewed from any direction. The images made us more easily understand the location and configuration of organs in vivo than original CT images. Furthermore, spacial relationship among organs and/or lesions was clearly obtained by superimposition of wire-frame and/or different colored solid models. Therefore, it is expected that this system is clinically useful for evaluating the patho-morphological changes in broad perspective. (author)

Automatic re-contouring in 4D radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Weiguo; Olivera, Gustavo H; Chen, Quan; Chen, Ming-Li; Ruchala, Kenneth J

2006-01-01

Delineating regions of interest (ROIs) on each phase of four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) images is an essential step for 4D radiotherapy. The requirement of manual phase-by-phase contouring prohibits the routine use of 4D radiotherapy. This paper develops an automatic re-contouring algorithm that combines techniques of deformable registration and surface construction. ROIs are manually contoured slice-by-slice in the reference phase image. A reference surface is constructed based on these reference contours using a triangulated surface construction technique. The deformable registration technique provides the voxel-to-voxel mapping between the reference phase and the test phase. The vertices of the reference surface are displaced in accordance with the deformation map, resulting in a deformed surface. The new contours are reconstructed by cutting the deformed surface slice-by-slice along the transversal, sagittal or coronal direction. Since both the inputs and outputs of our automatic re-contouring algorithm are contours, it is relatively easy to cope with any treatment planning system. We tested our automatic re-contouring algorithm using a deformable phantom and 4D CT images of six lung cancer patients. The proposed algorithm is validated by visual inspections and quantitative comparisons of the automatic re-contours with both the gold standard segmentations and the manual contours. Based on the automatic delineated ROIs, changes of tumour and sensitive structures during respiration are quantitatively analysed. This algorithm could also be used to re-contour daily images for treatment evaluation and adaptive radiotherapy

Fast nonconvex nonsmooth minimization methods for image restoration and reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolova, Mila; Ng, Michael K; Tam, Chi-Pan

2010-12-01

Nonconvex nonsmooth regularization has advantages over convex regularization for restoring images with neat edges. However, its practical interest used to be limited by the difficulty of the computational stage which requires a nonconvex nonsmooth minimization. In this paper, we deal with nonconvex nonsmooth minimization methods for image restoration and reconstruction. Our theoretical results show that the solution of the nonconvex nonsmooth minimization problem is composed of constant regions surrounded by closed contours and neat edges. The main goal of this paper is to develop fast minimization algorithms to solve the nonconvex nonsmooth minimization problem. Our experimental results show that the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms.

A Graph-Based Approach for 3D Building Model Reconstruction from Airborne LiDAR Point Clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bin Wu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available 3D building model reconstruction is of great importance for environmental and urban applications. Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR is a very useful data source for acquiring detailed geometric and topological information of building objects. In this study, we employed a graph-based method based on hierarchical structure analysis of building contours derived from LiDAR data to reconstruct urban building models. The proposed approach first uses a graph theory-based localized contour tree method to represent the topological structure of buildings, then separates the buildings into different parts by analyzing their topological relationships, and finally reconstructs the building model by integrating all the individual models established through the bipartite graph matching process. Our approach provides a more complete topological and geometrical description of building contours than existing approaches. We evaluated the proposed method by applying it to the Lujiazui region in Shanghai, China, a complex and large urban scene with various types of buildings. The results revealed that complex buildings could be reconstructed successfully with a mean modeling error of 0.32 m. Our proposed method offers a promising solution for 3D building model reconstruction from airborne LiDAR point clouds.

An automatic contour propagation method to follow parotid gland deformation during head-and-neck cancer tomotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faggiano, E; Scalco, E; Rizzo, G; Fiorino, C; Broggi, S; Cattaneo, M; Maggiulli, E; Calandrino, R; Dell'Oca, I; Di Muzio, N

2011-01-01

We developed an efficient technique to auto-propagate parotid gland contours from planning kVCT to daily MVCT images of head-and-neck cancer patients treated with helical tomotherapy. The method deformed a 3D surface mesh constructed from manual kVCT contours by B-spline free-form deformation to generate optimal and smooth contours. Deformation was calculated by elastic image registration between kVCT and MVCT images. Data from ten head-and-neck cancer patients were considered and manual contours by three observers were included in both kVCT and MVCT images. A preliminary inter-observer variability analysis demonstrated the importance of contour propagation in tomotherapy application: a high variability was reported in MVCT parotid volume estimation (p = 0.0176, ANOVA test) and a larger uncertainty of MVCT contouring compared with kVCT was demonstrated by DICE and volume variability indices (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p -4 for both indices). The performance analysis of our method showed no significant differences between automatic and manual contours in terms of volumes (p > 0.05, in a multiple comparison Tukey test), center-of-mass distances (p = 0.3043, ANOVA test), DICE values (p = 0.1672, Wilcoxon signed rank test) and average and maximum symmetric distances (p = 0.2043, p = 0.8228 Wilcoxon signed rank tests). Results suggested that our contour propagation method could successfully substitute human contouring on MVCT images.

An automatic contour propagation method to follow parotid gland deformation during head-and-neck cancer tomotherapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Faggiano, E; Scalco, E; Rizzo, G [Istituto di Bioimmagini e Fisiologia Molecolare (IBFM), CNR, Milan (Italy); Fiorino, C; Broggi, S; Cattaneo, M; Maggiulli, E; Calandrino, R [Department of Medical Physics, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan (Italy); Dell' Oca, I; Di Muzio, N, E-mail: fiorino.claudio@hsr.it [Department of Radiotherapy, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan (Italy)

2011-02-07

We developed an efficient technique to auto-propagate parotid gland contours from planning kVCT to daily MVCT images of head-and-neck cancer patients treated with helical tomotherapy. The method deformed a 3D surface mesh constructed from manual kVCT contours by B-spline free-form deformation to generate optimal and smooth contours. Deformation was calculated by elastic image registration between kVCT and MVCT images. Data from ten head-and-neck cancer patients were considered and manual contours by three observers were included in both kVCT and MVCT images. A preliminary inter-observer variability analysis demonstrated the importance of contour propagation in tomotherapy application: a high variability was reported in MVCT parotid volume estimation (p = 0.0176, ANOVA test) and a larger uncertainty of MVCT contouring compared with kVCT was demonstrated by DICE and volume variability indices (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p < 10{sup -4} for both indices). The performance analysis of our method showed no significant differences between automatic and manual contours in terms of volumes (p > 0.05, in a multiple comparison Tukey test), center-of-mass distances (p = 0.3043, ANOVA test), DICE values (p = 0.1672, Wilcoxon signed rank test) and average and maximum symmetric distances (p = 0.2043, p = 0.8228 Wilcoxon signed rank tests). Results suggested that our contour propagation method could successfully substitute human contouring on MVCT images.

Fermi surface contours obtained from scanning tunneling microscope images around surface point defects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khotkevych-Sanina, N V; Kolesnichenko, Yu A; Van Ruitenbeek, J M

2013-01-01

We present a theoretical analysis of the standing wave patterns in scanning tunneling microscope (STM) images, which occur around surface point defects. We consider arbitrary dispersion relations for the surface states and calculate the conductance for a system containing a small-size tunnel contact and a surface impurity. We find rigorous theoretical relations between the interference patterns in the real-space STM images, their Fourier transforms and the Fermi contours of two-dimensional electrons. We propose a new method for reconstructing Fermi contours of surface electron states, directly from the real-space STM images around isolated surface defects. (paper)

Spectrally accurate contour dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Buskirk, R.D.; Marcus, P.S.

1994-01-01

We present an exponentially accurate boundary integral method for calculation the equilibria and dynamics of piece-wise constant distributions of potential vorticity. The method represents contours of potential vorticity as a spectral sum and solves the Biot-Savart equation for the velocity by spectrally evaluating a desingularized contour integral. We use the technique in both an initial-value code and a newton continuation method. Our methods are tested by comparing the numerical solutions with known analytic results, and it is shown that for the same amount of computational work our spectral methods are more accurate than other contour dynamics methods currently in use

Making the cut for the contour method

OpenAIRE

Bouchard, P. John; Ledgard, Peter; Hiller, Stan; Hosseinzadh Torknezhad, Foroogh

2012-01-01

The contour method is becoming an increasingly popular measurement technique for mapping residual stress in engineering components. The accuracy of the technique is critically dependent on the quality of the cut performed. This paper presents results from blind cutting trials on austenitic stainless steel using electro-discharge machines made by three manufacturers. The suitability of the machines is assessed based on the surface finish achieved, risk of wire breakages and the nature of cutti...

Evaluation of interpolation methods for surface-based motion compensated tomographic reconstruction for cardiac angiographic C-arm data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Müller, Kerstin; Schwemmer, Chris; Hornegger, Joachim; Zheng Yefeng; Wang Yang; Lauritsch, Günter; Rohkohl, Christopher; Maier, Andreas K.; Schultz, Carl; Fahrig, Rebecca

2013-01-01

Purpose: For interventional cardiac procedures, anatomical and functional information about the cardiac chambers is of major interest. With the technology of angiographic C-arm systems it is possible to reconstruct intraprocedural three-dimensional (3D) images from 2D rotational angiographic projection data (C-arm CT). However, 3D reconstruction of a dynamic object is a fundamental problem in C-arm CT reconstruction. The 2D projections are acquired over a scan time of several seconds, thus the projection data show different states of the heart. A standard FDK reconstruction algorithm would use all acquired data for a filtered backprojection and result in a motion-blurred image. In this approach, a motion compensated reconstruction algorithm requiring knowledge of the 3D heart motion is used. The motion is estimated from a previously presented 3D dynamic surface model. This dynamic surface model results in a sparse motion vector field (MVF) defined at control points. In order to perform a motion compensated reconstruction, a dense motion vector field is required. The dense MVF is generated by interpolation of the sparse MVF. Therefore, the influence of different motion interpolation methods on the reconstructed image quality is evaluated. Methods: Four different interpolation methods, thin-plate splines (TPS), Shepard's method, a smoothed weighting function, and a simple averaging, were evaluated. The reconstruction quality was measured on phantom data, a porcine model as well as on in vivo clinical data sets. As a quality index, the 2D overlap of the forward projected motion compensated reconstructed ventricle and the segmented 2D ventricle blood pool was quantitatively measured with the Dice similarity coefficient and the mean deviation between extracted ventricle contours. For the phantom data set, the normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) and the universal quality index (UQI) were also evaluated in 3D image space. Results: The quantitative evaluation of all

Skin sparing mastectomy: Technique and suggested methods of reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farahat, A.M.; Hashim, T.; Soliman, H.O.; Manie, T.M.; Soliman, O.M.

2014-01-01

To demonstrate the feasibility and accessibility of performing adequate mastectomy to extirpate the breast tissue, along with en-block formal axillary dissection performed from within the same incision. We also compared different methods of immediate breast reconstruction used to fill the skin envelope to achieve the best aesthetic results. Methods: 38 patients with breast cancer underwent skin-sparing mastectomy with formal axillary clearance, through a circum-areolar incision. Immediate breast reconstruction was performed using different techniques to fill in the skin envelope. Two reconstruction groups were assigned; group 1: Autologus tissue transfer only (n= 24), and group 2: implant augmentation (n= 14). Autologus tissue transfer: The techniques used included filling in the skin envelope using Extended Latissimus Dorsi flap (18 patients) and Pedicled TRAM flap (6 patients). Augmentation with implants: Subpectoral implants(4 patients), a rounded implant placed under the pectoralis major muscle to augment an LD reconstructed breast. LD pocket (10 patients), an anatomical implant placed over the pectoralis major muscle within a pocket created by the LD flap. No contra-lateral procedure was performed in any of the cases to achieve symmetry. Results: All cases underwent adequate excision of the breast tissue along with en-block complete axillary clearance (when indicated), without the need for an additional axillary incision. Eighteen patients underwent reconstruction using extended LD flaps only, six had TRAM flaps, four had augmentation using implants placed below the pectoralis muscle along with LD flaps, and ten had implants placed within the LD pocket. Breast shape, volume and contour were successfully restored in all patients. Adequate degree of ptosis was achieved, to ensure maximal symmetry. Conclusions: Skin Sparing mastectomy through a circum-areolar incision has proven to be a safe and feasible option for the management of breast cancer in Egyptian

Variability in CT lung-nodule volumetry: Effects of dose reduction and reconstruction methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Stefano; Kim, Hyun J Grace; Ko, Moe Moe; Ko, War War; Flores, Carlos; McNitt-Gray, Michael F

2015-05-01

Measuring the size of nodules on chest CT is important for lung cancer staging and measuring therapy response. 3D volumetry has been proposed as a more robust alternative to 1D and 2D sizing methods. There have also been substantial advances in methods to reduce radiation dose in CT. The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of dose reduction and reconstruction methods on variability in 3D lung-nodule volumetry. Reduced-dose CT scans were simulated by applying a noise-addition tool to the raw (sinogram) data from clinically indicated patient scans acquired on a multidetector-row CT scanner (Definition Flash, Siemens Healthcare). Scans were simulated at 25%, 10%, and 3% of the dose of their clinical protocol (CTDIvol of 20.9 mGy), corresponding to CTDIvol values of 5.2, 2.1, and 0.6 mGy. Simulated reduced-dose data were reconstructed with both conventional filtered backprojection (B45 kernel) and iterative reconstruction methods (SAFIRE: I44 strength 3 and I50 strength 3). Three lab technologist readers contoured "measurable" nodules in 33 patients under each of the different acquisition/reconstruction conditions in a blinded study design. Of the 33 measurable nodules, 17 were used to estimate repeatability with their clinical reference protocol, as well as interdose and inter-reconstruction-method reproducibilities. The authors compared the resulting distributions of proportional differences across dose and reconstruction methods by analyzing their means, standard deviations (SDs), and t-test and F-test results. The clinical-dose repeatability experiment yielded a mean proportional difference of 1.1% and SD of 5.5%. The interdose reproducibility experiments gave mean differences ranging from -5.6% to -1.7% and SDs ranging from 6.3% to 9.9%. The inter-reconstruction-method reproducibility experiments gave mean differences of 2.0% (I44 strength 3) and -0.3% (I50 strength 3), and SDs were identical at 7.3%. For the subset of repeatability cases, inter-reconstruction-method

Evaluation of interpolation methods for surface-based motion compensated tomographic reconstruction for cardiac angiographic C-arm data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mueller, Kerstin; Schwemmer, Chris; Hornegger, Joachim [Pattern Recognition Lab, Department of Computer Science, Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT), Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Erlangen 91058 (Germany); Zheng Yefeng; Wang Yang [Imaging and Computer Vision, Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States); Lauritsch, Guenter; Rohkohl, Christopher; Maier, Andreas K. [Siemens AG, Healthcare Sector, Forchheim 91301 (Germany); Schultz, Carl [Thoraxcenter, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam 3000 (Netherlands); Fahrig, Rebecca [Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States)

2013-03-15

Purpose: For interventional cardiac procedures, anatomical and functional information about the cardiac chambers is of major interest. With the technology of angiographic C-arm systems it is possible to reconstruct intraprocedural three-dimensional (3D) images from 2D rotational angiographic projection data (C-arm CT). However, 3D reconstruction of a dynamic object is a fundamental problem in C-arm CT reconstruction. The 2D projections are acquired over a scan time of several seconds, thus the projection data show different states of the heart. A standard FDK reconstruction algorithm would use all acquired data for a filtered backprojection and result in a motion-blurred image. In this approach, a motion compensated reconstruction algorithm requiring knowledge of the 3D heart motion is used. The motion is estimated from a previously presented 3D dynamic surface model. This dynamic surface model results in a sparse motion vector field (MVF) defined at control points. In order to perform a motion compensated reconstruction, a dense motion vector field is required. The dense MVF is generated by interpolation of the sparse MVF. Therefore, the influence of different motion interpolation methods on the reconstructed image quality is evaluated. Methods: Four different interpolation methods, thin-plate splines (TPS), Shepard's method, a smoothed weighting function, and a simple averaging, were evaluated. The reconstruction quality was measured on phantom data, a porcine model as well as on in vivo clinical data sets. As a quality index, the 2D overlap of the forward projected motion compensated reconstructed ventricle and the segmented 2D ventricle blood pool was quantitatively measured with the Dice similarity coefficient and the mean deviation between extracted ventricle contours. For the phantom data set, the normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) and the universal quality index (UQI) were also evaluated in 3D image space. Results: The quantitative evaluation of

Verifying three-dimensional skull model reconstruction using cranial index of symmetry.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Woon-Man Kung

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Difficulty exists in scalp adaptation for cranioplasty with customized computer-assisted design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM implant in situations of excessive wound tension and sub-cranioplasty dead space. To solve this clinical problem, the CAD/CAM technique should include algorithms to reconstruct a depressed contour to cover the skull defect. Satisfactory CAM-derived alloplastic implants are based on highly accurate three-dimensional (3-D CAD modeling. Thus, it is quite important to establish a symmetrically regular CAD/CAM reconstruction prior to depressing the contour. The purpose of this study is to verify the aesthetic outcomes of CAD models with regular contours using cranial index of symmetry (CIS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2011 to June 2012, decompressive craniectomy (DC was performed for 15 consecutive patients in our institute. 3-D CAD models of skull defects were reconstructed using commercial software. These models were checked in terms of symmetry by CIS scores. RESULTS: CIS scores of CAD reconstructions were 99.24±0.004% (range 98.47-99.84. CIS scores of these CAD models were statistically significantly greater than 95%, identical to 99.5%, but lower than 99.6% (p<0.001, p = 0.064, p = 0.021 respectively, Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank test. These data evidenced the highly accurate symmetry of these CAD models with regular contours. CONCLUSIONS: CIS calculation is beneficial to assess aesthetic outcomes of CAD-reconstructed skulls in terms of cranial symmetry. This enables further accurate CAD models and CAM cranial implants with depressed contours, which are essential in patients with difficult scalp adaptation.

New method of three-dimensional reconstruction from two-dimensional MR data sets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wrazidlo, W.; Schneider, S.; Brambs, H.J.; Richter, G.M.; Kauffmann, G.W.; Geiger, B.; Fischer, C.

1989-01-01

In medical diagnosis and therapy, cross-sectional images are obtained by means of US, CT, or MR imaging. The authors propose a new solution to the problem of constructing a shape over a set of cross-sectional contours from two-dimensional (2D) MR data sets. The authors' method reduces the problem of constructing a shape over the cross sections to one of constructing a sequence of partial shapes, each of them connecting two cross sections lying on adjacent planes. The solution makes use of the Delaunay triangulation, which is isomorphic in that specific situation. The authors compute this Delaunay triangulation. Shape reconstruction is then achieved section by pruning Delaunay triangulations

Visualization of Uncertain Contour Trees

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kraus, Martin

2010-01-01

Contour trees can represent the topology of large volume data sets in a relatively compact, discrete data structure. However, the resulting trees often contain many thousands of nodes; thus, many graph drawing techniques fail to produce satisfactory results. Therefore, several visualization methods...... were proposed recently for the visualization of contour trees. Unfortunately, none of these techniques is able to handle uncertain contour trees although any uncertainty of the volume data inevitably results in partially uncertain contour trees. In this work, we visualize uncertain contour trees...... by combining the contour trees of two morphologically filtered versions of a volume data set, which represent the range of uncertainty. These two contour trees are combined and visualized within a single image such that a range of potential contour trees is represented by the resulting visualization. Thus...

Contouring variability of human- and deformable-generated contours in radiotherapy for prostate cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gardner, Stephen J; Wen, Ning; Kim, Jinkoo; Liu, Chang; Pradhan, Deepak; Aref, Ibrahim; Cattaneo, Richard II; Vance, Sean; Movsas, Benjamin; Chetty, Indrin J; Elshaikh, Mohamed A

2015-01-01

This study was designed to evaluate contouring variability of human-and deformable-generated contours on planning CT (PCT) and CBCT for ten patients with low-or intermediate-risk prostate cancer. For each patient in this study, five radiation oncologists contoured the prostate, bladder, and rectum, on one PCT dataset and five CBCT datasets. Consensus contours were generated using the STAPLE method in the CERR software package. Observer contours were compared to consensus contour, and contour metrics (Dice coefficient, Hausdorff distance, Contour Distance, Center-of-Mass [COM] Deviation) were calculated. In addition, the first day CBCT was registered to subsequent CBCT fractions (CBCTn: CBCT2–CBCT5) via B-spline Deformable Image Registration (DIR). Contours were transferred from CBCT1 to CBCTn via the deformation field, and contour metrics were calculated through comparison with consensus contours generated from human contour set. The average contour metrics for prostate contours on PCT and CBCT were as follows: Dice coefficient—0.892 (PCT), 0.872 (CBCT-Human), 0.824 (CBCT-Deformed); Hausdorff distance—4.75 mm (PCT), 5.22 mm (CBCT-Human), 5.94 mm (CBCT-Deformed); Contour Distance (overall contour)—1.41 mm (PCT), 1.66 mm (CBCT-Human), 2.30 mm (CBCT-Deformed); COM Deviation—2.01 mm (PCT), 2.78 mm (CBCT-Human), 3.45 mm (CBCT-Deformed). For human contours on PCT and CBCT, the difference in average Dice coefficient between PCT and CBCT (approx. 2%) and Hausdorff distance (approx. 0.5 mm) was small compared to the variation between observers for each patient (standard deviation in Dice coefficient of 5% and Hausdorff distance of 2.0 mm). However, additional contouring variation was found for the deformable-generated contours (approximately 5.0% decrease in Dice coefficient and 0.7 mm increase in Hausdorff distance relative to human-generated contours on CBCT). Though deformable contours provide a reasonable starting point for contouring

Extension of Fourier methods to the calculation of effective depths in heterogeneous media of arbitrary contour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Starkschall, G.

1986-01-01

The description of patient contours and internal structures by means of truncated Fourier series can be extended to continuous contours of arbitrary shape and location by expressing the x and z Cartesian coordinates of the contour as independent Fourier series in a parameter t. An analytic equation for the intersection of the contour and a ray line is then written as an equation in the parameter t. The equation can be solved using numerical methods yielding the Cartesian coordinates of the intersection point directly

A method for automatically constructing the initial contour of the common carotid artery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yara Omran

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In this article we propose a novel method to automatically set the initial contour that is used by the Active contours algorithm.The proposed method exploits the accumulative intensity profiles to locate the points on the arterial wall. The intensity profiles of sections that intersect the artery show distinguishable characterstics that make it possible to recognize them from the profiles of sections that do not intersect the artery walls. The proposed method is applied on ultrasound images of the transverse section of the common carotid artery, but it can be extended to be used on the images of the longitudinal section. The intensity profiles are classified using Support vector machine algorithm, and the results of different kernels are compared. The extracted features used for the classification are basically statistical features of the intensity profiles. The echogenicity of the arterial lumen, and gives the profiles that intersect the artery a special shape that helps recognizing these profiles from other general profiles.The outlining of the arterial walls may seem a classic task in image processing. However, most of the methods used to outline the artery start from a manual, or semi-automatic, initial contour.The proposed method is highly appreciated in automating the entire process of automatic artery detection and segmentation.

TWO NOVEL ACM (ACTIVE CONTOUR MODEL) METHODS FOR INTRAVASCULAR ULTRASOUND IMAGE SEGMENTATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Chi Hau; Potdat, Labhesh; Chittineni, Rakesh

2010-01-01

One of the attractive image segmentation methods is the Active Contour Model (ACM) which has been widely used in medical imaging as it always produces sub-regions with continuous boundaries. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is a catheter based medical imaging technique which is used for quantitative assessment of atherosclerotic disease. Two methods of ACM realizations are presented in this paper. The gradient descent flow based on minimizing energy functional can be used for segmentation of IVUS images. However this local operation alone may not be adequate to work with the complex IVUS images. The first method presented consists of basically combining the local geodesic active contours and global region-based active contours. The advantage of combining the local and global operations is to allow curves deforming under the energy to find only significant local minima and delineate object borders despite noise, poor edge information and heterogeneous intensity profiles. Results for this algorithm are compared to standard techniques to demonstrate the method's robustness and accuracy. In the second method, the energy function is appropriately modified and minimized using a Hopfield neural network. Proper modifications in the definition of the bias of the neurons have been introduced to incorporate image characteristics. The method overcomes distortions in the expected image pattern, such as due to the presence of calcium, and employs a specialized structure of the neural network and boundary correction schemes which are based on a priori knowledge about the vessel geometry. The presented method is very fast and has been evaluated using sequences of IVUS frames.

[Reconstructive methods after Fournier gangrene].

Science.gov (United States)

Wallner, C; Behr, B; Ring, A; Mikhail, B D; Lehnhardt, M; Daigeler, A

2016-04-01

Fournier's gangrene is a variant of the necrotizing fasciitis restricted to the perineal and genital region. It presents as an acute life-threatening disease and demands rapid surgical debridement, resulting in large soft tissue defects. Various reconstructive methods have to be applied to reconstitute functionality and aesthetics. The objective of this work is to identify different reconstructive methods in the literature and compare them to our current concepts for reconstructing defects caused by Fournier gangrene. Analysis of the current literature and our reconstructive methods on Fournier gangrene. The Fournier gangrene is an emergency requiring rapid, calculated antibiotic treatment and radical surgical debridement. After the acute phase of the disease, appropriate reconstructive methods are indicated. The planning of the reconstruction of the defect depends on many factors, especially functional and aesthetic demands. Scrotal reconstruction requires a higher aesthetic and functional reconstructive degree than perineal cutaneous wounds. In general, thorough wound hygiene, proper pre-operative planning, and careful consideration of the patient's demands are essential for successful reconstruction. In the literature, various methods for reconstruction after Fournier gangrene are described. Reconstruction with a flap is required for a good functional result in complex regions as the scrotum and penis, while cutaneous wounds can be managed through skin grafting. Patient compliance and tissue demand are crucial factors in the decision-making process.

Standardization of surgical techniques used in facial bone contouring.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Tae Sung

2015-12-01

Since the introduction of facial bone contouring surgery for cosmetic purposes, various surgical methods have been used to improve the aesthetics of facial contours. In general, by standardizing the surgical techniques, it is possible to decrease complication rates and achieve more predictable surgical outcomes, thereby increasing patient satisfaction. The technical strategies used by the author to standardize facial bone contouring procedures are introduced here. The author uses various pre-manufactured surgical tools and hardware for facial bone contouring. During a reduction malarplasty or genioplasty procedure, double-bladed reciprocating saws and pre-bent titanium plates customized for the zygomatic body, arch and chin are used. Various guarded oscillating saws are used for mandibular angloplasty. The use of double-bladed saws and pre-bent plates to perform reduction malarplasty reduces the chances of post-operative asymmetry or under- or overcorrection of the zygoma contours due to technical faults. Inferior alveolar nerve injury and post-operative jawline asymmetry or irregularity can be reduced by using a guarded saw during mandibular angloplasty. For genioplasty, final placement of the chin in accordance with preoperative quantitative analysis can be easily performed with pre-bent plates, and a double-bladed saw allows more procedural accuracy during osteotomies. Efforts by the surgeon to avoid unintentional faults are key to achieving satisfactory results and reducing the incidence of complications. The surgical techniques described in this study in conjunction with various in-house surgical tools and modified hardware can be used to standardize techniques to achieve aesthetically gratifying outcomes. Copyright © 2015 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anatomical contouring variability in thoracic organs at risk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCall, Ross, E-mail: rmccall86@gmail.com [Medical Dosimetry Program, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI (United States); MacLennan, Grayden; Taylor, Matthew; Lenards, Nishele [Medical Dosimetry Program, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI (United States); Nelms, Benjamin E. [Canis Lupus LLC, Madison, WI (United States); Koshy, Matthew; Lemons, Jeffrey [Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Hunzeker, Ashley [Medical Dosimetry Program, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI (United States)

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether contouring thoracic organs at risk was consistent among medical dosimetrists and to identify how trends in dosimetrist's education and experience affected contouring accuracy. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to contextualize the raw data that were obtained. A total of 3 different computed tomography (CT) data sets were provided to medical dosimetrists (N = 13) across 5 different institutions. The medical dosimetrists were directed to contour the lungs, heart, spinal cord, and esophagus. The medical dosimetrists were instructed to contour in line with their institutional standards and were allowed to use any contouring tool or technique that they would traditionally use. The contours from each medical dosimetrist were evaluated against “gold standard” contours drawn and validated by 2 radiation oncology physicians. The dosimetrist-derived contours were evaluated against the gold standard using both a Dice coefficient method and a penalty-based metric scoring system. A short survey was also completed by each medical dosimetrist to evaluate their individual contouring experience. There was no significant variation in the contouring consistency of the lungs and spinal cord. Intradosimetrist contouring was consistent for those who contoured the esophagus and heart correctly; however, medical dosimetrists with a poor metric score showed erratic and inconsistent methods of contouring.

Assessment of residual stress of 7050-T7452 aluminum alloy forging using the contour method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Zheng [College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016 (China); Yang, Yinfei, E-mail: yyfgoat@nuaa.edu.cn [College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016 (China); Li, Liang [College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016 (China); Chen, Bo; Tian, Hui [Xi’an Aircraft Industrial (Group) Co. Ltd., Xi’an 710000 (China)

2015-09-17

The cold-compression stress relief process has been used to reduce the quench-induced stresses in high-strength aerospace aluminum alloy forgings. However, this method does not completely relieve the stress. Longitudinal residual stresses in 7050-T7452 aluminum alloy forging were measured with contour method. The measuring procedure of the contour method including specimen cutting under clamps with a wire electrical discharge machine, contour measurement of the cut surface with a laser scanner, careful data processing and elastic finite element analysis was introduced in detail. In addition, multiple cuts were used to map cross sectional stress at different cut surfaces. Finally, the longitudinal residual stress throughout the cut plane was mapped, and through thickness longitudinal stress profiles were also analyzed. Investigated results suggest that spatial variation of stress distribution can be attributed to the non-uniform plastic deformation of the cold-compression stress relief process. The overall reduction of peak stress magnitudes is approximately 43–79%.

Assessment of residual stress of 7050-T7452 aluminum alloy forging using the contour method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Zheng; Yang, Yinfei; Li, Liang; Chen, Bo; Tian, Hui

2015-01-01

The cold-compression stress relief process has been used to reduce the quench-induced stresses in high-strength aerospace aluminum alloy forgings. However, this method does not completely relieve the stress. Longitudinal residual stresses in 7050-T7452 aluminum alloy forging were measured with contour method. The measuring procedure of the contour method including specimen cutting under clamps with a wire electrical discharge machine, contour measurement of the cut surface with a laser scanner, careful data processing and elastic finite element analysis was introduced in detail. In addition, multiple cuts were used to map cross sectional stress at different cut surfaces. Finally, the longitudinal residual stress throughout the cut plane was mapped, and through thickness longitudinal stress profiles were also analyzed. Investigated results suggest that spatial variation of stress distribution can be attributed to the non-uniform plastic deformation of the cold-compression stress relief process. The overall reduction of peak stress magnitudes is approximately 43–79%

A Waterline Extraction Method from Remote Sensing Image Based on Quad-tree and Multiple Active Contour Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

YU Jintao

2016-09-01

Full Text Available After the characteristics of geodesic active contour model (GAC, Chan-Vese model(CV and local binary fitting model(LBF are analyzed, and the active contour model based on regions and edges is combined with image segmentation method based on quad-tree, a waterline extraction method based on quad-tree and multiple active contour model is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the method provides an initial contour according to quad-tree segmentation. Secondly, a new signed pressure force(SPF function based on global image statistics information of CV model and local image statistics information of LBF model has been defined, and then ,the edge stopping function(ESF is replaced by the proposed SPF function, which solves the problem such as evolution stopped in advance and excessive evolution. Finally, the selective binary and Gaussian filtering level set method is used to avoid reinitializing and regularization to improve the evolution efficiency. The experimental results show that this method can effectively extract the weak edges and serious concave edges, and owns some properties such as sub-pixel accuracy, high efficiency and reliability for waterline extraction.

Novel real-time tumor-contouring method using deep learning to prevent mistracking in X-ray fluoroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Terunuma, Toshiyuki; Tokui, Aoi; Sakae, Takeji

2018-03-01

Robustness to obstacles is the most important factor necessary to achieve accurate tumor tracking without fiducial markers. Some high-density structures, such as bone, are enhanced on X-ray fluoroscopic images, which cause tumor mistracking. Tumor tracking should be performed by controlling "importance recognition": the understanding that soft-tissue is an important tracking feature and bone structure is unimportant. We propose a new real-time tumor-contouring method that uses deep learning with importance recognition control. The novelty of the proposed method is the combination of the devised random overlay method and supervised deep learning to induce the recognition of structures in tumor contouring as important or unimportant. This method can be used for tumor contouring because it uses deep learning to perform image segmentation. Our results from a simulated fluoroscopy model showed accurate tracking of a low-visibility tumor with an error of approximately 1 mm, even if enhanced bone structure acted as an obstacle. A high similarity of approximately 0.95 on the Jaccard index was observed between the segmented and ground truth tumor regions. A short processing time of 25 ms was achieved. The results of this simulated fluoroscopy model support the feasibility of robust real-time tumor contouring with fluoroscopy. Further studies using clinical fluoroscopy are highly anticipated.

New method of 2-dimensional metrology using mask contouring

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuoka, Ryoichi; Yamagata, Yoshikazu; Sugiyama, Akiyuki; Toyoda, Yasutaka

2008-10-01

We have developed a new method of accurately profiling and measuring of a mask shape by utilizing a Mask CD-SEM. The method is intended to realize high accuracy, stability and reproducibility of the Mask CD-SEM adopting an edge detection algorithm as the key technology used in CD-SEM for high accuracy CD measurement. In comparison with a conventional image processing method for contour profiling, this edge detection method is possible to create the profiles with much higher accuracy which is comparable with CD-SEM for semiconductor device CD measurement. This method realizes two-dimensional metrology for refined pattern that had been difficult to measure conventionally by utilizing high precision contour profile. In this report, we will introduce the algorithm in general, the experimental results and the application in practice. As shrinkage of design rule for semiconductor device has further advanced, an aggressive OPC (Optical Proximity Correction) is indispensable in RET (Resolution Enhancement Technology). From the view point of DFM (Design for Manufacturability), a dramatic increase of data processing cost for advanced MDP (Mask Data Preparation) for instance and surge of mask making cost have become a big concern to the device manufacturers. This is to say, demands for quality is becoming strenuous because of enormous quantity of data growth with increasing of refined pattern on photo mask manufacture. In the result, massive amount of simulated error occurs on mask inspection that causes lengthening of mask production and inspection period, cost increasing, and long delivery time. In a sense, it is a trade-off between the high accuracy RET and the mask production cost, while it gives a significant impact on the semiconductor market centered around the mask business. To cope with the problem, we propose the best method of a DFM solution using two-dimensional metrology for refined pattern.

SU-E-E-05: Improving Contouring Precision and Consistency for Physicians-In-Training with Simple Lab Experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ma, L; Larson, D A [University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: Target contouring for high-dose treatments such as radiosurgery of brain metastases is highly critical in eliminating marginal failure and reducing complications as shown by recent clinical studies. In order to improve contouring accuracy and practice consistency for the procedure, we introduced a self-assessed physics lab practice for the physicians-in-training. Methods: A set of commercially acquired high-precision PMMA plastic spheres were randomly embedded in a Styrofoam block and then scanned with the CT/MR via the clinical procedural imaging protocol. A group of first-year physicians-in-training (n=6) from either neurosurgery or radiation oncology department were asked to contour the scanned objects (diameter ranged from 0.4 cm to 3.8 cm). These user-defined contours were then compared with the ideal contour sets of object shape for self assessments to determine the maximum areas of the observed discrepancies and method of improvements. Results: The largest discrepancies from initial practice were consistently found to be located near the extreme longitudinal portions of the target for all the residents. Discrepancy was especially prominent when contouring small objects < 1.0 cm in diameters. For example, the mean volumes rendered from the initial contour data set differed from the ideal data set by 7.7%±6.6% for the participants (p> 0.23 suggesting agreement cannot be established). However, when incorporating a secondary imaging scan such as reconstructed coronal or sagittal images in a repeat practice, the agreement was dramatically improved yielding p<0.02 in agreement with the reference data set for all the participants. Conclusion: A simple physics lab revealed a common pitfall in contouring small metastatic brain tumors for radiosurgical procedures and provided a systematic tool for physicians-in-training in improving their clinical contouring skills. Dr Ma is current a board member of international stereotactic radiosurgical society.

The method of contour rotations and the three particle amplitudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brinati, J.R.

1980-01-01

The application of the method of contour rotations to the solution of the Faddeev-Lovelace equations and the calculation of the break-up and stripping amplitudes in a system of three distinct particles is reviewed. A relationship between the masses of the particles is obtained, which permits the break-up amplitude to be calculated from a single iteration of the final integral equation. (Author) [pt

Interactive 3D segmentation using connected orthogonal contours

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Bruin, P. W.; Dercksen, V. J.; Post, F. H.; Vossepoel, A. M.; Streekstra, G. J.; Vos, F. M.

2005-01-01

This paper describes a new method for interactive segmentation that is based on cross-sectional design and 3D modelling. The method represents a 3D model by a set of connected contours that are planar and orthogonal. Planar contours overlayed on image data are easily manipulated and linked contours

Recommendation for a contouring method and atlas of organs at risk in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients receiving intensity-modulated radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Ying; Yu, Xiao-Li; Luo, Wei; Lee, Anne W.M.; Wee, Joseph Tien Seng; Lee, Nancy; Zhou, Guan-Qun; Tang, Ling-Long; Tao, Chang-Juan; Guo, Rui; Mao, Yan-Ping; Zhang, Rong; Guo, Ying; Ma, Jun

2014-01-01

Background and purpose: To recommend contouring methods and atlas of organs at risk (OARs) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients receiving intensity-modulated radiotherapy, in order to help reach a consensus on interpretations of OARs delineation. Methods and materials: Two to four contouring methods for the middle ear, inner ear, temporal lobe, parotid gland and spinal cord were identified via systematic literature review; their volumes and dosimetric parameters were compared in 41 patients. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for temporal lobe contouring were compared in 21 patients with unilateral temporal lobe necrosis (TLN). Results: Various contouring methods for the temporal lobe, middle ear, inner ear, parotid gland and spinal cord lead to different volumes and dosimetric parameters (P < 0.05). For TLN, D1 of PRV was the most relevant dosimetric parameter and 64 Gy was the critical point. We suggest contouring for the temporal lobe, middle ear, inner ear, parotid gland and spinal cord. A CT–MRI fusion atlas comprising 33 OARs was developed. Conclusions: Different dosimetric parameters may hinder the dosimetric research. The present recommendation and atlas, may help reach a consensus on subjective interpretation of OARs delineation to reduce inter-institutional differences in NPC patients

Image Interpolation with Contour Stencils

OpenAIRE

Pascal Getreuer

2011-01-01

Image interpolation is the problem of increasing the resolution of an image. Linear methods must compromise between artifacts like jagged edges, blurring, and overshoot (halo) artifacts. More recent works consider nonlinear methods to improve interpolation of edges and textures. In this paper we apply contour stencils for estimating the image contours based on total variation along curves and then use this estimation to construct a fast edge-adaptive interpolation.

Method of segmenting inferior horns of lateral ventricles using active contour models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hattori, Masumi; Koyama, Shuji; Kodera, Yoshie

2007-01-01

Recent research has suggested that the measurement of regional atrophy in the structure of the medial temporal lobe is a promising way to discriminate Alzheimer-type dementia patients from healthy control subjects. There are some reports that the inferior horns of the lateral ventricles are expanded by atrophying the structure of the medial temporal lobe. We developed a technique to automatically detect the region of the inferior horns of the lateral ventricles by gray-level thresholding and morphological processing. However, there were some incorrect regions in this method. Accordingly, we proposed a technique for which active contour models (ACM) were used. Our ACM incorporates the improved edge-based image and the external constraint to improve convergence and to reduce its dependence on initial estimation. In this study, we present the details of an algorithm that traces the contours of the inferior horns of the lateral ventricles and its performance relative to manual methods. The average degree of correspondence between the extract region and manual trace was measured in 30 inferior horns of 15 subjects. The average degree of correspondence of the proposed method was about 4% higher than that of the conventional method. These results suggest that the proposed method is more accurate than the conventional method. (author)

Pre-operative planning for mandibular reconstruction - A full digital planning workflow resulting in a patient specific reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Objectives Reconstruction of large mandiblular defects following ablative oncologic surgery could be done by using vascularized bone transfer or, more often, primarily with simultaneous or delayed bone grafting, using load bearing reconstruction plates. Bending of these reconstruction plates is typically directed along the outer contour of the original mandible. Simultaneously or in a second operation vascularized or non-vascularized bone is fixed to the reconstruction plate. However, the prosthodontic-driven backward planning to ease bony reconstruction of the mandible in terms of dental rehabilitation using implant-retained overdentures might be an eligible solution. The purpose of this work was to develop, establish and clinically evaluate a novel 3D planning procedure for mandibular reconstruction. Materials and methods Three patients with tumors involving the mandible, which included squamous cell carcinoma in the floor of the mouth and keratocystic odontogenic tumor, were treated surgically by hemimandibulectomy. Results In primary alloplastic mandible reconstruction, shape and size of the reconstruction plate could be predefined and prebent prior to surgery. Clinical relevance This study provides modern treatment strategies for mandibular reconstruction. PMID:21968330

Verifying three-dimensional skull model reconstruction using cranial index of symmetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Kung, Woon-Man; Chen, Shuo-Tsung; Lin, Chung-Hsiang; Lu, Yu-Mei; Chen, Tzu-Hsuan; Lin, Muh-Shi

2013-01-01

Difficulty exists in scalp adaptation for cranioplasty with customized computer-assisted design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) implant in situations of excessive wound tension and sub-cranioplasty dead space. To solve this clinical problem, the CAD/CAM technique should include algorithms to reconstruct a depressed contour to cover the skull defect. Satisfactory CAM-derived alloplastic implants are based on highly accurate three-dimensional (3-D) CAD modeling. Thus, it is quite important to establish a symmetrically regular CAD/CAM reconstruction prior to depressing the contour. The purpose of this study is to verify the aesthetic outcomes of CAD models with regular contours using cranial index of symmetry (CIS). From January 2011 to June 2012, decompressive craniectomy (DC) was performed for 15 consecutive patients in our institute. 3-D CAD models of skull defects were reconstructed using commercial software. These models were checked in terms of symmetry by CIS scores. CIS scores of CAD reconstructions were 99.24±0.004% (range 98.47-99.84). CIS scores of these CAD models were statistically significantly greater than 95%, identical to 99.5%, but lower than 99.6% (ppairs signed rank test). These data evidenced the highly accurate symmetry of these CAD models with regular contours. CIS calculation is beneficial to assess aesthetic outcomes of CAD-reconstructed skulls in terms of cranial symmetry. This enables further accurate CAD models and CAM cranial implants with depressed contours, which are essential in patients with difficult scalp adaptation.

SU-C-BRB-06: Dosimetric Impact of Breast Contour Reconstruction Errors in GammaPod Stereotactic Radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niu, Y; Becker, S; Mutaf, Y; Yu, C

2016-01-01

Purpose: The first GammaPod™ unit, a dedicated prone stereotactic treatment device for early stage breast cancer, has been installed and commissioned at University of Maryland School of Medicine. The objective of this study was to investigate potential dosimetric impact of inaccurate breast contour. Methods: In GammaPod treatments, patient’s beast is immobilized by a breast cup device (BCID) throughout the entire same-day imaging and treatment procedure. 28 different BICD sizes are available to accommodate patients with varying breast sizes. A mild suction helps breast tissue to conform to the shape of the cup with selected size. In treatment planning, dose calculation utilizes previously calculated dose distributions for available cup geometry rather than the breast shape from CT image. Patient CT images with breast cups indicate minor geometric discrepancy between the matched shape of the cup and the breast contour, i.e., the contour size is larger or smaller. In order to investigate the dosimetric impact of these discrepancies, we simulated such discrepancies and reassessed the dose to target as well as skin. Results: In vicinity of skin, hot/cold spots were found when matched cup size was smaller/larger than patient’s breast after comparing the corrected dose profiles from Monte Carlo simulation with the planned dose from TPS. The overdosing/underdosing of target could yield point dose differences as large as 5% due to these setup errors (D95 changes within 2.5%). Maximal skin dose was overestimated/underestimated up to 25%/45% when matched cup size was larger/smaller than real breast contour. Conclusion: The dosimetric evaluation suggests substantial underdosing/overdosing with inaccurate cup geometry during planning, which is acceptable for current clinical trial. Further studies are needed to evaluate such impact to treating small volume close to skin.

SU-C-BRB-06: Dosimetric Impact of Breast Contour Reconstruction Errors in GammaPod Stereotactic Radiotherapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Niu, Y [Xcision Medical Systems LLC, Columbia, MD (United States); Becker, S; Mutaf, Y [University Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (United States); Yu, C [Xcision Medical Systems LLC, Columbia, MD (United States); University Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: The first GammaPod™ unit, a dedicated prone stereotactic treatment device for early stage breast cancer, has been installed and commissioned at University of Maryland School of Medicine. The objective of this study was to investigate potential dosimetric impact of inaccurate breast contour. Methods: In GammaPod treatments, patient’s beast is immobilized by a breast cup device (BCID) throughout the entire same-day imaging and treatment procedure. 28 different BICD sizes are available to accommodate patients with varying breast sizes. A mild suction helps breast tissue to conform to the shape of the cup with selected size. In treatment planning, dose calculation utilizes previously calculated dose distributions for available cup geometry rather than the breast shape from CT image. Patient CT images with breast cups indicate minor geometric discrepancy between the matched shape of the cup and the breast contour, i.e., the contour size is larger or smaller. In order to investigate the dosimetric impact of these discrepancies, we simulated such discrepancies and reassessed the dose to target as well as skin. Results: In vicinity of skin, hot/cold spots were found when matched cup size was smaller/larger than patient’s breast after comparing the corrected dose profiles from Monte Carlo simulation with the planned dose from TPS. The overdosing/underdosing of target could yield point dose differences as large as 5% due to these setup errors (D95 changes within 2.5%). Maximal skin dose was overestimated/underestimated up to 25%/45% when matched cup size was larger/smaller than real breast contour. Conclusion: The dosimetric evaluation suggests substantial underdosing/overdosing with inaccurate cup geometry during planning, which is acceptable for current clinical trial. Further studies are needed to evaluate such impact to treating small volume close to skin.

A Biologically Motivated Multiresolution Approach to Contour Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandro Neri

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Standard edge detectors react to all local luminance changes, irrespective of whether they are due to the contours of the objects represented in a scene or due to natural textures like grass, foliage, water, and so forth. Moreover, edges due to texture are often stronger than edges due to object contours. This implies that further processing is needed to discriminate object contours from texture edges. In this paper, we propose a biologically motivated multiresolution contour detection method using Bayesian denoising and a surround inhibition technique. Specifically, the proposed approach deploys computation of the gradient at different resolutions, followed by Bayesian denoising of the edge image. Then, a biologically motivated surround inhibition step is applied in order to suppress edges that are due to texture. We propose an improvement of the surround suppression used in previous works. Finally, a contour-oriented binarization algorithm is used, relying on the observation that object contours lead to long connected components rather than to short rods obtained from textures. Experimental results show that our contour detection method outperforms standard edge detectors as well as other methods that deploy inhibition.

A Method for Identifying Contours in Processing Digital Images from Computer Tomograph

Science.gov (United States)

Roşu, Şerban; Pater, Flavius; Costea, Dan; Munteanu, Mihnea; Roşu, Doina; Fratila, Mihaela

2011-09-01

The first step in digital processing of two-dimensional computed tomography images is to identify the contour of component elements. This paper deals with the collective work of specialists in medicine and applied mathematics in computer science on elaborating new algorithms and methods in medical 2D and 3D imagery.

Image Interpolation with Geometric Contour Stencils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pascal Getreuer

2011-09-01

Full Text Available We consider the image interpolation problem where given an image vm,n with uniformly-sampled pixels vm,n and point spread function h, the goal is to find function u(x,y satisfying vm,n = (h*u(m,n for all m,n in Z. This article improves upon the IPOL article Image Interpolation with Contour Stencils. In the previous work, contour stencils are used to estimate the image contours locally as short line segments. This article begins with a continuous formulation of total variation integrated over a collection of curves and defines contour stencils as a consistent discretization. This discretization is more reliable than the previous approach and can effectively distinguish contours that are locally shaped like lines, curves, corners, and circles. These improved contour stencils sense more of the geometry in the image. Interpolation is performed using an extension of the method described in the previous article. Using the improved contour stencils, there is an increase in image quality while maintaining similar computational efficiency.

Lung segmentation from HRCT using united geometric active contours

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Junwei; Li, Chuanfu; Xiong, Jin; Feng, Huanqing

2007-12-01

Accurate lung segmentation from high resolution CT images is a challenging task due to various detail tracheal structures, missing boundary segments and complex lung anatomy. One popular method is based on gray-level threshold, however its results are usually rough. A united geometric active contours model based on level set is proposed for lung segmentation in this paper. Particularly, this method combines local boundary information and region statistical-based model synchronously: 1) Boundary term ensures the integrality of lung tissue.2) Region term makes the level set function evolve with global characteristic and independent on initial settings. A penalizing energy term is introduced into the model, which forces the level set function evolving without re-initialization. The method is found to be much more efficient in lung segmentation than other methods that are only based on boundary or region. Results are shown by 3D lung surface reconstruction, which indicates that the method will play an important role in the design of computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system.

Integration of multi-modality imaging for accurate 3D reconstruction of human coronary arteries in vivo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giannoglou, George D.; Chatzizisis, Yiannis S.; Sianos, George; Tsikaderis, Dimitrios; Matakos, Antonis; Koutkias, Vassilios; Diamantopoulos, Panagiotis; Maglaveras, Nicos; Parcharidis, George E.; Louridas, George E.

2006-01-01

In conventional intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-based three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of human coronary arteries, IVUS images are arranged linearly generating a straight vessel volume. However, with this approach real vessel curvature is neglected. To overcome this limitation an imaging method was developed based on integration of IVUS and biplane coronary angiography (BCA). In 17 coronary arteries from nine patients, IVUS and BCA were performed. From each angiographic projection, a single end-diastolic frame was selected and in each frame the IVUS catheter was interactively detected for the extraction of 3D catheter path. Ultrasound data was obtained with a sheath-based catheter and recorded on S-VHS videotape. S-VHS data was digitized and lumen and media-adventitia contours were semi-automatically detected in end-diastolic IVUS images. Each pair of contours was aligned perpendicularly to the catheter path and rotated in space by implementing an algorithm based on Frenet-Serret rules. Lumen and media-adventitia contours were interpolated through generation of intermediate contours creating a real 3D lumen and vessel volume, respectively. The absolute orientation of the reconstructed lumen was determined by back-projecting it onto both angiographic planes and comparing the projected lumen with the actual angiographic lumen. In conclusion, our method is capable of performing rapid and accurate 3D reconstruction of human coronary arteries in vivo. This technique can be utilized for reliable plaque morphometric, geometrical and hemodynamic analyses

A simple method for 3D lesion reconstruction from two projected angiographic images: implementation to a stereotactic radiotherapy treatment planning system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Theodorou, K.; Kappas, C.; Gaboriaud, G.; Mazal, A.D.; Petrascu, O.; Rosenwald, J.C.

1997-01-01

Introduction: The most used imaging modality for diagnosis and localisation of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) treated with stereotactic radiotherapy is angiography. The fact that the angiographic images are projected images imposes the need of the 3D reconstruction of the lesion. This, together with the 3D head anatomy from CT images could provide all the necessary information for stereotactic treatment planning. We have developed a method to combine the complementary information provided by angiography and 2D computerized tomography, matching the reconstructed AVM structure with the reconstructed head of the patient. Materials and methods: The ISIS treatment planning system, developed at Institute Curie, has been used for image acquisition, stereotactic localisation and 3D visualisation. A series of CT slices are introduced in the system as well as two orthogonal angiographic projected images of the lesion. A simple computer program has been developed for the 3D reconstruction of the lesion and for the superposition of the target contour on the CT slices of the head. Results and conclusions: In our approach we consider that the reconstruction can be made if the AVM is approximated with a number of adjacent ellipses. We assessed the method comparing the values of the reconstructed and the actual volumes of the target using linear regression analysis. For treatment planning purposes we overlapped the reconstructed AVM on the CT slices of the head. The above feature is to our knowledge a feature that the majority of the commercial stereotactic radiotherapy treatment planning system could not provide. The implementation of the method into ISIS TPS shows that we can reliably approximate and visualize the target volume

The Development of Contour Interpolation: Evidence from Subjective Contours

Science.gov (United States)

Hadad, Bat-Sheva; Maurer, Daphne; Lewis, Terri L.

2010-01-01

Adults are skilled at perceiving subjective contours in regions without any local image information (e.g., [Ginsburg, 1975] and [Kanizsa, 1976]). Here we examined the development of this skill and the effect thereon of the support ratio (i.e., the ratio of the physically specified contours to the total contour length). Children (6-, 9-, and…

High resolution x-ray CMT: Reconstruction methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, J.K.

1997-02-01

This paper qualitatively discusses the primary characteristics of methods for reconstructing tomographic images from a set of projections. These reconstruction methods can be categorized as either {open_quotes}analytic{close_quotes} or {open_quotes}iterative{close_quotes} techniques. Analytic algorithms are derived from the formal inversion of equations describing the imaging process, while iterative algorithms incorporate a model of the imaging process and provide a mechanism to iteratively improve image estimates. Analytic reconstruction algorithms are typically computationally more efficient than iterative methods; however, analytic algorithms are available for a relatively limited set of imaging geometries and situations. Thus, the framework of iterative reconstruction methods is better suited for high accuracy, tomographic reconstruction codes.

A Voronoi interior adjacency-based approach for generating a contour tree

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jun; Qiao, Chaofei; Zhao, Renliang

2004-05-01

A contour tree is a good graphical tool for representing the spatial relations of contour lines and has found many applications in map generalization, map annotation, terrain analysis, etc. A new approach for generating contour trees by introducing a Voronoi-based interior adjacency set concept is proposed in this paper. The immediate interior adjacency set is employed to identify all of the children contours of each contour without contour elevations. It has advantages over existing methods such as the point-in-polygon method and the region growing-based method. This new approach can be used for spatial data mining and knowledge discovering, such as the automatic extraction of terrain features and construction of multi-resolution digital elevation model.

Automatic bone outer contour extraction from B-modes ultrasound images based on local phase symmetry and quadratic polynomial fitting

Science.gov (United States)

Karlita, Tita; Yuniarno, Eko Mulyanto; Purnama, I. Ketut Eddy; Purnomo, Mauridhi Hery

2017-06-01

Analyzing ultrasound (US) images to get the shapes and structures of particular anatomical regions is an interesting field of study since US imaging is a non-invasive method to capture internal structures of a human body. However, bone segmentation of US images is still challenging because it is strongly influenced by speckle noises and it has poor image quality. This paper proposes a combination of local phase symmetry and quadratic polynomial fitting methods to extract bone outer contour (BOC) from two dimensional (2D) B-modes US image as initial steps of three-dimensional (3D) bone surface reconstruction. By using local phase symmetry, the bone is initially extracted from US images. BOC is then extracted by scanning one pixel on the bone boundary in each column of the US images using first phase features searching method. Quadratic polynomial fitting is utilized to refine and estimate the pixel location that fails to be detected during the extraction process. Hole filling method is then applied by utilize the polynomial coefficients to fill the gaps with new pixel. The proposed method is able to estimate the new pixel position and ensures smoothness and continuity of the contour path. Evaluations are done using cow and goat bones by comparing the resulted BOCs with the contours produced by manual segmentation and contours produced by canny edge detection. The evaluation shows that our proposed methods produces an excellent result with average MSE before and after hole filling at the value of 0.65.

Pose Estimation using a Hierarchical 3D Representation of Contours and Surfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buch, Anders Glent; Kraft, Dirk; Kämäräinen, Joni-Kristian

2013-01-01

We present a system for detecting the pose of rigid objects using texture and contour information. From a stereo image view of a scene, a sparse hierarchical scene representation is reconstructed using an early cognitive vision system. We define an object model in terms of a simple context...

Masculine Chest-Wall Contouring in FtM Transgender: a Personal Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Lo Russo, Giulia; Tanini, Sara; Innocenti, Marco

2017-04-01

Chest-wall contouring surgery is one of the first steps in sexual reassignment in female-to-male (FtM) transsexuals that contributes to strengthening of the self-image and facilitates living in the new gender role. The main goal is to masculinize the chest by removing the female contour. Chest contour, scar placement, scar shape, scar length, nipple-areola position, nipple size and the areola size are the key points. Between July 2013 and June 2016, 25 FtM transgender patients underwent surgical procedures to create a masculine chest-wall contour. In our study, we just considered 16 patients who have undergone chest surgery with the double incision method. The patients' survey revealed a high satisfaction rate with the aesthetic result. In our group, no complications occurred, and two patients have undergone supplementary surgery for axillary dog-ear revision and nipple reconstruction. The authors propose a new technical approach and indications for FtM transgender patients' surgery. A longer scar that emphasizes the pectoralis muscle, a smaller nipple and a resized and refaced areola are the key points of our technique to give a masculine appearance to the chest. The scars are permanent, but most of them will fade and the patients are enthusiastic with their new "male" chest appearance. The high level of satisfaction, the great aesthetic result and the low rate of complications suggest to us the use of this technique in medium- and large-size breasts. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Development of optical surface contouring technique using laser

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baik, Sung Hoon; Kim, Min Suk; Park, Seung Kyu

1998-12-01

Laser contouring system capable of measuring relief profiles using a line-shaped laser beam with anisotropic magnification optics composed with two cylindrical lenses was developed. The anisotropic magnification optical system allows it to obtain higher resolution in the relief profile measurements. The image processing and 3-D display software are developed to reconstruct 3-D shape. The power supply of laser diode with adaptive current control circuit is designed. (author). 4 refs., 5 tabs., 33 figs.

Incomplete contour representations and shape descriptors : ICR test studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ghosh, Anarta; Petkov, Nicolai; Gregorio, MD; DiMaio,; Frucci, M; Musio, C

2005-01-01

Inspired by psychophysical studies of the human cognitive abilities we propose a novel aspect and a method for performance evaluation of contour based shape recognition algorithms regarding their robustness to incompleteness of contours. We use complete contour representations of objects as a

Evaluation of proxy-based millennial reconstruction methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Terry C.K.; Tsao, Min [University of Victoria, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Victoria, BC (Canada); Zwiers, Francis W. [Environment Canada, Climate Research Division, Toronto, ON (Canada)

2008-08-15

A range of existing statistical approaches for reconstructing historical temperature variations from proxy data are compared using both climate model data and real-world paleoclimate proxy data. We also propose a new method for reconstruction that is based on a state-space time series model and Kalman filter algorithm. The state-space modelling approach and the recently developed RegEM method generally perform better than their competitors when reconstructing interannual variations in Northern Hemispheric mean surface air temperature. On the other hand, a variety of methods are seen to perform well when reconstructing surface air temperature variability on decadal time scales. An advantage of the new method is that it can incorporate additional, non-temperature, information into the reconstruction, such as the estimated response to external forcing, thereby permitting a simultaneous reconstruction and detection analysis as well as future projection. An application of these extensions is also demonstrated in the paper. (orig.)

Pancreatic gross tumor volume contouring on computed tomography (CT) compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): Results of an international contouring conference.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, William A; Heerkens, Hanne D; Paulson, Eric S; Meijer, Gert J; Kotte, Alexis N; Knechtges, Paul; Parikh, Parag J; Bassetti, Michael F; Lee, Percy; Aitken, Katharine L; Palta, Manisha; Myrehaug, Sten; Koay, Eugene J; Portelance, Lorraine; Ben-Josef, Edgar; Erickson, Beth A

Accurate identification of the gross tumor volume (GTV) in pancreatic adenocarcinoma is challenging. We sought to understand differences in GTV delineation using pancreatic computed tomography (CT) compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Twelve attending radiation oncologists were convened for an international contouring symposium. All participants had a clinical and research interest in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. CT and MRI scans from 3 pancreatic cases were used for contouring. CT and MRI GTVs were analyzed and compared. Interobserver variability was compared using Dice's similarity coefficient (DSC), Hausdorff distances, and Jaccard indices. Mann-Whitney tests were used to check for significant differences. Consensus contours on CT and MRI scans and constructed count maps were used to visualize the agreement. Agreement regarding the optimal method to determine GTV definition using MRI was reached. Six contour sets (3 from CT and 3 from MRI) were obtained and compared for each observer, totaling 72 contour sets. The mean volume of contours on CT was significantly larger at 57.48 mL compared with a mean of 45.76 mL on MRI, P = .011. The standard deviation obtained from the CT contours was significantly larger than the standard deviation from the MRI contours (P = .027). The mean DSC was 0.73 for the CT and 0.72 for the MRI (P = .889). The conformity index measurement was similar for CT and MRI (P = .58). Count maps were created to highlight differences in the contours from CT and MRI. Using MRI as a primary image set to define a pancreatic adenocarcinoma GTV resulted in smaller contours compared with CT. No differences in DSC or the conformity index were seen between MRI and CT. A stepwise method is recommended as an approach to contour a pancreatic GTV using MRI. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intraoral Approach and Stereolithographic-guided Large Mandibular Reconstruction with Fibula Free Flap

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Artur Diaz-Carandell, MD

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Summary: The reconstruction of mandibular defects has always been of great concern, and it still represents a challenge for head-and-neck reconstructive surgeons. The mandible plays a major role in mastication, articulation, swallowing, respiration, and facial contour. Thus, when undertaking mandibular reconstruction, restoration of both function and cosmetics should be considered as the measure of success. Microsurgical reconstruction is the gold-standard method to repair a segmental mandibular defect. Reconstruction of sizeable defects often needs a large neck incision, leading to unsatisfactory cosmetic outcomes. Virtual surgical planning and stereolithographic modeling are new techniques that offer excellent results and can provide precise data for mandibular reconstruction and improve postoperative outcomes. We present a case of complete intraoral resection and reconstruction of a large ameloblastoma of the mandible.

3D reconstruction of coronary arteries from 2D angiographic projections using non-uniform rational basis splines (NURBS for accurate modelling of coronary stenoses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca Galassi

Full Text Available Assessment of coronary stenosis severity is crucial in clinical practice. This study proposes a novel method to generate 3D models of stenotic coronary arteries, directly from 2D coronary images, and suitable for immediate assessment of the stenosis severity.From multiple 2D X-ray coronary arteriogram projections, 2D vessels were extracted. A 3D centreline was reconstructed as intersection of surfaces from corresponding branches. Next, 3D luminal contours were generated in a two-step process: first, a Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS circular contour was designed and, second, its control points were adjusted to interpolate computed 3D boundary points. Finally, a 3D surface was generated as an interpolation across the control points of the contours and used in the analysis of the severity of a lesion. To evaluate the method, we compared 3D reconstructed lesions with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT, an invasive imaging modality that enables high-resolution endoluminal visualization of lesion anatomy.Validation was performed on routine clinical data. Analysis of paired cross-sectional area discrepancies indicated that the proposed method more closely represented OCT contours than conventional approaches in luminal surface reconstruction, with overall root-mean-square errors ranging from 0.213mm2 to 1.013mm2, and maximum error of 1.837mm2. Comparison of volume reduction due to a lesion with corresponding FFR measurement suggests that the method may help in estimating the physiological significance of a lesion.The algorithm accurately reconstructed 3D models of lesioned arteries and enabled quantitative assessment of stenoses. The proposed method has the potential to allow immediate analysis of the stenoses in clinical practice, thereby providing incremental diagnostic and prognostic information to guide treatments in real time and without the need for invasive techniques.

Role of endocortical contouring methods on precision of HR-pQCT-derived cortical micro-architecture in postmenopausal women and young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawalilak, C E; Johnston, J D; Cooper, D M L; Olszynski, W P; Kontulainen, S A

2016-02-01

Precision errors of cortical bone micro-architecture from high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) ranged from 1 to 16 % and did not differ between automatic or manually modified endocortical contour methods in postmenopausal women or young adults. In postmenopausal women, manually modified contours led to generally higher cortical bone properties when compared to the automated method. First, the objective of the study was to define in vivo precision errors (coefficient of variation root mean square (CV%RMS)) and least significant change (LSC) for cortical bone micro-architecture using two endocortical contouring methods: automatic (AUTO) and manually modified (MOD) in two groups (postmenopausal women and young adults) from high-resolution pQCT (HR-pQCT) scans. Second, it was to compare precision errors and bone outcomes obtained with both methods within and between groups. Using HR-pQCT, we scanned twice the distal radius and tibia of 34 postmenopausal women (mean age ± SD 74 ± 7 years) and 30 young adults (27 ± 9 years). Cortical micro-architecture was determined using AUTO and MOD contour methods. CV%RMS and LSC were calculated. Repeated measures and multivariate ANOVA were used to compare mean CV% and bone outcomes between the methods within and between the groups. Significance was accepted at P young adults, postmenopausal women had better precision for radial cortical porosity (precision difference 9.3 %) and pore volume (7.5 %) with MOD. Young adults had better precision for cortical thickness (0.8 %, MOD) and tibial cortical density (0.2 %, AUTO). In postmenopausal women, MOD resulted in 0.2-54 % higher values for most cortical outcomes, as well as 6-8 % lower radial and tibial cortical BMD and 2 % lower tibial cortical thickness. Results suggest that AUTO and MOD endocortical contour methods provide comparable repeatability. In postmenopausal women, manual modification of endocortical contours led to

Male Body Contouring.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Babu; Keaney, Terrence; Rossi, Anthony M

2015-09-01

Men are increasingly turning to dermatologists and plastic surgeons to request procedures that correct or enhance physical features. With the advent of this emerging new patient population, alterations in preexisting aesthetic techniques, gender-specific uses of existing devices and overall approaches need to be revisited and adapted to obtain results that are suitable for the male patient. Recently, body contouring has become one of the most sought out procedures by men. Although the majority of clinical studies involving body contouring esthetics are performed with female patients, gains from such studies can be extrapolated to men. Body contouring can be broadly classified as non-invasive or invasive, depending on the modality used. Non-invasive contouring is most frequently performed with devices that target subcutaneous adipose with focused electrical or thermal energy, including low-level laser, cryolipolysis, ultrasonography, and radiofrequency. Invasive body contouring modalities useful for male body contouring include liposuction, pectoral and abdominal wall etching, jawline fillers, synthetic deoxycholic acid injections, and solid silicone implants. The purpose of this review is to bring attention to the unique aspects, strategies, and modalities used in aesthetic body contouring for the male patient.

Development of a CONTOUR-METER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrada Contardi, F.A.

2004-01-01

Dose calculation in patients undergoing radiotherapy treatments requires the knowledge of their anatomical geometry.Making reference to the specific case of breast cancer, one of the measurement that are made on the patients is the acquisition of the breast's contour, determined in an axial plane from a point marked on the breastbone until another point marked on the thorax side under the armpit.This measurement is normally made with a mechanic contour-meter: a device formed by a series of plastic-covered wires designed to be applied on the patient's skin copying the breast contour after it deformation.The geometrical error associated with this procedure is ± 1 cm. The precision of the dose calculation could be increased acquiring a breast contour more accurate.This objective was achieved developing a method based on breast images from a digital camera.The algorithms to obtain an axial-plane image of the contour from digital photographs taken from arbitrary positions were developed.A geometric transformation is applied to the photograph to correct for perspective distortions, obtaining a frontal - undistorted image (axial-plane image).A software tool to make all the image processing was developed under MatLab.The maximum geometrical error detected during the validation of the process was 2 mm [es

Automatic programming of grinding robot restoration of contours

OpenAIRE

Are Willersrud; Fred Godtliebsen; Trygve Thomessen

1995-01-01

A new programming method has been developed for grinding robots. Instead of using the conventional jog-and-teach method, the workpiece contour is automatically tracked by the robot. During the tracking, the robot position is stored in the robot control system every 8th millisecond. After filtering and reducing this contour data, a robot program is automatically generated.

Hand-Geometry Recognition Based on Contour Parameters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veldhuis, Raymond N.J.; Bazen, A.M.; Booij, W.D.T.; Hendrikse, A.J.; Jain, A.K.; Ratha, N.K.

This paper demonstrates the feasibility of a new method of hand-geometry recognition based on parameters derived from the contour of the hand. The contour is completely determined by the black-and-white image of the hand and can be derived from it by means of simple image-processing techniques. It

Residual stress measurement of EB-welded plates with contour method. Part 2: FEM analysis of contour profiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romppanen, A.-J.; Immonen, E.

2013-12-01

The residual stresses formed as a result of Electronic Beam welding (EB-welding) in copper are investigated by Posiva. In the present study, residual stresses of EB-welded copper plates were studied with contour method. In the method eleven copper plates (X436 - X440 and X453 - X458) were cut in half with wire electric discharge machining (EDM) after which the deformation due to stress relaxation was measured with coordinate measurement system. The measured data was then used as boundary displacement data for the FEM analyses, in which the corresponding residual stresses were calculated. Before giving the corresponding displacement boundary conditions to the FE models, the deformation data was processed and smoothed appropriately. The residual stress levels of the copper plates were found to be around 40 - 55 MPa at maximum. This corresponds to other reported residual stress measurements and current state of knowledge with this material in Posiva. (orig.)

Multicore Performance of Block Algebraic Iterative Reconstruction Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Hans Henrik B.; Hansen, Per Christian

2014-01-01

Algebraic iterative methods are routinely used for solving the ill-posed sparse linear systems arising in tomographic image reconstruction. Here we consider the algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) and the simultaneous iterative reconstruction techniques (SIRT), both of which rely on semiconv......Algebraic iterative methods are routinely used for solving the ill-posed sparse linear systems arising in tomographic image reconstruction. Here we consider the algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) and the simultaneous iterative reconstruction techniques (SIRT), both of which rely...... on semiconvergence. Block versions of these methods, based on a partitioning of the linear system, are able to combine the fast semiconvergence of ART with the better multicore properties of SIRT. These block methods separate into two classes: those that, in each iteration, access the blocks in a sequential manner...... a fixed relaxation parameter in each method, namely, the one that leads to the fastest semiconvergence. Computational results show that for multicore computers, the sequential approach is preferable....

Quantitative SPECT reconstruction for brain distribution with a non-uniform attenuation using a regularizing method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soussaline, F.; Bidaut, L.; Raynaud, C.; Le Coq, G.

1983-06-01

An analytical solution to the SPECT reconstruction problem, where the actual attenuation effect can be included, was developped using a regularizing iterative method (RIM). The potential of this approach in quantitative brain studies when using a tracer for cerebrovascular disorders is now under evaluation. Mathematical simulations for a distributed activity in the brain surrounded by the skull and physical phantom studies were performed, using a rotating camera based SPECT system, allowing the calibration of the system and the evaluation of the adapted method to be used. On the simulation studies, the contrast obtained along a profile, was less than 5%, the standard deviation 8% and the quantitative accuracy 13%, for a uniform emission distribution of mean = 100 per pixel and a double attenuation coefficient of μ = 0.115 cm -1 and 0.5 cm -1 . Clinical data obtained after injection of 123 I (AMPI) were reconstructed using the RIM without and with cerebrovascular diseases or lesion defects. Contour finding techniques were used for the delineation of the brain and the skull, and measured attenuation coefficients were assumed within these two regions. Using volumes of interest, selected on homogeneous regions on an hemisphere and reported symetrically, the statistical uncertainty for 300 K events in the tomogram was found to be 12%, the index of symetry was of 4% for normal distribution. These results suggest that quantitative SPECT reconstruction for brain distribution is feasible, and that combined with an adapted tracer and an adequate model physiopathological parameters could be extracted

Automatic programming of grinding robot restoration of contours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Are Willersrud

1995-07-01

Full Text Available A new programming method has been developed for grinding robots. Instead of using the conventional jog-and-teach method, the workpiece contour is automatically tracked by the robot. During the tracking, the robot position is stored in the robot control system every 8th millisecond. After filtering and reducing this contour data, a robot program is automatically generated.

Platelet-Rich Plasma in Reconstruction of Posterior Meatal Wall after Canal Wall Down Mastoidectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Elbary, Mohammad El-Sayed Abd; Nasr, Wail Fayez; Sorour, Samir Sorour

2018-04-01

Introduction  Canal wall down (CWD) mastoidectomy has many drawbacks, including chronic otorrhea not responding to medications, granulations, dizziness on exposure to cold or hot water, and tendency of debris accumulation in the mastoid cavity, demanding periodic cleaning. Many of these problems can be solved by reconstruction of the posterior meatal wall (PMW). Objectives  To assess the results of PMW reconstruction after CWD mastoidectomy for cholesteatoma using titanium mesh and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) mixed with bone pate. Methods  This study was conducted with 20 patients that have atticoantral chronic suppurative otitis media. All cases were subjected to CWD mastoid surgery with complete elimination of the disease and reconstruction of the PMW by titanium mesh and the mixture of PRP with bone pate. All patients were exposed to a full preoperative evaluation and full postoperative assessment of the complications, the appearance of the external auditory canal contour, and the hearing gain expressed by the change of the air bone gap postoperatively. Results  The PMW reconstructed by titanium mesh and the mixture of PRP with bone pate showed a smooth contour. During the follow-up of 12 to 36 months, the postoperative appearance of the external auditory canal contour was found to be smooth without hidden pouches, irregularities or stenosis in all cases. No granulation, foreign body reaction, or extrusion and/or displacement of the titanium mesh were registered. No facial palsy or recurrent cholesteatoma was reported. Conclusion  The surgical reconstruction of the PMW using PRP, bone pate and titanium mesh after CWD mastoidectomy appears to be reliable without considerable complications, giving a smooth appearance to the PMW.

Statistical shape model-based reconstruction of a scaled, patient-specific surface model of the pelvis from a single standard AP x-ray radiograph

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zheng Guoyan [Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, Stauffacherstrasse 78, CH-3014 Bern (Switzerland)

2010-04-15

Purpose: The aim of this article is to investigate the feasibility of using a statistical shape model (SSM)-based reconstruction technique to derive a scaled, patient-specific surface model of the pelvis from a single standard anteroposterior (AP) x-ray radiograph and the feasibility of estimating the scale of the reconstructed surface model by performing a surface-based 3D/3D matching. Methods: Data sets of 14 pelvises (one plastic bone, 12 cadavers, and one patient) were used to validate the single-image based reconstruction technique. This reconstruction technique is based on a hybrid 2D/3D deformable registration process combining a landmark-to-ray registration with a SSM-based 2D/3D reconstruction. The landmark-to-ray registration was used to find an initial scale and an initial rigid transformation between the x-ray image and the SSM. The estimated scale and rigid transformation were used to initialize the SSM-based 2D/3D reconstruction. The optimal reconstruction was then achieved in three stages by iteratively matching the projections of the apparent contours extracted from a 3D model derived from the SSM to the image contours extracted from the x-ray radiograph: Iterative affine registration, statistical instantiation, and iterative regularized shape deformation. The image contours are first detected by using a semiautomatic segmentation tool based on the Livewire algorithm and then approximated by a set of sparse dominant points that are adaptively sampled from the detected contours. The unknown scales of the reconstructed models were estimated by performing a surface-based 3D/3D matching between the reconstructed models and the associated ground truth models that were derived from a CT-based reconstruction method. Such a matching also allowed for computing the errors between the reconstructed models and the associated ground truth models. Results: The technique could reconstruct the surface models of all 14 pelvises directly from the landmark

Three-dimensional reconstruction of a left ventricular shape from time and viewpoint varying X-ray cineangiocardiograms. Development of a system for clinical use

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moriyama, Masamitsu; Yoshimoto, Fujiichi [Wakayama Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Engineering; Sato, Yoshinobu; Hanayama, Masayuki; Ueguchi, Takashi; Naito, Hiroaki; Tamura, Shinichi

1998-05-01

This paper describes a system for the accurate three-dimensional reconstruction of a left ventricular shape from x-ray cineangiocardiograms with different viewpoints as well as times. We perform direct B-spline fitting to a 4D closed surface model, called ``BF4D method``, using an iterative method consisting of two stages, so as to deal with fragmented contours such as extracted from x-ray cineangiocardiograms. However, it is necessary for making clinical use that we can set parameters easily to reconstruct the 3D model. Therefore we develop a system considering user interface. The system consists of three subsystems; The first subsystem is a contour detector of a left ventricle, the second one is for setting parameters for 3D reconstruction, and the third one is fitting to the model. We also show the results using real left ventricular angiographic image sequences. (author)

Technique of semiautomatic surface reconstruction of the visible Korean human data using commercial software.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jin Seo; Shin, Dong Sun; Chung, Min Suk; Hwang, Sung Bae; Chung, Jinoh

2007-11-01

This article describes the technique of semiautomatic surface reconstruction of anatomic structures using widely available commercial software. This technique would enable researchers to promptly and objectively perform surface reconstruction, creating three-dimensional anatomic images without any assistance from computer engineers. To develop the technique, we used data from the Visible Korean Human project, which produced digitalized photographic serial images of an entire cadaver. We selected 114 anatomic structures (skin [1], bones [32], knee joint structures [7], muscles [60], arteries [7], and nerves [7]) from the 976 anatomic images which were generated from the left lower limb of the cadaver. Using Adobe Photoshop, the selected anatomic structures in each serial image were outlined, creating a segmented image. The Photoshop files were then converted into Adobe Illustrator files to prepare isolated segmented images, so that the contours of the structure could be viewed independent of the surrounding anatomy. Using Alias Maya, these isolated segmented images were then stacked to construct a contour image. Gaps between the contour lines were filled with surfaces, and three-dimensional surface reconstruction could be visualized with Rhinoceros. Surface imperfections were then corrected to complete the three-dimensional images in Alias Maya. We believe that the three-dimensional anatomic images created by these methods will have widespread application in both medical education and research. 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Quantifying Diastolic Function: From E-Waves as Triangles to Physiologic Contours via the 'Geometric Method'.

Science.gov (United States)

Golman, Mikhail; Padovano, William; Shmuylovich, Leonid; Kovács, Sándor J

2018-03-01

Conventional echocardiographic diastolic function (DF) assessment approximates transmitral flow velocity contours (Doppler E-waves) as triangles, with peak (E peak ), acceleration time (AT), and deceleration time (DT) as indexes. These metrics have limited value because they are unable to characterize the underlying physiology. The parametrized diastolic filling (PDF) formalism provides a physiologic, kinematic mechanism based characterization of DF by extracting chamber stiffness (k), relaxation (c), and load (x o ) from E-wave contours. We derive the mathematical relationship between the PDF parameters and E peak , AT, DT and thereby introduce the geometric method (GM) that computes the PDF parameters using E peak , AT, and DT as input. Numerical experiments validated GM by analysis of 208 E-waves from 31 datasets spanning the full range of clinical diastolic function. GM yielded indistinguishable average parameter values per subject vs. the gold-standard PDF method (k: R 2  = 0.94, c: R 2  = 0.95, x o : R 2  = 0.95, p PDF method to quantify DF in terms of physiologic chamber properties.

Spiral Light Beams and Contour Image Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Kishkin, Sergey A.; Kotova, Svetlana P.; Volostnikov, Vladimir G.

Spiral beams of light are characterized by their ability to remain structurally unchanged at propagation. They may have the shape of any closed curve. In the present paper a new approach is proposed within the framework of the contour analysis based on a close cooperation of modern coherent optics, theory of functions and numerical methods. An algorithm for comparing contours is presented and theoretically justified, which allows convincing of whether two contours are similar or not to within the scale factor and/or rotation. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed approach are considered; the results of numerical modeling are presented.

Edge and line oriented contour detection : State of the art

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Papari, Giuseppe; Petkov, Nicolai

We present an overview of various edge and line oriented approaches to contour detection that have been proposed in the last two decades. By edge and line oriented we mean methods that do not rely on segmentation. Distinction is made between edges and contours. Contour detectors are divided in local

Phylogenetic reconstruction methods: an overview.

Science.gov (United States)

De Bruyn, Alexandre; Martin, Darren P; Lefeuvre, Pierre

2014-01-01

Initially designed to infer evolutionary relationships based on morphological and physiological characters, phylogenetic reconstruction methods have greatly benefited from recent developments in molecular biology and sequencing technologies with a number of powerful methods having been developed specifically to infer phylogenies from macromolecular data. This chapter, while presenting an overview of basic concepts and methods used in phylogenetic reconstruction, is primarily intended as a simplified step-by-step guide to the construction of phylogenetic trees from nucleotide sequences using fairly up-to-date maximum likelihood methods implemented in freely available computer programs. While the analysis of chloroplast sequences from various Vanilla species is used as an illustrative example, the techniques covered here are relevant to the comparative analysis of homologous sequences datasets sampled from any group of organisms.

Ingenious Snake: An Adaptive Multi-Class Contours Extraction

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Baolin; Zhou, Shoujun

2018-04-01

Active contour model (ACM) plays an important role in computer vision and medical image application. The traditional ACMs were used to extract single-class of object contours. While, simultaneous extraction of multi-class of interesting contours (i.e., various contours with closed- or open-ended) have not been solved so far. Therefore, a novel ACM model named “Ingenious Snake” is proposed to adaptively extract these interesting contours. In the first place, the ridge-points are extracted based on the local phase measurement of gradient vector flow field; the consequential ridgelines initialization are automated with high speed. Secondly, the contours’ deformation and evolvement are implemented with the ingenious snake. In the experiments, the result from initialization, deformation and evolvement are compared with the existing methods. The quantitative evaluation of the structure extraction is satisfying with respect of effectiveness and accuracy.

Automatic Image Segmentation Using Active Contours with Univariate Marginal Distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Cruz-Aceves

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel automatic image segmentation method based on the theory of active contour models and estimation of distribution algorithms. The proposed method uses the univariate marginal distribution model to infer statistical dependencies between the control points on different active contours. These contours have been generated through an alignment process of reference shape priors, in order to increase the exploration and exploitation capabilities regarding different interactive segmentation techniques. This proposed method is applied in the segmentation of the hollow core in microscopic images of photonic crystal fibers and it is also used to segment the human heart and ventricular areas from datasets of computed tomography and magnetic resonance images, respectively. Moreover, to evaluate the performance of the medical image segmentations compared to regions outlined by experts, a set of similarity measures has been adopted. The experimental results suggest that the proposed image segmentation method outperforms the traditional active contour model and the interactive Tseng method in terms of segmentation accuracy and stability.

Method for position emission mammography image reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Mark Frederick

2004-10-12

An image reconstruction method comprising accepting coincidence datat from either a data file or in real time from a pair of detector heads, culling event data that is outside a desired energy range, optionally saving the desired data for each detector position or for each pair of detector pixels on the two detector heads, and then reconstructing the image either by backprojection image reconstruction or by iterative image reconstruction. In the backprojection image reconstruction mode, rays are traced between centers of lines of response (LOR's), counts are then either allocated by nearest pixel interpolation or allocated by an overlap method and then corrected for geometric effects and attenuation and the data file updated. If the iterative image reconstruction option is selected, one implementation is to compute a grid Siddon retracing, and to perform maximum likelihood expectation maiximization (MLEM) computed by either: a) tracing parallel rays between subpixels on opposite detector heads; or b) tracing rays between randomized endpoint locations on opposite detector heads.

Class of reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin methods in computational fluid dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, Hong; Xia, Yidong; Nourgaliev, Robert

2011-01-01

A class of reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods is presented to solve compressible flow problems on arbitrary grids. The idea is to combine the efficiency of the reconstruction methods in finite volume methods and the accuracy of the DG methods to obtain a better numerical algorithm in computational fluid dynamics. The beauty of the resulting reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin (RDG) methods is that they provide a unified formulation for both finite volume and DG methods, and contain both classical finite volume and standard DG methods as two special cases of the RDG methods, and thus allow for a direct efficiency comparison. Both Green-Gauss and least-squares reconstruction methods and a least-squares recovery method are presented to obtain a quadratic polynomial representation of the underlying linear discontinuous Galerkin solution on each cell via a so-called in-cell reconstruction process. The devised in-cell reconstruction is aimed to augment the accuracy of the discontinuous Galerkin method by increasing the order of the underlying polynomial solution. These three reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin methods are used to compute a variety of compressible flow problems on arbitrary meshes to assess their accuracy. The numerical experiments demonstrate that all three reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin methods can significantly improve the accuracy of the underlying second-order DG method, although the least-squares reconstructed DG method provides the best performance in terms of both accuracy, efficiency, and robustness. (author)

Generic and robust method for automatic segmentation of PET images using an active contour model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhuang, Mingzan [Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, 9700 RB Groningen (Netherlands)

2016-08-15

Purpose: Although positron emission tomography (PET) images have shown potential to improve the accuracy of targeting in radiation therapy planning and assessment of response to treatment, the boundaries of tumors are not easily distinguishable from surrounding normal tissue owing to the low spatial resolution and inherent noisy characteristics of PET images. The objective of this study is to develop a generic and robust method for automatic delineation of tumor volumes using an active contour model and to evaluate its performance using phantom and clinical studies. Methods: MASAC, a method for automatic segmentation using an active contour model, incorporates the histogram fuzzy C-means clustering, and localized and textural information to constrain the active contour to detect boundaries in an accurate and robust manner. Moreover, the lattice Boltzmann method is used as an alternative approach for solving the level set equation to make it faster and suitable for parallel programming. Twenty simulated phantom studies and 16 clinical studies, including six cases of pharyngolaryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and ten cases of nonsmall cell lung cancer, were included to evaluate its performance. Besides, the proposed method was also compared with the contourlet-based active contour algorithm (CAC) and Schaefer’s thresholding method (ST). The relative volume error (RE), Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), and classification error (CE) metrics were used to analyze the results quantitatively. Results: For the simulated phantom studies (PSs), MASAC and CAC provide similar segmentations of the different lesions, while ST fails to achieve reliable results. For the clinical datasets (2 cases with connected high-uptake regions excluded) (CSs), CAC provides for the lowest mean RE (−8.38% ± 27.49%), while MASAC achieves the best mean DSC (0.71 ± 0.09) and mean CE (53.92% ± 12.65%), respectively. MASAC could reliably quantify different types of lesions assessed in this work

Summing over Feynman histories by functional contour integration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garrison, J.C.; Wright, E.M.

1986-01-01

The authors show how complex paths can be consistently introduced into sums for Feynman histories by using the notion of functional contour integration. For a kappa-dimensional system specified by a potential with suitable analyticity properties, each coordinate axis is replaced by a copy of the complex plane, and at each instant of time a contour is chosen in each plane. This map from the time axis into the set of complex contours defines a functional contour. The family of contours labelled by time generates a (kappa+1)-dimensional submanifold of the (2kappa+1)-dimensional space defined by the cartesian product of the time axis and the coordinate planes. The complex Feynman paths lie on this submanifold. An application of this idea to systems described by absorptive potentials yields a simple derivation of the correct WKB result in terms of a complex path that extremalises the action. The method can also be applied to spherically symmetric potentials by using a partial wave expansion and restricting the contours appropriately. (author)

Reconstruction of a ring applicator using CT imaging: impact of the reconstruction method and applicator orientation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hellebust, Taran Paulsen; Tanderup, Kari; Bergstrand, Eva Stabell; Knutsen, Bjoern Helge; Roeislien, Jo; Olsen, Dag Rune

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the method of applicator reconstruction and/or the applicator orientation influence the dose calculation to points around the applicator for brachytherapy of cervical cancer with CT-based treatment planning. A phantom, containing a fixed ring applicator set and six lead pellets representing dose points, was used. The phantom was CT scanned with the ring applicator at four different angles related to the image plane. In each scan the applicator was reconstructed by three methods: (1) direct reconstruction in each image (DR) (2) reconstruction in multiplanar reconstructed images (MPR) and (3) library plans, using pre-defined applicator geometry (LIB). The doses to the lead pellets were calculated. The relative standard deviation (SD) for all reconstruction methods was less than 3.7% in the dose points. The relative SD for the LIB method was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than for the DR and MPR methods for all but two points. All applicator orientations had similar dose calculation reproducibility. Using library plans for applicator reconstruction gives the most reproducible dose calculation. However, with restrictive guidelines for applicator reconstruction the uncertainties for all methods are low compared to other factors influencing the accuracy of brachytherapy

Semi-automated contour recognition using DICOMautomaton

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, H; Duzenli, C; Wu, J; Moiseenko, V; Lee, R; Gill, B; Thomas, S

2014-01-01

Purpose: A system has been developed which recognizes and classifies Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine contour data with minimal human intervention. It allows researchers to overcome obstacles which tax analysis and mining systems, including inconsistent naming conventions and differences in data age or resolution. Methods: Lexicographic and geometric analysis is used for recognition. Well-known lexicographic methods implemented include Levenshtein-Damerau, bag-of-characters, Double Metaphone, Soundex, and (word and character)-N-grams. Geometrical implementations include 3D Fourier Descriptors, probability spheres, boolean overlap, simple feature comparison (e.g. eccentricity, volume) and rule-based techniques. Both analyses implement custom, domain-specific modules (e.g. emphasis differentiating left/right organ variants). Contour labels from 60 head and neck patients are used for cross-validation. Results: Mixed-lexicographical methods show an effective improvement in more than 10% of recognition attempts compared with a pure Levenshtein-Damerau approach when withholding 70% of the lexicon. Domain-specific and geometrical techniques further boost performance. Conclusions: DICOMautomaton allows users to recognize contours semi-automatically. As usage increases and the lexicon is filled with additional structures, performance improves, increasing the overall utility of the system.

Adaptive multiresolution method for MAP reconstruction in electron tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Acar, Erman, E-mail: erman.acar@tut.fi [Department of Signal Processing, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 553, FI-33101 Tampere (Finland); BioMediTech, Tampere University of Technology, Biokatu 10, 33520 Tampere (Finland); Peltonen, Sari; Ruotsalainen, Ulla [Department of Signal Processing, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 553, FI-33101 Tampere (Finland); BioMediTech, Tampere University of Technology, Biokatu 10, 33520 Tampere (Finland)

2016-11-15

3D image reconstruction with electron tomography holds problems due to the severely limited range of projection angles and low signal to noise ratio of the acquired projection images. The maximum a posteriori (MAP) reconstruction methods have been successful in compensating for the missing information and suppressing noise with their intrinsic regularization techniques. There are two major problems in MAP reconstruction methods: (1) selection of the regularization parameter that controls the balance between the data fidelity and the prior information, and (2) long computation time. One aim of this study is to provide an adaptive solution to the regularization parameter selection problem without having additional knowledge about the imaging environment and the sample. The other aim is to realize the reconstruction using sequences of resolution levels to shorten the computation time. The reconstructions were analyzed in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency using a simulated biological phantom and publically available experimental datasets of electron tomography. The numerical and visual evaluations of the experiments show that the adaptive multiresolution method can provide more accurate results than the weighted back projection (WBP), simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique (SIRT), and sequential MAP expectation maximization (sMAPEM) method. The method is superior to sMAPEM also in terms of computation time and usability since it can reconstruct 3D images significantly faster without requiring any parameter to be set by the user. - Highlights: • An adaptive multiresolution reconstruction method is introduced for electron tomography. • The method provides more accurate results than the conventional reconstruction methods. • The missing wedge and noise problems can be compensated by the method efficiently.

Spatial profile of contours inducing long-range color assimilation.

Science.gov (United States)

Devinck, Frédéric; Spillmann, Lothar; Werner, John S

2006-01-01

Color induction was measured using a matching method for two spatial patterns, each composed of double contours. In one pattern (the standard), the contours had sharp edges to induce the Watercolor Effect (WCE); in the other, the two contours had a spatial taper so that the overall profile produced a sawtooth edge, or ramped stimulus. These patterns were chosen based on our previous study demonstrating that the strength of the chromatic WCE depends on a luminance difference between the two contours. Low-pass chromatic mechanisms, unlike bandpass luminance mechanisms, may be expected to be insensitive to the difference between the two spatial profiles. The strength of the watercolor spreading was similar for the two patterns at narrow widths of the contour possibly because of chromatic aberration, but with wider contours, the standard stimulus produced stronger assimilation than the ramped stimulus. This research suggests that luminance-dependent chromatic mechanisms mediate the WCE and that these mechanisms are sensitive to differences in the two spatial profiles of the pattern contours only when they are wide.

The contour deformation method in momentum space and effective interactions for weakly bound nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hagen, Gaute

2005-01-01

The main purpose of this thesis has been to investigate and develop methods suitable for study of resonance phenomena in nuclear and subatomic physics. Emphasis has been on the momentum space formulation of the Schrodinger equation. It has been shown; starting from the integral formulation of the Schrodinger equation, that an efficient way of obtaining a complete set of states including bound- antibound and resonant states is through the Contour Deformation Method. The strength of the Contour Deformation Method has been illustrated by studying a wide range of different cases in subatomic physics where resonance phenomena appear. These applications ranges from the case of a single-particle moving in a spherically symmetric field to the case of strong deformations of the field. Further, it has been studied how resonances may be solved for in complex potentials which models absorptive and emittive processes, using the Contour Deformation Method. The results obtained in these specific applications, strongly favour the Contour Deformation Method in comparison with other methods such as complex coordinate scaling and analytic continuation in the coupling strength. The most appealing feature of CD-NI is that not only does it give accurate results for resonances and anti-bound states, but in addition it provides us with a complete set of states which may be used in many different eigenfunction expansions. The only limitation of CDM is that the analytic structure of the potential has to be known, since the choice of contour is dictated by the singularity structure of the potential. The revival and study of CDM applied to nuclear physics, may be considered the main issue of the first part of this thesis, and is also the topic of Paper 1. In the second part of this thesis, the focus was directed towards the issue of how resonance phenomena may be understood in nuclei, when several valence particles are present. The newly developed Gamow Shell Model is a promising approach in

Measurement of laser welding pool geometry using a closed convex active contour model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, Rui; Zhang, Pu; Duan, Aiqing; Xiao, Peng

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a computer vision method to measure geometric parameters of the weld pool in a deep penetration CO 2 laser welding system. Accurate measurement was achieved by removing a huge amount of interference caused by spatter, arc light and plasma to extract the true weld pool contour. This paper introduces a closed convex active contour (CCAC) model derived from the active contour model (snake model), which is a more robust high-level vision method than the traditional low-level vision methods. We made an improvement by integrating an active contour with the information that the weld pool contour is almost a closed convex curve. An effective thresholding method and an improved greedy algorithm are also given to complement the CCAC model. These influences can be effectively removed by using the CCAC model to acquire and measure the weld pool contour accurately and relatively fast. (paper)

Reconstruction of Building Outlines in Dense Urban Areas Based on LIDAR Data and Address Points

Science.gov (United States)

Jarzabek-Rychard, M.

2012-07-01

The paper presents a comprehensive method for automated extraction and delineation of building outlines in densely built-up areas. A novel approach to outline reconstruction is the use of geocoded building address points. They give information about building location thus highly reduce task complexity. Reconstruction process is executed on 3D point clouds acquired by airborne laser scanner. The method consists of three steps: building detection, delineation and contours refinement. The algorithm is tested against a data set that presents the old market town and its surroundings. The results are discussed and evaluated by comparison to reference cadastral data.

Holographic Moire Contouring

Science.gov (United States)

Sciammarella, C. A.; Sainov, Ventseslav; Simova, Eli

1990-04-01

Theoretical analysis and experimental results on holographic moire contouring (HMC) of difussely reflecting objects are presented. The sensitivity and application constraints of the method are discussed. A high signal-to-noise ratio and contrast of the fringes is achieved through the use of high quality silver halide holographic plates HP-650. A good agreement between theoretical and experimental results is observed.

New weighting methods for phylogenetic tree reconstruction using multiple loci.

Science.gov (United States)

Misawa, Kazuharu; Tajima, Fumio

2012-08-01

Efficient determination of evolutionary distances is important for the correct reconstruction of phylogenetic trees. The performance of the pooled distance required for reconstructing a phylogenetic tree can be improved by applying large weights to appropriate distances for reconstructing phylogenetic trees and small weights to inappropriate distances. We developed two weighting methods, the modified Tajima-Takezaki method and the modified least-squares method, for reconstructing phylogenetic trees from multiple loci. By computer simulations, we found that both of the new methods were more efficient in reconstructing correct topologies than the no-weight method. Hence, we reconstructed hominoid phylogenetic trees from mitochondrial DNA using our new methods, and found that the levels of bootstrap support were significantly increased by the modified Tajima-Takezaki and by the modified least-squares method.

Fairfax County Contours

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — This layer contains contours that were derived from the digital terrain model made up of irregularly spaced mass points and breaklines. The contours are 5 foot...

Computer assisted holographic moire contouring

Science.gov (United States)

Sciammarella, Cesar A.

2000-01-01

Theoretical analyses and experimental results on holographic moire contouring on diffusely reflecting objects are presented. The sensitivity and limitations of the method are discussed. Particular emphasis is put on computer-assisted data retrieval, processing, and recording.

Accelerated gradient methods for total-variation-based CT image reconstruction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joergensen, Jakob H.; Hansen, Per Christian [Technical Univ. of Denmark, Lyngby (Denmark). Dept. of Informatics and Mathematical Modeling; Jensen, Tobias L.; Jensen, Soeren H. [Aalborg Univ. (Denmark). Dept. of Electronic Systems; Sidky, Emil Y.; Pan, Xiaochuan [Chicago Univ., Chicago, IL (United States). Dept. of Radiology

2011-07-01

Total-variation (TV)-based CT image reconstruction has shown experimentally to be capable of producing accurate reconstructions from sparse-view data. In particular TV-based reconstruction is well suited for images with piecewise nearly constant regions. Computationally, however, TV-based reconstruction is demanding, especially for 3D imaging, and the reconstruction from clinical data sets is far from being close to real-time. This is undesirable from a clinical perspective, and thus there is an incentive to accelerate the solution of the underlying optimization problem. The TV reconstruction can in principle be found by any optimization method, but in practice the large scale of the systems arising in CT image reconstruction preclude the use of memory-intensive methods such as Newton's method. The simple gradient method has much lower memory requirements, but exhibits prohibitively slow convergence. In the present work we address the question of how to reduce the number of gradient method iterations needed to achieve a high-accuracy TV reconstruction. We consider the use of two accelerated gradient-based methods, GPBB and UPN, to solve the 3D-TV minimization problem in CT image reconstruction. The former incorporates several heuristics from the optimization literature such as Barzilai-Borwein (BB) step size selection and nonmonotone line search. The latter uses a cleverly chosen sequence of auxiliary points to achieve a better convergence rate. The methods are memory efficient and equipped with a stopping criterion to ensure that the TV reconstruction has indeed been found. An implementation of the methods (in C with interface to Matlab) is available for download from http://www2.imm.dtu.dk/~pch/TVReg/. We compare the proposed methods with the standard gradient method, applied to a 3D test problem with synthetic few-view data. We find experimentally that for realistic parameters the proposed methods significantly outperform the standard gradient method. (orig.)

New method for initial density reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Yanlong; Cautun, Marius; Li, Baojiu

2018-01-01

A theoretically interesting and practically important question in cosmology is the reconstruction of the initial density distribution provided a late-time density field. This is a long-standing question with a revived interest recently, especially in the context of optimally extracting the baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) signals from observed galaxy distributions. We present a new efficient method to carry out this reconstruction, which is based on numerical solutions to the nonlinear partial differential equation that governs the mapping between the initial Lagrangian and final Eulerian coordinates of particles in evolved density fields. This is motivated by numerical simulations of the quartic Galileon gravity model, which has similar equations that can be solved effectively by multigrid Gauss-Seidel relaxation. The method is based on mass conservation, and does not assume any specific cosmological model. Our test shows that it has a performance comparable to that of state-of-the-art algorithms that were very recently put forward in the literature, with the reconstructed density field over ˜80 % (50%) correlated with the initial condition at k ≲0.6 h /Mpc (1.0 h /Mpc ). With an example, we demonstrate that this method can significantly improve the accuracy of BAO reconstruction.

Auto-propagation of contours for adaptive prostate radiation therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chao Ming; Xie Yaoqin; Xing Lei

2008-01-01

The purpose of this work is to develop an effective technique to automatically propagate contours from planning CT to cone beam CT (CBCT) to facilitate CBCT-guided prostate adaptive radiation therapy. Different from other disease sites, such as the lungs, the contour mapping here is complicated by two factors: (i) the physical one-to-one correspondence may not exist due to the insertion or removal of some image contents within the region of interest (ROI); and (ii) reduced contrast to noise ratio of the CBCT images due to increased scatter. To overcome these issues, we investigate a strategy of excluding the regions with variable contents by a careful design of a narrow shell signifying the contour of an ROI. For rectum, for example, a narrow shell with the delineated contours as its interior surface was constructed to avoid the adverse influence of the day-to-day content change inside the rectum on the contour mapping. The corresponding contours in the CBCT were found by warping the narrow shell through the use of BSpline deformable model. Both digital phantom experiments and clinical case testing were carried out to validate the proposed ROI mapping method. It was found that the approach was able to reliably warp the constructed narrow band with an accuracy better than 1.3 mm. For all five clinical cases enrolled in this study, the method yielded satisfactory results even when there were significant rectal content changes between the planning CT and CBCT scans. The overlapped area of the auto-mapped contours over 90% to the manually drawn contours is readily achievable. The proposed approach permits us to take advantage of the regional calculation algorithm yet avoiding the nuisance of rectum/bladder filling and provide a useful tool for adaptive radiotherapy of prostate in the future

Auto-propagation of contours for adaptive prostate radiation therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Chao, Ming; Xie, Yaoqin; Xing, Lei

2008-09-01

The purpose of this work is to develop an effective technique to automatically propagate contours from planning CT to cone beam CT (CBCT) to facilitate CBCT-guided prostate adaptive radiation therapy. Different from other disease sites, such as the lungs, the contour mapping here is complicated by two factors: (i) the physical one-to-one correspondence may not exist due to the insertion or removal of some image contents within the region of interest (ROI); and (ii) reduced contrast to noise ratio of the CBCT images due to increased scatter. To overcome these issues, we investigate a strategy of excluding the regions with variable contents by a careful design of a narrow shell signifying the contour of an ROI. For rectum, for example, a narrow shell with the delineated contours as its interior surface was constructed to avoid the adverse influence of the day-to-day content change inside the rectum on the contour mapping. The corresponding contours in the CBCT were found by warping the narrow shell through the use of BSpline deformable model. Both digital phantom experiments and clinical case testing were carried out to validate the proposed ROI mapping method. It was found that the approach was able to reliably warp the constructed narrow band with an accuracy better than 1.3 mm. For all five clinical cases enrolled in this study, the method yielded satisfactory results even when there were significant rectal content changes between the planning CT and CBCT scans. The overlapped area of the auto-mapped contours over 90% to the manually drawn contours is readily achievable. The proposed approach permits us to take advantage of the regional calculation algorithm yet avoiding the nuisance of rectum/bladder filling and provide a useful tool for adaptive radiotherapy of prostate in the future.

Auto-propagation of contours for adaptive prostate radiation therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chao Ming; Xie Yaoqin; Xing Lei [Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 875 Blake Wilbur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5847 (United States)], E-mail: lei@reyes.stanford.edu

2008-09-07

The purpose of this work is to develop an effective technique to automatically propagate contours from planning CT to cone beam CT (CBCT) to facilitate CBCT-guided prostate adaptive radiation therapy. Different from other disease sites, such as the lungs, the contour mapping here is complicated by two factors: (i) the physical one-to-one correspondence may not exist due to the insertion or removal of some image contents within the region of interest (ROI); and (ii) reduced contrast to noise ratio of the CBCT images due to increased scatter. To overcome these issues, we investigate a strategy of excluding the regions with variable contents by a careful design of a narrow shell signifying the contour of an ROI. For rectum, for example, a narrow shell with the delineated contours as its interior surface was constructed to avoid the adverse influence of the day-to-day content change inside the rectum on the contour mapping. The corresponding contours in the CBCT were found by warping the narrow shell through the use of BSpline deformable model. Both digital phantom experiments and clinical case testing were carried out to validate the proposed ROI mapping method. It was found that the approach was able to reliably warp the constructed narrow band with an accuracy better than 1.3 mm. For all five clinical cases enrolled in this study, the method yielded satisfactory results even when there were significant rectal content changes between the planning CT and CBCT scans. The overlapped area of the auto-mapped contours over 90% to the manually drawn contours is readily achievable. The proposed approach permits us to take advantage of the regional calculation algorithm yet avoiding the nuisance of rectum/bladder filling and provide a useful tool for adaptive radiotherapy of prostate in the future.

CONTOUR investigation launched

Science.gov (United States)

Showstack, Randy

On 27 August, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe appointed a team to investigate the apparent loss of the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft, which stopped communicating with the mission control operations on 15 August.On that date, CONTOUR failed to communicate following the firing of its main engine that would take it out of its orbit around the Earth. Shortly afterwards, the mission team received telescope images from several observatories showing two objects traveling along the spacecraft's predicted path. Those objects could be CONTOUR, and part of the spacecraft that may have separated from it when the spacecraft's solid rocket motor fired.

(Con)fusing contours

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lier, R.J. van; Wit, T.C.J. de; Koning, A.R.

2005-01-01

We have created patterns in which illusory Kanizsa squares are positioned on top of a background grid of bars. When the illusory contours and physical contours are misaligned, the resulting percept appears to be rather confusing (van Lier et al, 2004 Perception 33 Supplement, 77). Observers often

Contour Propagation Using Feature-Based Deformable Registration for Lung Cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuhan Yang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate target delineation of CT image is a critical step in radiotherapy treatment planning. This paper describes a novel strategy for automatic contour propagation, based on deformable registration, for CT images of lung cancer. The proposed strategy starts with a manual-delineated contour in one slice of a 3D CT image. By means of feature-based deformable registration, the initial contour in other slices of the image can be propagated automatically, and then refined by active contour approach. Three algorithms are employed in the strategy: the Speeded-Up Robust Features (SURF, Thin-Plate Spline (TPS, and an adapted active contour (Snake, used to refine and modify the initial contours. Five pulmonary cancer cases with about 400 slices and 1000 contours have been used to verify the proposed strategy. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed strategy can improve the segmentation performance in the pulmonary CT images. Jaccard similarity (JS mean is about 0.88 and the maximum of Hausdorff distance (HD is about 90%. In addition, delineation time has been considerably reduced. The proposed feature-based deformable registration method in the automatic contour propagation improves the delineation efficiency significantly.

Anatomically-aided PET reconstruction using the kernel method.

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchcroft, Will; Wang, Guobao; Chen, Kevin T; Catana, Ciprian; Qi, Jinyi

2016-09-21

This paper extends the kernel method that was proposed previously for dynamic PET reconstruction, to incorporate anatomical side information into the PET reconstruction model. In contrast to existing methods that incorporate anatomical information using a penalized likelihood framework, the proposed method incorporates this information in the simpler maximum likelihood (ML) formulation and is amenable to ordered subsets. The new method also does not require any segmentation of the anatomical image to obtain edge information. We compare the kernel method with the Bowsher method for anatomically-aided PET image reconstruction through a simulated data set. Computer simulations demonstrate that the kernel method offers advantages over the Bowsher method in region of interest quantification. Additionally the kernel method is applied to a 3D patient data set. The kernel method results in reduced noise at a matched contrast level compared with the conventional ML expectation maximization algorithm.

ASME method for particle reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ierusalimov, A.P.

2009-01-01

The method of approximate solution of motion equation (ASME) was used to reconstruct the parameters for charged particles. It provides a good precision for momentum, angular and space parameters of particles in coordinate detectors. The application of the method for CBM, HADES and MPD/NICA setups is discussed

Closed contour fractal dimension estimation by the Fourier transform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Florindo, J.B.; Bruno, O.M.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → A novel fractal dimension concept, based on Fourier spectrum, is proposed. → Computationally simple. Computational time smaller than conventional fractal methods. → Results are closer to Hausdorff-Besicovitch than conventional methods. → The method is more accurate and robustness to geometric operations and noise addition. - Abstract: This work proposes a novel technique for the numerical calculus of the fractal dimension of fractal objects which can be represented as a closed contour. The proposed method maps the fractal contour onto a complex signal and calculates its fractal dimension using the Fourier transform. The Fourier power spectrum is obtained and an exponential relation is verified between the power and the frequency. From the parameter (exponent) of the relation, is obtained the fractal dimension. The method is compared to other classical fractal dimension estimation methods in the literature, e.g., Bouligand-Minkowski, box-counting and classical Fourier. The comparison is achieved by the calculus of the fractal dimension of fractal contours whose dimensions are well-known analytically. The results showed the high precision and robustness of the proposed technique.

New method of contour-based mask-shape compiler

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuoka, Ryoichi; Sugiyama, Akiyuki; Onizawa, Akira; Sato, Hidetoshi; Toyoda, Yasutaka

2007-10-01

We have developed a new method of accurately profiling a mask shape by utilizing a Mask CD-SEM. The method is intended to realize high accuracy, stability and reproducibility of the Mask CD-SEM adopting an edge detection algorithm as the key technology used in CD-SEM for high accuracy CD measurement. In comparison with a conventional image processing method for contour profiling, it is possible to create the profiles with much higher accuracy which is comparable with CD-SEM for semiconductor device CD measurement. In this report, we will introduce the algorithm in general, the experimental results and the application in practice. As shrinkage of design rule for semiconductor device has further advanced, an aggressive OPC (Optical Proximity Correction) is indispensable in RET (Resolution Enhancement Technology). From the view point of DFM (Design for Manufacturability), a dramatic increase of data processing cost for advanced MDP (Mask Data Preparation) for instance and surge of mask making cost have become a big concern to the device manufacturers. In a sense, it is a trade-off between the high accuracy RET and the mask production cost, while it gives a significant impact on the semiconductor market centered around the mask business. To cope with the problem, we propose the best method for a DFM solution in which two dimensional data are extracted for an error free practical simulation by precise reproduction of a real mask shape in addition to the mask data simulation. The flow centering around the design data is fully automated and provides an environment where optimization and verification for fully automated model calibration with much less error is available. It also allows complete consolidation of input and output functions with an EDA system by constructing a design data oriented system structure. This method therefore is regarded as a strategic DFM approach in the semiconductor metrology.

TU-AB-202-10: How Effective Are Current Atlas Selection Methods for Atlas-Based Auto-Contouring in Radiotherapy Planning?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peressutti, D; Schipaanboord, B; Kadir, T; Gooding, M [Mirada Medical Limited, Science and Medical Technology, Oxford (United Kingdom); Soest, J van; Lustberg, T; Elmpt, W van; Dekker, A [Maastricht University Medical Centre, Department of Radiation Oncology MAASTRO - GROW School for Oncology Developmental Biology, Maastricht (Netherlands)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness of atlas selection methods for improving atlas-based auto-contouring in radiotherapy planning. Methods: 275 H&N clinically delineated cases were employed as an atlas database from which atlases would be selected. A further 40 previously contoured cases were used as test patients against which atlas selection could be performed and evaluated. 26 variations of selection methods proposed in the literature and used in commercial systems were investigated. Atlas selection methods comprised either global or local image similarity measures, computed after rigid or deformable registration, combined with direct atlas search or with an intermediate template image. Workflow Box (Mirada-Medical, Oxford, UK) was used for all auto-contouring. Results on brain, brainstem, parotids and spinal cord were compared to random selection, a fixed set of 10 “good” atlases, and optimal selection by an “oracle” with knowledge of the ground truth. The Dice score and the average ranking with respect to the “oracle” were employed to assess the performance of the top 10 atlases selected by each method. Results: The fixed set of “good” atlases outperformed all of the atlas-patient image similarity-based selection methods (mean Dice 0.715 c.f. 0.603 to 0.677). In general, methods based on exhaustive comparison of local similarity measures showed better average Dice scores (0.658 to 0.677) compared to the use of either template image (0.655 to 0.672) or global similarity measures (0.603 to 0.666). The performance of image-based selection methods was found to be only slightly better than a random (0.645). Dice scores given relate to the left parotid, but similar results patterns were observed for all organs. Conclusion: Intuitively, atlas selection based on the patient CT is expected to improve auto-contouring performance. However, it was found that published approaches performed marginally better than random and use of a fixed set of

Choosing the best ancestral character state reconstruction method.

Science.gov (United States)

Royer-Carenzi, Manuela; Pontarotti, Pierre; Didier, Gilles

2013-03-01

Despite its intrinsic difficulty, ancestral character state reconstruction is an essential tool for testing evolutionary hypothesis. Two major classes of approaches to this question can be distinguished: parsimony- or likelihood-based approaches. We focus here on the second class of methods, more specifically on approaches based on continuous-time Markov modeling of character evolution. Among them, we consider the most-likely-ancestor reconstruction, the posterior-probability reconstruction, the likelihood-ratio method, and the Bayesian approach. We discuss and compare the above-mentioned methods over several phylogenetic trees, adding the maximum-parsimony method performance in the comparison. Under the assumption that the character evolves according a continuous-time Markov process, we compute and compare the expectations of success of each method for a broad range of model parameter values. Moreover, we show how the knowledge of the evolution model parameters allows to compute upper bounds of reconstruction performances, which are provided as references. The results of all these reconstruction methods are quite close one to another, and the expectations of success are not so far from their theoretical upper bounds. But the performance ranking heavily depends on the topology of the studied tree, on the ancestral node that is to be inferred and on the parameter values. Consequently, we propose a protocol providing for each parameter value the best method in terms of expectation of success, with regard to the phylogenetic tree and the ancestral node to infer. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Joint classification and contour extraction of large 3D point clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Hackel, Timo; Wegner, Jan D.; Schindler, Konrad

2017-08-01

We present an effective and efficient method for point-wise semantic classification and extraction of object contours of large-scale 3D point clouds. What makes point cloud interpretation challenging is the sheer size of several millions of points per scan and the non-grid, sparse, and uneven distribution of points. Standard image processing tools like texture filters, for example, cannot handle such data efficiently, which calls for dedicated point cloud labeling methods. It turns out that one of the major drivers for efficient computation and handling of strong variations in point density, is a careful formulation of per-point neighborhoods at multiple scales. This allows, both, to define an expressive feature set and to extract topologically meaningful object contours. Semantic classification and contour extraction are interlaced problems. Point-wise semantic classification enables extracting a meaningful candidate set of contour points while contours help generating a rich feature representation that benefits point-wise classification. These methods are tailored to have fast run time and small memory footprint for processing large-scale, unstructured, and inhomogeneous point clouds, while still achieving high classification accuracy. We evaluate our methods on the semantic3d.net benchmark for terrestrial laser scans with >109 points.

SU-F-J-161: Prostate Contouring in Patients with Bilateral Hip Prostheses: Impact of Using Artifact-Reduced CT Images and MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elzibak, A; Loblaw, A; Morton, G; Vesprini, D; Liu, S; Chung, H; Davidson, M [Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To investigate the usefulness of metal artifact reduction in CT images of patients with bilateral hip prostheses (BHP) for contouring the prostate and determine if the inclusion of MR images provides additional benefits. Methods: Five patients with BHP were CT scanned using our clinical protocol (140kV, 300mAs, 3mm slices, 1.5mm increment, Philips Medical Systems, OH). Images were reconstructed with the orthopaedic metal artifact reduction (O-MAR) algorithm. MRI scanning was then performed (1.5T, GE Healthcare, WI) with a flat table-top (T{sub 2}-weighted, inherent body coil, FRFSE, 3mm slices with 0mm gap). All images were transferred to Pinnacle (Version 9.2, Philips Medical Systems). For each patient, two data sets were produced: one containing the O-MAR-corrected CT images and another containing fused MRI and O-MAR-corrected CT images. Four genito-urinary radiation oncologists contoured the prostate of each patient on the O-MAR-corrected CT data. Two weeks later, they contoured the prostate on the fused data set, blinded to all other contours. During each contouring session, the oncologists reported their confidence in the contours (1=very confident, 3=not confident) and the contouring difficulty that they experienced (1=really easy, 4=very challenging). Prostate volumes were computed from the contours and the conformity index was used to evaluate inter-observer variability. Results: Larger prostate volumes were found on the O-MAR-corrected CT set than on the fused set (p< 0.05, median=36.9cm{sup 3} vs. 26.63 cm{sup 3}). No significant differences were noted in the inter-observer variability between the two data sets (p=0.3). Contouring difficulty decreased with the addition of MRI (p<0.05) while the radiation oncologists reported more confidence in their contours when MRI was fused with the O-MAR-corrected CT data (p<0.05). Conclusion: This preliminary work demonstrated that, while O-MAR correction to CT images improves visualization of anatomy, the

Transient recycling of resected bone to facilitate mandibular reconstruction--a technical note.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jing-Wei; Tsai, Shin-Sheng; Kuo, Yao-Lung

2006-10-01

Mandibular reconstruction requires considerable sculptural skills. The intriguingly complex configuration of the structure is difficult to reproduce. It is thus imperative for surgeons to seek a technique that improves the precision of the reconstruction. A 55-year-old male presented with a full thickness cancer (T4+) of his left cheek. Radical ablative surgery resulted in an extensive loss of bone and soft tissue mandating major reconstruction. The resected bony specimen was thoroughly denuded, autoclaved, and then placed back into its original site so that the mandible resumed its pre-surgical configuration. A reconstruction plate was applied to maintain structural stability, then the "recycled bone" was used as a template and replaced with a free fibular graft. The patient fared well and a follow-up panoramic radiograph demonstrated good alignment and symmetry of the reconstructed mandible. This method is a viable option for segmental mandibulectomy defect repair in selected cases. Using this technique, it is possible to restore the original bony contour expediently and accurately.

Geometry reconstruction method for patient-specific finite element models for the assessment of tibia fracture risk in osteogenesis imperfecta.

Science.gov (United States)

Caouette, Christiane; Ikin, Nicole; Villemure, Isabelle; Arnoux, Pierre-Jean; Rauch, Frank; Aubin, Carl-Éric

2017-04-01

Lower limb deformation in children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) impairs ambulation and may lead to fracture. Corrective surgery is based on empirical assessment criteria. The objective was to develop a reconstruction method of the tibia for OI patients that could be used as input of a comprehensive finite element model to assess fracture risks. Data were obtained from three children with OI and tibia deformities. Four pQCT scans were registered to biplanar radiographs, and a template mesh was deformed to fit the bone outline. Cortical bone thickness was computed. Sensitivity of the model to missing slices of pQCT was assessed by calculating maximal von Mises stress for a vertical hopping load case. Sensitivity of the model to ±5 % of cortical thickness measurements was assessed by calculating loads at fracture. Difference between the mesh contour and bone outline on the radiographs was below 1 mm. Removal of one pQCT slice increased maximal von Mises stress by up to 10 %. Simulated ±5 % variation of cortical bone thickness leads to variations of up to 4.1 % on predicted fracture loads. Using clinically available tibia imaging from children with OI, the developed reconstruction method allowed the building of patient-specific finite element models.

The psychological impact of body contouring surgery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen Lorenzen, Mike; Poulsen, Lotte; Poulsen, Signe

2018-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Body contouring surgery is associated with changes in body image and identity. The primary aim of the study was to investigate a multidisciplinary assessment of potential psychological challenges before and after body contouring surgery. METHODS: Eight pre- and post-operative patients...... relevant codes had been extracted. RESULTS: A total of seven psychological themes were iden- tified, indicating that surgery alone cannot improve the pa- tients’ psychological difficulties and that psychological care and management of the expected discomfort and body im- age is of considerable importance...... in providing continuity of care. CONCLUSIONS: The reported quality of life is of consider- able importance to patients undergoing body contouring surgery after massive weight loss. Our findings may provide useful information for surgeons and healthcare profes- sionals allowing them to develop patient education...

Assessing the accuracy of ancestral protein reconstruction methods.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul D Williams

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The phylogenetic inference of ancestral protein sequences is a powerful technique for the study of molecular evolution, but any conclusions drawn from such studies are only as good as the accuracy of the reconstruction method. Every inference method leads to errors in the ancestral protein sequence, resulting in potentially misleading estimates of the ancestral protein's properties. To assess the accuracy of ancestral protein reconstruction methods, we performed computational population evolution simulations featuring near-neutral evolution under purifying selection, speciation, and divergence using an off-lattice protein model where fitness depends on the ability to be stable in a specified target structure. We were thus able to compare the thermodynamic properties of the true ancestral sequences with the properties of "ancestral sequences" inferred by maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods. Surprisingly, we found that methods such as maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood that reconstruct a "best guess" amino acid at each position overestimate thermostability, while a Bayesian method that sometimes chooses less-probable residues from the posterior probability distribution does not. Maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony apparently tend to eliminate variants at a position that are slightly detrimental to structural stability simply because such detrimental variants are less frequent. Other properties of ancestral proteins might be similarly overestimated. This suggests that ancestral reconstruction studies require greater care to come to credible conclusions regarding functional evolution. Inferred functional patterns that mimic reconstruction bias should be reevaluated.

Assessing the accuracy of ancestral protein reconstruction methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Paul D; Pollock, David D; Blackburne, Benjamin P; Goldstein, Richard A

2006-06-23

The phylogenetic inference of ancestral protein sequences is a powerful technique for the study of molecular evolution, but any conclusions drawn from such studies are only as good as the accuracy of the reconstruction method. Every inference method leads to errors in the ancestral protein sequence, resulting in potentially misleading estimates of the ancestral protein's properties. To assess the accuracy of ancestral protein reconstruction methods, we performed computational population evolution simulations featuring near-neutral evolution under purifying selection, speciation, and divergence using an off-lattice protein model where fitness depends on the ability to be stable in a specified target structure. We were thus able to compare the thermodynamic properties of the true ancestral sequences with the properties of "ancestral sequences" inferred by maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods. Surprisingly, we found that methods such as maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood that reconstruct a "best guess" amino acid at each position overestimate thermostability, while a Bayesian method that sometimes chooses less-probable residues from the posterior probability distribution does not. Maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony apparently tend to eliminate variants at a position that are slightly detrimental to structural stability simply because such detrimental variants are less frequent. Other properties of ancestral proteins might be similarly overestimated. This suggests that ancestral reconstruction studies require greater care to come to credible conclusions regarding functional evolution. Inferred functional patterns that mimic reconstruction bias should be reevaluated.

Development of automatic extraction method of left ventricular contours on long axis view MR cine images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Utsunomiya, Shinichi; Iijima, Naoto; Yamasaki, Kazunari; Fujita, Akinori

1995-01-01

In the MRI cardiac function analysis, left ventricular volume curves and diagnosis parameters are obtained by extracting the left ventricular cavities as regions of interest (ROI) from long axis view MR cine images. The ROI extractions had to be done by manual operations, because automatization of the extraction is difficult. A long axis view left ventricular contour consists of a cardiac wall part and an aortic valve part. The above mentioned difficulty is due to the decline of contrast on the cardiac wall part, and the disappearance of edge on the aortic valve part. In this paper, we report a new automatic extraction method for long axis view MR cine images, which needs only 3 manually indicated points on the 1st image to extract all the contours from the total sequence of images. At first, candidate points of a contour are detected by edge detection. Then, selecting the best matched combination of candidate points by Dynamic Programming, the cardiac wall part is automatically extracted. The aortic valve part is manually extracted for the 1st image by indicating both the end points, and is automatically extracted for the rest of the images, by utilizing the aortic valve motion characteristics throughout a cardiac cycle. (author)

High Resolution Elevation Contours

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — This dataset contains contours generated from high resolution data sources such as LiDAR. Generally speaking this data is 2 foot or less contour interval.

NSCT BASED LOCAL ENHANCEMENT FOR ACTIVE CONTOUR BASED IMAGE SEGMENTATION APPLICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiren Mewada

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Because of cross-disciplinary nature, Active Contour modeling techniques have been utilized extensively for the image segmentation. In traditional active contour based segmentation techniques based on level set methods, the energy functions are defined based on the intensity gradient. This makes them highly sensitive to the situation where the underlying image content is characterized by image nonhomogeneities due to illumination and contrast condition. This is the most difficult problem to make them as fully automatic image segmentation techniques. This paper introduces one of the approaches based on image enhancement to this problem. The enhanced image is obtained using NonSubsampled Contourlet Transform, which improves the edges strengths in the direction where the illumination is not proper and then active contour model based on level set technique is utilized to segment the object. Experiment results demonstrate that proposed method can be utilized along with existing active contour model based segmentation method under situation characterized by intensity non-homogeneity to make them fully automatic.

Contouring algorithm for two dimensional data- an application to airborne surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suryakumar, N.V.; Rohatgi, Savita; Raghuwanshi, S.S.

1994-01-01

The paper describes in general the contouring algorithm for two dimensional projection of aeroradiometric data and considers not only irregularly spaced flight lines but also solves the other problems related to voluminous data acquired during the airborne surveys. Several simple logics have been described for drawing the contours using scan method and taking care of annotations, identification marking, geographical locations, map size, contour density for visual distinctness and many such problems which may arise during contouring. The present paper also discusses various possibilities of contour line segments in the mini-grid and the criterion for selection of suitable segments has been described in detail. A novel approach to avoid the crossing of contours or missing data is also briefly discussed. The simplicity of the algorithm is mentioned for its ready implementation or any computer/plotter. (author). 8 refs., 8 figs

Tagged Vector Contour (TVC)

Data.gov (United States)

Kansas Data Access and Support Center — The Kansas Tagged Vector Contour (TVC) dataset consists of digitized contours from the 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle maps. Coverage for the state is incomplete....

AIR Tools - A MATLAB package of algebraic iterative reconstruction methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Per Christian; Saxild-Hansen, Maria

2012-01-01

We present a MATLAB package with implementations of several algebraic iterative reconstruction methods for discretizations of inverse problems. These so-called row action methods rely on semi-convergence for achieving the necessary regularization of the problem. Two classes of methods are impleme......We present a MATLAB package with implementations of several algebraic iterative reconstruction methods for discretizations of inverse problems. These so-called row action methods rely on semi-convergence for achieving the necessary regularization of the problem. Two classes of methods...... are implemented: Algebraic Reconstruction Techniques (ART) and Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Techniques (SIRT). In addition we provide a few simplified test problems from medical and seismic tomography. For each iterative method, a number of strategies are available for choosing the relaxation parameter...

Research of ART method in CT image reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zhipeng; Cong Peng; Wu Haifeng

2005-01-01

This paper studied Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (ART) in CT image reconstruction. Discussed the ray number influence on image quality. And the adopting of smooth method got high quality CT image. (authors)

Prostate Contouring Variation: Can It Be Fixed?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khoo, Eric L.H.; Schick, Karlissa; Plank, Ashley W.; Poulsen, Michael; Wong, Winnie W.G.; Middleton, Mark; Martin, Jarad M.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To assess whether an education program on CT and MRI prostate anatomy would reduce inter- and intraobserver prostate contouring variation among experienced radiation oncologists. Methods and Materials: Three patient CT and MRI datasets were selected. Five radiation oncologists contoured the prostate for each patient on CT first, then MRI, and again between 2 and 4 weeks later. Three education sessions were then conducted. The same contouring process was then repeated with the same datasets and oncologists. The observer variation was assessed according to changes in the ratio of the encompassing volume to intersecting volume (volume ratio [VR]), across sets of target volumes. Results: For interobserver variation, there was a 15% reduction in mean VR with CT, from 2.74 to 2.33, and a 40% reduction in mean VR with MRI, from 2.38 to 1.41 after education. A similar trend was found for intraobserver variation, with a mean VR reduction for CT and MRI of 9% (from 1.51 to 1.38) and 16% (from 1.37 to 1.15), respectively. Conclusion: A well-structured education program has reduced both inter- and intraobserver prostate contouring variations. The impact was greater on MRI than on CT. With the ongoing incorporation of new technologies into routine practice, education programs for target contouring should be incorporated as part of the continuing medical education of radiation oncologists.

Assessing the Accuracy of Ancestral Protein Reconstruction Methods

OpenAIRE

Williams, Paul D; Pollock, David D; Blackburne, Benjamin P; Goldstein, Richard A

2006-01-01

The phylogenetic inference of ancestral protein sequences is a powerful technique for the study of molecular evolution, but any conclusions drawn from such studies are only as good as the accuracy of the reconstruction method. Every inference method leads to errors in the ancestral protein sequence, resulting in potentially misleading estimates of the ancestral protein's properties. To assess the accuracy of ancestral protein reconstruction methods, we performed computational population evolu...

Comparison of four surgical methods for eyebrow reconstruction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omranifard Mahmood

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The eyebrow plays an important role in facial harmony and eye protection. Eyebrows can be injured by burn, trauma, tumour, tattooing and alopecia. Eyebrow reconstructions have been done via several techniques. Here, our experience with a fairly new method for eyebrow reconstruction is presented. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical study which was done on 76 patients at the Al-Zahra and Imam Mousa Kazem hospitals at Isfahan University of Medical University, Isfahan, Iran, from 1994 to 2004. Totally 86 eyebrows were reconstructed. All patients were examined before and after the operation. Methods which are commonly applied in eyebrow reconstruction are as follows: 1. Superficial Temporal Artery Flap (Island, 2. Interpolitation Scalp Flap, 3. Graft. Our method which is named Forehead Facial Island Flap with inferior pedicle provides an easier approach for the surgeon and more ideal hair growth direction for the patient. Results: Significantly lower rates of complication along with greater patient satisfaction were obtained with Forehead Facial Island Flap. Conclusions: According to the acquired results, this method seems to be more technically practical and aesthetically favourable when compared to others.

Ocean Sediment Thickness Contours

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Ocean sediment thickness contours in 200 meter intervals for water depths ranging from 0 - 18,000 meters. These contours were derived from a global sediment...

Gait Recognition Based on Outermost Contour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lili Liu

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Gait recognition aims to identify people by the way they walk. In this paper, a simple but e ective gait recognition method based on Outermost Contour is proposed. For each gait image sequence, an adaptive silhouette extraction algorithm is firstly used to segment the frames of the sequence and a series of postprocessing is applied to obtain the normalized silhouette images with less noise. Then a novel feature extraction method based on Outermost Contour is performed. Principal Component Analysis (PCA is adopted to reduce the dimensionality of the distance signals derived from the Outermost Contours of silhouette images. Then Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA is used to optimize the separability of gait features belonging to di erent classes. Nearest Neighbor (NN classifier and Nearest Neighbor classifier with respect to class Exemplars (ENN are used to classify the final feature vectors produced by MDA. In order to verify the e ectiveness and robustness of our feature extraction algorithm, we also use two other classifiers: Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN and Support Vector Machine (SVM for recognition. Experimental results on a gait database of 100 people show that the accuracy of using MDA, BPNN and SVM can achieve 97.67%, 94.33% and 94.67%, respectively.

Automatic liver contouring for radiotherapy treatment planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Dengwang; Kapp, Daniel S; Xing, Lei; Liu, Li

2015-01-01

To develop automatic and efficient liver contouring software for planning 3D-CT and four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) for application in clinical radiation therapy treatment planning systems.The algorithm comprises three steps for overcoming the challenge of similar intensities between the liver region and its surrounding tissues. First, the total variation model with the L1 norm (TV-L1), which has the characteristic of multi-scale decomposition and an edge-preserving property, is used for removing the surrounding muscles and tissues. Second, an improved level set model that contains both global and local energy functions is utilized to extract liver contour information sequentially. In the global energy function, the local correlation coefficient (LCC) is constructed based on the gray level co-occurrence matrix both of the initial liver region and the background region. The LCC can calculate the correlation of a pixel with the foreground and background regions, respectively. The LCC is combined with intensity distribution models to classify pixels during the evolutionary process of the level set based method. The obtained liver contour is used as the candidate liver region for the following step. In the third step, voxel-based texture characterization is employed for refining the liver region and obtaining the final liver contours.The proposed method was validated based on the planning CT images of a group of 25 patients undergoing radiation therapy treatment planning. These included ten lung cancer patients with normal appearing livers and ten patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or liver metastases. The method was also tested on abdominal 4D-CT images of a group of five patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or liver metastases. The false positive volume percentage, the false negative volume percentage, and the dice similarity coefficient between liver contours obtained by a developed algorithm and a current standard delineated by the expert group

Identifying ambiguous prostate gland contours from histology using capsule shape information and least squares curve fitting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hussein, Rania [DigiPen Institute of Technology, Department of Computer Engineering, Redmond, WA (United States); McKenzie, Frederic D. [Old Dominion University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Norfolk, VA (United States)

2007-12-15

To obtain an accurate assessment of the percentage and depth of extra-capsular soft tissue removed with the prostate by the various surgical techniques in order to help surgeons in determining the appropriateness of different surgical approaches. This can be enhanced by an accurate and automated means of identifying the prostate gland contour. To facilitate 3D reconstruction and, ultimately, more accurate analyses, it is essential for us to identify the capsule boundary that separates the prostate gland tissue from its extra-capsular tissue. However, the capsule is sometimes unrecognizable due to the naturally occurring intrusion of muscle and connective tissue into the prostate gland. At these regions where the capsule disappears, its contour can be arbitrarily created with a continuing contour line based on the natural shape of the prostate. We utilize an algorithm based on a least squares curve fitting technique that uses a prostate shape equation to merge previously detected capsule parts with the shape equation to produce an approximated curve that represents the prostate capsule. We have tested our algorithm using three different shapes on 13 histologic prostate slices that are cut at different locations from the apex. The best result shows a 90% average contour match when compared to pathologist-drawn contours. We believe that automatically identifying histologic prostate contours will lead to increased objective analyses of surgical margins and extracapsular spread of cancer. Our results show that this is achievable. (orig.)

Identifying ambiguous prostate gland contours from histology using capsule shape information and least squares curve fitting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussein, Rania; McKenzie, Frederic D.

2007-01-01

To obtain an accurate assessment of the percentage and depth of extra-capsular soft tissue removed with the prostate by the various surgical techniques in order to help surgeons in determining the appropriateness of different surgical approaches. This can be enhanced by an accurate and automated means of identifying the prostate gland contour. To facilitate 3D reconstruction and, ultimately, more accurate analyses, it is essential for us to identify the capsule boundary that separates the prostate gland tissue from its extra-capsular tissue. However, the capsule is sometimes unrecognizable due to the naturally occurring intrusion of muscle and connective tissue into the prostate gland. At these regions where the capsule disappears, its contour can be arbitrarily created with a continuing contour line based on the natural shape of the prostate. We utilize an algorithm based on a least squares curve fitting technique that uses a prostate shape equation to merge previously detected capsule parts with the shape equation to produce an approximated curve that represents the prostate capsule. We have tested our algorithm using three different shapes on 13 histologic prostate slices that are cut at different locations from the apex. The best result shows a 90% average contour match when compared to pathologist-drawn contours. We believe that automatically identifying histologic prostate contours will lead to increased objective analyses of surgical margins and extracapsular spread of cancer. Our results show that this is achievable. (orig.)

[Development and current situation of reconstruction methods following total sacrectomy].

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Siyi; Ji, Tao; Guo, Wei

2018-05-01

To review the development of the reconstruction methods following total sacrectomy, and to provide reference for finding a better reconstruction method following total sacrectomy. The case reports and biomechanical and finite element studies of reconstruction following total sacrectomy at home and abroad were searched. Development and current situation were summarized. After developing for nearly 30 years, great progress has been made in the reconstruction concept and fixation techniques. The fixation methods can be summarized as the following three strategies: spinopelvic fixation (SPF), posterior pelvic ring fixation (PPRF), and anterior spinal column fixation (ASCF). SPF has undergone technical progress from intrapelvic rod and hook constructs to pedicle and iliac screw-rod systems. PPRF and ASCF could improve the stability of the reconstruction system. Reconstruction following total sacrectomy remains a challenge. Reconstruction combining SPF, PPRF, and ASCF is the developmental direction to achieve mechanical stability. How to gain biological fixation to improve the long-term stability is an urgent problem to be solved.

Application of Ground-Penetrating Radar for Detecting Internal Anomalies in Tree Trunks with Irregular Contours.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weilin; Wen, Jian; Xiao, Zhongliang; Xu, Shengxia

2018-02-22

To assess the health conditions of tree trunks, it is necessary to estimate the layers and anomalies of their internal structure. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the internal part of tree trunks considering their irregular contour. In this respect, we used ground penetrating radar (GPR) for non-invasive detection of defects and deteriorations in living trees trunks. The Hilbert transform algorithm and the reflection amplitudes were used to estimate the relative dielectric constant. The point cloud data technique was applied as well to extract the irregular contours of trunks. The feasibility and accuracy of the methods were examined through numerical simulations, laboratory and field measurements. The results demonstrated that the applied methodology allowed for accurate characterizations of the internal inhomogeneity. Furthermore, the point cloud technique resolved the trunk well by providing high-precision coordinate information. This study also demonstrated that cross-section tomography provided images with high resolution and accuracy. These integrated techniques thus proved to be promising for observing tree trunks and other cylindrical objects. The applied approaches offer a great promise for future 3D reconstruction of tomographic images with radar wave.

Automated consensus contour building for prostate MRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Khalvati, Farzad

2014-01-01

Inter-observer variability is the lack of agreement among clinicians in contouring a given organ or tumour in a medical image. The variability in medical image contouring is a source of uncertainty in radiation treatment planning. Consensus contour of a given case, which was proposed to reduce the variability, is generated by combining the manually generated contours of several clinicians. However, having access to several clinicians (e.g., radiation oncologists) to generate a consensus contour for one patient is costly. This paper presents an algorithm that automatically generates a consensus contour for a given case using the atlases of different clinicians. The algorithm was applied to prostate MR images of 15 patients manually contoured by 5 clinicians. The automatic consensus contours were compared to manual consensus contours where a median Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 88% was achieved.

SU-C-BRB-05: Determining the Adequacy of Auto-Contouring Via Probabilistic Assessment of Ensuing Treatment Plan Metrics in Comparison with Manual Contours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nourzadeh, H; Watkins, W; Siebers, J; Ahmad, M

2016-01-01

Purpose: To determine if auto-contour and manual-contour—based plans differ when evaluated with respect to probabilistic coverage metrics and biological model endpoints for prostate IMRT. Methods: Manual and auto-contours were created for 149 CT image sets acquired from 16 unique prostate patients. A single physician manually contoured all images. Auto-contouring was completed utilizing Pinnacle’s Smart Probabilistic Image Contouring Engine (SPICE). For each CT, three different 78 Gy/39 fraction 7-beam IMRT plans are created; PD with drawn ROIs, PAS with auto-contoured ROIs, and PM with auto-contoured OARs with the manually drawn target. For each plan, 1000 virtual treatment simulations with different sampled systematic errors for each simulation and a different sampled random error for each fraction were performed using our in-house GPU-accelerated robustness analyzer tool which reports the statistical probability of achieving dose-volume metrics, NTCP, TCP, and the probability of achieving the optimization criteria for both auto-contoured (AS) and manually drawn (D) ROIs. Metrics are reported for all possible cross-evaluation pairs of ROI types (AS,D) and planning scenarios (PD,PAS,PM). Bhattacharyya coefficient (BC) is calculated to measure the PDF similarities for the dose-volume metric, NTCP, TCP, and objectives with respect to the manually drawn contour evaluated on base plan (D-PD). Results: We observe high BC values (BC≥0.94) for all OAR objectives. BC values of max dose objective on CTV also signify high resemblance (BC≥0.93) between the distributions. On the other hand, BC values for CTV’s D95 and Dmin objectives are small for AS-PM, AS-PD. NTCP distributions are similar across all evaluation pairs, while TCP distributions of AS-PM, AS-PD sustain variations up to %6 compared to other evaluated pairs. Conclusion: No significant probabilistic differences are observed in the metrics when auto-contoured OARs are used. The prostate auto-contour needs

SU-C-BRB-05: Determining the Adequacy of Auto-Contouring Via Probabilistic Assessment of Ensuing Treatment Plan Metrics in Comparison with Manual Contours

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nourzadeh, H; Watkins, W; Siebers, J; Ahmad, M [University of Virginia Health Systems, Charlottesville, VA (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To determine if auto-contour and manual-contour—based plans differ when evaluated with respect to probabilistic coverage metrics and biological model endpoints for prostate IMRT. Methods: Manual and auto-contours were created for 149 CT image sets acquired from 16 unique prostate patients. A single physician manually contoured all images. Auto-contouring was completed utilizing Pinnacle’s Smart Probabilistic Image Contouring Engine (SPICE). For each CT, three different 78 Gy/39 fraction 7-beam IMRT plans are created; PD with drawn ROIs, PAS with auto-contoured ROIs, and PM with auto-contoured OARs with the manually drawn target. For each plan, 1000 virtual treatment simulations with different sampled systematic errors for each simulation and a different sampled random error for each fraction were performed using our in-house GPU-accelerated robustness analyzer tool which reports the statistical probability of achieving dose-volume metrics, NTCP, TCP, and the probability of achieving the optimization criteria for both auto-contoured (AS) and manually drawn (D) ROIs. Metrics are reported for all possible cross-evaluation pairs of ROI types (AS,D) and planning scenarios (PD,PAS,PM). Bhattacharyya coefficient (BC) is calculated to measure the PDF similarities for the dose-volume metric, NTCP, TCP, and objectives with respect to the manually drawn contour evaluated on base plan (D-PD). Results: We observe high BC values (BC≥0.94) for all OAR objectives. BC values of max dose objective on CTV also signify high resemblance (BC≥0.93) between the distributions. On the other hand, BC values for CTV’s D95 and Dmin objectives are small for AS-PM, AS-PD. NTCP distributions are similar across all evaluation pairs, while TCP distributions of AS-PM, AS-PD sustain variations up to %6 compared to other evaluated pairs. Conclusion: No significant probabilistic differences are observed in the metrics when auto-contoured OARs are used. The prostate auto-contour needs

Automatic Construction by Contour Crafting Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Reza Khorramshahi

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Contour Crafting is a novel technology in construction industry based on 3D printing that uses robotics to construct free form building structures by repeatedly laying down layers of material such as concrete. It is actually an approach to scale up automatic fabrication from building small industrial parts to constructing buildings. However, there are little information about contour crafting (CC in current use; present paper aims to describe the operational steps of creating a whole building by the machine reviewing relevant literature. Furthermore, it will represent the advantages of CC usage compared to traditional construction methods, as well as its applicability in construction industry.

Rapid Automated Target Segmentation and Tracking on 4D Data without Initial Contours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chebrolu, V.V.; Chebrolu, V.V.; Saenz, D.; Tewatia, D.; Paliwal, B.R.; Chebrolu, V.V.; Saenz, D.; Paliwal, B.R.; Sethares, W.A.; Cannon, G.

2014-01-01

To achieve rapid automated delineation of gross target volume (GTV) and to quantify changes in volume/position of the target for radiotherapy planning using four-dimensional (4D) CT. Methods and Materials. Novel morphological processing and successive localization (MPSL) algorithms were designed and implemented for achieving auto segmentation. Contours automatically generated using MPSL method were compared with contours generated using state-of-the-art deformable registration methods (using Elastix © and MIMV ista software). Metrics such as the Dice similarity coefficient, sensitivity, and positive predictive value (PPV) were analyzed. The target motion tracked using the centroid of the GTV estimated using MPSL method was compared with motion tracked using deformable registration methods. Results. MPSL algorithm segmented the GTV in 4DCT images in 27.0 ±11.1 seconds per phase ( 512 ×512 resolution) as compared to 142.3±11.3 seconds per phase for deformable registration based methods in 9 cases. Dice coefficients between MPSL generated GTV contours and manual contours (considered as ground-truth) were 0.865 ± 0.037. In comparison, the Dice coefficients between ground-truth and contours generated using deformable registration based methods were 0.909 ± 0.051. Conclusions. The MPSL method achieved similar segmentation accuracy as compared to state-of-the-art deformable registration based segmentation methods, but with significant reduction in time required for GTV segmentation.

Rapid Automated Target Segmentation and Tracking on 4D Data without Initial Contours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Venkata V. Chebrolu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To achieve rapid automated delineation of gross target volume (GTV and to quantify changes in volume/position of the target for radiotherapy planning using four-dimensional (4D CT. Methods and Materials. Novel morphological processing and successive localization (MPSL algorithms were designed and implemented for achieving autosegmentation. Contours automatically generated using MPSL method were compared with contours generated using state-of-the-art deformable registration methods (using Elastix© and MIMVista software. Metrics such as the Dice similarity coefficient, sensitivity, and positive predictive value (PPV were analyzed. The target motion tracked using the centroid of the GTV estimated using MPSL method was compared with motion tracked using deformable registration methods. Results. MPSL algorithm segmented the GTV in 4DCT images in 27.0±11.1 seconds per phase (512×512 resolution as compared to 142.3±11.3 seconds per phase for deformable registration based methods in 9 cases. Dice coefficients between MPSL generated GTV contours and manual contours (considered as ground-truth were 0.865±0.037. In comparison, the Dice coefficients between ground-truth and contours generated using deformable registration based methods were 0.909 ± 0.051. Conclusions. The MPSL method achieved similar segmentation accuracy as compared to state-of-the-art deformable registration based segmentation methods, but with significant reduction in time required for GTV segmentation.

Rapid Automated Target Segmentation and Tracking on 4D Data without Initial Contours.

Science.gov (United States)

Chebrolu, Venkata V; Saenz, Daniel; Tewatia, Dinesh; Sethares, William A; Cannon, George; Paliwal, Bhudatt R

2014-01-01

Purpose. To achieve rapid automated delineation of gross target volume (GTV) and to quantify changes in volume/position of the target for radiotherapy planning using four-dimensional (4D) CT. Methods and Materials. Novel morphological processing and successive localization (MPSL) algorithms were designed and implemented for achieving autosegmentation. Contours automatically generated using MPSL method were compared with contours generated using state-of-the-art deformable registration methods (using Elastix© and MIMVista software). Metrics such as the Dice similarity coefficient, sensitivity, and positive predictive value (PPV) were analyzed. The target motion tracked using the centroid of the GTV estimated using MPSL method was compared with motion tracked using deformable registration methods. Results. MPSL algorithm segmented the GTV in 4DCT images in 27.0 ± 11.1 seconds per phase (512 × 512 resolution) as compared to 142.3 ± 11.3 seconds per phase for deformable registration based methods in 9 cases. Dice coefficients between MPSL generated GTV contours and manual contours (considered as ground-truth) were 0.865 ± 0.037. In comparison, the Dice coefficients between ground-truth and contours generated using deformable registration based methods were 0.909 ± 0.051. Conclusions. The MPSL method achieved similar segmentation accuracy as compared to state-of-the-art deformable registration based segmentation methods, but with significant reduction in time required for GTV segmentation.

Combining prior day contours to improve automated prostate segmentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Godley, Andrew; Sheplan Olsen, Lawrence J.; Stephans, Kevin; Zhao Anzi

2013-01-01

Purpose: To improve the accuracy of automatically segmented prostate, rectum, and bladder contours required for online adaptive therapy. The contouring accuracy on the current image guidance [image guided radiation therapy (IGRT)] scan is improved by combining contours from earlier IGRT scans via the simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE) algorithm. Methods: Six IGRT prostate patients treated with daily kilo-voltage (kV) cone-beam CT (CBCT) had their original plan CT and nine CBCTs contoured by the same physician. Three types of automated contours were produced for analysis. (1) Plan: By deformably registering the plan CT to each CBCT and then using the resulting deformation field to morph the plan contours to match the CBCT anatomy. (2) Previous: The contour set drawn by the physician on the previous day CBCT is similarly deformed to match the current CBCT anatomy. (3) STAPLE: The contours drawn by the physician, on each prior CBCT and the plan CT, are deformed to match the CBCT anatomy to produce multiple contour sets. These sets are combined using the STAPLE algorithm into one optimal set. Results: Compared to plan and previous, STAPLE improved the average Dice's coefficient (DC) with the original physician drawn CBCT contours to a DC as follows: Bladder: 0.81 ± 0.13, 0.91 ± 0.06, and 0.92 ± 0.06; Prostate: 0.75 ± 0.08, 0.82 ± 0.05, and 0.84 ± 0.05; and Rectum: 0.79 ± 0.06, 0.81 ± 0.06, and 0.85 ± 0.04, respectively. The STAPLE results are within intraobserver consistency, determined by the physician blindly recontouring a subset of CBCTs. Comparing plans recalculated using the physician and STAPLE contours showed an average disagreement less than 1% for prostate D98 and mean dose, and 5% and 3% for bladder and rectum mean dose, respectively. One scan takes an average of 19 s to contour. Using five scans plus STAPLE takes less than 110 s on a 288 core graphics processor unit. Conclusions: Combining the plan and all prior days via

Matrix-based image reconstruction methods for tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Llacer, J.; Meng, J.D.

1984-10-01

Matrix methods of image reconstruction have not been used, in general, because of the large size of practical matrices, ill condition upon inversion and the success of Fourier-based techniques. An exception is the work that has been done at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory for imaging with accelerated radioactive ions. An extension of that work into more general imaging problems shows that, with a correct formulation of the problem, positron tomography with ring geometries results in well behaved matrices which can be used for image reconstruction with no distortion of the point response in the field of view and flexibility in the design of the instrument. Maximum Likelihood Estimator methods of reconstruction, which use the system matrices tailored to specific instruments and do not need matrix inversion, are shown to result in good preliminary images. A parallel processing computer structure based on multiple inexpensive microprocessors is proposed as a system to implement the matrix-MLE methods. 14 references, 7 figures

Study of on-machine error identification and compensation methods for micro machine tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Shih-Ming; Yu, Han-Jen; Lee, Chun-Yi; Chiu, Hung-Sheng

2016-01-01

Micro machining plays an important role in the manufacturing of miniature products which are made of various materials with complex 3D shapes and tight machining tolerance. To further improve the accuracy of a micro machining process without increasing the manufacturing cost of a micro machine tool, an effective machining error measurement method and a software-based compensation method are essential. To avoid introducing additional errors caused by the re-installment of the workpiece, the measurement and compensation method should be on-machine conducted. In addition, because the contour of a miniature workpiece machined with a micro machining process is very tiny, the measurement method should be non-contact. By integrating the image re-constructive method, camera pixel correction, coordinate transformation, the error identification algorithm, and trajectory auto-correction method, a vision-based error measurement and compensation method that can on-machine inspect the micro machining errors and automatically generate an error-corrected numerical control (NC) program for error compensation was developed in this study. With the use of the Canny edge detection algorithm and camera pixel calibration, the edges of the contour of a machined workpiece were identified and used to re-construct the actual contour of the work piece. The actual contour was then mapped to the theoretical contour to identify the actual cutting points and compute the machining errors. With the use of a moving matching window and calculation of the similarity between the actual and theoretical contour, the errors between the actual cutting points and theoretical cutting points were calculated and used to correct the NC program. With the use of the error-corrected NC program, the accuracy of a micro machining process can be effectively improved. To prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods, micro-milling experiments on a micro machine tool were conducted, and the results

Quality of life long-term after body contouring surgery following bariatric surgery: sustained improvement after 7 years.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Beek, Eva S J; Geenen, Rinie; de Heer, Francine A G; van der Molen, Aebele B Mink; van Ramshorst, Bert

2012-11-01

Bariatric surgery for morbid obesity results in massive weight loss and improvement of health and quality of life. A downside of the major weight loss is the excess of overstretched skin, which may influence the patient's quality of life by causing functional and aesthetic problems. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the patient's quality of life long-term after body contouring following bariatric surgery. Quality of life was measured with the Obesity Psychosocial State Questionnaire in 33 post-bariatric surgery patients 7.2 years (range, 3.2 to 13.3 years) after body contouring surgery. Data were compared with previous assessments 4.1 years (range, 0.7 to 9.2 years) after body contouring surgery of the quality of life at that time and before body contouring surgery. Compared with appraisals of quality of life before body contouring surgery, a significant, mostly moderate to large, sustained improvement of quality of life was observed in post-bariatric surgery patients 7.2 years after body contouring surgery in six of the seven psychosocial domains. A small deterioration occurred between 4.1- and 7.2-year follow-up on two of the seven domains except for the domain efficacy toward eating, which showed a significant improvement. At 7-year follow-up, 18 patients (55 percent) were satisfied with the result of body contouring surgery. This study indicates a sustained quality-of-life improvement in post-bariatric surgery patients after body contouring surgery. This suggests the importance of including reconstructive surgery as a component in the multidisciplinary approach in the surgical treatment of morbid obesity. Therapeutic, IV.

Pitch contour impairment in congenital amusia: New insights from the Self-paced Audio-visual Contour Task (SACT).

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Xuejing; Sun, Yanan; Ho, Hao Tam; Thompson, William Forde

2017-01-01

Individuals with congenital amusia usually exhibit impairments in melodic contour processing when asked to compare pairs of melodies that may or may not be identical to one another. However, it is unclear whether the impairment observed in contour processing is caused by an impairment of pitch discrimination, or is a consequence of poor pitch memory. To help resolve this ambiguity, we designed a novel Self-paced Audio-visual Contour Task (SACT) that evaluates sensitivity to contour while placing minimal burden on memory. In this task, participants control the pace of an auditory contour that is simultaneously accompanied by a visual contour, and they are asked to judge whether the two contours are congruent or incongruent. In Experiment 1, melodic contours varying in pitch were presented with a series of dots that varied in spatial height. Amusics exhibited reduced sensitivity to audio-visual congruency in comparison to control participants. To exclude the possibility that the impairment arises from a general deficit in cross-modal mapping, Experiment 2 examined sensitivity to cross-modal mapping for two other auditory dimensions: timbral brightness and loudness. Amusics and controls were significantly more sensitive to large than small contour changes, and to changes in loudness than changes in timbre. However, there were no group differences in cross-modal mapping, suggesting that individuals with congenital amusia can comprehend spatial representations of acoustic information. Taken together, the findings indicate that pitch contour processing in congenital amusia remains impaired even when pitch memory is relatively unburdened.

A Comparative Evaluation of 3 Different Free-Form Deformable Image Registration and Contour Propagation Methods for Head and Neck MRI: The Case of Parotid Changes During Radiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Broggi, Sara; Scalco, Elisa; Belli, Maria Luisa; Logghe, Gerlinde; Verellen, Dirk; Moriconi, Stefano; Chiara, Anna; Palmisano, Anna; Mellone, Renata; Fiorino, Claudio; Rizzo, Giovanna

2017-06-01

To validate and compare the deformable image registration and parotid contour propagation process for head and neck magnetic resonance imaging in patients treated with radiotherapy using 3 different approaches-the commercial MIM, the open-source Elastix software, and an optimized version of it. Twelve patients with head and neck cancer previously treated with radiotherapy were considered. Deformable image registration and parotid contour propagation were evaluated by considering the magnetic resonance images acquired before and after the end of the treatment. Deformable image registration, based on free-form deformation method, and contour propagation available on MIM were compared to Elastix. Two different contour propagation approaches were implemented for Elastix software, a conventional one (DIR_Trx) and an optimized homemade version, based on mesh deformation (DIR_Mesh). The accuracy of these 3 approaches was estimated by comparing propagated to manual contours in terms of average symmetric distance, maximum symmetric distance, Dice similarity coefficient, sensitivity, and inclusiveness. A good agreement was generally found between the manual contours and the propagated ones, without differences among the 3 methods; in few critical cases with complex deformations, DIR_Mesh proved to be more accurate, having the lowest values of average symmetric distance and maximum symmetric distance and the highest value of Dice similarity coefficient, although nonsignificant. The average propagation errors with respect to the reference contours are lower than the voxel diagonal (2 mm), and Dice similarity coefficient is around 0.8 for all 3 methods. The 3 free-form deformation approaches were not significantly different in terms of deformable image registration accuracy and can be safely adopted for the registration and parotid contour propagation during radiotherapy on magnetic resonance imaging. More optimized approaches (as DIR_Mesh) could be preferable for critical

From Inpainting to Active Contours

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauze, Francois Bernard; Nielsen, Mads

2008-01-01

state equation). The contour evolution is implemented in the framework of level sets. Finally, the proposed method is validated on various examples. We focus among others in the segmentation of calcified plaques observed in radiographs from human lumbar aortic regions. Keywords  Segmentation - Inpainting - Active...

Reconstruction of the Cranial Vault Contour Using Tissue Expander and Castor Oil Prosthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

de Moraes, Sylvio Luiz Costa; Afonso, Alexandre Maurity de Paula; Santos, Roberto Gomes Dos; Mattos, Ricardo Pereira; Duarte, E Bruno Gomes

2017-09-01

Nowadays the reconstruction of craniofacial defects can be performed with different kinds of materials, which include the bone and the so-called biomaterials, which have the advantage of not needing a surgical site donor. Among these materials, great attention is given to polymers. In this large group, current attention is focused on the castor oil polymer, since this polymer is biocompatible, low cost, and has adequate strength for reconstruction of the craniomaxillofacial complex. This study aims to report the use of a prosthetic castor oil polymer for reconstruction of extensive defect, caused by a trauma, in the temporoparietal region.

Quartet-based methods to reconstruct phylogenetic networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jialiang; Grünewald, Stefan; Xu, Yifei; Wan, Xiu-Feng

2014-02-20

Phylogenetic networks are employed to visualize evolutionary relationships among a group of nucleotide sequences, genes or species when reticulate events like hybridization, recombination, reassortant and horizontal gene transfer are believed to be involved. In comparison to traditional distance-based methods, quartet-based methods consider more information in the reconstruction process and thus have the potential to be more accurate. We introduce QuartetSuite, which includes a set of new quartet-based methods, namely QuartetS, QuartetA, and QuartetM, to reconstruct phylogenetic networks from nucleotide sequences. We tested their performances and compared them with other popular methods on two simulated nucleotide sequence data sets: one generated from a tree topology and the other from a complicated evolutionary history containing three reticulate events. We further validated these methods to two real data sets: a bacterial data set consisting of seven concatenated genes of 36 bacterial species and an influenza data set related to recently emerging H7N9 low pathogenic avian influenza viruses in China. QuartetS, QuartetA, and QuartetM have the potential to accurately reconstruct evolutionary scenarios from simple branching trees to complicated networks containing many reticulate events. These methods could provide insights into the understanding of complicated biological evolutionary processes such as bacterial taxonomy and reassortant of influenza viruses.

Contribution to the tracking and the 3D reconstruction of scenes composed of torus from image sequences a acquired by a moving camera; Contribution au suivi et a la reconstruction de scenes constituees d`objet toriques a partir de sequences d`images acquises par une camera mobile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naudet, S

1997-01-31

The three-dimensional perception of the environment is often necessary for a robot to correctly perform its tasks. One solution, based on the dynamic vision, consists in analysing time-varying monocular images to estimate the spatial geometry of the scene. This thesis deals with the reconstruction of torus by dynamic vision. Though this object class is restrictive, it enables to tackle the problem of reconstruction of bent pipes usually encountered in industrial environments. The proposed method is based on the evolution of apparent contours of objects in the sequence. Using the expression of torus limb boundaries, it is possible to recursively estimate the object three-dimensional parameters by minimising the error between the predicted projected contours and the image contours. This process, which is performed by a Kalman filter, does not need a precise knowledge of the camera displacement or any matching of the tow limbs belonging to the same object. To complete this work, temporal tracking of objects which deals with occlusion situations is proposed. The approach consists in modeling and interpreting the apparent motion of objects in the successive images. The motion interpretation, based on a simplified representation of the scene, allows to recover pertinent three-dimensional information which is used to manage occlusion situations. Experiments, on synthetic and real images, proves he validity of the tracking and the reconstruction processes. (author) 127 refs.

Pitch contour impairment in congenital amusia: New insights from the Self-paced Audio-visual Contour Task (SACT.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuejing Lu

Full Text Available Individuals with congenital amusia usually exhibit impairments in melodic contour processing when asked to compare pairs of melodies that may or may not be identical to one another. However, it is unclear whether the impairment observed in contour processing is caused by an impairment of pitch discrimination, or is a consequence of poor pitch memory. To help resolve this ambiguity, we designed a novel Self-paced Audio-visual Contour Task (SACT that evaluates sensitivity to contour while placing minimal burden on memory. In this task, participants control the pace of an auditory contour that is simultaneously accompanied by a visual contour, and they are asked to judge whether the two contours are congruent or incongruent. In Experiment 1, melodic contours varying in pitch were presented with a series of dots that varied in spatial height. Amusics exhibited reduced sensitivity to audio-visual congruency in comparison to control participants. To exclude the possibility that the impairment arises from a general deficit in cross-modal mapping, Experiment 2 examined sensitivity to cross-modal mapping for two other auditory dimensions: timbral brightness and loudness. Amusics and controls were significantly more sensitive to large than small contour changes, and to changes in loudness than changes in timbre. However, there were no group differences in cross-modal mapping, suggesting that individuals with congenital amusia can comprehend spatial representations of acoustic information. Taken together, the findings indicate that pitch contour processing in congenital amusia remains impaired even when pitch memory is relatively unburdened.

Data integrity systems for organ contours in radiation therapy planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Veeraj P; Lakshminarayanan, Pranav; Moore, Joseph; Tran, Phuoc T; Quon, Harry; Deville, Curtiland; McNutt, Todd R

2018-06-12

The purpose of this research is to develop effective data integrity models for contoured anatomy in a radiotherapy workflow for both real-time and retrospective analysis. Within this study, two classes of contour integrity models were developed: data driven models and contiguousness models. The data driven models aim to highlight contours which deviate from a gross set of contours from similar disease sites and encompass the following regions of interest (ROI): bladder, femoral heads, spinal cord, and rectum. The contiguousness models, which individually analyze the geometry of contours to detect possible errors, are applied across many different ROI's and are divided into two metrics: Extent and Region Growing over volume. After analysis, we found that 70% of detected bladder contours were verified as suspicious. The spinal cord and rectum models verified that 73% and 80% of contours were suspicious respectively. The contiguousness models were the most accurate models and the Region Growing model was the most accurate submodel. 100% of the detected noncontiguous contours were verified as suspicious, but in the cases of spinal cord, femoral heads, bladder, and rectum, the Region Growing model detected additional two to five suspicious contours that the Extent model failed to detect. When conducting a blind review to detect false negatives, it was found that all the data driven models failed to detect all suspicious contours. The Region Growing contiguousness model produced zero false negatives in all regions of interest other than prostate. With regards to runtime, the contiguousness via extent model took an average of 0.2 s per contour. On the other hand, the region growing method had a longer runtime which was dependent on the number of voxels in the contour. Both contiguousness models have potential for real-time use in clinical radiotherapy while the data driven models are better suited for retrospective use. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical

Color and Contour Based Identification of Stem of Coconut Bunch

Science.gov (United States)

Kannan Megalingam, Rajesh; Manoharan, Sakthiprasad K.; Reddy, Rajesh G.; Sriteja, Gone; Kashyap, Ashwin

2017-08-01

Vision is the key component of Artificial Intelligence and Automated Robotics. Sensors or Cameras are the sight organs for a robot. Only through this, they are able to locate themselves or identify the shape of a regular or an irregular object. This paper presents the method of Identification of an object based on color and contour recognition using a camera through digital image processing techniques for robotic applications. In order to identify the contour, shape matching technique is used, which takes the input data from the database provided, and uses it to identify the contour by checking for shape match. The shape match is based on the idea of iterating through each contour of the threshold image. The color is identified on HSV Scale, by approximating the desired range of values from the database. HSV data along with iteration is used for identifying a quadrilateral, which is our required contour. This algorithm could also be used in a non-deterministic plane, which only uses HSV values exclusively.

Magnetic flux reconstruction methods for shaped tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsui, Chi-Wa.

1993-12-01

The use of a variational method permits the Grad-Shafranov (GS) equation to be solved by reducing the problem of solving the 2D non-linear partial differential equation to the problem of minimizing a function of several variables. This high speed algorithm approximately solves the GS equation given a parameterization of the plasma boundary and the current profile (p' and FF' functions). The author treats the current profile parameters as unknowns. The goal is to reconstruct the internal magnetic flux surfaces of a tokamak plasma and the toroidal current density profile from the external magnetic measurements. This is a classic problem of inverse equilibrium determination. The current profile parameters can be evaluated by several different matching procedures. Matching of magnetic flux and field at the probe locations using the Biot-Savart law and magnetic Green's function provides a robust method of magnetic reconstruction. The matching of poloidal magnetic field on the plasma surface provides a unique method of identifying the plasma current profile. However, the power of this method is greatly compromised by the experimental errors of the magnetic signals. The Casing Principle provides a very fast way to evaluate the plasma contribution to the magnetic signals. It has the potential of being a fast matching method. The performance of this method is hindered by the accuracy of the poloidal magnetic field computed from the equilibrium solver. A flux reconstruction package has been implemented which integrates a vacuum field solver using a filament model for the plasma, a multi-layer perception neural network as an interface, and the volume integration of plasma current density using Green's functions as a matching method for the current profile parameters. The flux reconstruction package is applied to compare with the ASEQ and EFIT data. The results are promising

Digital extraction of interference fringe contours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mastin, G.A.; Ghiglia, D.C.

1985-01-01

Two basic techniques for extracting interferogram contours have been discussed. The first is a global contour extracton technique based on the fast Fourier transform. The second extracts individual contours with a thinning algorithm using logical neighborhood transformations

Design of a Vibrotactile Vest for Contour Perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Wu

2012-11-01

Full Text Available A vibrotactile array is a promising human computer interface which could display graphical information to users in a tactile form. This paper presents the design and testing of an image contour display system with a vibrotactile array. The tactile image display system is attached to the back of the user. It converts visual graphics into 2D tactile images and allows subjects to feel the contours of objects through vibration stimulus. The system consists of a USB camera, 48 (6×8 vibrating motors and an embedded control system. The image is captured by the camera and the 2D contour is extracted and transformed into vibrotactile stimuli using a temporal-spatial dynamic coding method. Preliminary experiments were carried out and the optimal parameters of the vibrating time and duration were explored. To evaluate the feasibility and robustness of this vibration mode, letters were also tactilely displayed and the recognition rate about the alphabet letter display was investigated. It was shown that under the condition of no pre-training for the subjects, the recognition rate was 82%. Such a recognition rate is higher than that of the scanning mode (47.5% and the improved handwriting mode (76.8%. The results indicated that the proposed method was efficient in conveying the contour information to the visually impaired by means of vibrations.

Evolution of longshore beach contour lines determined by E.O.F. method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan J. Muñoz-Pérez

2001-12-01

Full Text Available Detailed topo-bathymetric levellings were performed biannually for four years at Victoria Beach (Cadiz, Spain after a beach renourishment carried out in Spring 1991. The subsequent time series were analysed using the Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF method. The evolution of some characteristic longshore contour lines, such as the Highest High Water Level and the Lowest Low Water Level, is studied. The mean coastal line is related to the first spatial EOF mode. Furthermore, an objective criterion for distinguishing between a generalised recession and cyclic accretion-erosion processes due to seasonal sea-swell changes is described, and a uniformly clockwise turn of the shoreline to minimise longshore transport is identified.

Reconstruction of a ring applicator using CT imaging: impact of the reconstruction method and applicator orientation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hellebust, Taran Paulsen; Tanderup, Kari; Bergstrand, Eva Stabell

2007-01-01

in multiplanar reconstructed images (MPR) and (3) library plans, using pre-defined applicator geometry (LIB). The doses to the lead pellets were calculated. The relative standard deviation (SD) for all reconstruction methods was less than 3.7% in the dose points. The relative SD for the LIB method...

The influence of automation on tumor contouring

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aselmaa, A.; van Herk, Marcel; Song, Y.; Goossens, R.H.M.; Laprie, Anne

2017-01-01

Fully or semi-automatic contouring tools are increasingly being used in the tumor contouring task for radiotherapy. While the fully automatic contouring tools have not reached sufficient efficiency, the semi-automatic contouring tools balance more effectively between the human interaction and

Sound wave contours around wind turbine arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Beek, A.; Van Blokland, G.J.

1993-02-01

Noise pollution is an important factor in selecting suitable sites for wind turbines in order to realize 1000 MW of wind power as planned by the Dutch government for the year 2000. Therefore an accurate assessment of wind turbine noise is important. The amount of noise pollution from a wind turbine depends on the wind conditions. An existing standard method to assess wind turbine noise is supplemented and adjusted. In the first part of the investigation the method was developed and applied for a solitary sound source. In the second part attention is paid to the use of the method for wind turbine arrays. It appears that the adjusted method results in a shift of the contours of the permitted noise level. In general the contours are 15-25% closer to the wind farm, which means that the minimal permitted distance between houses and wind turbine arrays can be reduced. 14 figs., 1 tab., 4 appendices, 7 refs

Blind compressed sensing image reconstruction based on alternating direction method

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Qinan; Guo, Shuxu

2018-04-01

In order to solve the problem of how to reconstruct the original image under the condition of unknown sparse basis, this paper proposes an image reconstruction method based on blind compressed sensing model. In this model, the image signal is regarded as the product of a sparse coefficient matrix and a dictionary matrix. Based on the existing blind compressed sensing theory, the optimal solution is solved by the alternative minimization method. The proposed method solves the problem that the sparse basis in compressed sensing is difficult to represent, which restrains the noise and improves the quality of reconstructed image. This method ensures that the blind compressed sensing theory has a unique solution and can recover the reconstructed original image signal from a complex environment with a stronger self-adaptability. The experimental results show that the image reconstruction algorithm based on blind compressed sensing proposed in this paper can recover high quality image signals under the condition of under-sampling.

Enhancement of Afterimage Colors by Surrounding Contours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takao Sato

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Presenting luminance contours surrounding the adapted areas in test phase enhances color afterimages in both duration and color appearance. The presence of surrounding contour is crucial to some color phenomenon such as van Lier's afterimage, but the contour-effect itself has not been seriously examined. In this paper, we compared the contour-effect to color afterimages and to actually colored patches to examine the nature of color information subserving color-aftereffect. In the experiment, observers were adapted for 1 sec to a small colored square (red, green, yellow, or blue presented on a gray background. Then, a test field either with or without surrounding contour was presented. Observers matched the color of a test-patch located near the afterimage to the color of afterimage. It was found that the saturation of negative afterimage was almost doubled by the presence of surrounding contours. There was no effect of luminance contrast or polarity of contours. In contrast, no enhancement of saturation by surrounding contours was observed for actually colored patches even though the colors of patches were equalized to that of afterimage without contours. This dissociation in the contour-effect demonstrates the crucial difference between the color information for aftereffects and for ordinary bottom-up color perception.

Apparatus and method for reconstructing data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-01-01

A method and apparatus is described for constructing a two-dimensional picture of an object slice from linear projections of radiation not absorbed or scattered by the object, using convolution methods of data reconstruction, useful in the fields of medical radiology, microscopy, and non-destructive testing. (U.K.)

DG TOMO: A new method for tomographic reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freitas, D. de; Feschet, F.; Cachin, F.; Geissler, B.; Bapt, A.; Karidioula, I.; Martin, C.; Kelly, A.; Mestas, D.; Gerard, Y.; Reveilles, J.P.; Maublant, J.

2006-01-01

Aim: FBP and OSEM are the most popular tomographic reconstruction methods in scintigraphy. FBP is a simple method but artifacts of reconstruction are generated which corrections induce degradation of the spatial resolution. OSEM takes account of statistical fluctuations but noise strongly increases after a certain number of iterations. We compare a new method of tomographic reconstruction based on discrete geometry (DG TOMO) to FBP and OSEM. Materials and methods: Acquisitions were performed on a three-head gamma-camera (Philips) with a NEMA Phantom containing six spheres of sizes from 10 to 37 mm inner diameter, filled with around 325 MBq/l of technetium-99 m. The spheres were positioned in water containing 3 MBq/l of technetium-99 m. Acquisitions were realized during a 180 o -rotation around the phantom by 25-s steps. DG TOMO has been developed in our laboratory in order to minimize the number of projections at acquisition. Two tomographic reconstructions utilizing 32 and 16 projections with FBP, OSEM and DG TOMO were performed and transverse slices were compared. Results: FBP with 32 projections detects only the activity in the three largest spheres (diameter ≥22 mm). With 16 projections, the star effect is predominant and the contrast of the third sphere is very low. OSEM with 32 projections provides a better image but the three smallest spheres (diameter ≤17 mm) are difficult to distinguish. With 16 projections, the three smaller spheres are not detectable. The results of DG TOMO are similar to OSEM. Conclusion: Since the parameters of DG TOMO can be further optimized, this method appears as a promising alternative for tomoscintigraphy reconstruction

Apparatus and method for reconstructing data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavkovich, J.M.

1977-01-01

The apparatus and method for reconstructing data are described. A fan beam of radiation is passed through an object, the beam lying in the same quasi-plane as the object slice to be examined. Radiation not absorbed in the object slice is recorded on oppositely situated detectors aligned with the source of radiation. Relative rotation is provided between the source-detector configuration and the object. Reconstruction means are coupled to the detector means, and may comprise a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, and control logic for interfacing between said computers and controlling the respective functioning thereof for performing a convolution and back projection based upon non-absorbed radiation detected by said detector means, whereby the reconstruction means converts values of the non-absorbed radiation into values of absorbed radiation at each of an arbitrarily large number of points selected within the object slice. Display means are coupled to the reconstruction means for providing a visual or other display or representation of the quantities of radiation absorbed at the points considered in the object. (Auth.)

On an image reconstruction method for ECT

Science.gov (United States)

Sasamoto, Akira; Suzuki, Takayuki; Nishimura, Yoshihiro

2007-04-01

An image by Eddy Current Testing(ECT) is a blurred image to original flaw shape. In order to reconstruct fine flaw image, a new image reconstruction method has been proposed. This method is based on an assumption that a very simple relationship between measured data and source were described by a convolution of response function and flaw shape. This assumption leads to a simple inverse analysis method with deconvolution.In this method, Point Spread Function (PSF) and Line Spread Function(LSF) play a key role in deconvolution processing. This study proposes a simple data processing to determine PSF and LSF from ECT data of machined hole and line flaw. In order to verify its validity, ECT data for SUS316 plate(200x200x10mm) with artificial machined hole and notch flaw had been acquired by differential coil type sensors(produced by ZETEC Inc). Those data were analyzed by the proposed method. The proposed method restored sharp discrete multiple hole image from interfered data by multiple holes. Also the estimated width of line flaw has been much improved compared with original experimental data. Although proposed inverse analysis strategy is simple and easy to implement, its validity to holes and line flaw have been shown by many results that much finer image than original image have been reconstructed.

A comparison of ancestral state reconstruction methods for quantitative characters.

Science.gov (United States)

Royer-Carenzi, Manuela; Didier, Gilles

2016-09-07

Choosing an ancestral state reconstruction method among the alternatives available for quantitative characters may be puzzling. We present here a comparison of seven of them, namely the maximum likelihood, restricted maximum likelihood, generalized least squares under Brownian, Brownian-with-trend and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck models, phylogenetic independent contrasts and squared parsimony methods. A review of the relations between these methods shows that the maximum likelihood, the restricted maximum likelihood and the generalized least squares under Brownian model infer the same ancestral states and can only be distinguished by the distributions accounting for the reconstruction uncertainty which they provide. The respective accuracy of the methods is assessed over character evolution simulated under a Brownian motion with (and without) directional or stabilizing selection. We give the general form of ancestral state distributions conditioned on leaf states under the simulation models. Ancestral distributions are used first, to give a theoretical lower bound of the expected reconstruction error, and second, to develop an original evaluation scheme which is more efficient than comparing the reconstructed and the simulated states. Our simulations show that: (i) the distributions of the reconstruction uncertainty provided by the methods generally make sense (some more than others); (ii) it is essential to detect the presence of an evolutionary trend and to choose a reconstruction method accordingly; (iii) all the methods show good performances on characters under stabilizing selection; (iv) without trend or stabilizing selection, the maximum likelihood method is generally the most accurate. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parallel MR image reconstruction using augmented Lagrangian methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramani, Sathish; Fessler, Jeffrey A

2011-03-01

Magnetic resonance image (MRI) reconstruction using SENSitivity Encoding (SENSE) requires regularization to suppress noise and aliasing effects. Edge-preserving and sparsity-based regularization criteria can improve image quality, but they demand computation-intensive nonlinear optimization. In this paper, we present novel methods for regularized MRI reconstruction from undersampled sensitivity encoded data--SENSE-reconstruction--using the augmented Lagrangian (AL) framework for solving large-scale constrained optimization problems. We first formulate regularized SENSE-reconstruction as an unconstrained optimization task and then convert it to a set of (equivalent) constrained problems using variable splitting. We then attack these constrained versions in an AL framework using an alternating minimization method, leading to algorithms that can be implemented easily. The proposed methods are applicable to a general class of regularizers that includes popular edge-preserving (e.g., total-variation) and sparsity-promoting (e.g., l(1)-norm of wavelet coefficients) criteria and combinations thereof. Numerical experiments with synthetic and in vivo human data illustrate that the proposed AL algorithms converge faster than both general-purpose optimization algorithms such as nonlinear conjugate gradient (NCG) and state-of-the-art MFISTA.

Radiodiagnosis of gastric diseases on the basis of thin contour findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zubarev, A.V.; Zavodnov, V.Ya.; Sklyanskaya, O.A.

1988-01-01

The authors have analyzed the role of the thin contour in radiodiagnisis of various diseases of the gastric mucosa. Altogether 140 patients with various gastric diseases were investigated. Using X-ray examination of the stomach based on the common 2-phase method, thin contour images were obtained in 80 % of the cases. The results of the investigation have revealed direct correlation between the type of the thin contour and a morphological picture of the gastric mucosa in chronic gastritis. Early stomach cancer was characterized by the local absence or rearrangement of a usual pattern of the thin contour on stomach radiograms. It was difficult to defect single erosions or polyps with a diameter under 5 mm against a background of the gastric mucosa thin contour. Good visualization of stomach areolae, particularly those of a rough nodular type in the proximal part of the stomach was suggestive of an ulcerative lesion

Segmentation of breast ultrasound images based on active contours using neutrosophic theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Lotfollahi, Mahsa; Gity, Masoumeh; Ye, Jing Yong; Mahlooji Far, A

2018-04-01

Ultrasound imaging is an effective approach for diagnosing breast cancer, but it is highly operator-dependent. Recent advances in computer-aided diagnosis have suggested that it can assist physicians in diagnosis. Definition of the region of interest before computer analysis is still needed. Since manual outlining of the tumor contour is tedious and time-consuming for a physician, developing an automatic segmentation method is important for clinical application. The present paper represents a novel method to segment breast ultrasound images. It utilizes a combination of region-based active contour and neutrosophic theory to overcome the natural properties of ultrasound images including speckle noise and tissue-related textures. First, due to inherent speckle noise and low contrast of these images, we have utilized a non-local means filter and fuzzy logic method for denoising and image enhancement, respectively. This paper presents an improved weighted region-scalable active contour to segment breast ultrasound images using a new feature derived from neutrosophic theory. This method has been applied to 36 breast ultrasound images. It generates true-positive and false-positive results, and similarity of 95%, 6%, and 90%, respectively. The purposed method indicates clear advantages over other conventional methods of active contour segmentation, i.e., region-scalable fitting energy and weighted region-scalable fitting energy.

Contour Detection for UAV-Based Cadastral Mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophie Crommelinck

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs provide a flexible and low-cost solution for the acquisition of high-resolution data. The potential of high-resolution UAV imagery to create and update cadastral maps is being increasingly investigated. Existing procedures generally involve substantial fieldwork and many manual processes. Arguably, multiple parts of UAV-based cadastral mapping workflows could be automated. Specifically, as many cadastral boundaries coincide with visible boundaries, they could be extracted automatically using image analysis methods. This study investigates the transferability of gPb contour detection, a state-of-the-art computer vision method, to remotely sensed UAV images and UAV-based cadastral mapping. Results show that the approach is transferable to UAV data and automated cadastral mapping: object contours are comprehensively detected at completeness and correctness rates of up to 80%. The detection quality is optimal when the entire scene is covered with one orthoimage, due to the global optimization of gPb contour detection. However, a balance between high completeness and correctness is hard to achieve, so a combination with area-based segmentation and further object knowledge is proposed. The localization quality exhibits the usual dependency on ground resolution. The approach has the potential to accelerate the process of general boundary delineation during the creation and updating of cadastral maps.

The Use of a Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Implant to Reconstruct the Midface Region.

Science.gov (United States)

Hussain, Rumana N; Clark, Martin; Berry-Brincat, Antonella

A good functional and cosmetic result after midfacial reconstructive surgical procedures is of paramount importance. We describe the use of a Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) implant to reconstruct the midface area, after extensive mutilating surgery due to an infiltrative skin tumor. A 67-year-old male patient underwent multiple and extensive surgeries to the left cheek and lower lid because of a highly aggressive metatypical basal cell carcinoma. Complete resection of the recurrent tumor resulted in a cosmetically evident absent cheek contour and facial deformity. The PEEK implant was used to restore the bony cheek contour, with good aesthetic outcome and restoration of the facial symmetry. Preoperative planning with 3-dimensional CT scans allow for customization of the implant. PEEK implants have been scantily described in the periorbital region. The material has a very low reported morbidity and also has the advantage of improving intraoperative predictability and reducing surgical time in complex reconstructive procedures.

Probability Density Function Method for Observing Reconstructed Attractor Structure

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

陆宏伟; 陈亚珠; 卫青

2004-01-01

Probability density function (PDF) method is proposed for analysing the structure of the reconstructed attractor in computing the correlation dimensions of RR intervals of ten normal old men. PDF contains important information about the spatial distribution of the phase points in the reconstructed attractor. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that the PDF method is put forward for the analysis of the reconstructed attractor structure. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the cardiac systems of healthy old men are about 6 - 6.5 dimensional complex dynamical systems. It is found that PDF is not symmetrically distributed when time delay is small, while PDF satisfies Gaussian distribution when time delay is big enough. A cluster effect mechanism is presented to explain this phenomenon. By studying the shape of PDFs, that the roles played by time delay are more important than embedding dimension in the reconstruction is clearly indicated. Results have demonstrated that the PDF method represents a promising numerical approach for the observation of the reconstructed attractor structure and may provide more information and new diagnostic potential of the analyzed cardiac system.

Image reconstruction methods in positron tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Townsend, D.W.; Defrise, M.

1993-01-01

In the two decades since the introduction of the X-ray scanner into radiology, medical imaging techniques have become widely established as essential tools in the diagnosis of disease. As a consequence of recent technological and mathematical advances, the non-invasive, three-dimensional imaging of internal organs such as the brain and the heart is now possible, not only for anatomical investigations using X-ray but also for studies which explore the functional status of the body using positron-emitting radioisotopes. This report reviews the historical and physical basis of medical imaging techniques using positron-emitting radioisotopes. Mathematical methods which enable three-dimensional distributions of radioisotopes to be reconstructed from projection data (sinograms) acquired by detectors suitably positioned around the patient are discussed. The extension of conventional two-dimensional tomographic reconstruction algorithms to fully three-dimensional reconstruction is described in detail. (orig.)

Multiple Active Contours Guided by Differential Evolution for Medical Image Segmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz-Aceves, I.; Avina-Cervantes, J. G.; Lopez-Hernandez, J. M.; Rostro-Gonzalez, H.; Garcia-Capulin, C. H.; Torres-Cisneros, M.; Guzman-Cabrera, R.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a new image segmentation method based on multiple active contours guided by differential evolution, called MACDE. The segmentation method uses differential evolution over a polar coordinate system to increase the exploration and exploitation capabilities regarding the classical active contour model. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, a set of synthetic images with complex objects, Gaussian noise, and deep concavities is introduced. Subsequently, MACDE is applied on datasets of sequential computed tomography and magnetic resonance images which contain the human heart and the human left ventricle, respectively. Finally, to obtain a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the medical image segmentations compared to regions outlined by experts, a set of distance and similarity metrics has been adopted. According to the experimental results, MACDE outperforms the classical active contour model and the interactive Tseng method in terms of efficiency and robustness for obtaining the optimal control points and attains a high accuracy segmentation. PMID:23983809

Multiple Active Contours Guided by Differential Evolution for Medical Image Segmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Cruz-Aceves

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new image segmentation method based on multiple active contours guided by differential evolution, called MACDE. The segmentation method uses differential evolution over a polar coordinate system to increase the exploration and exploitation capabilities regarding the classical active contour model. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, a set of synthetic images with complex objects, Gaussian noise, and deep concavities is introduced. Subsequently, MACDE is applied on datasets of sequential computed tomography and magnetic resonance images which contain the human heart and the human left ventricle, respectively. Finally, to obtain a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the medical image segmentations compared to regions outlined by experts, a set of distance and similarity metrics has been adopted. According to the experimental results, MACDE outperforms the classical active contour model and the interactive Tseng method in terms of efficiency and robustness for obtaining the optimal control points and attains a high accuracy segmentation.

Contribution to the tracking and the 3D reconstruction of scenes composed of torus from image sequences a acquired by a moving camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naudet, S.

1997-01-01

The three-dimensional perception of the environment is often necessary for a robot to correctly perform its tasks. One solution, based on the dynamic vision, consists in analysing time-varying monocular images to estimate the spatial geometry of the scene. This thesis deals with the reconstruction of torus by dynamic vision. Though this object class is restrictive, it enables to tackle the problem of reconstruction of bent pipes usually encountered in industrial environments. The proposed method is based on the evolution of apparent contours of objects in the sequence. Using the expression of torus limb boundaries, it is possible to recursively estimate the object three-dimensional parameters by minimising the error between the predicted projected contours and the image contours. This process, which is performed by a Kalman filter, does not need a precise knowledge of the camera displacement or any matching of the tow limbs belonging to the same object. To complete this work, temporal tracking of objects which deals with occlusion situations is proposed. The approach consists in modeling and interpreting the apparent motion of objects in the successive images. The motion interpretation, based on a simplified representation of the scene, allows to recover pertinent three-dimensional information which is used to manage occlusion situations. Experiments, on synthetic and real images, proves he validity of the tracking and the reconstruction processes. (author)

Drawing Contour Trees in the Plane.

Science.gov (United States)

Heine, C; Schneider, D; Carr, Hamish; Scheuermann, G

2011-11-01

The contour tree compactly describes scalar field topology. From the viewpoint of graph drawing, it is a tree with attributes at vertices and optionally on edges. Standard tree drawing algorithms emphasize structural properties of the tree and neglect the attributes. Applying known techniques to convey this information proves hard and sometimes even impossible. We present several adaptions of popular graph drawing approaches to the problem of contour tree drawing and evaluate them. We identify five esthetic criteria for drawing contour trees and present a novel algorithm for drawing contour trees in the plane that satisfies four of these criteria. Our implementation is fast and effective for contour tree sizes usually used in interactive systems (around 100 branches) and also produces readable pictures for larger trees, as is shown for an 800 branch example.

Visualizing Contour Trees within Histograms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kraus, Martin

2010-01-01

Many of the topological features of the isosurfaces of a scalar volume field can be compactly represented by its contour tree. Unfortunately, the contour trees of most real-world volume data sets are too complex to be visualized by dot-and-line diagrams. Therefore, we propose a new visualization...... that is suitable for large contour trees and efficiently conveys the topological structure of the most important isosurface components. This visualization is integrated into a histogram of the volume data; thus, it offers strictly more information than a traditional histogram. We present algorithms...... to automatically compute the graph layout and to calculate appropriate approximations of the contour tree and the surface area of the relevant isosurface components. The benefits of this new visualization are demonstrated with the help of several publicly available volume data sets....

Color contributes to object-contour perception in natural scenes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Thorsten; Gegenfurtner, Karl R

2017-03-01

The magnitudes of chromatic and achromatic edge contrast are statistically independent and thus provide independent information, which can be used for object-contour perception. However, it is unclear if and how much object-contour perception benefits from chromatic edge contrast. To address this question, we investigated how well human-marked object contours can be predicted from achromatic and chromatic edge contrast. We used four data sets of human-marked object contours with a total of 824 images. We converted the images to the Derrington-Krauskopf-Lennie color space to separate chromatic from achromatic information in a physiologically meaningful way. Edges were detected in the three dimensions of the color space (one achromatic and two chromatic) and compared to human-marked object contours using receiver operating-characteristic (ROC) analysis for a threshold-independent evaluation. Performance was quantified by the difference of the area under the ROC curves (ΔAUC). Results were consistent across different data sets and edge-detection methods. If chromatic edges were used in addition to achromatic edges, predictions were better for 83% of the images, with a prediction advantage of 3.5% ΔAUC, averaged across all data sets and edge detectors. For some images the prediction advantage was considerably higher, up to 52% ΔAUC. Interestingly, if achromatic edges were used in addition to chromatic edges, the average prediction advantage was smaller (2.4% ΔAUC). We interpret our results such that chromatic information is important for object-contour perception.

Evaluation of a 3D point cloud tetrahedral tomographic reconstruction method

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, N. F.; Sitek, A.

2010-09-01

Tomographic reconstruction on an irregular grid may be superior to reconstruction on a regular grid. This is achieved through an appropriate choice of the image space model, the selection of an optimal set of points and the use of any available prior information during the reconstruction process. Accordingly, a number of reconstruction-related parameters must be optimized for best performance. In this work, a 3D point cloud tetrahedral mesh reconstruction method is evaluated for quantitative tasks. A linear image model is employed to obtain the reconstruction system matrix and five point generation strategies are studied. The evaluation is performed using the recovery coefficient, as well as voxel- and template-based estimates of bias and variance measures, computed over specific regions in the reconstructed image. A similar analysis is performed for regular grid reconstructions that use voxel basis functions. The maximum likelihood expectation maximization reconstruction algorithm is used. For the tetrahedral reconstructions, of the five point generation methods that are evaluated, three use image priors. For evaluation purposes, an object consisting of overlapping spheres with varying activity is simulated. The exact parallel projection data of this object are obtained analytically using a parallel projector, and multiple Poisson noise realizations of these exact data are generated and reconstructed using the different point generation strategies. The unconstrained nature of point placement in some of the irregular mesh-based reconstruction strategies has superior activity recovery for small, low-contrast image regions. The results show that, with an appropriately generated set of mesh points, the irregular grid reconstruction methods can out-perform reconstructions on a regular grid for mathematical phantoms, in terms of the performance measures evaluated.

Evaluation of a 3D point cloud tetrahedral tomographic reconstruction method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pereira, N F; Sitek, A

2010-01-01

Tomographic reconstruction on an irregular grid may be superior to reconstruction on a regular grid. This is achieved through an appropriate choice of the image space model, the selection of an optimal set of points and the use of any available prior information during the reconstruction process. Accordingly, a number of reconstruction-related parameters must be optimized for best performance. In this work, a 3D point cloud tetrahedral mesh reconstruction method is evaluated for quantitative tasks. A linear image model is employed to obtain the reconstruction system matrix and five point generation strategies are studied. The evaluation is performed using the recovery coefficient, as well as voxel- and template-based estimates of bias and variance measures, computed over specific regions in the reconstructed image. A similar analysis is performed for regular grid reconstructions that use voxel basis functions. The maximum likelihood expectation maximization reconstruction algorithm is used. For the tetrahedral reconstructions, of the five point generation methods that are evaluated, three use image priors. For evaluation purposes, an object consisting of overlapping spheres with varying activity is simulated. The exact parallel projection data of this object are obtained analytically using a parallel projector, and multiple Poisson noise realizations of these exact data are generated and reconstructed using the different point generation strategies. The unconstrained nature of point placement in some of the irregular mesh-based reconstruction strategies has superior activity recovery for small, low-contrast image regions. The results show that, with an appropriately generated set of mesh points, the irregular grid reconstruction methods can out-perform reconstructions on a regular grid for mathematical phantoms, in terms of the performance measures evaluated.

Evaluation of a 3D point cloud tetrahedral tomographic reconstruction method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pereira, N F; Sitek, A, E-mail: nfp4@bwh.harvard.ed, E-mail: asitek@bwh.harvard.ed [Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women' s Hospital-Harvard Medical School Boston, MA (United States)

2010-09-21

Tomographic reconstruction on an irregular grid may be superior to reconstruction on a regular grid. This is achieved through an appropriate choice of the image space model, the selection of an optimal set of points and the use of any available prior information during the reconstruction process. Accordingly, a number of reconstruction-related parameters must be optimized for best performance. In this work, a 3D point cloud tetrahedral mesh reconstruction method is evaluated for quantitative tasks. A linear image model is employed to obtain the reconstruction system matrix and five point generation strategies are studied. The evaluation is performed using the recovery coefficient, as well as voxel- and template-based estimates of bias and variance measures, computed over specific regions in the reconstructed image. A similar analysis is performed for regular grid reconstructions that use voxel basis functions. The maximum likelihood expectation maximization reconstruction algorithm is used. For the tetrahedral reconstructions, of the five point generation methods that are evaluated, three use image priors. For evaluation purposes, an object consisting of overlapping spheres with varying activity is simulated. The exact parallel projection data of this object are obtained analytically using a parallel projector, and multiple Poisson noise realizations of these exact data are generated and reconstructed using the different point generation strategies. The unconstrained nature of point placement in some of the irregular mesh-based reconstruction strategies has superior activity recovery for small, low-contrast image regions. The results show that, with an appropriately generated set of mesh points, the irregular grid reconstruction methods can out-perform reconstructions on a regular grid for mathematical phantoms, in terms of the performance measures evaluated.

Orientation-crowding within contours.

Science.gov (United States)

Glen, James C; Dakin, Steven C

2013-07-15

We examined how crowding (the breakdown of object recognition in the periphery caused by interference from "clutter") depends on the global arrangement of target and distracting flanker elements. Specifically we probed orientation discrimination using a near-vertical target Gabor flanked by two vertical distractor Gabors (one above and one below the target). By applying variable (opposite-sign) horizontal offsets to the positions of the two flankers we arranged the elements so that on some trials they formed contours with the target and on others they did not. While the presence of flankers generally elevated orientation discrimination thresholds for the target we observe maximal crowding not when flanker and targets were co-aligned but when a small spatial offset was applied to flanker location, so that contours formed between flanker and targets only when the target orientation was cued. We also report that observers' orientation judgments are biased, with target orientation appearing either attracted or repulsed by the global/contour orientation. A second experiment reveals that the sign of this effect is dependent both on observer and on eccentricity. In general, the magnitude of repulsion is reduced with eccentricity but whether this becomes attraction (of element orientation to contour orientation) is dependent on observer. We note however that across observers and eccentricities, the magnitude of repulsion correlates positively with the amount of release from crowding observed with co-aligned targets and flankers, supporting the notion of fluctuating bias as the basis for elevated crowding within contours.

Alternative method for reconstruction of antihydrogen annihilation vertices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amole, C., E-mail: chanpreet.amole@cern.ch [York University, Department of Physics and Astronomy (Canada); Ashkezari, M. D. [Simon Fraser University, Department of Physics (Canada); Andresen, G. B. [Aarhus University, Department of Physics and Astronomy (Denmark); Baquero-Ruiz, M. [University of California, Department of Physics (United States); Bertsche, W. [Swansea University, Department of Physics (United Kingdom); Bowe, P. D. [Aarhus University, Department of Physics and Astronomy (Denmark); Butler, E. [CERN, Physics Department (Switzerland); Cesar, C. L. [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Fisica (Brazil); Chapman, S. [University of California, Department of Physics (United States); Charlton, M.; Deller, A.; Eriksson, S. [Swansea University, Department of Physics (United Kingdom); Fajans, J. [University of California, Department of Physics (United States); Friesen, T.; Fujiwara, M. C. [University of Calgary, Department of Physics and Astronomy (Canada); Gill, D. R. [TRIUMF (Canada); Gutierrez, A. [University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy (Canada); Hangst, J. S. [Aarhus University, Department of Physics and Astronomy (Denmark); Hardy, W. N. [University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy (Canada); Hayano, R. S. [University of Tokyo, Department of Physics (Japan); Collaboration: ALPHA Collaboration; and others

2012-12-15

The ALPHA experiment, located at CERN, aims to compare the properties of antihydrogen atoms with those of hydrogen atoms. The neutral antihydrogen atoms are trapped using an octupole magnetic trap. The trap region is surrounded by a three layered silicon detector used to reconstruct the antiproton annihilation vertices. This paper describes a method we have devised that can be used for reconstructing annihilation vertices with a good resolution and is more efficient than the standard method currently used for the same purpose.

Alternative method for reconstruction of antihydrogen annihilation vertices

CERN Document Server

Amole, C; Andresen , G B; Baquero-Ruiz, M; Bertsche, W; Bowe, P D; Butler, E; Cesar, C L; Chapman, S; Charlton, M; Deller, A; Eriksson, S; Fajans, J; Friesen, T; Fujiwara, M C; Gill, D R; Gutierrez, A; Hangst, J S; Hardy, W N; Hayano, R S; Hayden, M E; Humphries, A J; Hydomako, R; Jonsell, S; Kurchaninov, L; Madsen, N; Menary, S; Nolan, P; Olchanski, K; Olin, A; Povilus, A; Pusa, P; Robicheaux, F; Sarid, E; Silveira, D M; So, C; Storey, J W; Thompson, R I; van der Werf, D P; Wurtele, J S; Yamazaki,Y

2012-01-01

The ALPHA experiment, located at CERN, aims to compare the properties of antihydrogen atoms with those of hydrogen atoms. The neutral antihydrogen atoms are trapped using an octupole magnetic trap. The trap region is surrounded by a three layered silicon detector used to reconstruct the antiproton annihilation vertices. This paper describes a method we have devised that can be used for reconstructing annihilation vertices with a good resolution and is more efficient than the standard method currently used for the same purpose.

Direct Optimization of Printed Reflectarrays for Contoured Beam Satellite Antenna Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Min; Sorensen, Stig B.; Kim, Oleksiy S.

2013-01-01

An accurate and efficient direct optimization technique for the design of contoured beam reflectarrays is presented. It is based on the spectral domain method of moments assuming local periodicity and minimax optimization. Contrary to the conventional phase-only optimization techniques, the geome......An accurate and efficient direct optimization technique for the design of contoured beam reflectarrays is presented. It is based on the spectral domain method of moments assuming local periodicity and minimax optimization. Contrary to the conventional phase-only optimization techniques......, the geometrical parameters of the array elements are directly optimized to fulfill the contoured beam requirements, thus maintaining a direct relation between optimization goals and optimization variables, and hence resulting in more optimal designs. Both co- and cross-polar radiation patterns of the reflectarray...... can be optimized for multiple frequencies, polarizations, and feed illuminations. Several contoured beam reflectarrays, that radiate a high-gain beam on a European coverage, have been designed and compared to similar designs obtained using the phase-only optimization technique. The comparisons show...

Precision carving of costal cartilage graft for contour fill in aesthetic and reconstructive rhinoplasty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uday Bhat

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Autogenous costal cartilage is a good option for large volume requirements in rhinoplasty, when septal or conchal cartilages do not suffice. Reluctance to use costal cartilage is due to apprehension of warping. However, warping can be avoided if we follow the principle of balanced section as advocated by Gibson and Davis. "Warping" can also be utilized to change the curvature of the graft. Materials and Methods: We have used 69 costal cartilage grafts as a solid piece for contour fill in rhinoplasty in 31 patients over the last 10 years. Principle of balanced section as advocated by Gibson and Davis was adhered to while carving the grafts, however some grafts were allowed to warp to get different sizes and shapes. Results: All the procedures were uneventful. Aesthetic appearance of all patients was satisfactory and acceptable to all the patients. In two cases, the dorsal graft minimally shifted to one side, but remained straight. In one patient, there was late appearance of distortion. Conclusion: The mode of cartilage warping is predictable and it can be used to advantage. Apprehension to use costal cartilage graft is unjustified, as with precision carving a desired shape can be obtained.

Use of a Three-Dimensional Model to Optimize a MEDPOR Implant for Delayed Reconstruction of a Suprastructure Maxillectomy Defect

Science.gov (United States)

Echo, Anthony; Wolfswinkel, Erik M.; Weathers, William; McKnight, Aisha; Izaddoost, Shayan

2013-01-01

The use of a three-dimensional (3-D) model has been well described for craniomaxillofacial reconstruction, especially with the preoperative planning of free fibula flaps. This article reports the application of an innovative 3-D model approach for the calculation of the exact contours, angles, length, and general morphology of a prefabricated MEDPOR 2/3 orbital implant for reconstruction of a suprastructure maxillectomy defect. The 3-D model allowed intraoperative modification of the MEDPOR implant which decreased the risk of iatrogenic harm, contamination while also improving aesthetic results and function. With the aid of preoperative 3-D models, porous polypropylene facial implants can be contoured efficiently intraoperatively to precisely reconstruct complex craniomaxillofacial defects. PMID:24436774

Automatic Substitute Computed Tomography Generation and Contouring for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-Alone External Beam Radiation Therapy From Standard MRI Sequences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dowling, Jason A., E-mail: jason.dowling@csiro.au [CSIRO Australian e-Health Research Centre, Herston, Queensland (Australia); University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales (Australia); Sun, Jidi [University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales (Australia); Pichler, Peter [Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, Waratah, New South Wales (Australia); Rivest-Hénault, David; Ghose, Soumya [CSIRO Australian e-Health Research Centre, Herston, Queensland (Australia); Richardson, Haylea [Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, Waratah, New South Wales (Australia); Wratten, Chris; Martin, Jarad [University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales (Australia); Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, Waratah, New South Wales (Australia); Arm, Jameen [Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, Waratah, New South Wales (Australia); Best, Leah [Department of Radiology, Hunter New England Health, New Lambton, New South Wales (Australia); Chandra, Shekhar S. [School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland (Australia); Fripp, Jurgen [CSIRO Australian e-Health Research Centre, Herston, Queensland (Australia); Menk, Frederick W. [University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales (Australia); Greer, Peter B. [University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales (Australia); Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, Waratah, New South Wales (Australia)

2015-12-01

CT generation methods using standard MR sequences generates realistic contours and electron densities for prostate cancer radiation therapy dose planning and digitally reconstructed radiograph generation.

Automatic Substitute Computed Tomography Generation and Contouring for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-Alone External Beam Radiation Therapy From Standard MRI Sequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dowling, Jason A.; Sun, Jidi; Pichler, Peter; Rivest-Hénault, David; Ghose, Soumya; Richardson, Haylea; Wratten, Chris; Martin, Jarad; Arm, Jameen; Best, Leah; Chandra, Shekhar S.; Fripp, Jurgen; Menk, Frederick W.; Greer, Peter B.

2015-01-01

CT generation methods using standard MR sequences generates realistic contours and electron densities for prostate cancer radiation therapy dose planning and digitally reconstructed radiograph generation.

Development of a contour meter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrada C, F.A.; Sanz, D.E.

2006-01-01

The dosimetric calculation in patients that receive radiotherapy treatment it requires the one knowledge of the geometry of some anatomical portions, which differs from a patient to another. Making reference to the specific case of mammary neoplasia, one of the measurements that is carried out on the patient is the acquisition of the contour of the breast, which is determined from a point marked on the breastbone until another point marked on the lateral of the thorax, below the armpit, with the patient located in the irradiation position. This measurement is carried out with the help of a mechanical contour meter that is a device conformed by a series of wires with a polymeric coating, which support on the breast of the patient and it reproduces its form. Then it is transported in the more careful possible form on a paper and the contour is traced with a tracer one. The geometric error associated to this procedure is of ±1 cm, which is sensitive of being reduced. The present work finds its motivation in the patient's radiological protection radiotherapy. The maximum error in dose allowed in radiotherapeutic treatments is 5%. It would be increase the precision and with it to optimize the treatment received by the patient, reducing the error in the acquisition process of the mammary contour. With this objective, a digital device is designed whose operation is based in the application of a spatial transformation on a picture of the mammary contour, which corrects the geometric distortion introduced in the process of the photographic acquisition. An algorithm that allows to obtain a front image (without distortion) of the plane of the contour was developed. A software tool especially developed carries out the processing of the digital images. The maximum geometric error detected in the validation process is 2 mm located on a small portion of the contour. (Author)

Dynamic Error Analysis Method for Vibration Shape Reconstruction of Smart FBG Plate Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hesheng Zhang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Shape reconstruction of aerospace plate structure is an important issue for safe operation of aerospace vehicles. One way to achieve such reconstruction is by constructing smart fiber Bragg grating (FBG plate structure with discrete distributed FBG sensor arrays using reconstruction algorithms in which error analysis of reconstruction algorithm is a key link. Considering that traditional error analysis methods can only deal with static data, a new dynamic data error analysis method are proposed based on LMS algorithm for shape reconstruction of smart FBG plate structure. Firstly, smart FBG structure and orthogonal curved network based reconstruction method is introduced. Then, a dynamic error analysis model is proposed for dynamic reconstruction error analysis. Thirdly, the parameter identification is done for the proposed dynamic error analysis model based on least mean square (LMS algorithm. Finally, an experimental verification platform is constructed and experimental dynamic reconstruction analysis is done. Experimental results show that the dynamic characteristics of the reconstruction performance for plate structure can be obtained accurately based on the proposed dynamic error analysis method. The proposed method can also be used for other data acquisition systems and data processing systems as a general error analysis method.

Consensus Recommendations for Radiation Therapy Contouring and Treatment of Vulvar Carcinoma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaffney, David K., E-mail: david.gaffney@hci.utah.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, Huntsman Cancer Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah (United States); King, Bronwyn [Department of Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Epworth Radiation Oncology, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia); Viswanathan, Akila N. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women' s Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Barkati, Maroie [Department of Radiation Oncology, Centre hospitalier de l' universite de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec (Canada); Beriwal, Sushil [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States); Eifel, Patricia [Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (United States); Erickson, Beth [Department of Radiation Oncology, Proedtert and Medical College Clinical Cancer Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (United States); Fyles, Anthony [Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Goulart, Jennifer [Department of Radiation Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Victoria, British Columbia (Canada); Harkenrider, Matthew [Department of Radiation Oncology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University, Maywood, Illinois (United States); Jhingran, Anuja; Klopp, Ann [Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (United States); Koh, Wui-Jin [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (United States); Lim, Karen [Liverpool Cancer Therapy Centre, Radiation Oncology Unit, Sydney, New South Wales (Australia); Petersen, Ivy [Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (United States); Portelance, Lorraine [Radiation Oncology Department, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida (United States); and others

2016-07-15

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a radiation therapy (RT) contouring atlas and recommendations for women with postoperative and locally advanced vulvar carcinoma. Methods and Materials: An international committee of 35 expert gynecologic radiation oncologists completed a survey of the treatment of vulvar carcinoma. An initial set of recommendations for contouring was discussed and generated by consensus. Two cases, 1 locally advanced and 1 postoperative, were contoured by 14 physicians. Contours were compared and analyzed using an expectation-maximization algorithm for simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE), and a 95% confidence interval contour was developed. The level of agreement among contours was assessed using a kappa statistic. STAPLE contours underwent full committee editing to generate the final atlas consensus contours. Results: Analysis of the 14 contours showed substantial agreement, with kappa statistics of 0.69 and 0.64 for cases 1 and 2, respectively. There was high specificity for both cases (≥99%) and only moderate sensitivity of 71.3% and 64.9% for cases 1 and 2, respectively. Expert review and discussion generated consensus recommendations for contouring target volumes and treatment for postoperative and locally advanced vulvar cancer. Conclusions: These consensus recommendations for contouring and treatment of vulvar cancer identified areas of complexity and controversy. Given the lack of clinical research evidence in vulvar cancer radiation therapy, the committee advocates a conservative and consistent approach using standardized recommendations.

Consensus Recommendations for Radiation Therapy Contouring and Treatment of Vulvar Carcinoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaffney, David K.; King, Bronwyn; Viswanathan, Akila N.; Barkati, Maroie; Beriwal, Sushil; Eifel, Patricia; Erickson, Beth; Fyles, Anthony; Goulart, Jennifer; Harkenrider, Matthew; Jhingran, Anuja; Klopp, Ann; Koh, Wui-Jin; Lim, Karen; Petersen, Ivy; Portelance, Lorraine

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a radiation therapy (RT) contouring atlas and recommendations for women with postoperative and locally advanced vulvar carcinoma. Methods and Materials: An international committee of 35 expert gynecologic radiation oncologists completed a survey of the treatment of vulvar carcinoma. An initial set of recommendations for contouring was discussed and generated by consensus. Two cases, 1 locally advanced and 1 postoperative, were contoured by 14 physicians. Contours were compared and analyzed using an expectation-maximization algorithm for simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE), and a 95% confidence interval contour was developed. The level of agreement among contours was assessed using a kappa statistic. STAPLE contours underwent full committee editing to generate the final atlas consensus contours. Results: Analysis of the 14 contours showed substantial agreement, with kappa statistics of 0.69 and 0.64 for cases 1 and 2, respectively. There was high specificity for both cases (≥99%) and only moderate sensitivity of 71.3% and 64.9% for cases 1 and 2, respectively. Expert review and discussion generated consensus recommendations for contouring target volumes and treatment for postoperative and locally advanced vulvar cancer. Conclusions: These consensus recommendations for contouring and treatment of vulvar cancer identified areas of complexity and controversy. Given the lack of clinical research evidence in vulvar cancer radiation therapy, the committee advocates a conservative and consistent approach using standardized recommendations.

Object segmentation using graph cuts and active contours in a pyramidal framework

Science.gov (United States)

Subudhi, Priyambada; Mukhopadhyay, Susanta

2018-03-01

Graph cuts and active contours are two very popular interactive object segmentation techniques in the field of computer vision and image processing. However, both these approaches have their own well-known limitations. Graph cut methods perform efficiently giving global optimal segmentation result for smaller images. However, for larger images, huge graphs need to be constructed which not only takes an unacceptable amount of memory but also increases the time required for segmentation to a great extent. On the other hand, in case of active contours, initial contour selection plays an important role in the accuracy of the segmentation. So a proper selection of initial contour may improve the complexity as well as the accuracy of the result. In this paper, we have tried to combine these two approaches to overcome their above-mentioned drawbacks and develop a fast technique of object segmentation. Here, we have used a pyramidal framework and applied the mincut/maxflow algorithm on the lowest resolution image with the least number of seed points possible which will be very fast due to the smaller size of the image. Then, the obtained segmentation contour is super-sampled and and worked as the initial contour for the next higher resolution image. As the initial contour is very close to the actual contour, so fewer number of iterations will be required for the convergence of the contour. The process is repeated for all the high-resolution images and experimental results show that our approach is faster as well as memory efficient as compare to both graph cut or active contour segmentation alone.

The gridding method for image reconstruction by Fourier transformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schomberg, H.; Timmer, J.

1995-01-01

This paper explores a computational method for reconstructing an n-dimensional signal f from a sampled version of its Fourier transform f. The method involves a window function w and proceeds in three steps. First, the convolution g = w * f is computed numerically on a Cartesian grid, using the available samples of f. Then, g = wf is computed via the inverse discrete Fourier transform, and finally f is obtained as g/w. Due to the smoothing effect of the convolution, evaluating w * f is much less error prone than merely interpolating f. The method was originally devised for image reconstruction in radio astronomy, but is actually applicable to a broad range of reconstructive imaging methods, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. In particular, it provides a fast and accurate alternative to the filtered backprojection. The basic method has several variants with other applications, such as the equidistant resampling of arbitrarily sampled signals or the fast computation of the Radon (Hough) transform

Contour extraction of echocardiographic images based on pre-processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hussein, Zinah Rajab; Rahmat, Rahmita Wirza; Abdullah, Lili Nurliyana [Department of Multimedia, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Department of Computer and Communication Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering University Putra Malaysia 43400 Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Zamrin, D M [Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Saripan, M Iqbal

2011-02-15

In this work we present a technique to extract the heart contours from noisy echocardiograph images. Our technique is based on improving the image before applying contours detection to reduce heavy noise and get better image quality. To perform that, we combine many pre-processing techniques (filtering, morphological operations, and contrast adjustment) to avoid unclear edges and enhance low contrast of echocardiograph images, after implementing these techniques we can get legible detection for heart boundaries and valves movement by traditional edge detection methods.

Contour extraction of echocardiographic images based on pre-processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussein, Zinah Rajab; Rahmat, Rahmita Wirza; Abdullah, Lili Nurliyana; Zamrin, D M; Saripan, M Iqbal

2011-01-01

In this work we present a technique to extract the heart contours from noisy echocardiograph images. Our technique is based on improving the image before applying contours detection to reduce heavy noise and get better image quality. To perform that, we combine many pre-processing techniques (filtering, morphological operations, and contrast adjustment) to avoid unclear edges and enhance low contrast of echocardiograph images, after implementing these techniques we can get legible detection for heart boundaries and valves movement by traditional edge detection methods.

Reconstruction of CT images by the Bayes- back projection method

CERN Document Server

Haruyama, M; Takase, M; Tobita, H

2002-01-01

In the course of research on quantitative assay of non-destructive measurement of radioactive waste, the have developed a unique program based on the Bayesian theory for reconstruction of transmission computed tomography (TCT) image. The reconstruction of cross-section images in the CT technology usually employs the Filtered Back Projection method. The new imaging reconstruction program reported here is based on the Bayesian Back Projection method, and it has a function of iterative improvement images by every step of measurement. Namely, this method has the capability of prompt display of a cross-section image corresponding to each angled projection data from every measurement. Hence, it is possible to observe an improved cross-section view by reflecting each projection data in almost real time. From the basic theory of Baysian Back Projection method, it can be not only applied to CT types of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation. This reported deals with a reconstruction program of cross-section images in the CT of ...

On a program manifold's stability of one contour automatic control systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zumatov, S. S.

2017-12-01

Methodology of analysis of stability is expounded to the one contour systems automatic control feedback in the presence of non-linearities. The methodology is based on the use of the simplest mathematical models of the nonlinear controllable systems. Stability of program manifolds of one contour automatic control systems is investigated. The sufficient conditions of program manifold's absolute stability of one contour automatic control systems are obtained. The Hurwitz's angle of absolute stability was determined. The sufficient conditions of program manifold's absolute stability of control systems by the course of plane in the mode of autopilot are obtained by means Lyapunov's second method.

Global regularizing flows with topology preservation for active contours and polygons.

Science.gov (United States)

Sundaramoorthi, Ganesh; Yezzi, Anthony

2007-03-01

Active contour and active polygon models have been used widely for image segmentation. In some applications, the topology of the object(s) to be detected from an image is known a priori, despite a complex unknown geometry, and it is important that the active contour or polygon maintain the desired topology. In this work, we construct a novel geometric flow that can be added to image-based evolutions of active contours and polygons in order to preserve the topology of the initial contour or polygon. We emphasize that, unlike other methods for topology preservation, the proposed geometric flow continually adjusts the geometry of the original evolution in a gradual and graceful manner so as to prevent a topology change long before the curve or polygon becomes close to topology change. The flow also serves as a global regularity term for the evolving contour, and has smoothness properties similar to curvature flow. These properties of gradually adjusting the original flow and global regularization prevent geometrical inaccuracies common with simple discrete topology preservation schemes. The proposed topology preserving geometric flow is the gradient flow arising from an energy that is based on electrostatic principles. The evolution of a single point on the contour depends on all other points of the contour, which is different from traditional curve evolutions in the computer vision literature.

Using an active contour method to detect bilge dumps from SAR imagery

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mdakane, Lizwe W

2016-07-01

Full Text Available An automatic approach to detect bilge dumping in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images over Southern African oceans is proposed. The approach uses a threshold-based algorithm and a region-based active contour model (ACM) algorithm to achieve...

An iterative reconstruction method of complex images using expectation maximization for radial parallel MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Joonsung; Kim, Dongchan; Oh, Changhyun; Han, Yeji; Park, HyunWook

2013-01-01

In MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), signal sampling along a radial k-space trajectory is preferred in certain applications due to its distinct advantages such as robustness to motion, and the radial sampling can be beneficial for reconstruction algorithms such as parallel MRI (pMRI) due to the incoherency. For radial MRI, the image is usually reconstructed from projection data using analytic methods such as filtered back-projection or Fourier reconstruction after gridding. However, the quality of the reconstructed image from these analytic methods can be degraded when the number of acquired projection views is insufficient. In this paper, we propose a novel reconstruction method based on the expectation maximization (EM) method, where the EM algorithm is remodeled for MRI so that complex images can be reconstructed. Then, to optimize the proposed method for radial pMRI, a reconstruction method that uses coil sensitivity information of multichannel RF coils is formulated. Experiment results from synthetic and in vivo data show that the proposed method introduces better reconstructed images than the analytic methods, even from highly subsampled data, and provides monotonic convergence properties compared to the conjugate gradient based reconstruction method. (paper)

Statistical Modeling Approach to Quantitative Analysis of Interobserver Variability in Breast Contouring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Jinzhong, E-mail: jyang4@mdanderson.org [Department of Radiation Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (United States); Woodward, Wendy A.; Reed, Valerie K.; Strom, Eric A.; Perkins, George H.; Tereffe, Welela; Buchholz, Thomas A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (United States); Zhang, Lifei; Balter, Peter; Court, Laurence E. [Department of Radiation Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (United States); Li, X. Allen [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (United States); Dong, Lei [Department of Radiation Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (United States); Scripps Proton Therapy Center, San Diego, California (United States)

2014-05-01

Purpose: To develop a new approach for interobserver variability analysis. Methods and Materials: Eight radiation oncologists specializing in breast cancer radiation therapy delineated a patient's left breast “from scratch” and from a template that was generated using deformable image registration. Three of the radiation oncologists had previously received training in Radiation Therapy Oncology Group consensus contouring for breast cancer atlas. The simultaneous truth and performance level estimation algorithm was applied to the 8 contours delineated “from scratch” to produce a group consensus contour. Individual Jaccard scores were fitted to a beta distribution model. We also applied this analysis to 2 or more patients, which were contoured by 9 breast radiation oncologists from 8 institutions. Results: The beta distribution model had a mean of 86.2%, standard deviation (SD) of ±5.9%, a skewness of −0.7, and excess kurtosis of 0.55, exemplifying broad interobserver variability. The 3 RTOG-trained physicians had higher agreement scores than average, indicating that their contours were close to the group consensus contour. One physician had high sensitivity but lower specificity than the others, which implies that this physician tended to contour a structure larger than those of the others. Two other physicians had low sensitivity but specificity similar to the others, which implies that they tended to contour a structure smaller than the others. With this information, they could adjust their contouring practice to be more consistent with others if desired. When contouring from the template, the beta distribution model had a mean of 92.3%, SD ± 3.4%, skewness of −0.79, and excess kurtosis of 0.83, which indicated a much better consistency among individual contours. Similar results were obtained for the analysis of 2 additional patients. Conclusions: The proposed statistical approach was able to measure interobserver variability quantitatively

Porous media microstructure reconstruction using pixel-based and object-based simulated annealing: comparison with other reconstruction methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diogenes, Alysson N.; Santos, Luis O.E. dos; Fernandes, Celso P. [Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianopolis, SC (Brazil); Appoloni, Carlos R. [Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), PR (Brazil)

2008-07-01

The reservoir rocks physical properties are usually obtained in laboratory, through standard experiments. These experiments are often very expensive and time-consuming. Hence, the digital image analysis techniques are a very fast and low cost methodology for physical properties prediction, knowing only geometrical parameters measured from the rock microstructure thin sections. This research analyzes two methods for porous media reconstruction using the relaxation method simulated annealing. Using geometrical parameters measured from rock thin sections, it is possible to construct a three-dimensional (3D) model of the microstructure. We assume statistical homogeneity and isotropy and the 3D model maintains porosity spatial correlation, chord size distribution and d 3-4 distance transform distribution for a pixel-based reconstruction and spatial correlation for an object-based reconstruction. The 2D and 3D preliminary results are compared with microstructures reconstructed by truncated Gaussian methods. As this research is in its beginning, only the 2D results will be presented. (author)

Two-Dimensional Impact Reconstruction Method for Rail Defect Inspection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Zhao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The safety of train operating is seriously menaced by the rail defects, so it is of great significance to inspect rail defects dynamically while the train is operating. This paper presents a two-dimensional impact reconstruction method to realize the on-line inspection of rail defects. The proposed method utilizes preprocessing technology to convert time domain vertical vibration signals acquired by wireless sensor network to space signals. The modern time-frequency analysis method is improved to reconstruct the obtained multisensor information. Then, the image fusion processing technology based on spectrum threshold processing and node color labeling is proposed to reduce the noise, and blank the periodic impact signal caused by rail joints and locomotive running gear. This method can convert the aperiodic impact signals caused by rail defects to partial periodic impact signals, and locate the rail defects. An application indicates that the two-dimensional impact reconstruction method could display the impact caused by rail defects obviously, and is an effective on-line rail defects inspection method.

Impact of consensus contours from multiple PET segmentation methods on the accuracy of functional volume delineation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schaefer, A. [Saarland University Medical Centre, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Homburg (Germany); Vermandel, M. [U1189 - ONCO-THAI - Image Assisted Laser Therapy for Oncology, University of Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, Lille (France); CHU Lille, Nuclear Medicine Department, Lille (France); Baillet, C. [CHU Lille, Nuclear Medicine Department, Lille (France); Dewalle-Vignion, A.S. [U1189 - ONCO-THAI - Image Assisted Laser Therapy for Oncology, University of Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, Lille (France); Modzelewski, R.; Vera, P.; Gardin, I. [Centre Henri-Becquerel and LITIS EA4108, Rouen (France); Massoptier, L.; Parcq, C.; Gibon, D. [AQUILAB, Research and Innovation Department, Loos Les Lille (France); Fechter, T.; Nestle, U. [University Medical Center Freiburg, Department for Radiation Oncology, Freiburg (Germany); German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) Freiburg and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg (Germany); Nemer, U. [University Medical Center Freiburg, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Freiburg (Germany)

2016-05-15

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of consensus algorithms on segmentation results when applied to clinical PET images. In particular, whether the use of the majority vote or STAPLE algorithm could improve the accuracy and reproducibility of the segmentation provided by the combination of three semiautomatic segmentation algorithms was investigated. Three published segmentation methods (contrast-oriented, possibility theory and adaptive thresholding) and two consensus algorithms (majority vote and STAPLE) were implemented in a single software platform (Artiview registered). Four clinical datasets including different locations (thorax, breast, abdomen) or pathologies (primary NSCLC tumours, metastasis, lymphoma) were used to evaluate accuracy and reproducibility of the consensus approach in comparison with pathology as the ground truth or CT as a ground truth surrogate. Variability in the performance of the individual segmentation algorithms for lesions of different tumour entities reflected the variability in PET images in terms of resolution, contrast and noise. Independent of location and pathology of the lesion, however, the consensus method resulted in improved accuracy in volume segmentation compared with the worst-performing individual method in the majority of cases and was close to the best-performing method in many cases. In addition, the implementation revealed high reproducibility in the segmentation results with small changes in the respective starting conditions. There were no significant differences in the results with the STAPLE algorithm and the majority vote algorithm. This study showed that combining different PET segmentation methods by the use of a consensus algorithm offers robustness against the variable performance of individual segmentation methods and this approach would therefore be useful in radiation oncology. It might also be relevant for other scenarios such as the merging of expert recommendations in clinical routine and

An improved active contour model for glacial lake extraction

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, H.; Chen, F.; Zhang, M.

2017-12-01

Active contour model is a widely used method in visual tracking and image segmentation. Under the driven of objective function, the initial curve defined in active contour model will evolve to a stable condition - a desired result in given image. As a typical region-based active contour model, C-V model has a good effect on weak boundaries detection and anti noise ability which shows great potential in glacial lake extraction. Glacial lake is a sensitive indicator for reflecting global climate change, therefore accurate delineate glacial lake boundaries is essential to evaluate hydrologic environment and living environment. However, the current method in glacial lake extraction mainly contains water index method and recognition classification method are diffcult to directly applied in large scale glacial lake extraction due to the diversity of glacial lakes and masses impacted factors in the image, such as image noise, shadows, snow and ice, etc. Regarding the abovementioned advantanges of C-V model and diffcults in glacial lake extraction, we introduce the signed pressure force function to improve the C-V model for adapting to processing of glacial lake extraction. To inspect the effect of glacial lake extraction results, three typical glacial lake development sites were selected, include Altai mountains, Centre Himalayas, South-eastern Tibet, and Landsat8 OLI imagery was conducted as experiment data source, Google earth imagery as reference data for varifying the results. The experiment consequence suggests that improved active contour model we proposed can effectively discriminate the glacial lakes from complex backgound with a higher Kappa Coefficient - 0.895, especially in some small glacial lakes which belongs to weak information in the image. Our finding provide a new approach to improved accuracy under the condition of large proportion of small glacial lakes and the possibility for automated glacial lake mapping in large-scale area.

Efficient Active Contour and K-Means Algorithms in Image Segmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.R. Rommelse

2004-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we discuss a classic clustering algorithm that can be used to segment images and a recently developed active contour image segmentation model. We propose integrating aspects of the classic algorithm to improve the active contour model. For the resulting CVK and B-means segmentation algorithms we examine methods to decrease the size of the image domain. The CVK method has been implemented to run on parallel and distributed computers. By changing the order of updating the pixels, it was possible to replace synchronous communication with asynchronous communication and subsequently the parallel efficiency is improved.

SU-C-BRA-03: An Automated and Quick Contour Errordetection for Auto Segmentation in Online Adaptive Radiotherapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, J; Ates, O; Li, X [Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To develop a tool that can quickly and automatically assess contour quality generated from auto segmentation during online adaptive replanning. Methods: Due to the strict time requirement of online replanning and lack of ‘ground truth’ contours in daily images, our method starts with assessing image registration accuracy focusing on the surface of the organ in question. Several metrics tightly related to registration accuracy including Jacobian maps, contours shell deformation, and voxel-based root mean square (RMS) analysis were computed. To identify correct contours, additional metrics and an adaptive decision tree are introduced. To approve in principle, tests were performed with CT sets, planned and daily CTs acquired using a CT-on-rails during routine CT-guided RT delivery for 20 prostate cancer patients. The contours generated on daily CTs using an auto-segmentation tool (ADMIRE, Elekta, MIM) based on deformable image registration of the planning CT and daily CT were tested. Results: The deformed contours of 20 patients with total of 60 structures were manually checked as baselines. The incorrect rate of total contours is 49%. To evaluate the quality of local deformation, the Jacobian determinant (1.047±0.045) on contours has been analyzed. In an analysis of rectum contour shell deformed, the higher rate (0.41) of error contours detection was obtained compared to 0.32 with manual check. All automated detections took less than 5 seconds. Conclusion: The proposed method can effectively detect contour errors in micro and macro scope by evaluating multiple deformable registration metrics in a parallel computing process. Future work will focus on improving practicability and optimizing calculation algorithms and metric selection.

SU-C-BRA-03: An Automated and Quick Contour Errordetection for Auto Segmentation in Online Adaptive Radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, J; Ates, O; Li, X

2016-01-01

Purpose: To develop a tool that can quickly and automatically assess contour quality generated from auto segmentation during online adaptive replanning. Methods: Due to the strict time requirement of online replanning and lack of ‘ground truth’ contours in daily images, our method starts with assessing image registration accuracy focusing on the surface of the organ in question. Several metrics tightly related to registration accuracy including Jacobian maps, contours shell deformation, and voxel-based root mean square (RMS) analysis were computed. To identify correct contours, additional metrics and an adaptive decision tree are introduced. To approve in principle, tests were performed with CT sets, planned and daily CTs acquired using a CT-on-rails during routine CT-guided RT delivery for 20 prostate cancer patients. The contours generated on daily CTs using an auto-segmentation tool (ADMIRE, Elekta, MIM) based on deformable image registration of the planning CT and daily CT were tested. Results: The deformed contours of 20 patients with total of 60 structures were manually checked as baselines. The incorrect rate of total contours is 49%. To evaluate the quality of local deformation, the Jacobian determinant (1.047±0.045) on contours has been analyzed. In an analysis of rectum contour shell deformed, the higher rate (0.41) of error contours detection was obtained compared to 0.32 with manual check. All automated detections took less than 5 seconds. Conclusion: The proposed method can effectively detect contour errors in micro and macro scope by evaluating multiple deformable registration metrics in a parallel computing process. Future work will focus on improving practicability and optimizing calculation algorithms and metric selection.

Time contour expression of limited range phenomena on stack chart; Jugo chart jo deno kyokuchi gensho jikan contour

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kametani, T

1997-05-27

Time contour expression of limited range phenomena on stack chart is examined for further improvement on the result of the ultimate interpretation in the seismic reflection survey. The policy is made clear from the beginning that local phenomena are to be discussed, and data prior CMP stacking is interpreted in detail. For this purpose, it is effective to make use of the time contour expression in the midpoint-offset plane simultaneously with the CMP and COP panels. For the review of data prior to CMP stacking, it is convenient to use the CMP (CDP) stacking chart in which the data is arranged methodically. In this chart, all the channels which are crude data prior to stacking are plotted on midpoint-offset coordinates, which plane is called the MOD (Midpoint Offset Domain) panel. Various panels can be chosen unrestrictedly, and their mutual relations can be easily grasped. When data points are given a time axis, they can be expressed in a time contour. Studies are conducted about the underground structure, multiple reflection paths divided by it, and characteristics of detour reflection attributable to faults. 4 refs., 9 figs.

Stereo-vision and 3D reconstruction for nuclear mobile robots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lecoeur-Taibi, I.; Vacherand, F.; Rivallin, P.

1991-01-01

In order to perceive the geometric structure of the surrounding environment of a mobile robot, a 3D reconstruction system has been developed. Its main purpose is to provide geometric information to an operator who has to telepilot the vehicle in a nuclear power plant. The perception system is split into two parts: the vision part and the map building part. Vision is enhanced with a fusion process that rejects bas samples over space and time. The vision is based on trinocular stereo-vision which provides a range image of the image contours. It performs line contour correlation on horizontal image pairs and vertical image pairs. The results are then spatially fused in order to have one distance image, with a quality independent of the orientation of the contour. The 3D reconstruction is based on grid-based sensor fusion. As the robot moves and perceives its environment, distance data is accumulated onto a regular square grid, taking into account the uncertainty of the sensor through a sensor measurement statistical model. This approach allows both spatial and temporal fusion. Uncertainty due to sensor position and robot position is also integrated into the absolute local map. This system is modular and generic and can integrate 2D laser range finder and active vision. (author)

A Hierarchical Building Segmentation in Digital Surface Models for 3D Reconstruction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yiming Yan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, a hierarchical method for segmenting buildings in a digital surface model (DSM, which is used in a novel framework for 3D reconstruction, is proposed. Most 3D reconstructions of buildings are model-based. However, the limitations of these methods are overreliance on completeness of the offline-constructed models of buildings, and the completeness is not easily guaranteed since in modern cities buildings can be of a variety of types. Therefore, a model-free framework using high precision DSM and texture-images buildings was introduced. There are two key problems with this framework. The first one is how to accurately extract the buildings from the DSM. Most segmentation methods are limited by either the terrain factors or the difficult choice of parameter-settings. A level-set method are employed to roughly find the building regions in the DSM, and then a recently proposed ‘occlusions of random textures model’ are used to enhance the local segmentation of the buildings. The second problem is how to generate the facades of buildings. Synergizing with the corresponding texture-images, we propose a roof-contour guided interpolation of building facades. The 3D reconstruction results achieved by airborne-like images and satellites are compared. Experiments show that the segmentation method has good performance, and 3D reconstruction is easily performed by our framework, and better visualization results can be obtained by airborne-like images, which can be further replaced by UAV images.

COMPARISON OF HOLOGRAPHIC AND ITERATIVE METHODS FOR AMPLITUDE OBJECT RECONSTRUCTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. A. Shevkunov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Experimental comparison of four methods for the wavefront reconstruction is presented. We considered two iterative and two holographic methods with different mathematical models and algorithms for recovery. The first two of these methods do not use a reference wave recording scheme that reduces requirements for stability of the installation. A major role in phase information reconstruction by such methods is played by a set of spatial intensity distributions, which are recorded as the recording matrix is being moved along the optical axis. The obtained data are used consistently for wavefront reconstruction using an iterative procedure. In the course of this procedure numerical distribution of the wavefront between the planes is performed. Thus, phase information of the wavefront is stored in every plane and calculated amplitude distributions are replaced for the measured ones in these planes. In the first of the compared methods, a two-dimensional Fresnel transform and iterative calculation in the object plane are used as a mathematical model. In the second approach, an angular spectrum method is used for numerical wavefront propagation, and the iterative calculation is carried out only between closely located planes of data registration. Two digital holography methods, based on the usage of the reference wave in the recording scheme and differing from each other by numerical reconstruction algorithm of digital holograms, are compared with the first two methods. The comparison proved that the iterative method based on 2D Fresnel transform gives results comparable with the result of common holographic method with the Fourier-filtering. It is shown that holographic method for reconstructing of the object complex amplitude in the process of the object amplitude reduction is the best among considered ones.

Anatomical image-guided fluorescence molecular tomography reconstruction using kernel method

Science.gov (United States)

Baikejiang, Reheman; Zhao, Yue; Fite, Brett Z.; Ferrara, Katherine W.; Li, Changqing

2017-01-01

Abstract. Fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) is an important in vivo imaging modality to visualize physiological and pathological processes in small animals. However, FMT reconstruction is ill-posed and ill-conditioned due to strong optical scattering in deep tissues, which results in poor spatial resolution. It is well known that FMT image quality can be improved substantially by applying the structural guidance in the FMT reconstruction. An approach to introducing anatomical information into the FMT reconstruction is presented using the kernel method. In contrast to conventional methods that incorporate anatomical information with a Laplacian-type regularization matrix, the proposed method introduces the anatomical guidance into the projection model of FMT. The primary advantage of the proposed method is that it does not require segmentation of targets in the anatomical images. Numerical simulations and phantom experiments have been performed to demonstrate the proposed approach’s feasibility. Numerical simulation results indicate that the proposed kernel method can separate two FMT targets with an edge-to-edge distance of 1 mm and is robust to false-positive guidance and inhomogeneity in the anatomical image. For the phantom experiments with two FMT targets, the kernel method has reconstructed both targets successfully, which further validates the proposed kernel method. PMID:28464120

A shape-based quality evaluation and reconstruction method for electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Antink, Christoph Hoog; Pikkemaat, Robert; Malmivuo, Jaakko; Leonhardt, Steffen

2015-06-01

Linear methods of reconstruction play an important role in medical electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and there is a wide variety of algorithms based on several assumptions. With the Graz consensus reconstruction algorithm for EIT (GREIT), a novel linear reconstruction algorithm as well as a standardized framework for evaluating and comparing methods of reconstruction were introduced that found widespread acceptance in the community. In this paper, we propose a two-sided extension of this concept by first introducing a novel method of evaluation. Instead of being based on point-shaped resistivity distributions, we use 2759 pairs of real lung shapes for evaluation that were automatically segmented from human CT data. Necessarily, the figures of merit defined in GREIT were adjusted. Second, a linear method of reconstruction that uses orthonormal eigenimages as training data and a tunable desired point spread function are proposed. Using our novel method of evaluation, this approach is compared to the classical point-shaped approach. Results show that most figures of merit improve with the use of eigenimages as training data. Moreover, the possibility of tuning the reconstruction by modifying the desired point spread function is shown. Finally, the reconstruction of real EIT data shows that higher contrasts and fewer artifacts can be achieved in ventilation- and perfusion-related images.

A shape-based quality evaluation and reconstruction method for electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antink, Christoph Hoog; Pikkemaat, Robert; Leonhardt, Steffen; Malmivuo, Jaakko

2015-01-01

Linear methods of reconstruction play an important role in medical electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and there is a wide variety of algorithms based on several assumptions. With the Graz consensus reconstruction algorithm for EIT (GREIT), a novel linear reconstruction algorithm as well as a standardized framework for evaluating and comparing methods of reconstruction were introduced that found widespread acceptance in the community.In this paper, we propose a two-sided extension of this concept by first introducing a novel method of evaluation. Instead of being based on point-shaped resistivity distributions, we use 2759 pairs of real lung shapes for evaluation that were automatically segmented from human CT data. Necessarily, the figures of merit defined in GREIT were adjusted. Second, a linear method of reconstruction that uses orthonormal eigenimages as training data and a tunable desired point spread function are proposed.Using our novel method of evaluation, this approach is compared to the classical point-shaped approach. Results show that most figures of merit improve with the use of eigenimages as training data. Moreover, the possibility of tuning the reconstruction by modifying the desired point spread function is shown. Finally, the reconstruction of real EIT data shows that higher contrasts and fewer artifacts can be achieved in ventilation- and perfusion-related images. (paper)

Contours - MO 2012 Greene County 5ft Contours (SHP)

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC State | GIS Inventory — 5ft cartographic contour file for Greene County, Missouri. This file was created using the elevation data from the 2011 LiDAR flight. It includes indexes for 10, 25,...

Dynamic PET Image reconstruction for parametric imaging using the HYPR kernel method

Science.gov (United States)

Spencer, Benjamin; Qi, Jinyi; Badawi, Ramsey D.; Wang, Guobao

2017-03-01

Dynamic PET image reconstruction is a challenging problem because of the ill-conditioned nature of PET and the lowcounting statistics resulted from short time-frames in dynamic imaging. The kernel method for image reconstruction has been developed to improve image reconstruction of low-count PET data by incorporating prior information derived from high-count composite data. In contrast to most of the existing regularization-based methods, the kernel method embeds image prior information in the forward projection model and does not require an explicit regularization term in the reconstruction formula. Inspired by the existing highly constrained back-projection (HYPR) algorithm for dynamic PET image denoising, we propose in this work a new type of kernel that is simpler to implement and further improves the kernel-based dynamic PET image reconstruction. Our evaluation study using a physical phantom scan with synthetic FDG tracer kinetics has demonstrated that the new HYPR kernel-based reconstruction can achieve a better region-of-interest (ROI) bias versus standard deviation trade-off for dynamic PET parametric imaging than the post-reconstruction HYPR denoising method and the previously used nonlocal-means kernel.

Anisotropic Diffusion based Brain MRI Segmentation and 3D Reconstruction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Arfan Jaffar

2012-06-01

Full Text Available In medical field visualization of the organs is very imperative for accurate diagnosis and treatment of any disease. Brain tumor diagnosis and surgery also required impressive 3D visualization of the brain to the radiologist. Detection and 3D reconstruction of brain tumors from MRI is a computationally time consuming and error-prone task. Proposed system detects and presents a 3D visualization model of the brain and tumor inside which greatly helps the radiologist to effectively diagnose and analyze the brain tumor. We proposed a multi-phase segmentation and visualization technique which overcomes the many problems of 3D volume segmentation methods like lake of fine details. In this system segmentation is done in three different phases which reduces the error chances. The system finds contours for skull, brain and tumor. These contours are stacked over and two novel methods are used to find the 3D visualization models. The results of these techniques, particularly of interpolation based, are impressive. Proposed system is tested against publically available data set [41] and MRI datasets available from MRI aamp; CT center Rawalpindi, Pakistan [42].

The influence of image reconstruction algorithms on linear thorax EIT image analysis of ventilation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Zhanqi; Möller, Knut; Frerichs, Inéz; Pulletz, Sven; Müller-Lisse, Ullrich

2014-01-01

Analysis methods of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) images based on different reconstruction algorithms were examined. EIT measurements were performed on eight mechanically ventilated patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. A maneuver with step increase of airway pressure was performed. EIT raw data were reconstructed offline with (1) filtered back-projection (BP); (2) the Dräger algorithm based on linearized Newton–Raphson (DR); (3) the GREIT (Graz consensus reconstruction algorithm for EIT) reconstruction algorithm with a circular forward model (GR C ) and (4) GREIT with individual thorax geometry (GR T ). Individual thorax contours were automatically determined from the routine computed tomography images. Five indices were calculated on the resulting EIT images respectively: (a) the ratio between tidal and deep inflation impedance changes; (b) tidal impedance changes in the right and left lungs; (c) center of gravity; (d) the global inhomogeneity index and (e) ventilation delay at mid-dorsal regions. No significant differences were found in all examined indices among the four reconstruction algorithms (p > 0.2, Kruskal–Wallis test). The examined algorithms used for EIT image reconstruction do not influence the selected indices derived from the EIT image analysis. Indices that validated for images with one reconstruction algorithm are also valid for other reconstruction algorithms. (paper)

The influence of image reconstruction algorithms on linear thorax EIT image analysis of ventilation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zhanqi; Frerichs, Inéz; Pulletz, Sven; Müller-Lisse, Ullrich; Möller, Knut

2014-06-01

Analysis methods of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) images based on different reconstruction algorithms were examined. EIT measurements were performed on eight mechanically ventilated patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. A maneuver with step increase of airway pressure was performed. EIT raw data were reconstructed offline with (1) filtered back-projection (BP); (2) the Dräger algorithm based on linearized Newton-Raphson (DR); (3) the GREIT (Graz consensus reconstruction algorithm for EIT) reconstruction algorithm with a circular forward model (GR(C)) and (4) GREIT with individual thorax geometry (GR(T)). Individual thorax contours were automatically determined from the routine computed tomography images. Five indices were calculated on the resulting EIT images respectively: (a) the ratio between tidal and deep inflation impedance changes; (b) tidal impedance changes in the right and left lungs; (c) center of gravity; (d) the global inhomogeneity index and (e) ventilation delay at mid-dorsal regions. No significant differences were found in all examined indices among the four reconstruction algorithms (p > 0.2, Kruskal-Wallis test). The examined algorithms used for EIT image reconstruction do not influence the selected indices derived from the EIT image analysis. Indices that validated for images with one reconstruction algorithm are also valid for other reconstruction algorithms.

SU-E-J-129: Atlas Development for Cardiac Automatic Contouring Using Multi-Atlas Segmentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, R; Yang, J; Pan, T; Milgrom, S; Pinnix, C; Shi, A; Yang, J; Liu, Y; Nguyen, Q; Gomez, D; Dabaja, B; Balter, P; Court, L; Liao, Z

2015-01-01

Purpose: To develop a set of atlases for automatic contouring of cardiac structures to determine heart radiation dose and the associated toxicity. Methods: Six thoracic cancer patients with both contrast and non-contrast CT images were acquired for this study. Eight radiation oncologists manually and independently delineated cardiac contours on the non-contrast CT by referring to the fused contrast CT and following the RTOG 1106 atlas contouring guideline. Fifteen regions of interest (ROIs) were delineated, including heart, four chambers, four coronary arteries, pulmonary artery and vein, inferior and superior vena cava, and ascending and descending aorta. Individual expert contours were fused using the simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE) algorithm for each ROI and each patient. The fused contours became atlases for an in-house multi-atlas segmentation. Using leave-one-out test, we generated auto-segmented contours for each ROI and each patient. The auto-segmented contours were compared with the fused contours using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and the mean surface distance (MSD). Results: Inter-observer variability was not obvious for heart, chambers, and aorta but was large for other structures that were not clearly distinguishable on CT image. The average DSC between individual expert contours and the fused contours were less than 50% for coronary arteries and pulmonary vein, and the average MSD were greater than 4.0 mm. The largest MSD of expert contours deviating from the fused contours was 2.5 cm. The mean DSC and MSD of auto-segmented contours were within one standard deviation of expert contouring variability except the right coronary artery. The coronary arteries, vena cava, and pulmonary vein had DSC<70% and MSD>3.0 mm. Conclusion: A set of cardiac atlases was created for cardiac automatic contouring, the accuracy of which was comparable to the variability in expert contouring. However, substantial modification may need

Automatic segmentation and 3D reconstruction of intravascular ultrasound images for a fast preliminar evaluation of vessel pathologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanz-Requena, Roberto; Moratal, David; García-Sánchez, Diego Ramón; Bodí, Vicente; Rieta, José Joaquín; Sanchis, Juan Manuel

2007-03-01

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging is used along with X-ray coronary angiography to detect vessel pathologies. Manual analysis of IVUS images is slow and time-consuming and it is not feasible for clinical purposes. A semi-automated method is proposed to generate 3D reconstructions from IVUS video sequences, so that a fast diagnose can be easily done, quantifying plaque length and severity as well as plaque volume of the vessels under study. The methodology described in this work has four steps: a pre-processing of IVUS images, a segmentation of media-adventitia contour, a detection of intima and plaque and a 3D reconstruction of the vessel. Preprocessing is intended to remove noise from the images without blurring the edges. Segmentation of media-adventitia contour is achieved using active contours (snakes). In particular, we use the gradient vector flow (GVF) as external force for the snakes. The detection of lumen border is obtained taking into account gray-level information of the inner part of the previously detected contours. A knowledge-based approach is used to determine which level of gray corresponds statistically to the different regions of interest: intima, plaque and lumen. The catheter region is automatically discarded. An estimate of plaque type is also given. Finally, 3D reconstruction of all detected regions is made. The suitability of this methodology has been verified for the analysis and visualization of plaque length, stenosis severity, automatic detection of the most problematic regions, calculus of plaque volumes and a preliminary estimation of plaque type obtaining for automatic measures of lumen and vessel area an average error smaller than 1mm(2) (equivalent aproximately to 10% of the average measure), for calculus of plaque and lumen volume errors smaller than 0.5mm(3) (equivalent approximately to 20% of the average measure) and for plaque type estimates a mismatch of less than 8% in the analysed frames.

The Effect of Contouring Variability on Dosimetric Parameters for Brain Metastases Treated With Stereotactic Radiosurgery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanley, Julia; Dunscombe, Peter; Lau, Harold; Burns, Paul; Lim, Gerald; Liu, Hong-Wei; Nordal, Robert; Starreveld, Yves; Valev, Boris; Voroney, Jon-Paul; Spencer, David P.

2013-01-01

Purpose: To quantify the effect of contouring variation on stereotactic radiosurgery plan quality metrics for brain metastases. Methods and Materials: Fourteen metastases, each contoured by 8 physicians, formed the basis of this study. A template-based dynamic conformal 5-arc dose distribution was developed for each of the 112 contours, and each dose distribution was applied to the 7 other contours in each patient set. Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) plan quality metrics and the Paddick conformity index were calculated for each of the 896 combinations of dose distributions and contours. Results: The ratio of largest to smallest contour volume for each metastasis varied from 1.25 to 4.47, with a median value of 1.68 (n=8). The median absolute difference in RTOG conformity index between the value for the reference contour and the values for the alternative contours was 0.35. The variation of the range of conformity index for all contours for a given tumor varied with the tumor size. Conclusions: The high degree of interobserver contouring variation strongly suggests that peer review or consultation should be adopted to standardize tumor volume prescription. Observer confidence was not reflected in contouring consistency. The impact of contouring variability on plan quality metrics, used as criteria for clinical trial protocol compliance, was such that the category of compliance was robust to interobserver effects only 70% of the time

Maximum entropy method in momentum density reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobrzynski, L.; Holas, A.

1997-01-01

The Maximum Entropy Method (MEM) is applied to the reconstruction of the 3-dimensional electron momentum density distributions observed through the set of Compton profiles measured along various crystallographic directions. It is shown that the reconstruction of electron momentum density may be reliably carried out with the aid of simple iterative algorithm suggested originally by Collins. A number of distributions has been simulated in order to check the performance of MEM. It is shown that MEM can be recommended as a model-free approach. (author). 13 refs, 1 fig

A modified sparse reconstruction method for three-dimensional synthetic aperture radar image

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ziqiang; Ji, Kefeng; Song, Haibo; Zou, Huanxin

2018-03-01

There is an increasing interest in three-dimensional Synthetic Aperture Radar (3-D SAR) imaging from observed sparse scattering data. However, the existing 3-D sparse imaging method requires large computing times and storage capacity. In this paper, we propose a modified method for the sparse 3-D SAR imaging. The method processes the collection of noisy SAR measurements, usually collected over nonlinear flight paths, and outputs 3-D SAR imagery. Firstly, the 3-D sparse reconstruction problem is transformed into a series of 2-D slices reconstruction problem by range compression. Then the slices are reconstructed by the modified SL0 (smoothed l0 norm) reconstruction algorithm. The improved algorithm uses hyperbolic tangent function instead of the Gaussian function to approximate the l0 norm and uses the Newton direction instead of the steepest descent direction, which can speed up the convergence rate of the SL0 algorithm. Finally, numerical simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. It is shown that our method, compared with existing 3-D sparse imaging method, performs better in reconstruction quality and the reconstruction time.

A New Method for Coronal Magnetic Field Reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Sibaek; Choe, Gwang-Son; Cho, Kyung-Suk; Kim, Kap-Sung

2017-08-01

A precise way of coronal magnetic field reconstruction (extrapolation) is an indispensable tool for understanding of various solar activities. A variety of reconstruction codes have been developed so far and are available to researchers nowadays, but they more or less bear this and that shortcoming. In this paper, a new efficient method for coronal magnetic field reconstruction is presented. The method imposes only the normal components of magnetic field and current density at the bottom boundary to avoid the overspecification of the reconstruction problem, and employs vector potentials to guarantee the divergence-freeness. In our method, the normal component of current density is imposed, not by adjusting the tangential components of A, but by adjusting its normal component. This allows us to avoid a possible numerical instability that on and off arises in codes using A. In real reconstruction problems, the information for the lateral and top boundaries is absent. The arbitrariness of the boundary conditions imposed there as well as various preprocessing brings about the diversity of resulting solutions. We impose the source surface condition at the top boundary to accommodate flux imbalance, which always shows up in magnetograms. To enhance the convergence rate, we equip our code with a gradient-method type accelerator. Our code is tested on two analytical force-free solutions. When the solution is given only at the bottom boundary, our result surpasses competitors in most figures of merits devised by Schrijver et al. (2006). We have also applied our code to a real active region NOAA 11974, in which two M-class flares and a halo CME took place. The EUV observation shows a sudden appearance of an erupting loop before the first flare. Our numerical solutions show that two entwining flux tubes exist before the flare and their shackling is released after the CME with one of them opened up. We suggest that the erupting loop is created by magnetic reconnection between

Quantitative Assessment of Variational Surface Reconstruction from Sparse Point Clouds in Freehand 3D Ultrasound Imaging during Image-Guided Tumor Ablation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuangcheng Deng

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Surface reconstruction for freehand 3D ultrasound is used to provide 3D visualization of a VOI (volume of interest during image-guided tumor ablation surgery. This is a challenge because the recorded 2D B-scans are not only sparse but also non-parallel. To solve this issue, we established a framework to reconstruct the surface of freehand 3D ultrasound imaging in 2011. The key technique for surface reconstruction in that framework is based on variational interpolation presented by Greg Turk for shape transformation and is named Variational Surface Reconstruction (VSR. The main goal of this paper is to evaluate the quality of surface reconstructions, especially when the input data are extremely sparse point clouds from freehand 3D ultrasound imaging, using four methods: Ball Pivoting, Power Crust, Poisson, and VSR. Four experiments are conducted, and quantitative metrics, such as the Hausdorff distance, are introduced for quantitative assessment. The experiment results show that the performance of the proposed VSR method is the best of the four methods at reconstructing surface from sparse data. The VSR method can produce a close approximation to the original surface from as few as two contours, whereas the other three methods fail to do so. The experiment results also illustrate that the reproducibility of the VSR method is the best of the four methods.

Contour analysis of steady state tokamak reactor performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devoto, R.S.; Fenstermacher, M.E.

1990-01-01

A new method of analysis for presenting the possible operating space for steady state, non-ignited tokamak reactors is proposed. The method uses contours of reactor performance and plasma characteristics, fusion power gain, wall neutron flux, current drive power, etc., plotted on a two-dimensional grid, the axes of which are the plasma current I p and the normalized beta, β n = β/(I p /aB 0 ), to show possible operating points. These steady state operating contour plots are called SOPCONS. This technique is illustrated in an application to a design for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) with neutral beam, lower hybrid and bootstrap current drive. The utility of the SOPCON plots for pointing out some of the non-intuitive considerations in steady state reactor design is shown. (author). Letter-to-the-editor. 16 refs, 3 figs, 1 tab

Accelerated gradient methods for total-variation-based CT image reconstruction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Jakob Heide; Jensen, Tobias Lindstrøm; Hansen, Per Christian

2011-01-01

incorporates several heuristics from the optimization literature such as Barzilai-Borwein (BB) step size selection and nonmonotone line search. The latter uses a cleverly chosen sequence of auxiliary points to achieve a better convergence rate. The methods are memory efficient and equipped with a stopping...... reconstruction can in principle be found by any optimization method, but in practice the large scale of the systems arising in CT image reconstruction preclude the use of memory-demanding methods such as Newton’s method. The simple gradient method has much lower memory requirements, but exhibits slow convergence...

A Total Variation-Based Reconstruction Method for Dynamic MRI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Germana Landi

2008-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, total variation (TV regularization has become a popular and powerful tool for image restoration and enhancement. In this work, we apply TV minimization to improve the quality of dynamic magnetic resonance images. Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging is an increasingly popular clinical technique used to monitor spatio-temporal changes in tissue structure. Fast data acquisition is necessary in order to capture the dynamic process. Most commonly, the requirement of high temporal resolution is fulfilled by sacrificing spatial resolution. Therefore, the numerical methods have to address the issue of images reconstruction from limited Fourier data. One of the most successful techniques for dynamic imaging applications is the reduced-encoded imaging by generalized-series reconstruction method of Liang and Lauterbur. However, even if this method utilizes a priori data for optimal image reconstruction, the produced dynamic images are degraded by truncation artifacts, most notably Gibbs ringing, due to the spatial low resolution of the data. We use a TV regularization strategy in order to reduce these truncation artifacts in the dynamic images. The resulting TV minimization problem is solved by the fixed point iteration method of Vogel and Oman. The results of test problems with simulated and real data are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in reducing the truncation artifacts of the reconstructed images.

On-line reconstruction of in-core power distribution by harmonics expansion method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Changhui; Wu Hongchun; Cao Liangzhi; Yang Ping

2011-01-01

Highlights: → A harmonics expansion method for the on-line in-core power reconstruction is proposed. → A harmonics data library is pre-generated off-line and a code named COMS is developed. → Numerical results show that the maximum relative error of the reconstruction is less than 5.5%. → This method has a high computational speed compared to traditional methods. - Abstract: Fixed in-core detectors are most suitable in real-time response to in-core power distributions in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). In this paper, a harmonics expansion method is used to reconstruct the in-core power distribution of a PWR on-line. In this method, the in-core power distribution is expanded by the harmonics of one reference case. The expansion coefficients are calculated using signals provided by fixed in-core detectors. To conserve computing time and improve reconstruction precision, a harmonics data library containing the harmonics of different reference cases is constructed. Upon reconstruction of the in-core power distribution on-line, the two closest reference cases are searched from the harmonics data library to produce expanded harmonics by interpolation. The Unit 1 reactor of DayaBay Nuclear Power Plant (DayaBay NPP) in China is considered for verification. The maximum relative error between the measurement and reconstruction results is less than 5.5%, and the computing time is about 0.53 s for a single reconstruction, indicating that this method is suitable for the on-line monitoring of PWRs.

Reconstruction of on-axis lensless Fourier transform digital hologram with the screen division method

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Hongzhen; Liu, Xu; Liu, Yong; Li, Dong; Chen, Zhu; Zheng, Fanglan; Yu, Deqiang

2017-10-01

An effective approach for reconstructing on-axis lensless Fourier Transform digital hologram by using the screen division method is proposed. Firstly, the on-axis Fourier Transform digital hologram is divided into sub-holograms. Then the reconstruction result of every sub-hologram is obtained according to the position of corresponding sub-hologram in the hologram reconstruction plane with Fourier transform operation. Finally, the reconstruction image of on-axis Fourier Transform digital hologram can be acquired by the superposition of the reconstruction result of sub-holograms. Compared with the traditional reconstruction method with the phase shifting technology, in which multiple digital holograms are required to record for obtaining the reconstruction image, this method can obtain the reconstruction image with only one digital hologram and therefore greatly simplify the recording and reconstruction process of on-axis lensless Fourier Transform digital holography. The effectiveness of the proposed method is well proved with the experimental results and it will have potential application foreground in the holographic measurement and display field.

One step linear reconstruction method for continuous wave diffuse optical tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Ukhrowiyah, N.; Yasin, M.

2017-09-01

The method one step linear reconstruction method for continuous wave diffuse optical tomography is proposed and demonstrated for polyvinyl chloride based material and breast phantom. Approximation which used in this method is selecting regulation coefficient and evaluating the difference between two states that corresponding to the data acquired without and with a change in optical properties. This method is used to recovery of optical parameters from measured boundary data of light propagation in the object. The research is demonstrated by simulation and experimental data. Numerical object is used to produce simulation data. Chloride based material and breast phantom sample is used to produce experimental data. Comparisons of results between experiment and simulation data are conducted to validate the proposed method. The results of the reconstruction image which is produced by the one step linear reconstruction method show that the image reconstruction almost same as the original object. This approach provides a means of imaging that is sensitive to changes in optical properties, which may be particularly useful for functional imaging used continuous wave diffuse optical tomography of early diagnosis of breast cancer.

The e/h method of energy reconstruction for combined calorimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kul'chitskij, Yu.A.; Kuz'min, M.V.; Vinogradov, V.B.

1999-01-01

The new simple method of the energy reconstruction for a combined calorimeter, which we called the e/h method, is suggested. It uses only the known e/h ratios and the electron calibration constants and does not require the determination of any parameters by a minimization technique. The method has been tested on the basis of the 1996 test beam data of the ATLAS barrel combined calorimeter and demonstrated the correctness of the reconstruction of the mean values of energies. The obtained fractional energy resolution is [(58 ± 3)%/√E + (2.5 ± 0.3)%] O+ (1.7 ± 0.2) GeV/E. This algorithm can be used for the fast energy reconstruction in the first level trigger

Female Facial Attractiveness Assessed from Three-Dimensional Contour Lines by University Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinwara Jirathamopas

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Three-dimensional (3D images could provide more accurate evaluation for facial attractiveness than two-dimensional (2D images. The 3D facial image could be simplified into gray scale 3D contour lines. Whether female facial attractiveness could be perceived in these simplified 3D facial contour lines should be determined. Methods: A series of 100 2D photographs (one frontal and two lateral views and 3D contour lines extracted from 3D facial images of females were projected onto a screen. Each image presentation lasted 5 s, and the evaluators marked their impression of each image’s facial attractiveness on a five-point Likert scale within 3 s of its presentation. The evaluation of the 3D contour lines was performed twice, 2 weeks apart. The evaluators were university students. Results: High consistency (r = 0.92 was found for the first and second evaluation of 3D facial contour lines for female facial attractiveness. The judgments of unattractive face were more consistent than the judgments of attractive face. Male students tended to give lower scores than female students in the evaluation of female facial attractiveness. Conclusions: Female facial attractiveness could be evaluated by 3D facial contour lines. 3D facial contour lines should be one of the key factors of facial attractiveness.

SU-E-J-108: Solving the Chinese Postman Problem for Effective Contour Deformation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, J; Zhang, L; Balter, P; Court, L [MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Zhang, Y; Dong, L [Scripps Proton Therapy Center, San Diego, CA (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: To develop a practical approach for accurate contour deformation when deformable image registration (DIR) is used for atlas-based segmentation or contour propagation in image-guided radiotherapy. Methods: A contour deformation approach was developed on the basis of 3D mesh operations. The 2D contours represented by a series of points in each slice were first converted to a 3D triangular mesh, which was deformed by the deformation vectors resulting from DIR. A set of parallel 2D planes then cut through the deformed 3D mesh, generating unordered points and line segments, which should be reorganized into a set of 2D contour points. It was realized that the reorganization problem was equivalent to solving the Chinese Postman Problem (CPP) by traversing a graph built from the unordered points with the least cost. Alternatively, deformation could be applied to a binary mask converted from the original contours. The deformed binary mask was then converted back into contours at the CT slice locations. We performed a qualitative comparison to validate the mesh-based approach against the image-based approach. Results: The DIR could considerably change the 3D mesh, making complicated 2D contour representations after deformation. CPP was able to effectively reorganize the points in 2D planes no matter how complicated the 2D contours were. The mesh-based approach did not require a post-processing of the contour, thus accurately showing the actual deformation in DIR. The mesh-based approach could keep some fine details and resulted in smoother contours than the image-based approach did, especially for the lung structure. Image-based approach appeared to over-process contours and suffered from image resolution limits. The mesh-based approach was integrated into in-house DIR software for use in routine clinic and research. Conclusion: We developed a practical approach for accurate contour deformation. The efficiency of this approach was demonstrated in both clinic and

Effectiveness of mesotherapy on body contouring.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Seung Ha; Kim, Deok Woo; Lee, Min Ah; Yoo, Sang Chul; Rhee, Seung Chul; Koo, Sang Hwan; Seol, Geun Hye; Cho, Eun Young

2008-04-01

Despite the increasing interest in mesotherapy as an alternative method for body contouring, there are few reports of its safety, efficacy, and mechanism of action. A clinical examination was performed to evaluate the efficacy of mesotherapy for body contouring. Twenty women were enrolled in this prospective, case-controlled study over a 12-week period. The authors injected a mixed solution (i.e., aminophylline, buflomedil, and lidocaine) into the superficial dermis of the medial aspect of one thigh weekly using a mechanical delivery gun. There was no treatment to the other thigh. The change in the fat level was evaluated by measuring the girth of the thighs and by computed tomographic scanning. The lipid profiles were checked to determine the effect of mesotherapy on lipid metabolism, and questionnaires were used to determine the satisfaction rate of the patients. The loss of thigh girth on the treated side was not significantly different from that of the untreated side. The computed tomographic scans showed no statistically significant difference in the cross-sectional area or thickness of the fat layer between each group. There were no statistically significant changes in the lipid profiles except for the triglyceride level. A questionnaire asking about the effect of mesotherapy indicated poor patient satisfaction. Mesotherapy is not an effective alternative treatment modality for body contouring.

The application of three-dimensional reconstruction technology in industrial computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Aidong; Sun Lingxia; Zhou Ying; Ye Yunchang

2009-01-01

It's an important research aspect in domestic ICT field, that the 3-D visualization of continuous ICT images reconstructed by 3-D reconstruction technology. The contour lines are joint by triangles in the course of 3-D reconstructions of the continuous equidistant ICT images. After the stereo images of the scanned objects are displayed, some special functions including inspections of the objects from different angles and orientations, nondestructive measurement of some 3-D parameters and so on will be carried out just by operating the computer. The inspectors can get more detailed structural information by the reconstructed images. So in this way the convenience and veracity of the non-detection have been promoted. (authors)

Image reconstruction in computerized tomography using the convolution method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira Rebelo, A.M. de.

1984-03-01

In the present work an algoritin was derived, using the analytical convolution method (filtered back-projection) for two-dimensional or three-dimensional image reconstruction in computerized tomography applied to non-destructive testing and to the medical use. This mathematical model is based on the analytical Fourier transform method for image reconstruction. This model consists of a discontinuous system formed by an NxN array of cells (pixels). The attenuation in the object under study of a colimated gamma ray beam has been determined for various positions and incidence angles (projections) in terms of the interaction of the beam with the intercepted pixels. The contribution of each pixel to beam attenuation was determined using the weight function W ij which was used for simulated tests. Simulated tests using standard objects with attenuation coefficients in the range of 0,2 to 0,7 cm -1 were carried out using cell arrays of up to 25x25. One application was carried out in the medical area simulating image reconstruction of an arm phantom with attenuation coefficients in the range of 0,2 to 0,5 cm -1 using cell arrays of 41x41. The simulated results show that, in objects with a great number of interfaces and great variations of attenuation coefficients at these interfaces, a good reconstruction is obtained with the number of projections equal to the reconstruction matrix dimension. A good reconstruction is otherwise obtained with fewer projections. (author) [pt

Influence of Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction on coronary plaque analysis in coronary computed tomography angiography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Precht, Helle; Kitslaar, Pieter H; Broersen, Alexander

2016-01-01

performed. Images were reconstructed using FBP, 30% and 60% adaptive statistical IR (ASIR). Coronary plaque analysis was performed as per patient and per vessel (LM, LAD, CX and RCA) measurements. Lumen and vessel volumes and plaque burden measurements were based on automatic detected contours in each...... reconstruction. Lumen and plaque intensity measurements and HU based plaque characterization were based on corrected contours copied to each reconstruction. RESULTS: No significant changes between FBP and 30% ASIR were found except for lumen- (-2.53 HU) and plaque intensities (-1.28 HU). Between FBP and 60% ASIR...... the change in total volume showed an increase of 0.94%, 4.36% and 2.01% for lumen, plaque and vessel, respectively. The change in total plaque burden between FBP and 60% ASIR was 0.76%. Lumen and plaque intensities decreased between FBP and 60% ASIR with -9.90 HU and -1.97 HU, respectively. The total plaque...

Reproducibility of 'Intelligent' Contouring of Gross Tumor Volume in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer on PET/CT Images Using a Standardized Visual Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bayne, Michael; Hicks, Rodney J.; Everitt, Sarah; Fimmell, Natalie

2010-01-01

Purpose: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is increasingly used for delineating gross tumor volume (GTV) in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The methodology for contouring tumor margins remains controversial. We developed a rigorous visual protocol for contouring GTV that uses all available clinical information and studied its reproducibility in patients from a prospective PET/CT planning trial. Methods and Materials: Planning PET/CT scans from 6 consecutive patients were selected. Six 'observers' (two radiation oncologists, two nuclear medicine physicians, and two radiologists) contoured GTVs for each patient using a predefined protocol and subsequently recontoured 2 patients. For the estimated GTVs and axial distances, least-squares means for each observer and for each case were calculated and compared, using the F test and pairwise t-tests. In five cases, tumor margins were also autocontoured using standardized uptake value (SUV) cutoffs of 2.5 and 3.5 and 40% SUV max . Results: The magnitude of variation between observers was small relative to the mean (coefficient of variation [CV] = 3%), and the total variation (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 3%). For estimation of superior/inferior (SI), left/right (LR), and anterior/posterior (AP) borders of the GTV, differences between observers were also small (AP, CV = 2%, ICC = 0.4%; LR, CV = 6%, ICC = 2%; SI, CV 4%, ICC = 2%). GTVs autocontoured generated using SUV 2.5, 3.5, and 40% SUV max differed widely in each case. An SUV contour of 2.5 was most closely correlated with the mean GTV defined by the human observers. Conclusions: Observer variation contributed little to total variation in the GTV and axial distances. A visual contouring protocol gave reproducible results for contouring GTV in NSCLC.

Comparing and improving reconstruction methods for proxies based on compositional data

Science.gov (United States)

Nolan, C.; Tipton, J.; Booth, R.; Jackson, S. T.; Hooten, M.

2017-12-01

Many types of studies in paleoclimatology and paleoecology involve compositional data. Often, these studies aim to use compositional data to reconstruct an environmental variable of interest; the reconstruction is usually done via the development of a transfer function. Transfer functions have been developed using many different methods. Existing methods tend to relate the compositional data and the reconstruction target in very simple ways. Additionally, the results from different methods are rarely compared. Here we seek to address these two issues. First, we introduce a new hierarchical Bayesian multivariate gaussian process model; this model allows for the relationship between each species in the compositional dataset and the environmental variable to be modeled in a way that captures the underlying complexities. Then, we compare this new method to machine learning techniques and commonly used existing methods. The comparisons are based on reconstructing the water table depth history of Caribou Bog (an ombrotrophic Sphagnum peat bog in Old Town, Maine, USA) from a new 7500 year long record of testate amoebae assemblages. The resulting reconstructions from different methods diverge in both their resulting means and uncertainties. In particular, uncertainty tends to be drastically underestimated by some common methods. These results will help to improve inference of water table depth from testate amoebae. Furthermore, this approach can be applied to test and improve inferences of past environmental conditions from a broad array of paleo-proxies based on compositional data

Multiple Active Contours Driven by Particle Swarm Optimization for Cardiac Medical Image Segmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz-Aceves, I.; Aviña-Cervantes, J. G.; López-Hernández, J. M.; González-Reyna, S. E.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a novel image segmentation method based on multiple active contours driven by particle swarm optimization (MACPSO). The proposed method uses particle swarm optimization over a polar coordinate system to increase the energy-minimizing capability with respect to the traditional active contour model. In the first stage, to evaluate the robustness of the proposed method, a set of synthetic images containing objects with several concavities and Gaussian noise is presented. Subsequently, MACPSO is used to segment the human heart and the human left ventricle from datasets of sequential computed tomography and magnetic resonance images, respectively. Finally, to assess the performance of the medical image segmentations with respect to regions outlined by experts and by the graph cut method objectively and quantifiably, a set of distance and similarity metrics has been adopted. The experimental results demonstrate that MACPSO outperforms the traditional active contour model in terms of segmentation accuracy and stability. PMID:23762177

A 3-Step Algorithm Using Region-Based Active Contours for Video Objects Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stéphanie Jehan-Besson

2002-06-01

Full Text Available We propose a 3-step algorithm for the automatic detection of moving objects in video sequences using region-based active contours. First, we introduce a very full general framework for region-based active contours with a new Eulerian method to compute the evolution equation of the active contour from a criterion including both region-based and boundary-based terms. This framework can be easily adapted to various applications, thanks to the introduction of functions named descriptors of the different regions. With this new Eulerian method based on shape optimization principles, we can easily take into account the case of descriptors depending upon features globally attached to the regions. Second, we propose a 3-step algorithm for detection of moving objects, with a static or a mobile camera, using region-based active contours. The basic idea is to hierarchically associate temporal and spatial information. The active contour evolves with successively three sets of descriptors: a temporal one, and then two spatial ones. The third spatial descriptor takes advantage of the segmentation of the image in intensity homogeneous regions. User interaction is reduced to the choice of a few parameters at the beginning of the process. Some experimental results are supplied.

A Multifactorial Analysis of Reconstruction Methods Applied After Total Gastrectomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oktay Büyükaşık

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reconstruction methods applied after total gastrectomy in terms of postoperative symptomology and nutrition. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on 31 patients who underwent total gastrectomy due to gastric cancer in 2. Clinic of General Surgery, SSK Ankara Training Hospital. 6 different reconstruction methods were used and analyzed in terms of age, sex and postoperative complications. One from esophagus and two biopsy specimens from jejunum were taken through upper gastrointestinal endoscopy from all cases, and late period morphological and microbiological changes were examined. Postoperative weight change, dumping symptoms, reflux esophagitis, solid/liquid dysphagia, early satiety, postprandial pain, diarrhea and anorexia were assessed. Results: Of 31 patients,18 were males and 13 females; the youngest one was 33 years old, while the oldest- 69 years old. It was found that reconstruction without pouch was performed in 22 cases and with pouch in 9 cases. Early satiety, postprandial pain, dumping symptoms, diarrhea and anemia were found most commonly in cases with reconstruction without pouch. The rate of bacterial colonization of the jejunal mucosa was identical in both groups. Reflux esophagitis was most commonly seen in omega esophagojejunostomy (EJ, while the least-in Roux-en-Y, Tooley and Tanner 19 EJ. Conclusion: Reconstruction with pouch performed after total gastrectomy is still a preferable method. (The Medical Bulletin of Haseki 2010; 48:126-31

Residual stress analysis in linear friction welded in-service Inconel 718 superalloy via neutron diffraction and contour method approaches

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, M. [University of British Columbia – Okanagan, School of Engineering, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, Canada V1V 1V7 (Canada); Levesque, J.-B. [Institut de recherche d' Hydro-Québec (IREQ), 1800 Lionel-Boulet Blvd., Varennes, Canada J3X 1S1 (Canada); Bichler, L., E-mail: lukas.bichler@ubc.ca [University of British Columbia – Okanagan, School of Engineering, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, Canada V1V 1V7 (Canada); Sediako, D. [Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Building 459, Station 18, Chalk River, Canada K0J 1J0 (Canada); Gholipour, J.; Wanjara, P. [National Research Council of Canada, Aerospace 5145 Decelles Ave., Montreal, Canada H3T 2B2 (Canada)

2017-04-13

In this study, an analysis of elastic residual stress in Inconel{sup ®} 718 (IN 718) linear friction welds (LFWs) was carried out. In particular, the suitability of LFW for manufacturing and repair of aero engine components was emulated by joining virgin and in-service (extracted from a turbine disk) materials. The evolution in the residual strains and stresses in the heat-affected zone (HAZ), thermomechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and dynamically recrystallized zone (DRX) of the weld was characterized using the neutron diffraction and contour methods. The results provided insight into diverse challenges in quantitative analysis of residual stresses in welded IN 718 using diffraction techniques. Specifically, judicious selection of the beam width, height and stress-free lattice spacing were seen to be crucial to minimize measurement error and increase accuracy. Further, the contour method – a destructive technique relying on capturing the stress relaxation after electrical discharge machining – was used to characterize the residual stress distribution on two-dimensional plane sections of the welds. Both techniques suggested an increasing magnitude of residual stress originating from the base metal that reached a peak at the weld interface. Both methods indicated that the peak magnitude of residual stresses were below the yield stress of IN 718.

Fast multiview three-dimensional reconstruction method using cost volume filtering

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seung Joo; Park, Min Ki; Jang, In Yeop; Lee, Kwan H.

2014-03-01

As the number of customers who want to record three-dimensional (3-D) information using a mobile electronic device increases, it becomes more and more important to develop a method which quickly reconstructs a 3-D model from multiview images. A fast multiview-based 3-D reconstruction method is presented, which is suitable for the mobile environment by constructing a cost volume of the 3-D height field. This method consists of two steps: the construction of a reliable base surface and the recovery of shape details. In each step, the cost volume is constructed using photoconsistency and then it is filtered according to the multiscale. The multiscale-based cost volume filtering allows the 3-D reconstruction to maintain the overall shape and to preserve the shape details. We demonstrate the strength of the proposed method in terms of computation time, accuracy, and unconstrained acquisition environment.

Direct fourier methods in 3D-reconstruction from cone-beam data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Axelsson, C.

1994-01-01

The problem of 3D-reconstruction is encountered in both medical and industrial applications of X-ray tomography. A method able to utilize a complete set of projections complying with Tuys condition was proposed by Grangeat. His method is mathematically exact and consists of two distinct phases. In phase 1 cone-beam projection data are used to produce the derivative of the radon transform. In phase 2, after interpolation, the radon transform data are used to reconstruct the three-dimensional object function. To a large extent our method is an extension of the Grangeat method. Our aim is to reduce the computational complexity, i.e. to produce a faster method. The most taxing procedure during phase 1 is computation of line-integrals in the detector plane. By applying the direct Fourier method in reverse for this computation, we reduce the complexity of phase 1 from O(N 4 ) to O(N 3 logN). Phase 2 can be performed either as a straight 3D-reconstruction or as a sequence of two 2D-reconstructions in vertical and horizontal planes, respectively. Direct Fourier methods can be applied for the 2D- and for the 3D-reconstruction, which reduces the complexity of phase 2 from O(N 4 ) to O(N 3 logN) as well. In both cases, linogram techniques are applied. For 3D-reconstruction the inversion formula contains the second derivative filter instead of the well-known ramp-filter employed in the 2D-case. The derivative filter is more well-behaved than the 2D ramp-filter. This implies that less zeropadding is necessary which brings about a further reduction of the computational efforts. The method has been verified by experiments on simulated data. The image quality is satisfactory and independent of cone-beam angles. For a 512 3 volume we estimate that our method is ten times faster than Grangeats method

On a program manifold’s stability of one contour automatic control systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zumatov S. S.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Methodology of analysis of stability is expounded to the one contour systems automatic control feedback in the presence of non-linearities. The methodology is based on the use of the simplest mathematical models of the nonlinear controllable systems. Stability of program manifolds of one contour automatic control systems is investigated. The sufficient conditions of program manifold’s absolute stability of one contour automatic control systems are obtained. The Hurwitz’s angle of absolute stability was determined. The sufficient conditions of program manifold’s absolute stability of control systems by the course of plane in the mode of autopilot are obtained by means Lyapunov’s second method.

Evaluation of analytical reconstruction with a new gap-filling method in comparison to iterative reconstruction in [11C]-raclopride PET studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tuna, U.; Johansson, J.; Ruotsalainen, U.

2014-01-01

The aim of the study was (1) to evaluate the reconstruction strategies with dynamic [ 11 C]-raclopride human positron emission tomography (PET) studies acquired from ECAT high-resolution research tomograph (HRRT) scanner and (2) to justify for the selected gap-filling method for analytical reconstruction with simulated phantom data. A new transradial bicubic interpolation method has been implemented to enable faster analytical 3D-reprojection (3DRP) reconstructions for the ECAT HRRT PET scanner data. The transradial bicubic interpolation method was compared to the other gap-filling methods visually and quantitatively using the numerical Shepp-Logan phantom. The performance of the analytical 3DRP reconstruction method with this new gap-filling method was evaluated in comparison with the iterative statistical methods: ordinary Poisson ordered subsets expectation maximization (OPOSEM) and resolution modeled OPOSEM methods. The image reconstruction strategies were evaluated using human data at different count statistics and consequently at different noise levels. In the assessments, 14 [ 11 C]-raclopride dynamic PET studies (test-retest studies of 7 healthy subjects) acquired from the HRRT PET scanner were used. Besides the visual comparisons of the methods, we performed regional quantitative evaluations over the cerebellum, caudate and putamen structures. We compared the regional time-activity curves (TACs), areas under the TACs and binding potential (BP ND ) values. The results showed that the new gap-filling method preserves the linearity of the 3DRP method. Results with the 3DRP after gap-filling method exhibited hardly any dependency on the count statistics (noise levels) in the sinograms while we observed changes in the quantitative results with the EM-based methods for different noise contamination in the data. With this study, we showed that 3DRP with transradial bicubic gap-filling method is feasible for the reconstruction of high-resolution PET data with

A cognitive evaluation procedure for contour based shape descriptors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ghosh, Anarta; Petkov, Nicolai

2005-01-01

Present image processing algorithms are unable to extract a neat and closed contour of an object of interest from a natural image. Advanced contour detection algorithms extract the contour of an object of interest from a natural scene with a side effect of depletion of the contour. Hence in order to

Use of regularized algebraic methods in tomographic reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koulibaly, P.M.; Darcourt, J.; Blanc-Ferraud, L.; Migneco, O.; Barlaud, M.

1997-01-01

The algebraic methods are used in emission tomography to facilitate the compensation of attenuation and of Compton scattering. We have tested on a phantom the use of a regularization (a priori introduction of information), as well as the taking into account of spatial resolution variation with the depth (SRVD). Hence, we have compared the performances of the two methods by back-projection filtering (BPF) and of the two algebraic methods (AM) in terms of FWHM (by means of a point source), of the reduction of background noise (σ/m) on the homogeneous part of Jaszczak's phantom and of reconstruction speed (time unit = BPF). The BPF methods make use of a grade filter (maximal resolution, no noise treatment), single or associated with a Hann's low-pass (f c = 0.4), as well as of an attenuation correction. The AM which embody attenuation and scattering corrections are, on one side, the OS EM (Ordered Subsets, partitioning and rearranging of the projection matrix; Expectation Maximization) without regularization or SRVD correction, and, on the other side, the OS MAP EM (Maximum a posteriori), regularized and embodying the SRVD correction. A table is given containing for each used method (grade, Hann, OS EM and OS MAP EM) the values of FWHM, σ/m and time, respectively. One can observe that the OS MAP EM algebraic method allows ameliorating both the resolution, by taking into account the SRVD in the reconstruction process and noise treatment by regularization. In addition, due to the OS technique the reconstruction times are acceptable

Methods for reconstruction of the density distribution of nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pessoa, Paulo O.; Silva, Fernando C.; Martinez, Aquilino S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Two methods for reconstruction of the pin power distribution are presented. • The ARM method uses analytical solution of the 2D diffusion equation. • The PRM method uses polynomial solution without boundary conditions. • The maximum errors in pin power reconstruction occur in the peripheral water region. • The errors are significantly less in the inner area of the core. - Abstract: In analytical reconstruction method (ARM), the two-dimensional (2D) neutron diffusion equation is analytically solved for two energy groups (2G) and homogeneous nodes with dimensions of a fuel assembly (FA). The solution employs a 2D fourth-order expansion for the axial leakage term. The Nodal Expansion Method (NEM) provides the solution average values as the four average partial currents on the surfaces of the node, the average flux in the node and the multiplying factor of the problem. The expansion coefficients for the axial leakage are determined directly from NEM method or can be determined in the reconstruction method. A new polynomial reconstruction method (PRM) is implemented based on the 2D expansion for the axial leakage term. The ARM method use the four average currents on the surfaces of the node and four average fluxes in corners of the node as boundary conditions and the average flux in the node as a consistency condition. To determine the average fluxes in corners of the node an analytical solution is employed. This analytical solution uses the average fluxes on the surfaces of the node as boundary conditions and discontinuities in corners are incorporated. The polynomial and analytical solutions to the PRM and ARM methods, respectively, represent the homogeneous flux distributions. The detailed distributions inside a FA are estimated by product of homogeneous distribution by local heterogeneous form function. Moreover, the form functions of power are used. The results show that the methods have good accuracy when compared with reference values and

A novel mechanochemical method for reconstructing the moisture-degraded HKUST-1.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xuejiao; Li, Hao; Li, Yujie; Xu, Feng; Xiao, Jing; Xia, Qibin; Li, Yingwei; Li, Zhong

2015-07-11

A novel mechanochemical method was proposed to reconstruct quickly moisture-degraded HKUST-1. The degraded HKUST-1 can be restored within minutes. The reconstructed samples were characterized, and confirmed to have 95% surface area and 92% benzene capacity of the fresh HKUST-1. It is a simple and effective strategy for degraded MOF reconstruction.

MRI definition of target volumes using fuzzy logic method for three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caudrelier, Jean-Michel; Vial, Stephane; Gibon, David; Kulik, Carine; Fournier, Charles; Castelain, Bernard; Coche-Dequeant, Bernard; Rousseau, Jean

2003-01-01

Purpose: Three-dimensional (3D) volume determination is one of the most important problems in conformal radiation therapy. Techniques of volume determination from tomographic medical imaging are usually based on two-dimensional (2D) contour definition with the result dependent on the segmentation method used, as well as on the user's manual procedure. The goal of this work is to describe and evaluate a new method that reduces the inaccuracies generally observed in the 2D contour definition and 3D volume reconstruction process. Methods and Materials: This new method has been developed by integrating the fuzziness in the 3D volume definition. It first defines semiautomatically a minimal 2D contour on each slice that definitely contains the volume and a maximal 2D contour that definitely does not contain the volume. The fuzziness region in between is processed using possibility functions in possibility theory. A volume of voxels, including the membership degree to the target volume, is then created on each slice axis, taking into account the slice position and slice profile. A resulting fuzzy volume is obtained after data fusion between multiorientation slices. Different studies have been designed to evaluate and compare this new method of target volume reconstruction and a classical reconstruction method. First, target definition accuracy and robustness were studied on phantom targets. Second, intra- and interobserver variations were studied on radiosurgery clinical cases. Results: The absolute volume errors are less than or equal to 1.5% for phantom volumes calculated by the fuzzy logic method, whereas the values obtained with the classical method are much larger than the actual volumes (absolute volume errors up to 72%). With increasing MRI slice thickness (1 mm to 8 mm), the phantom volumes calculated by the classical method are increasing exponentially with a maximum absolute error up to 300%. In contrast, the absolute volume errors are less than 12% for phantom

Impact of region contouring variability on image-based focal therapy evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Eli; Donaldson, Ian A.; Shah, Taimur T.; Hu, Yipeng; Ahmed, Hashim U.; Barratt, Dean C.

2016-03-01

Motivation: Focal therapy is an emerging low-morbidity treatment option for low-intermediate risk prostate cancer; however, challenges remain in accurately delivering treatment to specified targets and determining treatment success. Registered multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MPMRI) acquired before and after treatment can support focal therapy evaluation and optimization; however, contouring variability, when defining the prostate, the clinical target volume (CTV) and the ablation region in images, reduces the precision of quantitative image-based focal therapy evaluation metrics. To inform the interpretation and clarify the limitations of such metrics, we investigated inter-observer contouring variability and its impact on four metrics. Methods: Pre-therapy and 2-week-post-therapy standard-of-care MPMRI were acquired from 5 focal cryotherapy patients. Two clinicians independently contoured, on each slice, the prostate (pre- and post-treatment) and the dominant index lesion CTV (pre-treatment) in the T2-weighted MRI, and the ablated region (post-treatment) in the dynamic-contrast- enhanced MRI. For each combination of clinician contours, post-treatment images were registered to pre-treatment images using a 3D biomechanical-model-based registration of prostate surfaces, and four metrics were computed: the proportion of the target tissue region that was ablated and the target:ablated region volume ratio for each of two targets (the CTV and an expanded planning target volume). Variance components analysis was used to measure the contribution of each type of contour to the variance in the therapy evaluation metrics. Conclusions: 14-23% of evaluation metric variance was attributable to contouring variability (including 6-12% from ablation region contouring); reducing this variability could improve the precision of focal therapy evaluation metrics.

LV challenge LKEB contribution : fully automated myocardial contour detection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijnhout, J.S.; Hendriksen, D.; Assen, van H.C.; Geest, van der R.J.

2009-01-01

In this paper a contour detection method is described and evaluated on the evaluation data sets of the Cardiac MR Left Ventricle Segmentation Challenge as part of MICCAI 2009s 3D Segmentation Challenge for Clinical Applications. The proposed method, using 2D AAM and 3D ASM, performs a fully

Environment-based pin-power reconstruction method for homogeneous core calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leroyer, H.; Brosselard, C.; Girardi, E.

2012-01-01

Core calculation schemes are usually based on a classical two-step approach associated with assembly and core calculations. During the first step, infinite lattice assemblies calculations relying on a fundamental mode approach are used to generate cross-sections libraries for PWRs core calculations. This fundamental mode hypothesis may be questioned when dealing with loading patterns involving several types of assemblies (UOX, MOX), burnable poisons, control rods and burn-up gradients. This paper proposes a calculation method able to take into account the heterogeneous environment of the assemblies when using homogeneous core calculations and an appropriate pin-power reconstruction. This methodology is applied to MOX assemblies, computed within an environment of UOX assemblies. The new environment-based pin-power reconstruction is then used on various clusters of 3x3 assemblies showing burn-up gradients and UOX/MOX interfaces, and compared to reference calculations performed with APOLLO-2. The results show that UOX/MOX interfaces are much better calculated with the environment-based calculation scheme when compared to the usual pin-power reconstruction method. The power peak is always better located and calculated with the environment-based pin-power reconstruction method on every cluster configuration studied. This study shows that taking into account the environment in transport calculations can significantly improve the pin-power reconstruction so far as it is consistent with the core loading pattern. (authors)

Phase microscopy using light-field reconstruction method for cell observation.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiu, Peng; Zhou, Xin; Kuang, Cuifang; Xu, Yingke; Liu, Xu

2015-08-01

The refractive index (RI) distribution can serve as a natural label for undyed cell imaging. However, the majority of images obtained through quantitative phase microscopy is integrated along the illumination angle and cannot reflect additional information about the refractive map on a certain plane. Herein, a light-field reconstruction method to image the RI map within a depth of 0.2 μm is proposed. It records quantitative phase-delay images using a four-step phase shifting method in different directions and then reconstructs a similar scattered light field for the refractive sample on the focus plane. It can image the RI of samples, transparent cell samples in particular, in a manner similar to the observation of scattering characteristics. The light-field reconstruction method is therefore a powerful tool for use in cytobiology studies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fingerprint image reconstruction for swipe sensor using Predictive Overlap Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mardiansyah Ahmad Zafrullah

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Swipe sensor is one of many biometric authentication sensor types that widely applied to embedded devices. The sensor produces an overlap on every pixel block of the image, so the picture requires a reconstruction process before heading to the feature extraction process. Conventional reconstruction methods require extensive computation, causing difficult to apply to embedded devices that have limited computing process. In this paper, image reconstruction is proposed using predictive overlap method, which determines the image block shift from the previous set of change data. The experiments were performed using 36 images generated by a swipe sensor with 128 x 8 pixels size of the area, where each image has an overlap in each block. The results reveal computation can increase up to 86.44% compared with conventional methods, with accuracy decreasing to 0.008% in average.

Technology assessment of automated atlas based segmentation in prostate bed contouring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sexton Tracy

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Prostate bed (PB contouring is time consuming and associated with inter-observer variability. We evaluated an automated atlas-based segmentation (AABS engine in its potential to reduce contouring time and inter-observer variability. Methods An atlas builder (AB manually contoured the prostate bed, rectum, left femoral head (LFH, right femoral head (RFH, bladder, and penile bulb of 75 post-prostatectomy cases to create an atlas according to the recent RTOG guidelines. 5 other Radiation Oncologists (RO and the AABS contoured 5 new cases. A STAPLE contour for each of the 5 patients was generated. All contours were anonymized and sent back to the 5 RO to be edited as clinically necessary. All contouring times were recorded. The dice similarity coefficient (DSC was used to evaluate the unedited- and edited- AABS and inter-observer variability among the RO. Descriptive statistics, paired t-tests and a Pearson correlation were performed. ANOVA analysis using logit transformations of DSC values was calculated to assess inter-observer variability. Results The mean time for manual contours and AABS was 17.5- and 14.1 minutes respectively (p = 0.003. The DSC results (mean, SD for the comparison of the unedited-AABS versus STAPLE contours for the PB (0.48, 0.17, bladder (0.67, 0.19, LFH (0.92, 0.01, RFH (0.92, 0.01, penile bulb (0.33, 0.25 and rectum (0.59, 0.11. The DSC results (mean, SD for the comparison of the edited-AABS versus STAPLE contours for the PB (0.67, 0.19, bladder (0.88, 0.13, LFH (0.93, 0.01, RFH (0.92, 0.01, penile bulb (0.54, 0.21 and rectum (0.78, 0.12. The DSC results (mean, SD for the comparison of the edited-AABS versus the expert panel for the PB (0.47, 0.16, bladder (0.67, 0.18, LFH (0.83, 0.18, RFH (0.83, 0.17, penile bulb (0.31, 0.23 and rectum (0.58, 0.09. The DSC results (mean, SD for the comparison of the STAPLE contours and the 5 RO are PB (0.78, 0.15, bladder (0.96, 0.02, left femoral head (0.87, 0

Image Reconstruction Based on Homotopy Perturbation Inversion Method for Electrical Impedance Tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Wang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The image reconstruction for electrical impedance tomography (EIT mathematically is a typed nonlinear ill-posed inverse problem. In this paper, a novel iteration regularization scheme based on the homotopy perturbation technique, namely, homotopy perturbation inversion method, is applied to investigate the EIT image reconstruction problem. To verify the feasibility and effectiveness, simulations of image reconstruction have been performed in terms of considering different locations, sizes, and numbers of the inclusions, as well as robustness to data noise. Numerical results indicate that this method can overcome the numerical instability and is robust to data noise in the EIT image reconstruction. Moreover, compared with the classical Landweber iteration method, our approach improves the convergence rate. The results are promising.

SU-F-J-174: A Series of Computational Human Phantoms in DICOM-RT Format for Normal Tissue Dose Reconstruction in Epidemiological Studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pyakuryal, A; Moroz, B; Lee, C; Pelletier, C; Jung, J; Lee, C

2016-01-01

Purpose: Epidemiological studies of second cancer risk in radiotherapy patients often require individualized dose estimates of normal tissues. Prior to 3D conformal radiation therapy planning, patient anatomy information was mostly limited to 2D radiological images or not even available. Generic patient CT images are often used in commercial radiotherapy treatment planning system (TPS) to reconstruct normal tissue doses. The objective of the current work was to develop a series of reference size computational human phantoms in DICOM-RT format for direct use in dose reconstruction in TPS. Methods: Contours of 93 organs and tissues were extracted from a series of pediatric and adult hybrid computational human phantoms (newborn, 1-, 5-, 10-, 15-year-old, and adult males and females) using Rhinoceros software. A MATLAB script was created to convert the contours into the DICOM-RT structure format. The simulated CT images with the resolution of 1×1×3 mm3 were also generated from the binary phantom format and coupled with the DICOM-structure files. Accurate volumes of the organs were drawn in the format using precise delineation of the contours in converted format. Due to complex geometry of organs, higher resolution (1×1×1 mm3) was found to be more efficient in the conversion of newborn and 1-year-old phantoms. Results: Contour sets were efficiently converted into DICOM-RT structures in relatively short time (about 30 minutes for each phantom). A good agreement was observed in the volumes between the original phantoms and the converted contours for large organs (NRMSD<1.0%) and small organs (NRMSD<7.7%). Conclusion: A comprehensive series of computational human phantoms in DICOM-RT format was created to support epidemiological studies of second cancer risks in radiotherapy patients. We confirmed the DICOM-RT phantoms were successfully imported into the TPS programs of major vendors.

SU-F-J-174: A Series of Computational Human Phantoms in DICOM-RT Format for Normal Tissue Dose Reconstruction in Epidemiological Studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pyakuryal, A; Moroz, B [National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD (United States); Lee, C [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Pelletier, C; Jung, J [East Carolina University Greenville, NC (United States); Lee, C [National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: Epidemiological studies of second cancer risk in radiotherapy patients often require individualized dose estimates of normal tissues. Prior to 3D conformal radiation therapy planning, patient anatomy information was mostly limited to 2D radiological images or not even available. Generic patient CT images are often used in commercial radiotherapy treatment planning system (TPS) to reconstruct normal tissue doses. The objective of the current work was to develop a series of reference size computational human phantoms in DICOM-RT format for direct use in dose reconstruction in TPS. Methods: Contours of 93 organs and tissues were extracted from a series of pediatric and adult hybrid computational human phantoms (newborn, 1-, 5-, 10-, 15-year-old, and adult males and females) using Rhinoceros software. A MATLAB script was created to convert the contours into the DICOM-RT structure format. The simulated CT images with the resolution of 1×1×3 mm3 were also generated from the binary phantom format and coupled with the DICOM-structure files. Accurate volumes of the organs were drawn in the format using precise delineation of the contours in converted format. Due to complex geometry of organs, higher resolution (1×1×1 mm3) was found to be more efficient in the conversion of newborn and 1-year-old phantoms. Results: Contour sets were efficiently converted into DICOM-RT structures in relatively short time (about 30 minutes for each phantom). A good agreement was observed in the volumes between the original phantoms and the converted contours for large organs (NRMSD<1.0%) and small organs (NRMSD<7.7%). Conclusion: A comprehensive series of computational human phantoms in DICOM-RT format was created to support epidemiological studies of second cancer risks in radiotherapy patients. We confirmed the DICOM-RT phantoms were successfully imported into the TPS programs of major vendors.

The equivalent internal orientation and position noise for contour integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldwin, Alex S; Fu, Minnie; Farivar, Reza; Hess, Robert F

2017-10-12

Contour integration is the joining-up of local responses to parts of a contour into a continuous percept. In typical studies observers detect contours formed of discrete wavelets, presented against a background of random wavelets. This measures performance for detecting contours in the limiting external noise that background provides. Our novel task measures contour integration without requiring any background noise. This allowed us to perform noise-masking experiments using orientation and position noise. From these we measure the equivalent internal noise for contour integration. We found an orientation noise of 6° and position noise of 3 arcmin. Orientation noise was 2.6x higher in contour integration compared to an orientation discrimination control task. Comparing against a position discrimination task found position noise in contours to be 2.4x lower. This suggests contour integration involves intermediate processing that enhances the quality of element position representation at the expense of element orientation. Efficiency relative to the ideal observer was lower for the contour tasks (36% in orientation noise, 21% in position noise) compared to the controls (54% and 57%).

Comparison of Force Reconstruction Methods for a Lumped Mass Beam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vesta I. Bateman

1997-01-01

Full Text Available Two extensions of the force reconstruction method, the sum of weighted accelerations technique (SWAT, are presented in this article. SWAT requires the use of the structure’s elastic mode shapes for reconstruction of the applied force. Although based on the same theory, the two new techniques do not rely on mode shapes to reconstruct the applied force and may be applied to structures whose mode shapes are not available. One technique uses the measured force and acceleration responses with the rigid body mode shapes to calculate the scalar weighting vector, so the technique is called SWAT-CAL (SWAT using a calibrated force input. The second technique uses the free-decay time response of the structure with the rigid body mode shapes to calculate the scalar weighting vector and is called SWAT-TEEM (SWAT using time eliminated elastic modes. All three methods are used to reconstruct forces for a simple structure.

Contour forming of metals by laser peening

Science.gov (United States)

Hackel, Lloyd; Harris, Fritz

2002-01-01

A method and apparatus are provided for forming shapes and contours in metal sections by generating laser induced compressive stress on the surface of the metal workpiece. The laser process can generate deep compressive stresses to shape even thick components without inducing unwanted tensile stress at the metal surface. The precision of the laser-induced stress enables exact prediction and subsequent contouring of parts. A light beam of 10 to 100 J/pulse is imaged to create an energy fluence of 60 to 200 J/cm.sup.2 on an absorptive layer applied over a metal surface. A tamping layer of water is flowed over the absorptive layer. The absorption of laser light causes a plasma to form and consequently creates a shock wave that induces a deep residual compressive stress into the metal. The metal responds to this residual stress by bending.

Low rank alternating direction method of multipliers reconstruction for MR fingerprinting.

Science.gov (United States)

Assländer, Jakob; Cloos, Martijn A; Knoll, Florian; Sodickson, Daniel K; Hennig, Jürgen; Lattanzi, Riccardo

2018-01-01

The proposed reconstruction framework addresses the reconstruction accuracy, noise propagation and computation time for magnetic resonance fingerprinting. Based on a singular value decomposition of the signal evolution, magnetic resonance fingerprinting is formulated as a low rank (LR) inverse problem in which one image is reconstructed for each singular value under consideration. This LR approximation of the signal evolution reduces the computational burden by reducing the number of Fourier transformations. Also, the LR approximation improves the conditioning of the problem, which is further improved by extending the LR inverse problem to an augmented Lagrangian that is solved by the alternating direction method of multipliers. The root mean square error and the noise propagation are analyzed in simulations. For verification, in vivo examples are provided. The proposed LR alternating direction method of multipliers approach shows a reduced root mean square error compared to the original fingerprinting reconstruction, to a LR approximation alone and to an alternating direction method of multipliers approach without a LR approximation. Incorporating sensitivity encoding allows for further artifact reduction. The proposed reconstruction provides robust convergence, reduced computational burden and improved image quality compared to other magnetic resonance fingerprinting reconstruction approaches evaluated in this study. Magn Reson Med 79:83-96, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Scapular flap for maxillectomy defect reconstruction and preliminary results using three-dimensional modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Modest, Mara C; Moore, Eric J; Abel, Kathryn M Van; Janus, Jeffrey R; Sims, John R; Price, Daniel L; Olsen, Kerry D

2017-01-01

Discuss current techniques utilizing the scapular tip and subscapular system for free tissue reconstruction of maxillary defects and highlight the impact of medical modeling on these techniques with a case series. Case review series at an academic hospital of patients undergoing maxillectomy + thoracodorsal scapula composite free flap (TSCF) reconstruction. Three-dimensional (3D) models were used in the last five cases. 3D modeling, surgical, functional, and aesthetic outcomes were reviewed. Nine patients underwent TSCF reconstruction for maxillectomy defects (median age = 43 years; range, 19-66 years). Five patients (55%) had a total maxillectomy (TM) ± orbital exenteration, whereas four patients (44%) underwent subtotal palatal maxillectomy. For TM, the contralateral scapula tip was positioned with its natural concavity recreating facial contour. The laterally based vascular pedicle was ideally positioned for facial vessel anastomosis. For subtotal-palatal defect, an ipsilateral flap was harvested, but inset with the convex surface facing superiorly. Once 3D models were available from our anatomic modeling lab, they were used for intraoperative planning of the last five patients. Use of the model intraoperatively improved efficiency and allowed for better contouring/plating of the TSCF. At last follow-up, all patients had good functional outcomes. Aesthetic outcomes were more successful in patients where 3D-modeling was used (100% vs. 50%). There were no flap failures. Median follow-up >1 month was 5.2 months (range, 1-32.7 months). Reconstruction of maxillectomy defects is complex. Successful aesthetic and functional outcomes are critical to patient satisfaction. The TSCF is a versatile flap. Based on defect type, choosing laterality is crucial for proper vessel orientation and outcomes. The use of internally produced 3D models has helped refine intraoperative contouring and flap inset, leading to more successful outcomes. 4. Laryngoscope, 127:E8-E14

TU-H-CAMPUS-JeP1-02: Fully Automatic Verification of Automatically Contoured Normal Tissues in the Head and Neck

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCarroll, R [UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); UT Health Science Center, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX (United States); Beadle, B; Yang, J; Zhang, L; Kisling, K; Balter, P; Stingo, F; Nelson, C; Followill, D; Court, L [UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Mejia, M [University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila, Metro Manila (Philippines)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To investigate and validate the use of an independent deformable-based contouring algorithm for automatic verification of auto-contoured structures in the head and neck towards fully automated treatment planning. Methods: Two independent automatic contouring algorithms [(1) Eclipse’s Smart Segmentation followed by pixel-wise majority voting, (2) an in-house multi-atlas based method] were used to create contours of 6 normal structures of 10 head-and-neck patients. After rating by a radiation oncologist, the higher performing algorithm was selected as the primary contouring method, the other used for automatic verification of the primary. To determine the ability of the verification algorithm to detect incorrect contours, contours from the primary method were shifted from 0.5 to 2cm. Using a logit model the structure-specific minimum detectable shift was identified. The models were then applied to a set of twenty different patients and the sensitivity and specificity of the models verified. Results: Per physician rating, the multi-atlas method (4.8/5 point scale, with 3 rated as generally acceptable for planning purposes) was selected as primary and the Eclipse-based method (3.5/5) for verification. Mean distance to agreement and true positive rate were selected as covariates in an optimized logit model. These models, when applied to a group of twenty different patients, indicated that shifts could be detected at 0.5cm (brain), 0.75cm (mandible, cord), 1cm (brainstem, cochlea), or 1.25cm (parotid), with sensitivity and specificity greater than 0.95. If sensitivity and specificity constraints are reduced to 0.9, detectable shifts of mandible and brainstem were reduced by 0.25cm. These shifts represent additional safety margins which might be considered if auto-contours are used for automatic treatment planning without physician review. Conclusion: Automatically contoured structures can be automatically verified. This fully automated process could be used to

Application of Symmetry Adapted Function Method for Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Octahedral Biological Macromolecules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Songjun Zeng

2010-01-01

Full Text Available A method for three-dimensional (3D reconstruction of macromolecule assembles, that is, octahedral symmetrical adapted functions (OSAFs method, was introduced in this paper and a series of formulations for reconstruction by OSAF method were derived. To verify the feasibility and advantages of the method, two octahedral symmetrical macromolecules, that is, heat shock protein Degp24 and the Red-cell L Ferritin, were utilized as examples to implement reconstruction by the OSAF method. The schedule for simulation was designed as follows: 2000 random orientated projections of single particles with predefined Euler angles and centers of origins were generated, then different levels of noises that is signal-to-noise ratio (S/N =0.1,0.5, and 0.8 were added. The structures reconstructed by the OSAF method were in good agreement with the standard models and the relative errors of the structures reconstructed by the OSAF method to standard structures were very little even for high level noise. The facts mentioned above account for that the OSAF method is feasible and efficient approach to reconstruct structures of macromolecules and have ability to suppress the influence of noise.

Contour plotting programs for printer and Calcomp plotter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moller, P.

1980-07-01

Contour plotting programs for plotting contour diagrams on printers or Calcomp plotters are described. The subroutines also exist in versions that are useful for the special application of finding minima and saddlepoints of nuclear potential energy surfaces generated by the subroutine PETR3 of another program package. For the general user, however, the most interesting aspect of the plotting package is probably the possibility of generating printer contour plots. The plotting of printer contour plots is a very fast and convenient way of displaying two-dimensional functions. 3 figures

Surface reconstruction, figure-ground modulation, and border-ownership.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeurissen, Danique; Self, Matthew W; Roelfsema, Pieter R

2013-01-01

The Differentiation-Integration for Surface Completion (DISC) model aims to explain the reconstruction of visual surfaces. We find the model a valuable contribution to our understanding of figure-ground organization. We point out that, next to border-ownership, neurons in visual cortex code whether surface elements belong to a figure or the background and that this is influenced by attention. We furthermore suggest that there must be strong links between object recognition and figure-ground assignment in order to resolve the status of interior contours. Incorporation of these factors in neurocomputational models will further improve our understanding of surface reconstruction, figure-ground organization, and border-ownership.

SU-F-J-38: Dose Rates and Preliminary Evaluation of Contouring Similarity Metrics Using 4D Cone Beam CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santoso, A [Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan (United States); Song, K; Qin, Y; Gardner, S; Liu, C; Cattaneo, R; Chetty, I; Movsas, B; Aljouni, M; Wen, N [Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: 4D imaging modalities require detailed characterization for clinical optimization. The On-Board Imager mounted on the linear accelerator was used to investigate dose rates in a tissue mimicking phantom using 4D-CBCT and assess variability of contouring similarity metrics between 4D-CT and 4D-CBCT retrospective reconstructions. Methods: A 125 kVp thoracic protocol was used. A phantom placed on a motion platform simulated a patient’s breathing cycle. An ion chamber was affixed inside the phantom’s tissue mimicking cavities (i.e. bone, lung, and soft tissue). A sinusoidal motion waveform was executed with a five second period and superior-inferior motion. Dose rates were measured at six ion chamber positions. A preliminary workflow for contouring similarity between 4D-CT and 4D-CBCT was established using a single lung SBRT patient’s historical data. Average intensity projection (Ave-IP) and maximum intensity projection (MIP) reconstructions generated offline were compared between the 4D modalities. Similarity metrics included Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Hausdorff distance, and center of mass (COM) deviation. Two isolated lesions were evaluated in the patient’s scans: one located in the right lower lobe (ITVRLL) and one located in the left lower lobe (ITVLLL). Results: Dose rates ranged from 2.30 (lung) to 5.18 (bone) E-3 cGy/mAs. For fixed acquisition parameters, cumulative dose is inversely proportional to gantry speed. For ITVRLL, DSC were 0.70 and 0.68, Hausdorff distances were 6.11 and 5.69 mm, and COM deviations were 1.24 and 4.77 mm, for Ave-IP and MIP respectively. For ITVLLL, DSC were 0.64 and 0.75, Hausdorff distances were 10.74 and 8.00 mm, and COM deviations were 7.55 and 4.3 mm, for Ave-IP and MIP respectively. Conclusion: While the dosimetric output of 4D-CBCT is low, characterization is necessary to assure clinical optimization. A basic workflow for comparison of simulation and treatment 4D image-based contours was established

Active contour-based visual tracking by integrating colors, shapes, and motions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Weiming; Zhou, Xue; Li, Wei; Luo, Wenhan; Zhang, Xiaoqin; Maybank, Stephen

2013-05-01

In this paper, we present a framework for active contour-based visual tracking using level sets. The main components of our framework include contour-based tracking initialization, color-based contour evolution, adaptive shape-based contour evolution for non-periodic motions, dynamic shape-based contour evolution for periodic motions, and the handling of abrupt motions. For the initialization of contour-based tracking, we develop an optical flow-based algorithm for automatically initializing contours at the first frame. For the color-based contour evolution, Markov random field theory is used to measure correlations between values of neighboring pixels for posterior probability estimation. For adaptive shape-based contour evolution, the global shape information and the local color information are combined to hierarchically evolve the contour, and a flexible shape updating model is constructed. For the dynamic shape-based contour evolution, a shape mode transition matrix is learnt to characterize the temporal correlations of object shapes. For the handling of abrupt motions, particle swarm optimization is adopted to capture the global motion which is applied to the contour in the current frame to produce an initial contour in the next frame.

A simulation of portable PET with a new geometric image reconstruction method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kawatsu, Shoji [Department of Radiology, Kyoritu General Hospital, 4-33 Go-bancho, Atsuta-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi 456 8611 (Japan): Department of Brain Science and Molecular Imaging, National Institute for Longevity Sciences, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 36-3, Gengo Moriaka-cho, Obu-shi, Aichi 474 8522 (Japan)]. E-mail: b6rgw@fantasy.plala.or.jp; Ushiroya, Noboru [Department of General Education, Wakayama National College of Technology, 77 Noshima, Nada-cho, Gobo-shi, Wakayama 644 0023 (Japan)

2006-12-20

A new method is proposed for three-dimensional positron emission tomography image reconstruction. The method uses the elementary geometric property of line of response whereby two lines of response, which originate from radioactive isotopes in the same position, lie within a few millimeters distance of each other. The method differs from the filtered back projection method and the iterative reconstruction method. The method is applied to a simulation of portable positron emission tomography.

An External Wire Frame Fixation Method of Skin Grafting for Burn Reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshino, Yukiko; Ueda, Hyakuzoh; Ono, Simpei; Ogawa, Rei

2017-06-28

The skin graft is a prevalent reconstructive method for burn injuries. We have been applying external wire frame fixation methods in combination with skin grafts since 1986 and have experienced better outcomes in percentage of successful graft take. The overall purpose of this method was to further secure skin graft adherence to wound beds in hard to stabilize areas. There are also location-specific benefits to this technique such as eliminating the need of tarsorrhaphy in periorbital area, allowing immediate food intake after surgery in perioral area, and performing less invasive fixing methods in digits, and so on. The purpose of this study was to clarify its benefits and applicable locations. We reviewed 22 postburn patients with skin graft reconstructions using the external wire frame method at our institution from December 2012 through September 2016. Details of the surgical technique and individual reports are also discussed. Of the 22 cases, 15 (68%) were split-thickness skin grafts and 7 (32%) were full-thickness skin grafts. Five cases (23%) involved periorbital reconstruction, 5 (23%) involved perioral reconstruction, 2 (9%) involved lower limb reconstruction, and 10 (45%) involved digital reconstruction. Complete (100%) survival of the skin graft was attained in all cases. No signs of complication were observed. With 30 years of experiences all combined, we have summarized fail-proof recommendations to a successful graft survival with an emphasis on the locations of its application.

Noninvasive Body Contouring: A Male Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Wat, Heidi; Wu, Douglas C; Goldman, Mitchel P

2018-01-01

Noninvasive body contouring is an attractive therapeutic modality to enhance the ideal male physique. Men place higher value on enhancing a well-defined, strong, masculine jawline and developing a V-shaped taper through the upper body. An understanding of the body contour men strive for allows the treating physician to focus on areas that are of most concern to men, thus enhancing patient experience and satisfaction. This article discusses noninvasive body contouring techniques, taking into account the unique aesthetic concerns of the male patient by combining an analysis of the existing literature with our own clinical experience. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding Physiological and Degenerative Natural Vision Mechanisms to Define Contrast and Contour Operators

Science.gov (United States)

Demongeot, Jacques; Fouquet, Yannick; Tayyab, Muhammad; Vuillerme, Nicolas

2009-01-01

Background Dynamical systems like neural networks based on lateral inhibition have a large field of applications in image processing, robotics and morphogenesis modeling. In this paper, we will propose some examples of dynamical flows used in image contrasting and contouring. Methodology First we present the physiological basis of the retina function by showing the role of the lateral inhibition in the optical illusions and pathologic processes generation. Then, based on these biological considerations about the real vision mechanisms, we study an enhancement method for contrasting medical images, using either a discrete neural network approach, or its continuous version, i.e. a non-isotropic diffusion reaction partial differential system. Following this, we introduce other continuous operators based on similar biomimetic approaches: a chemotactic contrasting method, a viability contouring algorithm and an attentional focus operator. Then, we introduce the new notion of mixed potential Hamiltonian flows; we compare it with the watershed method and we use it for contouring. Conclusions We conclude by showing the utility of these biomimetic methods with some examples of application in medical imaging and computed assisted surgery. PMID:19547712

Understanding physiological and degenerative natural vision mechanisms to define contrast and contour operators.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacques Demongeot

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Dynamical systems like neural networks based on lateral inhibition have a large field of applications in image processing, robotics and morphogenesis modeling. In this paper, we will propose some examples of dynamical flows used in image contrasting and contouring. METHODOLOGY: First we present the physiological basis of the retina function by showing the role of the lateral inhibition in the optical illusions and pathologic processes generation. Then, based on these biological considerations about the real vision mechanisms, we study an enhancement method for contrasting medical images, using either a discrete neural network approach, or its continuous version, i.e. a non-isotropic diffusion reaction partial differential system. Following this, we introduce other continuous operators based on similar biomimetic approaches: a chemotactic contrasting method, a viability contouring algorithm and an attentional focus operator. Then, we introduce the new notion of mixed potential Hamiltonian flows; we compare it with the watershed method and we use it for contouring. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude by showing the utility of these biomimetic methods with some examples of application in medical imaging and computed assisted surgery.

SU-D-206-03: Segmentation Assisted Fast Iterative Reconstruction Method for Cone-Beam CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, P; Mao, T; Gong, S; Wang, J; Niu, T; Sheng, K; Xie, Y

2016-01-01

Purpose: Total Variation (TV) based iterative reconstruction (IR) methods enable accurate CT image reconstruction from low-dose measurements with sparse projection acquisition, due to the sparsifiable feature of most CT images using gradient operator. However, conventional solutions require large amount of iterations to generate a decent reconstructed image. One major reason is that the expected piecewise constant property is not taken into consideration at the optimization starting point. In this work, we propose an iterative reconstruction method for cone-beam CT (CBCT) using image segmentation to guide the optimization path more efficiently on the regularization term at the beginning of the optimization trajectory. Methods: Our method applies general knowledge that one tissue component in the CT image contains relatively uniform distribution of CT number. This general knowledge is incorporated into the proposed reconstruction using image segmentation technique to generate the piecewise constant template on the first-pass low-quality CT image reconstructed using analytical algorithm. The template image is applied as an initial value into the optimization process. Results: The proposed method is evaluated on the Shepp-Logan phantom of low and high noise levels, and a head patient. The number of iterations is reduced by overall 40%. Moreover, our proposed method tends to generate a smoother reconstructed image with the same TV value. Conclusion: We propose a computationally efficient iterative reconstruction method for CBCT imaging. Our method achieves a better optimization trajectory and a faster convergence behavior. It does not rely on prior information and can be readily incorporated into existing iterative reconstruction framework. Our method is thus practical and attractive as a general solution to CBCT iterative reconstruction. This work is supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. LR16F010001), National High-tech R

SU-D-206-03: Segmentation Assisted Fast Iterative Reconstruction Method for Cone-Beam CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, P; Mao, T; Gong, S; Wang, J; Niu, T [Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Institute of Translational Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang (China); Sheng, K [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Xie, Y [Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong (China)

2016-06-15

Purpose: Total Variation (TV) based iterative reconstruction (IR) methods enable accurate CT image reconstruction from low-dose measurements with sparse projection acquisition, due to the sparsifiable feature of most CT images using gradient operator. However, conventional solutions require large amount of iterations to generate a decent reconstructed image. One major reason is that the expected piecewise constant property is not taken into consideration at the optimization starting point. In this work, we propose an iterative reconstruction method for cone-beam CT (CBCT) using image segmentation to guide the optimization path more efficiently on the regularization term at the beginning of the optimization trajectory. Methods: Our method applies general knowledge that one tissue component in the CT image contains relatively uniform distribution of CT number. This general knowledge is incorporated into the proposed reconstruction using image segmentation technique to generate the piecewise constant template on the first-pass low-quality CT image reconstructed using analytical algorithm. The template image is applied as an initial value into the optimization process. Results: The proposed method is evaluated on the Shepp-Logan phantom of low and high noise levels, and a head patient. The number of iterations is reduced by overall 40%. Moreover, our proposed method tends to generate a smoother reconstructed image with the same TV value. Conclusion: We propose a computationally efficient iterative reconstruction method for CBCT imaging. Our method achieves a better optimization trajectory and a faster convergence behavior. It does not rely on prior information and can be readily incorporated into existing iterative reconstruction framework. Our method is thus practical and attractive as a general solution to CBCT iterative reconstruction. This work is supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. LR16F010001), National High-tech R

Variation in contour and cancer of stomach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Won Hong; Hwang, Seon Moon; Yoon, Kwon Ha

1999-01-01

There were four types of stomach contour included eutonic, hypotonic, steerhorn, and cascade. The aim of this study is to clarify relationship between incidence of stomach cancer and contour variation of the stomach. Double- contrast upper gastrointestinal study was performed in 1,546 patients, who had dyspepsia or other gastrointestinal tract symptoms. The radiographs were classified into the four types including eutonic, hypotonic, steerhorn, and cascade according to stomach contour in relation to body build. We also reviewed pathologic reports on endoscopic biopsy or surgical specimen. We studied the presence of relationship between incidence of stomach cancer and variation of stomach contour. We also examined the incidence of gastritis and gastric ulcer to the stomach contour variation. Of total 1,546 patients, eutonic stomach were 438(28.3%), hypotonic 911(58.9%), steerhorn 102(6.5%) and cascade 95(6.2%). Stomach cancer was found in 139(31.7%) of 438 eutonic stomachs, in 135(14.8%) of 911 hypotonic, in 42(41.2%) of 102 steerhorn, and in 24(36.9%) of 95 cascade (P=0.001). In hypotonic stomach, the incidence of stomach cancer was lower compared to the other three types significantly (p<0.05). Gastritis or gastric ulcer was found in 146(33.3%) of eutonic stomach, in 293(32.1%) of hypotonic, in 36(35.2%) of steerhorn, and in 26(27.3%) of cascade (p=0.640). In conclusion, gastric contour variation seems to be a factor affecting development of stomach cancer. The patients with hypotonic stomach may have lower incidence of stomach cancer than that of the other types. There was no relationship between the contour and gastric ulcer

Variation in contour and cancer of stomach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Won Hong; Hwang, Seon Moon [Asan Medical Center, Asan (Korea, Republic of); Yoon, Kwon Ha [College of Medicine, Wonkwang Univ., Iksan (Korea, Republic of)

1999-04-01

There were four types of stomach contour included eutonic, hypotonic, steerhorn, and cascade. The aim of this study is to clarify relationship between incidence of stomach cancer and contour variation of the stomach. Double- contrast upper gastrointestinal study was performed in 1,546 patients, who had dyspepsia or other gastrointestinal tract symptoms. The radiographs were classified into the four types including eutonic, hypotonic, steerhorn, and cascade according to stomach contour in relation to body build. We also reviewed pathologic reports on endoscopic biopsy or surgical specimen. We studied the presence of relationship between incidence of stomach cancer and variation of stomach contour. We also examined the incidence of gastritis and gastric ulcer to the stomach contour variation. Of total 1,546 patients, eutonic stomach were 438(28.3%), hypotonic 911(58.9%), steerhorn 102(6.5%) and cascade 95(6.2%). Stomach cancer was found in 139(31.7%) of 438 eutonic stomachs, in 135(14.8%) of 911 hypotonic, in 42(41.2%) of 102 steerhorn, and in 24(36.9%) of 95 cascade (P=0.001). In hypotonic stomach, the incidence of stomach cancer was lower compared to the other three types significantly (p<0.05). Gastritis or gastric ulcer was found in 146(33.3%) of eutonic stomach, in 293(32.1%) of hypotonic, in 36(35.2%) of steerhorn, and in 26(27.3%) of cascade (p=0.640). In conclusion, gastric contour variation seems to be a factor affecting development of stomach cancer. The patients with hypotonic stomach may have lower incidence of stomach cancer than that of the other types. There was no relationship between the contour and gastric ulcer.

Image reconstruction methods for the PBX-M pinhole camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holland, A.; Powell, E.T.; Fonck, R.J.

1990-03-01

This paper describes two methods which have been used to reconstruct the soft x-ray emission profile of the PBX-M tokamak from the projected images recorded by the PBX-M pinhole camera. Both methods must accurately represent the shape of the reconstructed profile while also providing a degree of immunity to noise in the data. The first method is a simple least squares fit to the data. This has the advantage of being fast and small, and thus easily implemented on the PDP-11 computer used to control the video digitizer for the pinhole camera. The second method involves the application of a maximum entropy algorithm to an overdetermined system. This has the advantage of allowing the use of a default profile. This profile contains additional knowledge about the plasma shape which can be obtained from equilibrium fits to the external magnetic measurements. Additionally the reconstruction is guaranteed positive, and the fit to the data can be relaxed by specifying both the amount and distribution of noise in the image. The algorithm described has the advantage of being considerably faster, for an overdetermined system, than the usual Lagrange multiplier approach to finding the maximum entropy solution. 13 refs., 24 figs

Patient-specific reconstruction plates are the missing link in computer-assisted mandibular reconstruction: A showcase for technical description.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelius, Carl-Peter; Smolka, Wenko; Giessler, Goetz A; Wilde, Frank; Probst, Florian A

2015-06-01

Preoperative planning of mandibular reconstruction has moved from mechanical simulation by dental model casts or stereolithographic models into an almost completely virtual environment. CAD/CAM applications allow a high level of accuracy by providing a custom template-assisted contouring approach for bone flaps. However, the clinical accuracy of CAD reconstruction is limited by the use of prebent reconstruction plates, an analogue step in an otherwise digital workstream. In this paper the integration of computerized, numerically-controlled (CNC) milled, patient-specific mandibular plates (PSMP) within the virtual workflow of computer-assisted mandibular free fibula flap reconstruction is illustrated in a clinical case. Intraoperatively, the bone segments as well as the plate arms showed a very good fit. Postoperative CT imaging demonstrated close approximation of the PSMP and fibular segments, and good alignment of native mandible and fibular segments and intersegmentally. Over a follow-up period of 12 months, there was an uneventful course of healing with good bony consolidation. The virtual design and automated fabrication of patient-specific mandibular reconstruction plates provide the missing link in the virtual workflow of computer-assisted mandibular free fibula flap reconstruction. Copyright © 2015 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

TU-C-17A-03: An Integrated Contour Evaluation Software Tool Using Supervised Pattern Recognition for Radiotherapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, H; Tan, J; Kavanaugh, J; Dolly, S; Gay, H; Thorstad, W; Anastasio, M; Altman, M; Mutic, S; Li, H [Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO (United States)

2014-06-15

Purpose: Radiotherapy (RT) contours delineated either manually or semiautomatically require verification before clinical usage. Manual evaluation is very time consuming. A new integrated software tool using supervised pattern contour recognition was thus developed to facilitate this process. Methods: The contouring tool was developed using an object-oriented programming language C# and application programming interfaces, e.g. visualization toolkit (VTK). The C# language served as the tool design basis. The Accord.Net scientific computing libraries were utilized for the required statistical data processing and pattern recognition, while the VTK was used to build and render 3-D mesh models from critical RT structures in real-time and 360° visualization. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used for system self-updating geometry variations of normal structures based on physician-approved RT contours as a training dataset. The inhouse design of supervised PCA-based contour recognition method was used for automatically evaluating contour normality/abnormality. The function for reporting the contour evaluation results was implemented by using C# and Windows Form Designer. Results: The software input was RT simulation images and RT structures from commercial clinical treatment planning systems. Several abilities were demonstrated: automatic assessment of RT contours, file loading/saving of various modality medical images and RT contours, and generation/visualization of 3-D images and anatomical models. Moreover, it supported the 360° rendering of the RT structures in a multi-slice view, which allows physicians to visually check and edit abnormally contoured structures. Conclusion: This new software integrates the supervised learning framework with image processing and graphical visualization modules for RT contour verification. This tool has great potential for facilitating treatment planning with the assistance of an automatic contour evaluation module in avoiding

Satisfactory surgical option for cartilage graft absorption in microtia reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, So-Eun; Oh, Kap Sung

2016-04-01

We routinely perform auricular elevation at least 6 months after implantation of framework in microtia reconstruction using costal cartilage. However, in a few cases, cartilage graft absorption has occurred, which has led to contour irregularity with unfavorable long-term results. In the present study, we recount the details of using additional rib cartilage augmentation to achieve an accentuated contour in cartilage graft absorption cases. The cartilage graft absorption was defined as contour irregularity or cartilage graft deformation as evaluated by the surgeon and patient. Depending on the extent of cartilage graft absorption, another rib cartilage framework was added to the previously implanted framework, targeting the absorption area. We used banked cartilage or harvested new cartilage based on three-dimensional rib computed tomography. Additional recontouring of framework was conducted in eight patients who were examined for cartilage graft absorption from 1.5 to 5 years after implantation of the framework. Four patients received additional rib cartilage augmentation and tissue expander insertion simultaneously prior to auricular elevation. Two patients underwent auricular elevation simultaneously. In another two patients, additional rib cartilage augmentation was performed before auricular elevation. The mean follow-up period was 18 months, and in all cases reconstructive results were acceptable. Although further follow-up evaluation is required, additional rib cartilage augmentation is an attractive surgical option for cartilage graft absorption cases. Copyright © 2016 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic segmentation of closed-contour features in ophthalmic images using graph theory and dynamic programming

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Stephanie J.; Toth, Cynthia A.; Bowes Rickman, Catherine; Izatt, Joseph A.; Farsiu, Sina

2012-01-01

This paper presents a generalized framework for segmenting closed-contour anatomical and pathological features using graph theory and dynamic programming (GTDP). More specifically, the GTDP method previously developed for quantifying retinal and corneal layer thicknesses is extended to segment objects such as cells and cysts. The presented technique relies on a transform that maps closed-contour features in the Cartesian domain into lines in the quasi-polar domain. The features of interest are then segmented as layers via GTDP. Application of this method to segment closed-contour features in several ophthalmic image types is shown. Quantitative validation experiments for retinal pigmented epithelium cell segmentation in confocal fluorescence microscopy images attests to the accuracy of the presented technique. PMID:22567602

Low level constraints on dynamic contour path integration.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophie Hall

Full Text Available Contour integration is a fundamental visual process. The constraints on integrating discrete contour elements and the associated neural mechanisms have typically been investigated using static contour paths. However, in our dynamic natural environment objects and scenes vary over space and time. With the aim of investigating the parameters affecting spatiotemporal contour path integration, we measured human contrast detection performance of a briefly presented foveal target embedded in dynamic collinear stimulus sequences (comprising five short 'predictor' bars appearing consecutively towards the fovea, followed by the 'target' bar in four experiments. The data showed that participants' target detection performance was relatively unchanged when individual contour elements were separated by up to 2° spatial gap or 200 ms temporal gap. Randomising the luminance contrast or colour of the predictors, on the other hand, had similar detrimental effect on grouping dynamic contour path and subsequent target detection performance. Randomising the orientation of the predictors reduced target detection performance greater than introducing misalignment relative to the contour path. The results suggest that the visual system integrates dynamic path elements to bias target detection even when the continuity of path is disrupted in terms of spatial (2°, temporal (200 ms, colour (over 10 colours and luminance (-25% to 25% information. We discuss how the findings can be largely reconciled within the functioning of V1 horizontal connections.

New method of contour image processing based on the formalism of spiral light beams

Science.gov (United States)

Volostnikov, Vladimir G.; Kishkin, S. A.; Kotova, S. P.

2013-07-01

The possibility of applying the mathematical formalism of spiral light beams to the problems of contour image recognition is theoretically studied. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed approach are evaluated; the results of numerical modelling are presented.

Finite Element Analysis of the Effect of Proximal Contour of Class II Composite Restorations on Stress Distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Abachizadeh

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of proximal contour of class II composite restorations placed with straight or contoured matrix band using composite resins with different modulus of elasticity on stress distribution by finite element method. Methods: In order to evaluate the stress distribution of class II composite restorations using finite element method, upper right first molar and second premolar were modeled. Proximal boxes were designed and restored with universal Z250 and packable P60 composite resins (3M ESPE using two matrix systems: flat Tofflemire matrix and precurved sectional matrix. Finally models were evaluated under loads of 200 and 400 Newton at 90 degrees angle and the results were graphically illustrated in the form of Von Misses stresses. Results: In general the stress obtained under 400 Newton load was significantly greater than the stress of models under 200 Newton load. Von Misses stress distribution pattern of two different Z250 and P60 composites were very similar in all modes of loading and proximal contour. In all analyzed models there was a significant difference between models restored with Tofflemire matrix with flat contour and models restored with sectional matrix with curved contour. This difference was greater in first molar than second premolar. Conclusion: Use of a contoured matrix band results in less stress in class II composite resin restorations.

Equi-frequency contour of photonic crystals with the extended Dirichlet-to-Neumann wave vector eigenvalue equation method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Bin; Zhang Yejing; Wang Yufei; Liu Anjin; Zheng Wanhua

2012-01-01

We present the extended Dirichlet-to-Neumann wave vector eigenvalue equation (DtN-WVEE) method to calculate the equi-frequency contour (EFC) of square lattice photonic crystals (PhCs). With the extended DtN-WVEE method and Snell's law, the effective refractive index of the mode with a circular EFC can be obtained, which is further validated with the refractive index weighted by the electric field or magnetic field. To further verify the EFC calculated by the DtN-WVEE method, the finite-difference time-domain method is also used. Compared with other wave vector eigenvalue equation methods that calculate EFC directly, the size of the eigenmatrix used in the DtN-WVEE method is much smaller, and the computation time is significantly reduced. Since the DtN-WVEE method solves wave vectors for given arbitrary frequencies, it can also find applications in studying the optical properties of a PhC with dispersive, lossy and magnetic materials. (paper)

Automated segmentation and reconstruction of patient-specific cardiac anatomy and pathology from in vivo MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ringenberg, Jordan; Deo, Makarand; Devabhaktuni, Vijay; Filgueiras-Rama, David; Pizarro, Gonzalo; Ibañez, Borja; Berenfeld, Omer; Boyers, Pamela; Gold, Jeffrey

2012-01-01

This paper presents an automated method to segment left ventricle (LV) tissues from functional and delayed-enhancement (DE) cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans using a sequential multi-step approach. First, a region of interest (ROI) is computed to create a subvolume around the LV using morphological operations and image arithmetic. From the subvolume, the myocardial contours are automatically delineated using difference of Gaussians (DoG) filters and GSV snakes. These contours are used as a mask to identify pathological tissues, such as fibrosis or scar, within the DE-MRI. The presented automated technique is able to accurately delineate the myocardium and identify the pathological tissue in patient sets. The results were validated by two expert cardiologists, and in one set the automated results are quantitatively and qualitatively compared with expert manual delineation. Furthermore, the method is patient-specific, performed on an entire patient MRI series. Thus, in addition to providing a quick analysis of individual MRI scans, the fully automated segmentation method is used for effectively tagging regions in order to reconstruct computerized patient-specific 3D cardiac models. These models can then be used in electrophysiological studies and surgical strategy planning. (paper)

New method of contour image processing based on the formalism of spiral light beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volostnikov, Vladimir G; Kishkin, S A; Kotova, S P

2013-01-01

The possibility of applying the mathematical formalism of spiral light beams to the problems of contour image recognition is theoretically studied. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed approach are evaluated; the results of numerical modelling are presented. (optical image processing)

Roentgenological differential diagnosis of the psoas contour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voran, G.; Pfab, R.; Hess, F.

1984-01-01

The assessment of the psoas border contour in the X-ray photo of the abdomen is important for differential diagnostic considerations. For the separation of fallacious psoas configurations which are similar to the well defined pathological form changes, a regular supine position of the patient was chosen, and the psoas examined without and with muscle tension. The whole visible psoas muscle system did not show any unilateral bulging of the border silhouette during muscle action. Isolated tension of the left psoas muscle induced a distinct deviation of both border contours to the left side, too. There was a clear tendency of a more distinct psoas border contour and of augmented opacity of the muscle over its whole length under muscle tension. Changes similar to the bulging border contour of a psoas abscess were not produced by muscular action. (orig.) [de

[Development of a Software for Automatically Generated Contours in Eclipse TPS].

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Zhao; Hu, Jinyou; Zou, Lian; Zhang, Weisha; Zou, Yuxin; Luo, Kelin; Liu, Xiangxiang; Yu, Luxin

2015-03-01

The automatic generation of planning targets and auxiliary contours have achieved in Eclipse TPS 11.0. The scripting language autohotkey was used to develop a software for automatically generated contours in Eclipse TPS. This software is named Contour Auto Margin (CAM), which is composed of operational functions of contours, script generated visualization and script file operations. RESULTS Ten cases in different cancers have separately selected, in Eclipse TPS 11.0 scripts generated by the software could not only automatically generate contours but also do contour post-processing. For different cancers, there was no difference between automatically generated contours and manually created contours. The CAM is a user-friendly and powerful software, and can automatically generated contours fast in Eclipse TPS 11.0. With the help of CAM, it greatly save plan preparation time and improve working efficiency of radiation therapy physicists.

Quartet-net: a quartet-based method to reconstruct phylogenetic networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jialiang; Grünewald, Stefan; Wan, Xiu-Feng

2013-05-01

Phylogenetic networks can model reticulate evolutionary events such as hybridization, recombination, and horizontal gene transfer. However, reconstructing such networks is not trivial. Popular character-based methods are computationally inefficient, whereas distance-based methods cannot guarantee reconstruction accuracy because pairwise genetic distances only reflect partial information about a reticulate phylogeny. To balance accuracy and computational efficiency, here we introduce a quartet-based method to construct a phylogenetic network from a multiple sequence alignment. Unlike distances that only reflect the relationship between a pair of taxa, quartets contain information on the relationships among four taxa; these quartets provide adequate capacity to infer a more accurate phylogenetic network. In applications to simulated and biological data sets, we demonstrate that this novel method is robust and effective in reconstructing reticulate evolutionary events and it has the potential to infer more accurate phylogenetic distances than other conventional phylogenetic network construction methods such as Neighbor-Joining, Neighbor-Net, and Split Decomposition. This method can be used in constructing phylogenetic networks from simple evolutionary events involving a few reticulate events to complex evolutionary histories involving a large number of reticulate events. A software called "Quartet-Net" is implemented and available at http://sysbio.cvm.msstate.edu/QuartetNet/.

Total variation superiorized conjugate gradient method for image reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Zibetti, Marcelo V. W.; Lin, Chuan; Herman, Gabor T.

2018-03-01

The conjugate gradient (CG) method is commonly used for the relatively-rapid solution of least squares problems. In image reconstruction, the problem can be ill-posed and also contaminated by noise; due to this, approaches such as regularization should be utilized. Total variation (TV) is a useful regularization penalty, frequently utilized in image reconstruction for generating images with sharp edges. When a non-quadratic norm is selected for regularization, as is the case for TV, then it is no longer possible to use CG. Non-linear CG is an alternative, but it does not share the efficiency that CG shows with least squares and methods such as fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding algorithms (FISTA) are preferred for problems with TV norm. A different approach to including prior information is superiorization. In this paper it is shown that the conjugate gradient method can be superiorized. Five different CG variants are proposed, including preconditioned CG. The CG methods superiorized by the total variation norm are presented and their performance in image reconstruction is demonstrated. It is illustrated that some of the proposed variants of the superiorized CG method can produce reconstructions of superior quality to those produced by FISTA and in less computational time, due to the speed of the original CG for least squares problems. In the Appendix we examine the behavior of one of the superiorized CG methods (we call it S-CG); one of its input parameters is a positive number ɛ. It is proved that, for any given ɛ that is greater than the half-squared-residual for the least squares solution, S-CG terminates in a finite number of steps with an output for which the half-squared-residual is less than or equal to ɛ. Importantly, it is also the case that the output will have a lower value of TV than what would be provided by unsuperiorized CG for the same value ɛ of the half-squared residual.

Analysis on the reconstruction accuracy of the Fitch method for inferring ancestral states

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grünewald Stefan

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background As one of the most widely used parsimony methods for ancestral reconstruction, the Fitch method minimizes the total number of hypothetical substitutions along all branches of a tree to explain the evolution of a character. Due to the extensive usage of this method, it has become a scientific endeavor in recent years to study the reconstruction accuracies of the Fitch method. However, most studies are restricted to 2-state evolutionary models and a study for higher-state models is needed since DNA sequences take the format of 4-state series and protein sequences even have 20 states. Results In this paper, the ambiguous and unambiguous reconstruction accuracy of the Fitch method are studied for N-state evolutionary models. Given an arbitrary phylogenetic tree, a recurrence system is first presented to calculate iteratively the two accuracies. As complete binary tree and comb-shaped tree are the two extremal evolutionary tree topologies according to balance, we focus on the reconstruction accuracies on these two topologies and analyze their asymptotic properties. Then, 1000 Yule trees with 1024 leaves are generated and analyzed to simulate real evolutionary scenarios. It is known that more taxa not necessarily increase the reconstruction accuracies under 2-state models. The result under N-state models is also tested. Conclusions In a large tree with many leaves, the reconstruction accuracies of using all taxa are sometimes less than those of using a leaf subset under N-state models. For complete binary trees, there always exists an equilibrium interval [a, b] of conservation probability, in which the limiting ambiguous reconstruction accuracy equals to the probability of randomly picking a state. The value b decreases with the increase of the number of states, and it seems to converge. When the conservation probability is greater than b, the reconstruction accuracies of the Fitch method increase rapidly. The reconstruction

A two-step Hilbert transform method for 2D image reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noo, Frederic; Clackdoyle, Rolf; Pack, Jed D

2004-01-01

The paper describes a new accurate two-dimensional (2D) image reconstruction method consisting of two steps. In the first step, the backprojected image is formed after taking the derivative of the parallel projection data. In the second step, a Hilbert filtering is applied along certain lines in the differentiated backprojection (DBP) image. Formulae for performing the DBP step in fan-beam geometry are also presented. The advantage of this two-step Hilbert transform approach is that in certain situations, regions of interest (ROIs) can be reconstructed from truncated projection data. Simulation results are presented that illustrate very similar reconstructed image quality using the new method compared to standard filtered backprojection, and that show the capability to correctly handle truncated projections. In particular, a simulation is presented of a wide patient whose projections are truncated laterally yet for which highly accurate ROI reconstruction is obtained

A practical attenuation compensation method for cone beam spect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manglos, S.H.; Jaszczak, R.J.; Floyd, C.E.; Greer, K.L.; Coleman, R.E.

1987-01-01

An algorithm for attenuation compensation of cone beam SPECT images has been developed and implemented. The algorithm is based on a multiplicative post-processing method previously used for parallel and fan beam geometries. This method computes the compensation from the estimated average attenuation of photons originating from each image pixel. In the present development, a uniform attenuation coefficient inside of the body contour is assumed, although the method could be extended to include a non-uniform attenuation map. The algorithm is tested with experimental projections of a phantom obtained using a cone beam collimator. Profiles through the reconstructed images are presented as a quantitative test of the improvement due to the compensation. The algorithm provides adequate compensation for attenuation in a simple uniform cylindrical phantom, and the computational time is short compared to that expected for iterative reconstruction techniques. Also observed are image distortions in some reconstructed slices when the source distribution extends beyond the edge of the cone beam axial field-of-view

Assessment of the Contour Method for 2-D Cross Sectional Residual Stress Measurements of Friction Stir Welded Parts of AA2024-T3—Numerical and Experimental Comparison

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sonne, Mads Rostgaard; Carlone, Pierpaolo; Hattel, Jesper Henri

2017-01-01

The contour method is one of the newest techniques for obtaining residual stress fields from friction stir welded (FSW) parts, experimentally. This method has many advantages; however, edge effects coming from the process itself might introduce artifacts in the obtained results, and this was slig......The contour method is one of the newest techniques for obtaining residual stress fields from friction stir welded (FSW) parts, experimentally. This method has many advantages; however, edge effects coming from the process itself might introduce artifacts in the obtained results......) cross sectional map obtained by the method, peak stresses in tension are observed in the mid-section of the FSW butt-welded plates at the distance of the tool radius from the centerline. The corresponding numerical simulation indicates the same behavior because of the particular clamping conditions...

Feasibility of geometrical verification of patient set-up using body contours and computed tomography data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ploeger, Lennert S.; Betgen, Anja; Gilhuijs, Kenneth G.A.; Herk, Marcel van

2003-01-01

Background and purpose: Body contours can potentially be used for patient set-up verification in external-beam radiotherapy and might enable more accurate set-up of patients prior to irradiation. The aim of this study is to test the feasibility of patient set-up verification using a body contour scanner. Material and methods: Body contour scans of 33 lung cancer and 21 head-and-neck cancer patients were acquired on a simulator. We assume that this dataset is representative for the patient set-up on an accelerator. Shortly before acquisition of the body contour scan, a pair of orthogonal simulator images was taken as a reference. Both the body contour scan and the simulator images were matched in 3D to the planning computed tomography scan. Movement of skin with respect to bone was quantified based on an analysis of variance method. Results: Set-up errors determined with body-contours agreed reasonably well with those determined with simulator images. For the lung cancer patients, the average set-up errors (mm)±1 standard deviation (SD) for the left-right, cranio-caudal and anterior-posterior directions were 1.2±2.9, -0.8±5.0 and -2.3±3.1 using body contours, compared to -0.8±3.2, -1.0±4.1 and -1.2±2.4 using simulator images. For the head-and-neck cancer patients, the set-up errors were 0.5±1.8, 0.5±2.7 and -2.2±1.8 using body contours compared to -0.4±1.2, 0.1±2.1, -0.1±1.8 using simulator images. The SD of the set-up errors obtained from analysis of the body contours were not significantly different from those obtained from analysis of the simulator images. Movement of the skin with respect to bone (1 SD) was estimated at 2.3 mm for lung cancer patients and 1.7 mm for head-and-neck cancer patients. Conclusion: Measurement of patient set-up using a body-contouring device is possible. The accuracy, however, is limited by the movement of the skin with respect to the bone. In situations where the error in the patient set-up is relatively large, it is

Active contour segmentation in dynamic medical imaging: application to nuclear cardiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debreuve, Eric

2000-01-01

In emission imaging, nuclear medicine provides functional information about the organ of interest. In transmission imaging, it provides anatomical information whose goal may be the correction of physical phenomena that corrupt emission images. With both emission and transmission images, it is useful to know how to extract, either automatically or semi-automatically, the organs of interest and the body outline in the case of a large field of view. This is the aim of segmentation. We developed two active contour segmentation methods. They were implemented using level sets. The key point is the evolution velocity definition. First, we were interested in static transmission imaging of the thorax. The evolution velocity was heuristically defined and depended only on the acquired projections. The segmented transmission map was computed w/o reconstruction and could be advantageously used for attenuation correction. Then, we studied the segmentation of cardiac gated sequences. The developed space-time segmentation method results from the minimization of a variational criterion which takes into account the whole sequence. The computed segmentation could be used for calculating physiological parameters. As an illustration, we computed the ejection fraction. Finally, we exploited some level set properties to develop a non-rigid, non-parametric, and geometric registration method. We applied it for kinetic compensation of cardiac gated sequences. The registered images were then added together providing an image with noise characteristics similar to a cardiac static image but w/o motion-induced blurring. (author)

A phantom study of tumor contouring on PET imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Song; Li Xuena; Li Yaming; Yin Yafu; Li Na; Han Chunqi

2010-01-01

Objective: To explore an algorithm to define the threshold value for tumor contouring on 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET imaging. Methods: A National Electrical Manufacturing Association (NEMA)NU 2 1994 PET phantom with 5 spheres of different diameters were filled with 18 F-FDG. Seven different sphere-to-background ratios were obtained and the phantom was scanned by Discovery LS 4. For each sphere-to-background ratio, the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ) of each sphere, the SUV of the border of each sphere (SUV border ), the mean SUV of a 1 cm region of background (SUV bg ) and the diameter (D) of each sphere were measured. SPSS 13.0 software was used for curve fitting and regression analysis to obtain the threshold algorithm. The calculated thresholds were applied to delineate 29 pathologically confirmed lung cancer lesions on PET images and the obtained volumes were compared with the volumes contoured on CT images in lung window. Results: The algorithm for defining contour threshold is TH% = 33.1% + 46.8% SUV bg /SUV max + 13.9%/D (r = 0.994) by phantom studies. For 29 lung cancer lesions, the average gross tumor volumes (GTV) delineated on PET and CT are (7.36±1.62) ml and (8.31±2.05) ml, respectively (t = -1.26, P>0.05). Conclusion: The proposed threshold algorithm for tumor contouring on PET image could provide comparable GTV with CT. (authors)

Invariance Signatures: Characterizing contours by their departures from invariance

OpenAIRE

Squire, David; Caelli, Terry M.

1997-01-01

In this paper, a new invariant feature of two-dimensional contours is reported: the Invariance Signature. The Invariance Signature is a measure of the degree to which a contour is invariant under a variety of transformations, derived from the theory of Lie transformation groups. It is shown that the Invariance Signature is itself invariant under shift, rotation and scaling of the contour. Since it is derived from local properties of the contour, it is well-suited to a neural network implement...

Pseudo-Hermitian description of PT-symmetric systems defined on a complex contour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mostafazadeh, Ali

2005-01-01

We describe a method that allows for a practical application of the theory of pseudo-Hermitian operators to PT-symmetric systems defined on a complex contour. We apply this method to study the Hamiltonians H = p 2 + x 2 (ix) ν with ν ε (-2, ∞) that are defined along the corresponding anti-Stokes lines. In particular, we reveal the intrinsic non-Hermiticity of H for the cases that ν is an even integer, so that H p 2 ± x 2+ν , and give a proof of the discreteness of the spectrum of H for all ν ε (-2, ∞). Furthermore, we study the consequences of defining a square-well Hamiltonian on a wedge-shaped complex contour. This yields a PT-symmetric system with a finite number of real eigenvalues. We present a comprehensive analysis of this system within the framework of pseudo-Hermitian quantum mechanics. We also outline a direct pseudo-Hermitian treatment of PT-symmetric systems defined on a complex contour which clarifies the underlying mathematical structure of the formulation of PT-symmetric quantum mechanics based on the charge-conjugation operator. Our results provide conclusive evidence that pseudo-Hermitian quantum mechanics provides a complete description of general PT-symmetric systems regardless of whether they are defined along the real line or a complex contour

Exploring Normalization and Network Reconstruction Methods using In Silico and In Vivo Models

Science.gov (United States)

Abstract: Lessons learned from the recent DREAM competitions include: The search for the best network reconstruction method continues, and we need more complete datasets with ground truth from more complex organisms. It has become obvious that the network reconstruction methods t...

Contributions of contour frequency, amplitude, and luminance to the watercolor effect estimated by conjoint measurement.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerardin, Peggy; Devinck, Frédéric; Dojat, Michel; Knoblauch, Kenneth

2014-04-10

The watercolor effect is a long-range, assimilative, filling-in phenomenon induced by a pair of distant, wavy contours of different chromaticities. Here, we measured joint influences of the contour frequency and amplitude and the luminance of the interior contour on the strength of the effect. Contour pairs, each enclosing a circular region, were presented with two of the dimensions varying independently across trials (luminance/frequency, luminance/amplitude, frequency/amplitude) in a conjoint measurement paradigm (Luce & Tukey, 1964). In each trial, observers judged which of the stimuli evoked the strongest fill-in color. Control stimuli were identical except that the contours were intertwined and generated little filling-in. Perceptual scales were estimated by a maximum likelihood method (Ho, Landy, & Maloney, 2008). An additive model accounted for the joint contributions of any pair of dimensions. As shown previously using difference scaling (Devinck & Knoblauch, 2012), the strength increases with luminance of the interior contour. The strength of the phenomenon was nearly independent of the amplitude of modulation of the contour but increased with its frequency up to an asymptotic level. On average, the strength of the effect was similar along a given dimension regardless of the other dimension with which it was paired, demonstrating consistency of the underlying estimated perceptual scales.

Allogenic lyophilized cartilage grafts for craniomaxillofacial reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pill Hoon Choung

1999-01-01

Allogenic lyophilized cartilages were made in our clinic after Sailer methods and some modification. In our clinic, we have used allogenic cartilage grafts on 102 defects of craniomaxillofacial area; 1) for defects from cyst or ameloblastoma, 2) for lack of continuity of the mandible, 3) for rhinoplasty, 4) for paranasal augmentation, 5) for augmentation genioplasty, 6) for reconstruction of orbital floor, 7) for oroantral fistula, 8) for temporal augmentation, 9) for TMJ surgery 10) for condyle defect as a costochondral graft, 11) for filling of tooth socket and alveolus augmentation,12) for correction or orbital height and 13) for guided bone regeneration in peripheral implant. The types of lyophilized cartilage used were chip, sheet and block types developed by freeze-dried methods. Some grafts showed change of ossification, in which case we could perform implant on it. We have good results on reconstruction of craniomaxillofacial defects. Allogenic cartilage have advantages such as 1) it has no immune reaction clinically, 2) it is more tolerable to infection than that of autogenous cartilage, 3) it has character of less resorption which require no over correction, 4) it is easy to manipulate contouring, and 5) it has possibility of undergoing ossification. Allogenic cartilage has been considered as good substitutes for bone. The author would like to report the results on 102 allogenic cartilage have

Analysis of fracture surface of CFRP material by three-dimensional reconstruction methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lobo, Raquel M.; Andrade, Arnaldo H.P.

2009-01-01

Fracture surfaces of CFRP (carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) materials, used in the nuclear fuel cycle, presents an elevated roughness, mainly due to the fracture mode known as pulling out, that displays pieces of carbon fibers after debonding between fiber and matrix. The fractographic analysis, by bi-dimensional images is deficient for not considering the so important vertical resolution as much as the horizontal resolution. In this case, the knowledge of this heights distribution that occurs during the breaking, can lead to the calculation of the involved energies in the process that would allows a better agreement on the fracture mechanisms of the composite material. An important solution for the material characterization, whose surface presents a high roughness due to the variation in height, is to reconstruct three-dimensionally these fracture surfaces. In this work, the 3D reconstruction was done by two different methods: the variable focus reconstruction, through a stack of images obtained by optical microscopy (OM) and the parallax reconstruction, carried through with images acquired by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of both methods present an elevation map of the reconstructed image that determine the height of the surface pixel by pixel,. The results obtained by the methods of reconstruction for the CFRP surfaces, have been compared with others materials such as aluminum and copper that present a ductile type fracture surface, with lower roughness. (author)

Cheap contouring of costly functions: the Pilot Approximation Trajectory algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huttunen, Janne M J; Stark, Philip B

2012-01-01

The Pilot Approximation Trajectory (PAT) contour algorithm can find the contour of a function accurately when it is not practical to evaluate the function on a grid dense enough to use a standard contour algorithm, for instance, when evaluating the function involves conducting a physical experiment or a computationally intensive simulation. PAT relies on an inexpensive pilot approximation to the function, such as interpolating from a sparse grid of inexact values, or solving a partial differential equation (PDE) numerically using a coarse discretization. For each level of interest, the location and ‘trajectory’ of an approximate contour of this pilot function are used to decide where to evaluate the original function to find points on its contour. Those points are joined by line segments to form the PAT approximation of the contour of the original function. Approximating a contour numerically amounts to estimating a lower level set of the function, the set of points on which the function does not exceed the contour level. The area of the symmetric difference between the true lower level set and the estimated lower level set measures the accuracy of the contour. PAT measures its own accuracy by finding an upper confidence bound for this area. In examples, PAT can estimate a contour more accurately than standard algorithms, using far fewer function evaluations than standard algorithms require. We illustrate PAT by constructing a confidence set for viscosity and thermal conductivity of a flowing gas from simulated noisy temperature measurements, a problem in which each evaluation of the function to be contoured requires solving a different set of coupled nonlinear PDEs. (paper)

VT 10 ft Contour Lines generated from bare earth lidar - Chittenden

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — (Link to Metadata) ElevationContours_CN10T (10ft contours) was extracted from ElevationContours_CN2T (2ft contours), which was generated by USGS from the 2004...

Development and evaluation of a new contoured cushion system with an optimized normalization algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Sujiao; Zhang, Zhengxiang; Wang, Jue

2014-01-01

Prevention of pressure sores remains a significant problem confronting spinal cord injury patients and the elderly with limited mobility. One vital aspect of this subject concerns the development of cushions to decrease pressure ulcers for seated patients, particularly those bound by wheelchairs. Here, we present a novel cushion system that employs interface pressure distribution between the cushion and the buttocks to design custom contoured foam cushion. An optimized normalization algorithm was proposed, with which interface pressure distribution was transformed into the carving depth of foam cushions according to the biomechanical characteristics of the foam. The shape and pressure-relief performance of the custom contoured foam cushions was investigated. The outcomes showed that the contoured shape of personalized cushion matched the buttock contour very well. Moreover, the custom contoured cushion could alleviate pressure under buttocks and increase subjective comfort and stability significantly. Furthermore, the fabricating method not only decreased the unit production cost but also simplified the procedure for manufacturing. All in all, this prototype seat cushion would be an effective and economical way to prevent pressure ulcers.

Filtering of SPECT reconstructions made using Bellini's attenuation correction method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glick, S.J.; Penney, B.C.; King, M.A.

1991-01-01

This paper evaluates a three-dimensional (3D) Wiener filter which is used to restore SPECT reconstructions which were made using Bellini's method of attenuation correction. Its performance is compared to that of several pre-reconstruction filers: the one-dimensional (1D) Butterworth, the two-dimensional (2D) Butterworth, and a 2D Wiener filer. A simulation study is used to compare the four filtering methods. An approximation to a clinical liver spleen study was used as the source distribution and algorithm which accounts for the depth and distance dependent blurring in SPECT was used to compute noise free projections. To study the effect of filtering method on tumor detection accuracy, a 2 cm diameter, cool spherical tumor (40% contrast) was placed at a known, but random, location with the liver. Projection sets for ten tumor locations were computed and five noise realizations of each set were obtained by introducing Poisson noise. The simulated projections were either: filtered with the 1D or 2D Butterworth or the 2D Wiener and then reconstructed using Bellini's intrinsic attenuation correction, or reconstructed first, then filtered with the 3D Wiener. The criteria used for comparison were: normalized mean square error (NMSE), cold spot contrast, and accuracy of tumor detection with an automated numerical method. Results indicate that restorations obtained with 3D Wiener filtering yielded significantly higher lesion contrast and lower NMSE values compared to the other methods of processing. The Wiener restoration filters and the 2D Butterworth all provided similar measures of detectability, which were noticeably higher than that obtained with 1D Butterworth smoothing

CT urography: segmentation of urinary bladder using CLASS with local contour refinement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cha, Kenny; Hadjiiski, Lubomir; Chan, Heang-Ping; Caoili, Elaine M; Cohan, Richard H; Zhou, Chuan

2014-01-01

We are developing a computerized system for bladder segmentation on CT urography (CTU), as a critical component for computer-aided detection of bladder cancer. The presence of regions filled with intravenous contrast and without contrast presents a challenge for bladder segmentation. Previously, we proposed a conjoint level set analysis and segmentation system (CLASS). In case the bladder is partially filled with contrast, CLASS segments the non-contrast (NC) region and the contrast-filled (C) region separately and automatically conjoins the NC and C region contours; however, inaccuracies in the NC and C region contours may cause the conjoint contour to exclude portions of the bladder. To alleviate this problem, we implemented a local contour refinement (LCR) method that exploits model-guided refinement (MGR) and energy-driven wavefront propagation (EDWP). MGR propagates the C region contours if the level set propagation in the C region stops prematurely due to substantial non-uniformity of the contrast. EDWP with regularized energies further propagates the conjoint contours to the correct bladder boundary. EDWP uses changes in energies, smoothness criteria of the contour, and previous slice contour to determine when to stop the propagation, following decision rules derived from training. A data set of 173 cases was collected for this study: 81 cases in the training set (42 lesions, 21 wall thickenings, 18 normal bladders) and 92 cases in the test set (43 lesions, 36 wall thickenings, 13 normal bladders). For all cases, 3D hand segmented contours were obtained as reference standard and used for the evaluation of the computerized segmentation accuracy. For CLASS with LCR, the average volume intersection ratio, average volume error, absolute average volume error, average minimum distance and Jaccard index were 84.2 ± 11.4%, 8.2 ± 17.4%, 13.0 ± 14.1%, 3.5 ± 1.9 mm, 78.8 ± 11.6%, respectively, for the training set and 78.0 ± 14.7%, 16.4 ± 16.9%, 18.2 ± 15

Contour adaptation reduces the spreading of edge induced colors.

Science.gov (United States)

Coia, Andrew J; Crognale, Michael A

2017-04-25

Brief exposure to flickering achromatic outlines of an area causes a reduction in the brightness contrast of the surface inside the area. This contour adaptation to achromatic contours does not reduce surface contrast when the surface is chromatic (the saturation or colorimetric purity of the surface is maintained). In addition to reducing the brightness of physical luminance contrast, contour adaptation also reduces (or even reverses) the illusory brightness contrast seen in the Craik-O'Brien-Cornsweet illusion, in which two physically identical grey areas appear different brightness because of a sharp luminance edge separating them. Chromatic color spreading illusions also occur with chromatic inducing edges, and an unanswered question is whether contour adaptation can reduce the perceived contrast of illusory color spreading from edges, even though it cannot reduce the perceived contrast of physical surface color. The current studies use a color spreading illusion known as the watercolor effect in order to test whether illusory color spreading is affected by contour adaptation. The general findings of physical achromatic contrast being reduced and chromatic contrast being robust to contour adaptation were replicated. However, both illusory brightness and color were reduced by contour adaptation, even when the illusion edges only differed in chromatic contrast with each other and the background. Additional studies adapting to chromatic contours showed opposite effects on illusory color contrast than achromatic adaptation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reconstruction of Banknote Fragments Based on Keypoint Matching Method.

Science.gov (United States)

Gwo, Chih-Ying; Wei, Chia-Hung; Li, Yue; Chiu, Nan-Hsing

2015-07-01

Banknotes may be shredded by a scrap machine, ripped up by hand, or damaged in accidents. This study proposes an image registration method for reconstruction of multiple sheets of banknotes. The proposed method first constructs different scale spaces to identify keypoints in the underlying banknote fragments. Next, the features of those keypoints are extracted to represent their local patterns around keypoints. Then, similarity is computed to find the keypoint pairs between the fragment and the reference banknote. The banknote fragments can determine the coordinate and amend the orientation. Finally, an assembly strategy is proposed to piece multiple sheets of banknote fragments together. Experimental results show that the proposed method causes, on average, a deviation of 0.12457 ± 0.12810° for each fragment while the SIFT method deviates 1.16893 ± 2.35254° on average. The proposed method not only reconstructs the banknotes but also decreases the computing cost. Furthermore, the proposed method can estimate relatively precisely the orientation of the banknote fragments to assemble. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Track and vertex reconstruction: From classical to adaptive methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strandlie, Are; Fruehwirth, Rudolf

2010-01-01

This paper reviews classical and adaptive methods of track and vertex reconstruction in particle physics experiments. Adaptive methods have been developed to meet the experimental challenges at high-energy colliders, in particular, the CERN Large Hadron Collider. They can be characterized by the obliteration of the traditional boundaries between pattern recognition and statistical estimation, by the competition between different hypotheses about what constitutes a track or a vertex, and by a high level of flexibility and robustness achieved with a minimum of assumptions about the data. The theoretical background of some of the adaptive methods is described, and it is shown that there is a close connection between the two main branches of adaptive methods: neural networks and deformable templates, on the one hand, and robust stochastic filters with annealing, on the other hand. As both classical and adaptive methods of track and vertex reconstruction presuppose precise knowledge of the positions of the sensitive detector elements, the paper includes an overview of detector alignment methods and a survey of the alignment strategies employed by past and current experiments.

The role of shape complexity in the detection of closed contours.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilder, John; Feldman, Jacob; Singh, Manish

2016-09-01

The detection of contours in noise has been extensively studied, but the detection of closed contours, such as the boundaries of whole objects, has received relatively little attention. Closed contours pose substantial challenges not present in the simple (open) case, because they form the outlines of whole shapes and thus take on a range of potentially important configural properties. In this paper we consider the detection of closed contours in noise as a probabilistic decision problem. Previous work on open contours suggests that contour complexity, quantified as the negative log probability (Description Length, DL) of the contour under a suitably chosen statistical model, impairs contour detectability; more complex (statistically surprising) contours are harder to detect. In this study we extended this result to closed contours, developing a suitable probabilistic model of whole shapes that gives rise to several distinct though interrelated measures of shape complexity. We asked subjects to detect either natural shapes (Exp. 1) or experimentally manipulated shapes (Exp. 2) embedded in noise fields. We found systematic effects of global shape complexity on detection performance, demonstrating how aspects of global shape and form influence the basic process of object detection. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An automated approach for segmentation of intravascular ultrasound images based on parametric active contour models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vard, Alireza; Jamshidi, Kamal; Movahhedinia, Naser

2012-01-01

This paper presents a fully automated approach to detect the intima and media-adventitia borders in intravascular ultrasound images based on parametric active contour models. To detect the intima border, we compute a new image feature applying a combination of short-term autocorrelations calculated for the contour pixels. These feature values are employed to define an energy function of the active contour called normalized cumulative short-term autocorrelation. Exploiting this energy function, the intima border is separated accurately from the blood region contaminated by high speckle noise. To extract media-adventitia boundary, we define a new form of energy function based on edge, texture and spring forces for the active contour. Utilizing this active contour, the media-adventitia border is identified correctly even in presence of branch openings and calcifications. Experimental results indicate accuracy of the proposed methods. In addition, statistical analysis demonstrates high conformity between manual tracing and the results obtained by the proposed approaches.

External evaluation of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group brachial plexus contouring protocol: several issues identified

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, Myo; Carruthers, Scott; Zanchetta, Lydia; Roos, Daniel; Keating, Elly; Shakeshaft, John; Baxi, Siddhartha; Penniment, Michael; Wong, Karen

2014-01-01

The aims of the study were to evaluate interobserver variability in contouring the brachial plexus (BP) using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG)-approved protocol and to analyse BP dosimetries. Seven outliners independently contoured the BPs of 15 consecutive patients. Interobserver variability was reviewed qualitatively (visually by using planning axial computed-tomography images and anteroposterior digitally reconstructed radiographs) and quantitatively (by volumetric and statistical analyses). Dose–volume histograms of BPs were calculated and compared. We found significant interobserver variability among outliners in both qualitative and quantitative analyses. These were most pronounced for the T1 nerve roots on visual inspection and for the BP volume on statistical analysis. The BP volumes were smaller than those described in the RTOG atlas paper, with a mean volume of 20.8cc (range 11–40.7 cc) compared with 33±4cc (25.1–39.4cc). The average values of mean dose, maximum dose, V60Gy, V66Gy and V70Gy for patients treated with conventional radiotherapy and IMRT were 42.2Gy versus 44.8Gy, 64.5Gy versus 68.5Gy, 6.1% versus 7.6%, 2.9% versus 2.4% and 0.6% versus 0.3%, respectively. This is the first independent external evaluation of the published protocol. We have identified several issues, including significant interobserver variation. Although radiation oncologists should contour BPs to avoid dose dumping, especially when using IMRT, the RTOG atlas should be used with caution. Because BPs are largely radiologically occult on CT, we propose the term brachial-plexus regions (BPRs) to represent regions where BPs are likely to be present. Consequently, BPRs should in principle be contoured generously.

Dimensionality Reduction Methods: Comparative Analysis of methods PCA, PPCA and KPCA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge Arroyo-Hernández

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The dimensionality reduction methods are algorithms mapping the set of data in subspaces derived from the original space, of fewer dimensions, that allow a description of the data at a lower cost. Due to their importance, they are widely used in processes associated with learning machine. This article presents a comparative analysis of PCA, PPCA and KPCA dimensionality reduction methods. A reconstruction experiment of worm-shape data was performed through structures of landmarks located in the body contour, with methods having different number of main components. The results showed that all methods can be seen as alternative processes. Nevertheless, thanks to the potential for analysis in the features space and the method for calculation of its preimage presented, KPCA offers a better method for recognition process and pattern extraction

Kepler Planet Detection Metrics: Per-Target Detection Contours for Data Release 25

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Christopher J.; Catanzarite, Joseph

2017-01-01

A necessary input to planet occurrence calculations is an accurate model for the pipeline completeness (Burke et al., 2015). This document describes the use of the Kepler planet occurrence rate products in order to calculate a per-target detection contour for the measured Data Release 25 (DR25) pipeline performance. A per-target detection contour measures for a given combination of orbital period, Porb, and planet radius, Rp, what fraction of transit signals are recoverable by the Kepler pipeline (Twicken et al., 2016; Jenkins et al., 2017). The steps for calculating a detection contour follow the procedure outlined in Burke et al. (2015), but have been updated to provide improved accuracy enabled by the substantially larger database of transit injection and recovery tests that were performed on the final version (i.e., SOC 9.3) of the Kepler pipeline (Christiansen, 2017; Burke Catanzarite, 2017a). In the following sections, we describe the main inputs to the per-target detection contour and provide a worked example of the python software released with this document (Kepler Planet Occurrence Rate Tools KeplerPORTs)1 that illustrates the generation of a detection contour in practice. As background material for this document and its nomenclature, we recommend the reader be familiar with the previous method of calculating a detection contour (Section 2 of Burke et al.,2015), input parameters relevant for describing the data quantity and quality of Kepler targets (Burke Catanzarite, 2017b), and the extensive new transit injection and recovery tests of the Kepler pipeline (Christiansen et al., 2016; Burke Catanzarite, 2017a; Christiansen, 2017).

Wh-question intonation in Peninsular Spanish: Multiple contours and the effect of task type

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas C. Henriksen

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on an experimental investigation of wh-question intonation in Peninsular Spanish. Speech data were collected from six León, Spain Peninsular Spanish speakers, and oral production data were elicited under two conditions: a computerized sentence reading task and an information gap task-oriented dialogue. The latter task was an adaptation of the HCRC Map Task method (cf. Anderson et al., 1991 and was designed to elicit multiple wh-question productions in an unscripted and more spontaneous speech style than the standard sentence reading task. Results indicate that four contours exist in the tonal inventory of the six speakers. The two most frequent contours were a final rise contour and a nuclear circumflex contour. Systematic task-based differences were found for four of the six speakers, indicating that sentence reading task data alone may not accurately reflect spontaneous speech tonal patterns (cf. Cruttenden, 2007; but see also Lickley, Schepman, & Ladd, 2005. The experimental findings serve to clarify a number of assumptions about the syntax-prosody interface underlying wh-question utterance signaling; they also have implications for research methods in intonation and task-based variation in laboratory phonology.

Finite difference applied to the reconstruction method of the nuclear power density distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pessoa, Paulo O.; Silva, Fernando C.; Martinez, Aquilino S.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A method for reconstruction of the power density distribution is presented. • The method uses discretization by finite differences of 2D neutrons diffusion equation. • The discretization is performed homogeneous meshes with dimensions of a fuel cell. • The discretization is combined with flux distributions on the four node surfaces. • The maximum errors in reconstruction occur in the peripheral water region. - Abstract: In this reconstruction method the two-dimensional (2D) neutron diffusion equation is discretized by finite differences, employed to two energy groups (2G) and meshes with fuel-pin cell dimensions. The Nodal Expansion Method (NEM) makes use of surface discontinuity factors of the node and provides for reconstruction method the effective multiplication factor of the problem and the four surface average fluxes in homogeneous nodes with size of a fuel assembly (FA). The reconstruction process combines the discretized 2D diffusion equation by finite differences with fluxes distribution on four surfaces of the nodes. These distributions are obtained for each surfaces from a fourth order one-dimensional (1D) polynomial expansion with five coefficients to be determined. The conditions necessary for coefficients determination are three average fluxes on consecutive surfaces of the three nodes and two fluxes in corners between these three surface fluxes. Corner fluxes of the node are determined using a third order 1D polynomial expansion with four coefficients. This reconstruction method uses heterogeneous nuclear parameters directly providing the heterogeneous neutron flux distribution and the detailed nuclear power density distribution within the FAs. The results obtained with this method has good accuracy and efficiency when compared with reference values.

L{sub 1/2} regularization based numerical method for effective reconstruction of bioluminescence tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Xueli, E-mail: xlchen@xidian.edu.cn, E-mail: jimleung@mail.xidian.edu.cn; Yang, Defu; Zhang, Qitan; Liang, Jimin, E-mail: xlchen@xidian.edu.cn, E-mail: jimleung@mail.xidian.edu.cn [School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi' an 710071 (China); Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging, Ministry of Education (China)

2014-05-14

Even though bioluminescence tomography (BLT) exhibits significant potential and wide applications in macroscopic imaging of small animals in vivo, the inverse reconstruction is still a tough problem that has plagued researchers in a related area. The ill-posedness of inverse reconstruction arises from insufficient measurements and modeling errors, so that the inverse reconstruction cannot be solved directly. In this study, an l{sub 1/2} regularization based numerical method was developed for effective reconstruction of BLT. In the method, the inverse reconstruction of BLT was constrained into an l{sub 1/2} regularization problem, and then the weighted interior-point algorithm (WIPA) was applied to solve the problem through transforming it into obtaining the solution of a series of l{sub 1} regularizers. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method were demonstrated with numerical simulations on a digital mouse. Stability verification experiments further illustrated the robustness of the proposed method for different levels of Gaussian noise.

Online monitoring of oil film using electrical capacitance tomography and level set method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xue, Q.; Ma, M.; Sun, B. Y.; Cui, Z. Q.; Wang, H. X.

2015-01-01

In the application of oil-air lubrication system, electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) provides a promising way for monitoring oil film in the pipelines by reconstructing cross sectional oil distributions in real time. While in the case of small diameter pipe and thin oil film, the thickness of the oil film is hard to be observed visually since the interface of oil and air is not obvious in the reconstructed images. And the existence of artifacts in the reconstructions has seriously influenced the effectiveness of image segmentation techniques such as level set method. Besides, level set method is also unavailable for online monitoring due to its low computation speed. To address these problems, a modified level set method is developed: a distance regularized level set evolution formulation is extended to image two-phase flow online using an ECT system, a narrowband image filter is defined to eliminate the influence of artifacts, and considering the continuity of the oil distribution variation, the detected oil-air interface of a former image can be used as the initial contour for the detection of the subsequent frame; thus, the propagation from the initial contour to the boundary can be greatly accelerated, making it possible for real time tracking. To testify the feasibility of the proposed method, an oil-air lubrication facility with 4 mm inner diameter pipe is measured in normal operation using an 8-electrode ECT system. Both simulation and experiment results indicate that the modified level set method is capable of visualizing the oil-air interface accurately online

A safe and accurate method to perform esthetic mandibular contouring surgery for Far Eastern Asians.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, A M-C; Huon, L-K; Jiang, H-R; Liu, S Y-C

2017-05-01

A tapered mandibular contour is popular with Far Eastern Asians. This study describes a safe and accurate method of using preoperative virtual surgical planning (VSP) and an intraoperative ostectomy guide to maximize the esthetic outcomes of mandibular symmetry and tapering while mitigating injury to the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN). Twelve subjects with chief complaints of a wide and square lower face underwent this protocol from January to June 2015. VSP was used to confirm symmetry and preserve the IAN while maximizing the surgeon's ability to taper the lower face via mandibular inferior border ostectomy. The accuracy of this method was confirmed by superimposition of the perioperative computed tomography scans in all subjects. No subjects complained of prolonged paresthesia after 3 months. A safe and accurate protocol for achieving an esthetic lower face in indicated Far Eastern individuals is described. Copyright © 2016 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceptual representation and effectiveness of local figure-ground cues in natural contours.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakai, Ko; Matsuoka, Shouhei; Kurematsu, Ken; Hatori, Yasuhiro

2015-01-01

A contour shape strongly influences the perceptual segregation of a figure from the ground. We investigated the contribution of local contour shape to figure-ground segregation. Although previous studies have reported local contour features that evoke figure-ground perception, they were often image features and not necessarily perceptual features. First, we examined whether contour features, specifically, convexity, closure, and symmetry, underlie the perceptual representation of natural contour shapes. We performed similarity tests between local contours, and examined the contribution of the contour features to the perceptual similarities between the contours. The local contours were sampled from natural contours so that their distribution was uniform in the space composed of the three contour features. This sampling ensured the equal appearance frequency of the factors and a wide variety of contour shapes including those comprised of contradictory factors that induce figure in the opposite directions. This sampling from natural contours is advantageous in order to randomly pickup a variety of contours that satisfy a wide range of cue combinations. Multidimensional scaling analyses showed that the combinations of convexity, closure, and symmetry contribute to perceptual similarity, thus they are perceptual quantities. Second, we examined whether the three features contribute to local figure-ground perception. We performed psychophysical experiments to judge the direction of the figure along the local contours, and examined the contribution of the features to the figure-ground judgment. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that closure was a significant factor, but that convexity and symmetry were not. These results indicate that closure is dominant in the local figure-ground perception with natural contours when the other cues coexist with equal probability including contradictory cases.

Perceptual representation and effectiveness of local figure–ground cues in natural contours

Science.gov (United States)

Sakai, Ko; Matsuoka, Shouhei; Kurematsu, Ken; Hatori, Yasuhiro

2015-01-01

A contour shape strongly influences the perceptual segregation of a figure from the ground. We investigated the contribution of local contour shape to figure–ground segregation. Although previous studies have reported local contour features that evoke figure–ground perception, they were often image features and not necessarily perceptual features. First, we examined whether contour features, specifically, convexity, closure, and symmetry, underlie the perceptual representation of natural contour shapes. We performed similarity tests between local contours, and examined the contribution of the contour features to the perceptual similarities between the contours. The local contours were sampled from natural contours so that their distribution was uniform in the space composed of the three contour features. This sampling ensured the equal appearance frequency of the factors and a wide variety of contour shapes including those comprised of contradictory factors that induce figure in the opposite directions. This sampling from natural contours is advantageous in order to randomly pickup a variety of contours that satisfy a wide range of cue combinations. Multidimensional scaling analyses showed that the combinations of convexity, closure, and symmetry contribute to perceptual similarity, thus they are perceptual quantities. Second, we examined whether the three features contribute to local figure–ground perception. We performed psychophysical experiments to judge the direction of the figure along the local contours, and examined the contribution of the features to the figure–ground judgment. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that closure was a significant factor, but that convexity and symmetry were not. These results indicate that closure is dominant in the local figure–ground perception with natural contours when the other cues coexist with equal probability including contradictory cases. PMID:26579057

Perceptual Representation and Effectiveness of Local Figure-Ground Cues in Natural Contours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ko eSakai

2015-11-01

Full Text Available A contour shape strongly influences the perceptual segregation of a figure from the ground. We investigated the contribution of local contour shape to figure-ground segregation. Although previous studies have reported local contour features that evoke figure-ground perception, they were often image features and not necessarily perceptual features. First, we examined whether contour features, specifically, convexity, closure, and symmetry, underlie the perceptual representation of natural contour shapes. We performed similarity tests between local contours, and examined the contribution of the contour features to the perceptual similarities between the contours. The local contours were sampled from natural contours so that their distribution was uniform in the space composed of the three contour features. This sampling ensured the equal appearance frequency of the factors and a wide variety of contour shapes including those comprised of contradictory factors that induce figure in the opposite directions. This sampling from natural contours is advantageous in order to randomly pickup a variety of contours that satisfy a wide range of cue combinations. Multidimensional scaling analyses showed that the combinations of convexity, closure, and symmetry contribute to perceptual similarity, thus they are perceptual quantities. Second, we examined whether the three features contribute to local figure-ground perception. We performed psychophysical experiments to judge the direction of the figure along the local contours, and examined the contribution of the features to the figure-ground judgment. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that closure was a significant factor, but that convexity and symmetry were not. These results indicate that closure is dominant in the local figure-ground perception with natural contours when the other cues coexist with equal probability including contradictory cases.

Expert Consensus Contouring Guidelines for Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy in Esophageal and Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Abraham J.; Bosch, Walter R.; Chang, Daniel T.; Hong, Theodore S.; Jabbour, Salma K.; Kleinberg, Lawrence R.; Mamon, Harvey J.; Thomas, Charles R.; Goodman, Karyn A.

2015-01-01

Purpose/Objective(s): Current guidelines for esophageal cancer contouring are derived from traditional 2-dimensional fields based on bony landmarks, and they do not provide sufficient anatomic detail to ensure consistent contouring for more conformal radiation therapy techniques such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Therefore, we convened an expert panel with the specific aim to derive contouring guidelines and generate an atlas for the clinical target volume (CTV) in esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer. Methods and Materials: Eight expert academically based gastrointestinal radiation oncologists participated. Three sample cases were chosen: a GEJ cancer, a distal esophageal cancer, and a mid-upper esophageal cancer. Uniform computed tomographic (CT) simulation datasets and accompanying diagnostic positron emission tomographic/CT images were distributed to each expert, and the expert was instructed to generate gross tumor volume (GTV) and CTV contours for each case. All contours were aggregated and subjected to quantitative analysis to assess the degree of concordance between experts and to generate draft consensus contours. The panel then refined these contours to generate the contouring atlas. Results: The κ statistics indicated substantial agreement between panelists for each of the 3 test cases. A consensus CTV atlas was generated for the 3 test cases, each representing common anatomic presentations of esophageal cancer. The panel agreed on guidelines and principles to facilitate the generalizability of the atlas to individual cases. Conclusions: This expert panel successfully reached agreement on contouring guidelines for esophageal and GEJ IMRT and generated a reference CTV atlas. This atlas will serve as a reference for IMRT contours for clinical practice and prospective trial design. Subsequent patterns of failure analyses of clinical datasets using these guidelines may require modification in the future

Analysis of a planetary gear modelled with a contour graph considering the decision making complexity of game-tree structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deptuła Adam

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Analysis and synthesis of mechanisms is one of the fundamental tasks of engineering. Mechanisms can suffer from errors due to versatile reasons. Graph-based methods of analysis and synthesis of planetary gears constitute an alternative method for checking their correctness. Previous applications of the graph theory concerned modelling gears for dynamic analysis, kinematic analysis, synthesis, structural analysis, gearshift optimization and automatic design based on so-called graph grammars. Some tasks may be performed only with the methods resulting from the graph theory, e.g. enumeration of structural solutions. The contour plot method consists in distinguishing a series of consecutive rigid units of the analysed mechanism, forming a closed loop (so-called contour. At a later stage, it is possible to analyze the obtained contour graph as a directed graph of dependence. This work presents an example of the application of game-tree structures in describing the contour graph of a planetary gear. In addition, complex parametric tree structures are included.

Perturbation methods for power and reactivity reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palmiotti, G.; Salvatores, M.; Estiot, J.C.; Broccoli, U.; Bruna, G.; Gomit, J.M.

1987-01-01

This paper deals with recent developments and applications in perturbation methods. Two types of methods are used. The first one is an explicit method, which allows the explicit reconstruction of a perturbed flux using a linear combination of a library of functions. In our application, these functions are the harmonics (i.e. the high order eigenfunctions of the system). The second type is based on the Generalized Perturbation Theory GPT and needs the calculation of an importance function for each integral parameter of interest. Recent developments of a particularly useful high order formulation allows to obtain satisfactory results also for very large perturbations

Poster - Thur Eve - 65: Optimization of an automatic image contouring system for radiation therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, T; Nedialkov, N; Wierzbicki, M

2012-07-01

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is an advanced technique used to concentrate the prescribed dose in the tumour while minimizing exposure to healthy tissues. Success in IMRT is greatly dependent upon the localization of the target volume and normal tissue, thus accurate contouring is crucial. In this paper, we describe an automated atlas-based image contouring system and our approach for improving the system by performing a full-scale optimization of registration parameters using high-performance computing. To achieve this, we use manually pre-contoured CT images of ten head and neck patients. For any parameter set, each patient data is registered with the remaining patients. Accuracy of the resulting contours is determined automatically by comparing their overlap with manually defined targets using Dice's similarity coefficient (DSC). This allows us to compare all permutations of the image registration parameter sets and input data to investigate their impact on final contour accuracy. Investigating the parameter space required 27,000 image registrations and 216,000 DSC computations. To perform these registrations we introduced a large cluster of high-performance computers and developed a parallel testing harness. The metrics collected from the tests show a wide range of performance, indicating that parameter selection is crucial in our contouring system. By selecting an optimized parameter set, we increased the mean overlap of the automatically contoured regions of interest by 50% and reduced registration time by 50% compared to the original parameters. Our findings illustrate that full-scale optimization is an effective method for improving the performance of the automated image contouring system. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Pore REconstruction and Segmentation (PORES) method for improved porosity quantification of nanoporous materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Eyndhoven, G., E-mail: geert.vaneyndhoven@uantwerpen.be [iMinds-Vision Lab, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk (Belgium); Kurttepeli, M. [EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp (Belgium); Van Oers, C.J.; Cool, P. [Laboratory of Adsorption and Catalysis, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk (Belgium); Bals, S. [EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp (Belgium); Batenburg, K.J. [iMinds-Vision Lab, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk (Belgium); Centrum Wiskunde and Informatica, Science Park 123, NL-1090 GB Amsterdam (Netherlands); Mathematical Institute, Universiteit Leiden, Niels Bohrweg 1, NL-2333 CA Leiden (Netherlands); Sijbers, J. [iMinds-Vision Lab, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk (Belgium)

2015-01-15

Electron tomography is currently a versatile tool to investigate the connection between the structure and properties of nanomaterials. However, a quantitative interpretation of electron tomography results is still far from straightforward. Especially accurate quantification of pore-space is hampered by artifacts introduced in all steps of the processing chain, i.e., acquisition, reconstruction, segmentation and quantification. Furthermore, most common approaches require subjective manual user input. In this paper, the PORES algorithm “POre REconstruction and Segmentation” is introduced; it is a tailor-made, integral approach, for the reconstruction, segmentation, and quantification of porous nanomaterials. The PORES processing chain starts by calculating a reconstruction with a nanoporous-specific reconstruction algorithm: the Simultaneous Update of Pore Pixels by iterative REconstruction and Simple Segmentation algorithm (SUPPRESS). It classifies the interior region to the pores during reconstruction, while reconstructing the remaining region by reducing the error with respect to the acquired electron microscopy data. The SUPPRESS reconstruction can be directly plugged into the remaining processing chain of the PORES algorithm, resulting in accurate individual pore quantification and full sample pore statistics. The proposed approach was extensively validated on both simulated and experimental data, indicating its ability to generate accurate statistics of nanoporous materials. - Highlights: • An electron tomography reconstruction/segmentation method for nanoporous materials. • The method exploits the porous nature of the scanned material. • Validated extensively on both simulation and real data experiments. • Results in increased image resolution and improved porosity quantification.

Reducing the effects of acoustic heterogeneity with an iterative reconstruction method from experimental data in microwave induced thermoacoustic tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Jinguo; Zhao, Zhiqin; Song, Jian; Chen, Guoping; Nie, Zaiping; Liu, Qing-Huo

2015-01-01

Purpose: An iterative reconstruction method has been previously reported by the authors of this paper. However, the iterative reconstruction method was demonstrated by solely using the numerical simulations. It is essential to apply the iterative reconstruction method to practice conditions. The objective of this work is to validate the capability of the iterative reconstruction method for reducing the effects of acoustic heterogeneity with the experimental data in microwave induced thermoacoustic tomography. Methods: Most existing reconstruction methods need to combine the ultrasonic measurement technology to quantitatively measure the velocity distribution of heterogeneity, which increases the system complexity. Different to existing reconstruction methods, the iterative reconstruction method combines time reversal mirror technique, fast marching method, and simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique to iteratively estimate the velocity distribution of heterogeneous tissue by solely using the measured data. Then, the estimated velocity distribution is used subsequently to reconstruct the highly accurate image of microwave absorption distribution. Experiments that a target placed in an acoustic heterogeneous environment are performed to validate the iterative reconstruction method. Results: By using the estimated velocity distribution, the target in an acoustic heterogeneous environment can be reconstructed with better shape and higher image contrast than targets that are reconstructed with a homogeneous velocity distribution. Conclusions: The distortions caused by the acoustic heterogeneity can be efficiently corrected by utilizing the velocity distribution estimated by the iterative reconstruction method. The advantage of the iterative reconstruction method over the existing correction methods is that it is successful in improving the quality of the image of microwave absorption distribution without increasing the system complexity

Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Target Volume and Organ at Risk Contour Delineation Agreement Among NRG Sarcoma Radiation Oncologists

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baldini, Elizabeth H., E-mail: ebaldini@partners.org [Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women' s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Abrams, Ross A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois (United States); Bosch, Walter [Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri (United States); Roberge, David [Department of Radiation Oncology, Centre Hospitalier de l' Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec (Canada); Haas, Rick L.M. [Department of Radiotherapy, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Catton, Charles N. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Indelicato, Daniel J. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida Medical Center, Jacksonville, Florida (United States); Olsen, Jeffrey R. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri (United States); Deville, Curtiland [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States); Chen, Yen-Lin [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Finkelstein, Steven E. [Translational Research Consortium, 21st Century Oncology, Scottsdale, Arizona (United States); DeLaney, Thomas F. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Wang, Dian [Department of Radiation Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois (United States)

2015-08-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the variability in target volume and organ at risk (OAR) contour delineation for retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) among 12 sarcoma radiation oncologists. Methods and Materials: Radiation planning computed tomography (CT) scans for 2 cases of RPS were distributed among 12 sarcoma radiation oncologists with instructions for contouring gross tumor volume (GTV), clinical target volume (CTV), high-risk CTV (HR CTV: area judged to be at high risk of resulting in positive margins after resection), and OARs: bowel bag, small bowel, colon, stomach, and duodenum. Analysis of contour agreement was performed using the simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE) algorithm and kappa statistics. Results: Ten radiation oncologists contoured both RPS cases, 1 contoured only RPS1, and 1 contoured only RPS2 such that each case was contoured by 11 radiation oncologists. The first case (RPS 1) was a patient with a de-differentiated (DD) liposarcoma (LPS) with a predominant well-differentiated (WD) component, and the second case (RPS 2) was a patient with DD LPS made up almost entirely of a DD component. Contouring agreement for GTV and CTV contours was high. However, the agreement for HR CTVs was only moderate. For OARs, agreement for stomach, bowel bag, small bowel, and colon was high, but agreement for duodenum (distorted by tumor in one of these cases) was fair to moderate. Conclusions: For preoperative treatment of RPS, sarcoma radiation oncologists contoured GTV, CTV, and most OARs with a high level of agreement. HR CTV contours were more variable. Further clarification of this volume with the help of sarcoma surgical oncologists is necessary to reach consensus. More attention to delineation of the duodenum is also needed.

Can Images Obtained With High Field Strength Magnetic Resonance Imaging Reduce Contouring Variability of the Prostate?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Usmani, Nawaid; Sloboda, Ron; Kamal, Wafa; Ghosh, Sunita; Pervez, Nadeem; Pedersen, John; Yee, Don; Danielson, Brita; Murtha, Albert; Amanie, John; Monajemi, Tara

2011-01-01

Purpose: The objective of this study is to determine whether there is less contouring variability of the prostate using higher-strength magnetic resonance images (MRI) compared with standard MRI and computed tomography (CT). Methods and Materials: Forty patients treated with prostate brachytherapy were accrued to a prospective study that included the acquisition of 1.5-T MR and CT images at specified time points. A subset of 10 patients had additional 3.0-T MR images acquired at the same time as their 1.5-T MR scans. Images from each of these patients were contoured by 5 radiation oncologists, with a random subset of patients repeated to quantify intraobserver contouring variability. To minimize bias in contouring the prostate, the image sets were placed in folders in a random order with all identifiers removed from the images. Results: Although there was less interobserver contouring variability in the overall prostate volumes in 1.5-T MRI compared with 3.0-T MRI (p < 0.01), there was no significant differences in contouring variability in the different regions of the prostate between 1.5-T MRI and 3.0-T MRI. MRI demonstrated significantly less interobserver contouring variability in both 1.5-T and 3.0-T compared with CT in overall prostate volumes (p < 0.01, p = 0.01), with the greatest benefits being appreciated in the base of the prostate. Overall, there was less intraobserver contouring variability than interobserver contouring variability for all of the measurements analyzed. Conclusions: Use of 3.0-T MRI does not demonstrate a significant improvement in contouring variability compared with 1.5-T MRI, although both magnetic strengths demonstrated less contouring variability compared with CT.

Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Target Volume and Organ at Risk Contour Delineation Agreement Among NRG Sarcoma Radiation Oncologists

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldini, Elizabeth H.; Abrams, Ross A.; Bosch, Walter; Roberge, David; Haas, Rick L.M.; Catton, Charles N.; Indelicato, Daniel J.; Olsen, Jeffrey R.; Deville, Curtiland; Chen, Yen-Lin; Finkelstein, Steven E.; DeLaney, Thomas F.; Wang, Dian

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the variability in target volume and organ at risk (OAR) contour delineation for retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) among 12 sarcoma radiation oncologists. Methods and Materials: Radiation planning computed tomography (CT) scans for 2 cases of RPS were distributed among 12 sarcoma radiation oncologists with instructions for contouring gross tumor volume (GTV), clinical target volume (CTV), high-risk CTV (HR CTV: area judged to be at high risk of resulting in positive margins after resection), and OARs: bowel bag, small bowel, colon, stomach, and duodenum. Analysis of contour agreement was performed using the simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE) algorithm and kappa statistics. Results: Ten radiation oncologists contoured both RPS cases, 1 contoured only RPS1, and 1 contoured only RPS2 such that each case was contoured by 11 radiation oncologists. The first case (RPS 1) was a patient with a de-differentiated (DD) liposarcoma (LPS) with a predominant well-differentiated (WD) component, and the second case (RPS 2) was a patient with DD LPS made up almost entirely of a DD component. Contouring agreement for GTV and CTV contours was high. However, the agreement for HR CTVs was only moderate. For OARs, agreement for stomach, bowel bag, small bowel, and colon was high, but agreement for duodenum (distorted by tumor in one of these cases) was fair to moderate. Conclusions: For preoperative treatment of RPS, sarcoma radiation oncologists contoured GTV, CTV, and most OARs with a high level of agreement. HR CTV contours were more variable. Further clarification of this volume with the help of sarcoma surgical oncologists is necessary to reach consensus. More attention to delineation of the duodenum is also needed

Isotropic 3D cardiac cine MRI allows efficient sparse segmentation strategies based on 3D surface reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Odille, Freddy; Bustin, Aurélien; Liu, Shufang; Chen, Bailiang; Vuissoz, Pierre-André; Felblinger, Jacques; Bonnemains, Laurent

2018-05-01

Segmentation of cardiac cine MRI data is routinely used for the volumetric analysis of cardiac function. Conventionally, 2D contours are drawn on short-axis (SAX) image stacks with relatively thick slices (typically 8 mm). Here, an acquisition/reconstruction strategy is used for obtaining isotropic 3D cine datasets; reformatted slices are then used to optimize the manual segmentation workflow. Isotropic 3D cine datasets were obtained from multiple 2D cine stacks (acquired during free-breathing in SAX and long-axis (LAX) orientations) using nonrigid motion correction (cine-GRICS method) and super-resolution. Several manual segmentation strategies were then compared, including conventional SAX segmentation, LAX segmentation in three views only, and combinations of SAX and LAX slices. An implicit B-spline surface reconstruction algorithm is proposed to reconstruct the left ventricular cavity surface from the sparse set of 2D contours. All tested sparse segmentation strategies were in good agreement, with Dice scores above 0.9 despite using fewer slices (3-6 sparse slices instead of 8-10 contiguous SAX slices). When compared to independent phase-contrast flow measurements, stroke volumes computed from four or six sparse slices had slightly higher precision than conventional SAX segmentation (error standard deviation of 5.4 mL against 6.1 mL) at the cost of slightly lower accuracy (bias of -1.2 mL against 0.2 mL). Functional parameters also showed a trend to improved precision, including end-diastolic volumes, end-systolic volumes, and ejection fractions). The postprocessing workflow of 3D isotropic cardiac imaging strategies can be optimized using sparse segmentation and 3D surface reconstruction. Magn Reson Med 79:2665-2675, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

On the Relationship between Variational Level Set-Based and SOM-Based Active Contours

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelsamea, Mohammed M.; Gnecco, Giorgio; Gaber, Mohamed Medhat; Elyan, Eyad

2015-01-01

Most Active Contour Models (ACMs) deal with the image segmentation problem as a functional optimization problem, as they work on dividing an image into several regions by optimizing a suitable functional. Among ACMs, variational level set methods have been used to build an active contour with the aim of modeling arbitrarily complex shapes. Moreover, they can handle also topological changes of the contours. Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs) have attracted the attention of many computer vision scientists, particularly in modeling an active contour based on the idea of utilizing the prototypes (weights) of a SOM to control the evolution of the contour. SOM-based models have been proposed in general with the aim of exploiting the specific ability of SOMs to learn the edge-map information via their topology preservation property and overcoming some drawbacks of other ACMs, such as trapping into local minima of the image energy functional to be minimized in such models. In this survey, we illustrate the main concepts of variational level set-based ACMs, SOM-based ACMs, and their relationship and review in a comprehensive fashion the development of their state-of-the-art models from a machine learning perspective, with a focus on their strengths and weaknesses. PMID:25960736

A cardiac contouring atlas for radiotherapy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duane, Frances; Aznar, Marianne C; Bartlett, Freddie

2017-01-01

defined from cardiology models and agreed by two cardiologists. Reference atlas contours were delineated and written guidelines prepared. Six radiation oncologists tested the atlas. Spatial variation was assessed using the DICE similarity coefficient (DSC) and the directed Hausdorff average distance (d→H,avg......-observer contour separation (mean d→H,avg) was 1.5-2.2mm for left ventricular segments and 1.3-5.1mm for coronary artery segments. This spatial variation resulted in

Multislice helical CT (MSCT) for mid-facial trauma: optimization of parameters for scanning and reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dammert, S.; Funke, M.; Obernauer, S.; Grabbe, E.; Merten, H.A.

2002-01-01

Purpose: To determine the optimal scan parameters in multislice helical CT (MSCT) of the facial bone complex for both axial scanning and multiplanar reconstructions. Material and Methods: An anthropomorphic skull phantom was examined with a MSCT. Axial scans were performed with continuously increasing collimations (4 x 1.25 - 4 x 2.5 mm), tube current (20 - 200 mA) and table speeds (3.75 mm/rot. and 7.5 mm/rot.). Multiplanar reconstructions in coronal and parasagittal planes with different reconstruction increment and slice thickness were evaluated in terms of image noise, contour artifacts and visualisation of anatomical structures. Results: The best image quality was obtained with a collimation of 4 x 1.25 mm and a - table speed of 3.75 mm/rot. A reconstruction increment of 0.6 mm achieved the best time to image quality relation. With these parameters the bone structures were depicted in an optimal way without artifacts. The tube current could be reduced to 50 mA without significant loss of image quality. The optimized protocol was used for regular routine examinations in patients with facial trauma (n = 66). Conclusions: Low-dose MSCT using thin collimation, low table speed and small reconstruction increments provides excellent data for both axial images and multiplanar reconstructions in patients with facial trauma. An additional examination in coronal orientation is therefore no longer necessary. (orig.) [de

Possibilities of reconstruction and implant-prosthetic rehabilitation following mandible resection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konstantinović Vitomir S.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Mandible reconstruction is still very challenging for surgeons. Mandible defects could be the consequence of ablative surgery for malignancies, huge jaw cysts, infection and trauma. Segmental resection of the mandible may compromise orofacial function and often lead to patients psychological disorders. Despite very frequent use of microvascular flaps, autogenous bone grafts are still very reliable technique for mandible reconstruction. Comprehensive therapy means not only mandible reconstruction, but prosthodontic rehabilitation supported by dental implants, which can significantly improve patients quality of life. The aim of this paper was to evaluate possible techniques of mandible reconstruction and to present a patient who had been submitted to mandible resection and reconstruction with autogenous iliac bone graft and prosthodontic rehabilitation with fixed denture anchoraged by disc-shaped implants in early loading protocol. Case report. Mandible reconstruction was performed simultaneously with resection. Autogenous iliac bone graft was taken, reshaped and placed in two parts, to the required optimal contour of the mandible. After graft consolidation, decision was made for prosthodontics rehabilitation with fixed dentures supported by implants. In addition to the standard preoperative procedures, planning was done based on a biomodel gained by rapid prototyping after CT scan. It offered a real 3D planning to obtain a proper shape, dimension and the position of implants. Conclusion. If bone dimensions of a reconstructed mandible are insufficient, like in the presented case, the use of basal osseointegrated implants may be a method of choice. Avoiding bone augmentation procedures, as well as early loading protocol for this type of implants, shorten the total rehabilitation time, which is very convenient for patients. Fixed denture supported by dental implants is the best solution for comprehensive rehabilitation after mandible

Universality in the merging dynamics of parametric active contours: a study in MRI based lung segmentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chattopadhyay, Amit K; Ray, Nilanjan; Acton, Scott T

2005-01-01

Measurement of lung ventilation is one of the most reliable techniques in diagnosing pulmonary diseases. The time-consuming and bias-prone traditional methods using hyperpolarized H 3 He and 1 H magnetic resonance imageries have recently been improved by an automated technique based on 'multiple active contour evolution'. This method involves a simultaneous evolution of multiple initial conditions, called 'snakes', eventually leading to their 'merging' and is entirely independent of the shapes and sizes of snakes or other parametric details. The objective of this paper is to show, through a theoretical analysis, that the functional dynamics of merging as depicted in the active contour method has a direct analogue in statistical physics and this explains its 'universality'. We show that the multiple active contour method has an universal scaling behaviour akin to that of classical nucleation in two spatial dimensions. We prove our point by comparing the numerically evaluated exponents with an equivalent thermodynamic model

Pelvic Normal Tissue Contouring Guidelines for Radiation Therapy: A Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Consensus Panel Atlas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gay, Hiram A., E-mail: hgay@radonc.wustl.edu [Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO (United States); Barthold, H. Joseph [Commonwealth Hematology and Oncology, Weymouth, MA (United States); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA (Israel); O' Meara, Elizabeth [Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, Philadelphia, PA (United States); Bosch, Walter R. [Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO (United States); El Naqa, Issam [Department of Radiation Oncology, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec (Canada); Al-Lozi, Rawan [Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO (United States); Rosenthal, Seth A. [Radiation Oncology Centers, Radiological Associates of Sacramento, Sacramento, CA (United States); Lawton, Colleen [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (United States); Lee, W. Robert [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC (United States); Sandler, Howard [Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Zietman, Anthony [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (United States); Myerson, Robert [Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO (United States); Dawson, Laura A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Willett, Christopher [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC (United States); Kachnic, Lisa A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA (United States); Jhingran, Anuja [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Portelance, Lorraine [University of Miami, Miami, FL (United States); Ryu, Janice [Radiation Oncology Centers, Radiological Associates of Sacramento, Sacramento, CA (United States); and others

2012-07-01

Purpose: To define a male and female pelvic normal tissue contouring atlas for Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) trials. Methods and Materials: One male pelvis computed tomography (CT) data set and one female pelvis CT data set were shared via the Image-Guided Therapy QA Center. A total of 16 radiation oncologists participated. The following organs at risk were contoured in both CT sets: anus, anorectum, rectum (gastrointestinal and genitourinary definitions), bowel NOS (not otherwise specified), small bowel, large bowel, and proximal femurs. The following were contoured in the male set only: bladder, prostate, seminal vesicles, and penile bulb. The following were contoured in the female set only: uterus, cervix, and ovaries. A computer program used the binomial distribution to generate 95% group consensus contours. These contours and definitions were then reviewed by the group and modified. Results: The panel achieved consensus definitions for pelvic normal tissue contouring in RTOG trials with these standardized names: Rectum, AnoRectum, SmallBowel, Colon, BowelBag, Bladder, UteroCervix, Adnexa{sub R}, Adnexa{sub L}, Prostate, SeminalVesc, PenileBulb, Femur{sub R}, and Femur{sub L}. Two additional normal structures whose purpose is to serve as targets in anal and rectal cancer were defined: AnoRectumSig and Mesorectum. Detailed target volume contouring guidelines and images are discussed. Conclusions: Consensus guidelines for pelvic normal tissue contouring were reached and are available as a CT image atlas on the RTOG Web site. This will allow uniformity in defining normal tissues for clinical trials delivering pelvic radiation and will facilitate future normal tissue complication research.

Reconstructing plateau icefields: Evaluating empirical and modelled approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, Danni; Rea, Brice; Barr, Iestyn

2013-04-01

Glacial landforms are widely utilised to reconstruct former glacier geometries with a common aim to estimate the Equilibrium Line Altitudes (ELAs) and from these, infer palaeoclimatic conditions. Such inferences may be studied on a regional scale and used to correlate climatic gradients across large distances (e.g., Europe). In Britain, the traditional approach uses geomorphological mapping with hand contouring to derive the palaeo-ice surface. Recently, ice surface modelling enables an equilibrium profile reconstruction tuned using the geomorphology. Both methods permit derivation of palaeo-climate but no study has compared the two methods for the same ice-mass. This is important because either approach may result in differences in glacier limits, ELAs and palaeo-climate. This research uses both methods to reconstruct a plateau icefield and quantifies the results from a cartographic and geometrical aspect. Detailed geomorphological mapping of the Tweedsmuir Hills in the Southern Uplands, Scotland (c. 320 km2) was conducted to examine the extent of Younger Dryas (YD; 12.9 -11.7 cal. ka BP) glaciation. Landform evidence indicates a plateau icefield configuration of two separate ice-masses during the YD covering an area c. 45 km2 and 25 km2. The interpreted age is supported by new radiocarbon dating of basal stratigraphies and Terrestrial Cosmogenic Nuclide Analysis (TCNA) of in situ boulders. Both techniques produce similar configurations however; the model results in a coarser resolution requiring further processing if a cartographic map is required. When landforms are absent or fragmentary (e.g., trimlines and lateral moraines), like in many accumulation zones on plateau icefields, the geomorphological approach increasingly relies on extrapolation between lines of evidence and on the individual's perception of how the ice-mass ought to look. In some locations this results in an underestimation of the ice surface compared to the modelled surface most likely due to

Clinical evaluation of atlas and deep learning based automatic contouring for lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Lustberg, Tim; van Soest, Johan; Gooding, Mark; Peressutti, Devis; Aljabar, Paul; van der Stoep, Judith; van Elmpt, Wouter; Dekker, Andre

2018-02-01

Contouring of organs at risk (OARs) is an important but time consuming part of radiotherapy treatment planning. The aim of this study was to investigate whether using institutional created software-generated contouring will save time if used as a starting point for manual OAR contouring for lung cancer patients. Twenty CT scans of stage I-III NSCLC patients were used to compare user adjusted contours after an atlas-based and deep learning contour, against manual delineation. The lungs, esophagus, spinal cord, heart and mediastinum were contoured for this study. The time to perform the manual tasks was recorded. With a median time of 20 min for manual contouring, the total median time saved was 7.8 min when using atlas-based contouring and 10 min for deep learning contouring. Both atlas based and deep learning adjustment times were significantly lower than manual contouring time for all OARs except for the left lung and esophagus of the atlas based contouring. User adjustment of software generated contours is a viable strategy to reduce contouring time of OARs for lung radiotherapy while conforming to local clinical standards. In addition, deep learning contouring shows promising results compared to existing solutions. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The method of the maximum entropy for the reconstruction of the distribution bolt the bolt of the neutrons flow in a fuel element; O metodo da maxima entropia para a reconstrucao da distribuicao pino a pino do fluxo de neutrons em um elemento combustivel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ancalla, Lourdes Pilar Zaragoza

2005-04-15

The reconstruction of the distribution of density of potency pin upright in a heterogeneous combustible element, of the nucleus of a nuclear reactor, it is a subject that has been studied inside by a long time in Physics of Reactors area. Several methods exist to do this reconstruction, one of them is Maximum Entropy's Method, that besides being an optimization method that finds the best solution of all the possible solutions, it is a method also improved that uses multipliers of Lagrange to obtain the distribution of the flows in the faces of the combustible element. This distribution of the flows in the faces is used then as a contour condition in the calculations of a detailed distribution of flow inside the combustible element. In this work, in first place it was made the homogenization of the heterogeneous element. Soon after the factor of the multiplication executes and the medium values of the flow and of the liquid current they are computed, with the program NEM2D. These values medium nodal are, then, used upright in the reconstruction of the distribution pin of the flow inside the combustible element. The obtained results were acceptable, when compared with those obtained using fine mesh. (author)

High-precision surface formation and the 3-D shaded display of the brain obtained from CT images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niki, Noboru; Higuti, Kiyofumi; Takahashi, Yoshizo

1986-01-01

High-precision reconstruction of surface and 3-D shaded display of the target organ and lesions, obtained from CT images, aid in medical recognition. Firstly, this paper points out some problems of using a conventional method, in which brain surface is reconstructed from the known contour of brain slices, in 3-D shaded display of the brain in a dog. Secondly, a new high-precision technique for reconstructing complex brain surface from brain contour is proposed. The principle of the technique consists of extracting data of outline surface and fissures, smoothing of brain contour, and recomposition of the data of outline surface and fissures into a composite surface image. Finally, the validity of the method was verified by successfully reconstructing complex brain surface from the contour of dog brain slices. In addition, it was possible to cut brain surface, obtained by the newly developed technique, in any voluntary plane and to display CT values on the sections. (Namekawa, K.)

Efficient 3D Volume Reconstruction from a Point Cloud Using a Phase-Field Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darae Jeong

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We propose an explicit hybrid numerical method for the efficient 3D volume reconstruction from unorganized point clouds using a phase-field method. The proposed three-dimensional volume reconstruction algorithm is based on the 3D binary image segmentation method. First, we define a narrow band domain embedding the unorganized point cloud and an edge indicating function. Second, we define a good initial phase-field function which speeds up the computation significantly. Third, we use a recently developed explicit hybrid numerical method for solving the three-dimensional image segmentation model to obtain efficient volume reconstruction from point cloud data. In order to demonstrate the practical applicability of the proposed method, we perform various numerical experiments.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based Target Volume Delineation in Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning for Brain Tumors Using Localized Region-Based Active Contour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aslian, Hossein; Sadeghi, Mahdi; Mahdavi, Seied Rabie; Babapour Mofrad, Farshid; Astarakee, Mahdi; Khaledi, Navid; Fadavi, Pedram

2013-01-01