A Superresolution Image Reconstruction Algorithm Based on Landweber in Electrical Capacitance Tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Deyun

2013-01-01

Full Text Available According to the image reconstruction accuracy influenced by the “soft field” nature and ill-conditioned problems in electrical capacitance tomography, a superresolution image reconstruction algorithm based on Landweber is proposed in the paper, which is based on the working principle of the electrical capacitance tomography system. The method uses the algorithm which is derived by regularization of solutions derived and derives closed solution by fast Fourier transform of the convolution kernel. So, it ensures the certainty of the solution and improves the stability and quality of image reconstruction results. Simulation results show that the imaging precision and real-time imaging of the algorithm are better than Landweber algorithm, and this algorithm proposes a new method for the electrical capacitance tomography image reconstruction algorithm.

Magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography for determining electric field distribution during electroporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kranjc, Matej; Miklavcic, Damijan; Bajd, Franci; Serša, Igor

2013-01-01

Electroporation is a phenomenon caused by externally applied electric field to cells that results in an increase of cell membrane permeability to various molecules. Accurate coverage of the tissue with a sufficiently large electric field presents one of the most important conditions for successful membrane permeabilization. Applications based on electroporation would greatly benefit with a method for monitoring the electric field, especially if it could be done in situ. As the membrane electroporation is a consequence of an induced transmembrane potential, which is directly proportional to the local electric field, we have been investigating current density imaging and magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography techniques to determine the electric field distribution during electroporation. In this paper, we present comparison of current density and electric field distribution in an agar phantom and in a liver tissue exposed to electroporation pulses. As expected, a region of increased electrical conductivity was observed in the liver tissue exposed to sufficiently high electric field but not in agar phantom.

Image reconstruction with an adaptive threshold technique in electrical resistance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Bong Seok; Khambampati, Anil Kumar; Kim, Sin; Kim, Kyung Youn

2011-01-01

In electrical resistance tomography, electrical currents are injected through the electrodes placed on the surface of a domain and the corresponding voltages are measured. Based on these currents and voltage data, the cross-sectional resistivity distribution is reconstructed. Electrical resistance tomography shows high temporal resolution for monitoring fast transient processes, but it still remains a challenging problem to improve the spatial resolution of the reconstructed images. In this paper, a novel image reconstruction technique is proposed to improve the spatial resolution by employing an adaptive threshold method to the iterative Gauss–Newton method. Numerical simulations and phantom experiments have been performed to illustrate the superior performance of the proposed scheme in the sense of spatial resolution

Electrical impedance tomography spectroscopy method for characterising particles in solid-liquid phase

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Yanlin [Department of Thermal Energy Engineering, College of Mechanical and Transportation Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249 (China); Wang, Mi [Institute of Particle Science and Engineering, School of Process, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT (China); Yao, Jun [School of Energy Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005 (China)

2014-04-11

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is one of the process tomography techniques to provide an on-line non-invasive imaging for multiphase flow measurement. With EIT measurements, the images of impedance real part, impedance imaginary part, phase angle, and magnitude can be obtained. However, most of the applications of EIT in the process industries rely on the conductivity difference between two phases in fluids to obtain the concentration profiles. It is not common to use the imaginary part or phase angle due to the dominant change in conductivity or complication in the use of other impedance information. In a solid-liquid two phases system involving nano- or submicro-particles, characterisation of particles (e.g. particle size and concentration) have to rely on the measurement of impedance phase angle or imaginary part. Particles in a solution usually have an electrical double layer associated with their surfaces and can form an induced electrical dipole moment due to the polarization of the electrical double layer under the influence of an alternating electric field. Similar to EIT, electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement can record the electrical impedance data, including impedance real part, imaginary part and phase angle (θ), which are caused by the polarization of the electrical double layer. These impedance data are related to the particle characteristics e.g. particle size, particle and ionic concentrations in the aqueous medium, therefore EIS method provides a capability for characterising the particles in suspensions. Electrical impedance tomography based on EIS measurement or namely, electrical impedance tomography spectroscopy (EITS) could image the spatial distribution of particle characteristics. In this paper, a new method, including test set-up and data analysis, for characterisation of particles in suspensions are developed through the experimental approach. The experimental results on tomographic imaging of colloidal particles

Fringe effect of electrical capacitance and resistance tomography sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Jiangtao; Yang, Wuqiang

2013-01-01

Because of the ‘soft-field’ nature, all electrical tomography sensors suffer from electric field distortion, i.e. the fringe effect. In electrical resistance tomography (ERT) sensors, small pin electrodes are commonly used. It is well known that the pin electrodes result in severe electric field distortion or the fringe effect, and the sensing region of such an ERT sensor spreads out of the pin electrode plane to a large volume. This is also true for electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) sensors, even though it is less severe because of larger electrodes and grounded end guards used. However, when the length of electrodes in an ECT sensor without guards is reduced to almost the same dimension as those in an ERT sensor, the fringe effect is equally obvious. To investigate the fringe effect of ERT and ECT sensors with and without guards, simulations were carried out with different length of electrodes and the results are compared with the corresponding 2D simulation. It is concluded that ECT and ERT sensors with longer electrodes have less fringe effect. Because grounded end guards are effective in reducing the fringe effect of ECT sensors, we propose to apply grounded guards in ERT sensors and integrate ECT and ERT sensors together. Simulation results reveal that ERT sensors with grounded guards have less fringe effect. While commonly current excitation is used with ERT sensors, we propose voltage excitation instead to apply the grounded guards. The feasibility of this approach has been verified by experiment. Finally, a common structure for reducing the fringe effect is proposed for ECT and ERT sensors for the first time to simplify the sensor structure and reduce the mutual interference in ECT/ERT dual-modality measurements. (paper)

Electric capacitance tomography and two-phase flow for the nuclear reactor safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jae Young

2008-01-01

Recently electric capacitance tomography has been developed to be used in the analysis of two-phase flow. Although its electric field is not focused as the hard ray tomography such as the X-ray or gamma ray, its convenience of easy access to the system and easy maintenance due to no requirement of radiation shielding benefits us in its application in the two-phase flow study, one of important area in the nuclear safety analysis. In the present paper, the practical technologies in the electric capacitance tomography are represented in both parts of hardware and software. In the software part, both forward problem and inverse problem are discussed and the method of regularization. In the hardware part, the brief discussion of the electronics circuits is made which provides femto farad resolution with a reasonable speed (150 frame/sec for 16 electrodes). Some representative ideal cases are studied to demonstrate its potential capability for the two-phase flow analysis. Also, some variations of the tomography such as axial tomography, and three dimensional tomography are discussed. It was found that the present ECT is expected to become a useful tool to understand the complicated three dimensional two-phase flow which may be an important feature to be equipped by the safety analysis codes. (author)

In-mine electrical resistance tomography for imaging the continuity of tabular orebodies

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Schoor, Abraham M

2006-09-01

Full Text Available One of the strengths of the electrical resistance tomography (ERT) technique is its flexibility in terms of survey geometries. In this paper an unconventional and novel ERT application that is geometrically analogous to in-seam seismic tomography...

Imaging voids beneath bridge bent using electrical resistivity tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-02-01

Five electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) profiles and borehole control were acquired beneath two bridges on the bank of the : Gasconade River in order to determine extension of the underground water-filled openings in rock encountered during a dr...

A Prototype System for Time-Lapse Electrical Resistivity Tomographies

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Raffaele Luongo

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A prototype system for time-lapse acquisition of 2D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT and time domain reflectometry (TDR measurements was installed in a test site affected by a landslide in Basilicata region (southern Italy. The aim of the system is to monitor in real-time the rainwater infiltration into the soil and obtain information about the variation of the water content in the first layers of the subsoil and the possible influence of this variation on landslide activity. A rain gauge placed in the test site gives information on the rainfall intensity and frequency and suggests the acquisition time interval. The installed system and the preliminary results are presented in this paper.

Magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography for measuring electrical conductivity during electroporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kranjc, M; Miklavčič, D; Bajd, F; Serša, I

2014-01-01

The electroporation effect on tissue can be assessed by measurement of electrical properties of the tissue undergoing electroporation. The most prominent techniques for measuring electrical properties of electroporated tissues have been voltage–current measurement of applied pulses and electrical impedance tomography (EIT). However, the electrical conductivity of tissue assessed by means of voltage–current measurement was lacking in information on tissue heterogeneity, while EIT requires numerous additional electrodes and produces results with low spatial resolution and high noise. Magnetic resonance EIT (MREIT) is similar to EIT, as it is also used for reconstruction of conductivity images, though voltage and current measurements are not limited to the boundaries in MREIT, hence it yields conductivity images with better spatial resolution. The aim of this study was to investigate and demonstrate the feasibility of the MREIT technique for assessment of conductivity images of tissues undergoing electroporation. Two objects were investigated: agar phantoms and ex vivo liver tissue. As expected, no significant change of electrical conductivity was detected in agar phantoms exposed to pulses of all used amplitudes, while a considerable increase of conductivity was measured in liver tissue exposed to pulses of different amplitudes. (paper)

Hydrogeological characterisation using cross-borehole ground penetration radar and electrical resistivity tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zibar, Majken Caroline Looms

2007-01-01

was characterized by ~30 m thick unsaturated zone consisting mainly of sands of varying coarseness. Following an instrumentation of 16 boreholes two geophysical methods (cross-borehole ground penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography) were applied during natural precipitation and forced infiltration...... properties of the subsurface. On the other hand, volumetric moisture content variations of up to 5% were observed during a 20-day long forced infiltration experiment. The cross-borehole electrical resistance tomography and ground penetrating radar data collected during this experiment were subsequently....... The methods provided estimates of soil moisture content and electrical resistivity variations among 12 m deep boreholes located 5 – 7 m apart. The moisture content change following natural precipitation was observed to be practically negligible, providing minimal information to constrain the dynamic...

A new normalization method based on electrical field lines for electrical capacitance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, L F; Wang, H X

2009-01-01

Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is considered to be one of the most promising process tomography techniques. The image reconstruction for ECT is an inverse problem to find the spatially distributed permittivities in a pipe. Usually, the capacitance measurements obtained from the ECT system are normalized at the high and low permittivity for image reconstruction. The parallel normalization model is commonly used during the normalization process, which assumes the distribution of materials in parallel. Thus, the normalized capacitance is a linear function of measured capacitance. A recently used model is a series normalization model which results in the normalized capacitance as a nonlinear function of measured capacitance. The newest presented model is based on electrical field centre lines (EFCL), and is a mixture of two normalization models. The multi-threshold method of this model is presented in this paper. The sensitivity matrices based on different normalization models were obtained, and image reconstruction was carried out accordingly. Simulation results indicate that reconstructed images with higher quality can be obtained based on the presented model

Variational constraints for electrical-impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berryman, J.G.; Kohn, R.V.

1990-01-01

The task of electrical-impedance tomography is to invert boundary measurements for the conductivity distribution of a body. This inverse problem can be formulated so the primary data are the measured powers dissipated across injection electrodes. Then, since these powers are minima of the pertinent (dual) variational principles, feasibility constraints can be found for the nonlinear inversion problem. When power may be measured accurately, the existence of these dual variational principles implies that any exact solution must lie at a point of intersection of the two feasibility boundaries

Magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography (MREIT): conductivity and current density imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seo, Jin Keun; Kwon, Ohin; Woo, Eung Je

2005-01-01

This paper reviews the latest impedance imaging technique called Magnetic Resonance Electrical Impedance Tomography (MREIT) providing information on electrical conductivity and current density distributions inside an electrically conducting domain such as the human body. The motivation for this research is explained by discussing conductivity changes related with physiological and pathological events, electromagnetic source imaging and electromagnetic stimulations. We briefly summarize the related technique of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) that deals with cross-sectional image reconstructions of conductivity distributions from boundary measurements of current-voltage data. Noting that EIT suffers from the ill-posed nature of the corresponding inverse problem, we introduce MREIT as a new conductivity imaging modality providing images with better spatial resolution and accuracy. MREIT utilizes internal information on the induced magnetic field in addition to the boundary current-voltage measurements to produce three-dimensional images of conductivity and current density distributions. Mathematical theory, algorithms, and experimental methods of current MREIT research are described. With numerous potential applications in mind, future research directions in MREIT are proposed

Empirical validation of statistical parametric mapping for group imaging of fast neural activity using electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Packham, B; Barnes, G; Dos Santos, G Sato; Aristovich, K; Gilad, O; Ghosh, A; Oh, T; Holder, D

2016-06-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) allows for the reconstruction of internal conductivity from surface measurements. A change in conductivity occurs as ion channels open during neural activity, making EIT a potential tool for functional brain imaging. EIT images can have  >10 000 voxels, which means statistical analysis of such images presents a substantial multiple testing problem. One way to optimally correct for these issues and still maintain the flexibility of complicated experimental designs is to use random field theory. This parametric method estimates the distribution of peaks one would expect by chance in a smooth random field of a given size. Random field theory has been used in several other neuroimaging techniques but never validated for EIT images of fast neural activity, such validation can be achieved using non-parametric techniques. Both parametric and non-parametric techniques were used to analyze a set of 22 images collected from 8 rats. Significant group activations were detected using both techniques (corrected p  <  0.05). Both parametric and non-parametric analyses yielded similar results, although the latter was less conservative. These results demonstrate the first statistical analysis of such an image set and indicate that such an analysis is an approach for EIT images of neural activity.

Application of electrical tomography to study the internal structure of rock glaciers in Altai

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. S. Dyakova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Internal structure of rock glaciers was investigated at two key sites in Altai by means of electric tomography. It had been found that the rock glaciers of the same type, located at different altitude levels, differ in electric resistances of ice nuclei and the degree of consolidation of the ice material inside of them. Typical characteristics of the ice core of a rock glacier in the high-mountain area are the following: electrical resistivity is about 1000–2000 kOhm∙m and a high degree of the ice consolidation, while the same for the mid-mountain region: the electrical resistivity is 150–300 kOhm∙m and the presence of the talik zones within the glacier body. Using the method of electric tomography for investigation of the internal structure of the rock-glaciers makes possible to reveal presence of frozen soils and ice and to find the upper boundary of occurrence of them from anomalously high specific electric resistance. However, it is not always possible to determine a thickness of the rock-ice formation, and to estimate a degree of its consolidation that does not allow calculating the ice content volume. Limitations of this technology can be overcome by the use of electric tomography in combination with other geophysical methods.

Electrical Resistance Tomography imaging of concrete

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karhunen, Kimmo; Seppaenen, Aku; Lehikoinen, Anssi; Monteiro, Paulo J.M.; Kaipio, Jari P.

2010-01-01

We apply Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) for three dimensional imaging of concrete. In ERT, alternating currents are injected into the target using an array of electrodes attached to the target surface, and the resulting voltages are measured using the same electrodes. These boundary measurements are used for reconstructing the internal (3D) conductivity distribution of the target. In reinforced concrete, the metallic phases (reinforcing bars and fibers), cracks and air voids, moisture gradients, and the chloride distribution in the matrix carry contrast with respect to conductivity. While electrical measurements have been widely used to characterize the properties of concrete, only preliminary results of applying ERT to concrete imaging have been published so far. The aim of this paper is to carry out a feasibility evaluation with specifically cast samples. The results indicate that ERT may be a feasible modality for non-destructive evaluation of concrete.

A fast sparse reconstruction algorithm for electrical tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Jia; Xu, Yanbin; Tan, Chao; Dong, Feng

2014-01-01

Electrical tomography (ET) has been widely investigated due to its advantages of being non-radiative, low-cost and high-speed. However, the image reconstruction of ET is a nonlinear and ill-posed inverse problem and the imaging results are easily affected by measurement noise. A sparse reconstruction algorithm based on L 1 regularization is robust to noise and consequently provides a high quality of reconstructed images. In this paper, a sparse reconstruction by separable approximation algorithm (SpaRSA) is extended to solve the ET inverse problem. The algorithm is competitive with the fastest state-of-the-art algorithms in solving the standard L 2 −L 1 problem. However, it is computationally expensive when the dimension of the matrix is large. To further improve the calculation speed of solving inverse problems, a projection method based on the Krylov subspace is employed and combined with the SpaRSA algorithm. The proposed algorithm is tested with image reconstruction of electrical resistance tomography (ERT). Both simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can reduce the computational time and improve the noise robustness for the image reconstruction. (paper)

Electrical resistance tomography used in environmental restoration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez, A.L.; Daily, W.; LaBrecque, D.

1992-04-01

We are developing a new imaging technique, Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT), to map subsurface liquids as flow occurs during natural or clean-up processes; ERT can also be used to map geologic structure. Natural processes (such as surface water infiltrating the vadose zone) and clean-up processes (such as air injection in the saturated zone, steam injection, emplacement of subsurface barriers) can create changes in a soil's electrical properties that are readily measured. We use these measurements to calculate tomographs that show the spatial distribution of the subsurface resistivities. The information derived from ERT can be used by remediation projects to: monitor the effectiveness of clean-up processes, characterize hydrologic processes affecting contaminant transport, select appropriate clean-up alternatives, demonstrate regulatory compliance, and to verify the installation and performance of subsurface barriers

Electrical Resistance Tomography imaging of concrete

KAUST Repository

Karhunen, Kimmo

2010-01-01

We apply Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) for three dimensional imaging of concrete. In ERT, alternating currents are injected into the target using an array of electrodes attached to the target surface, and the resulting voltages are measured using the same electrodes. These boundary measurements are used for reconstructing the internal (3D) conductivity distribution of the target. In reinforced concrete, the metallic phases (reinforcing bars and fibers), cracks and air voids, moisture gradients, and the chloride distribution in the matrix carry contrast with respect to conductivity. While electrical measurements have been widely used to characterize the properties of concrete, only preliminary results of applying ERT to concrete imaging have been published so far. The aim of this paper is to carry out a feasibility evaluation with specifically cast samples. The results indicate that ERT may be a feasible modality for non-destructive evaluation of concrete. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing regional lung mechanics by combining electrical impedance tomography and forced oscillation technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Ngo, Chuong; Spagnesi, Sarah; Munoz, Carlos; Lehmann, Sylvia; Vollmer, Thomas; Misgeld, Berno; Leonhardt, Steffen

2017-08-29

There is a lack of noninvasive pulmonary function tests which can assess regional information of the lungs. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a radiation-free, non-invasive real-time imaging that provides regional information of ventilation volume regarding the measurement of electrical impedance distribution. Forced oscillation technique (FOT) is a pulmonary function test which is based on the measurement of respiratory mechanical impedance over a frequency range. In this article, we introduce a new measurement approach by combining FOT and EIT, named the oscillatory electrical impedance tomography (oEIT). Our oEIT measurement system consists of a valve-based FOT device, an EIT device, pressure and flow sensors, and a computer fusing the data streams. Measurements were performed on five healthy volunteers at the frequencies 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 15, and 20 Hz. The measurements suggest that the combination of FOT and EIT is a promising approach. High frequency responses are visible in the derivative of the global impedance index ΔZeit(t,fos). $\\Delta {Z_{{\\text{eit}}}}(t,{f_{{\\text{os}}}}).$ The oEIT signals consist of three main components: forced oscillation, spontaneous breathing, and heart activity. The amplitude of the oscillation component decreases with increasing frequency. The band-pass filtered oEIT signal might be a new tool in regional lung function diagnostics, since local responses to high frequency perturbation could be distinguished between different lung regions.

Using electrical resistance tomography to map subsurface temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez, Abelardo L.; Chesnut, Dwayne A.; Daily, William D.

1994-01-01

A method is provided for measuring subsurface soil or rock temperatures remotely using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Electrical resistivity measurements are made using electrodes implanted in boreholes driven into the soil and/or at the ground surface. The measurements are repeated as some process changes the temperatures of the soil mass/rock mass. Tomographs of electrical resistivity are calculated based on the measurements using Poisson's equation. Changes in the soil/rock resistivity can be related to changes in soil/rock temperatures when: (1) the electrical conductivity of the fluid trapped in the soil's pore space is low, (2) the soil/rock has a high cation exchange capacity and (3) the temperature changes are sufficiently high. When these three conditions exist the resistivity changes observed in the ERT tomographs can be directly attributed to changes in soil/rock temperatures. This method provides a way of mapping temperature changes in subsurface soils remotely. Distances over which the ERT method can be used to monitor changes in soil temperature range from tens to hundreds of meters from the electrode locations.

Using electrical resistance tomography to map subsurface temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez, A.L.; Chesnut, D.A.; Daily, W.D.

1994-09-13

A method is provided for measuring subsurface soil or rock temperatures remotely using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Electrical resistivity measurements are made using electrodes implanted in boreholes driven into the soil and/or at the ground surface. The measurements are repeated as some process changes the temperatures of the soil mass/rock mass. Tomographs of electrical resistivity are calculated based on the measurements using Poisson's equation. Changes in the soil/rock resistivity can be related to changes in soil/rock temperatures when: (1) the electrical conductivity of the fluid trapped in the soil's pore space is low, (2) the soil/rock has a high cation exchange capacity and (3) the temperature changes are sufficiently high. When these three conditions exist the resistivity changes observed in the ERT tomographs can be directly attributed to changes in soil/rock temperatures. This method provides a way of mapping temperature changes in subsurface soils remotely. Distances over which the ERT method can be used to monitor changes in soil temperature range from tens to hundreds of meters from the electrode locations. 1 fig.

Electrical impedance tomography of electrolysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arie Meir

Full Text Available The primary goal of this study is to explore the hypothesis that changes in pH during electrolysis can be detected with Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT. The study has relevance to real time control of minimally invasive surgery with electrolytic ablation. To investigate the hypothesis, we compare EIT reconstructed images to optical images acquired using pH-sensitive dyes embedded in a physiological saline agar gel phantom treated with electrolysis. We further demonstrate the biological relevance of our work using a bacterial E.Coli model, grown on the phantom. The results demonstrate the ability of EIT to image pH changes in a physiological saline phantom and show that these changes correlate with cell death in the E.coli model. The results are promising, and invite further experimental explorations.

Electric field tomography for contactless imaging of resistivity in biomedical applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Korjenevsky, A V

2004-02-01

The technique of contactless imaging of resistivity distribution inside conductive objects, which can be applied in medical diagnostics, has been suggested and analyzed. The method exploits the interaction of a high-frequency electric field with a conductive medium. Unlike electrical impedance tomography, no electric current is injected into the medium from outside. The interaction is accompanied with excitation of high-frequency currents and redistribution of free charges inside the medium leading to strong and irregular perturbation of the field's magnitude outside and inside the object. Along with this the considered interaction also leads to small and regular phase shifts of the field in the area surrounding the object. Measuring these phase shifts using a set of electrodes placed around the object enables us to reconstruct the internal structure of the medium. The basics of this technique, which we name electric field tomography (EFT), are described, simple analytical estimations are made and requirements for measuring equipment are formulated. The realizability of the technique is verified by numerical simulations based on the finite elements method. Results of simulation have confirmed initial estimations and show that in the case of EFT even a comparatively simple filtered backprojection algorithm can be used for reconstructing the static resistivity distribution in biological tissues.

Electrical resistivity tomography at the DOE Hanford site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narbutovskih, S.M.; Halter, T.D.; Sweeney, M.D.; Daily, W.; Ramirez, A.L.

1996-01-01

Recent work at the DOE Hanford site has established the potential of applying Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) for early leak detection under hazardous waste storage facilities. Several studies have been concluded to test the capabilities and limitations of ERT for two different applications. First, field experiments have been conducted to determine the utility of ERT to detect and map leaks from underground storage tanks during waste removal processes. Second, the use of ERT for long term vadose zone monitoring has been tested under different field conditions of depth, installation design, acquisition mode/equipment and infiltration chemistry. This work involves transferring the technology from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) program at the DOE Hanford Site. This paper covers field training studies relevant to the second application for long term vadose zone monitoring. Electrical resistivity tomography is a cross-borehole, imaging technique for mapping subsurface resistivity variations. Electrodes are placed at predetermined depths in an array of boreholes. Electrical current is introduced into one electrode pair located in one borehole while the resulting voltage change is detected between electrode pairs in other boreholes similar to a surface dipole-dipole array. These data are tomographically inverted to image temporal resistivity contrasts associated with an infiltration event. Thus a dynamic plume is spatially mapped as a function of time. As a long-term vadose zone monitoring method, different field conditions and performance requirements exist than those for short term tank leak detection. To test ERT under these conditions, two vertical electrode arrays were constructed to a depth of 160 feet with a linear surface array between boreholes

Design of current source for multi-frequency simultaneous electrical impedance tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Bing; Xu, Yanbin; Dong, Feng

2017-09-01

Multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography has been evolving from the frequency-sweep approach to the multi-frequency simultaneous measurement technique which can reduce measuring time and will be increasingly attractive for time-varying biological applications. The accuracy and stability of the current source are the key factors determining the quality of the image reconstruction. This article presents a field programmable gate array-based current source for a multi-frequency simultaneous electrical impedance tomography system. A novel current source circuit was realized by combining the classic current mirror based on the feedback amplifier AD844 with a differential topology. The optimal phase offsets of harmonic sinusoids were obtained through the crest factor analysis. The output characteristics of this current source were evaluated by simulation and actual measurement. The results include the following: (1) the output impedance was compared with one of the Howland pump circuit in simulation, showing comparable performance at low frequencies. However, the proposed current source makes lower demands for resistor tolerance but performs even better at high frequencies. (2) The output impedance in actual measurement below 200 kHz is above 1.3 MΩ and can reach 250 KΩ up to 1 MHz. (3) An experiment based on a biological RC model has been implemented. The mean error for the demodulated impedance amplitude and phase are 0.192% and 0.139°, respectively. Therefore, the proposed current source is wideband, biocompatible, and high precision, which demonstrates great potential to work as a sub-system in the multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography system.

Design and simulation of superconducting Lorentz Force Electrical Impedance Tomography (LFEIT)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shen, Boyang, E-mail: bs506@cam.ac.uk; Fu, Lin, E-mail: lf359@cam.ac.uk; Geng, Jianzhao, E-mail: jg717@cam.ac.uk; Zhang, Xiuchang, E-mail: xz326@cam.ac.uk; Zhang, Heng, E-mail: hz301@cam.ac.uk; Dong, Qihuan, E-mail: qd210@cam.ac.uk; Li, Chao, E-mail: cl644@cam.ac.uk; Li, Jing, E-mail: jl908@cam.ac.uk; Coombs, T.A., E-mail: tac1000@cam.ac.uk

2016-05-15

Highlights: • Design of superconducting magnets using Halbach Array configuration. • Combination of superconducting magnets together with Lorentz Force Electrical Impedance Tomography (LFEIT) system. • Simulation of superconducting LFEIT system based on the theory of magneto-acoustic effect. - Abstract: Lorentz Force Electrical Impedance Tomography (LFEIT) is a hybrid diagnostic scanner with strong capability for biological imaging, particularly in cancer and haemorrhages detection. This paper presents the design and simulation of a novel combination: a superconducting magnet together with LFEIT system. Superconducting magnets can generate magnetic field with high intensity and homogeneity, which could significantly enhance the imaging performance. The modelling of superconducting magnets was carried out using Finite Element Method (FEM) package, COMSOL Multiphysics, which was based on Partial Differential Equation (PDE) model with H-formulation coupling B-dependent critical current density and bulk approximation. The mathematical model for LFEIT system was built based on the theory of magneto-acoustic effect. The magnetic field properties from magnet design were imported into the LFEIT model. The basic imaging of electrical signal was developed using MATLAB codes. The LFEIT model simulated two samples located in three different magnetic fields with varying magnetic strength and homogeneity.

Direct observations of surface water-groundwater interaction using electrical resistivity tomography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Noell, Ursula; Wießner, Claudia; Ganz, Christina; Westhoff, Martijn

2011-01-01

Electrical resistivity tomography is a helpful tool to observe the infiltration process in and through the soil. Array 3-D measurements and 3-D inversion schemes are required for reliable interpretation of heterogeneous subsurface structures. Smoothing of the inversion can be minimized by using

Estimation of Recharge from Long-Term Monitoring of Saline Tracer Transport Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haarder, Eline Bojsen; Jensen, Karsten Høgh; Binley, Andrew

2015-01-01

The movement of a saline tracer added to the soil surface was monitored in the unsaturated zone using cross-borehole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and subjected to natural rainfall conditions. The ERT data were inverted and corrected for subsurface temperature changes, and spatial moment...... methods. In September 2011, a saline tracer was added across a 142-m2 area at the surface at an application rate mimicking natural infiltration. The movement of the saline tracer front was monitored using cross-borehole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT); data were collected on a daily to weekly...

Online slug detection in multi-phase transportation pipelines using electrical tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Simon; Mai, Christian; Hansen, Leif

2015-01-01

in the pipelines is a highly investigated topic. To eliminate the slug in an online manner real-time slug detection methods are often required. Traditionally topside pressure transmitters upstream a 3-phase separator have been used as the controlled variable. In this paper Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT...

Online Slug Detection in Multi-phase Transportation Pipelines Using Electrical Tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Simon; Mai, Christian; Hansen, Leif

2015-01-01

in the pipelines is a highly investigated topic. To eliminate the slug in an online manner real-time slug detection methods are often required. Traditionally topside pressure transmitters upstream a 3-phase separator have been used as the controlled variable. In this paper Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT...

Research on Image Reconstruction Algorithms for Tuber Electrical Resistance Tomography System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiang Zili

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The application of electrical resistance tomography (ERT technology has been expanded to the field of agriculture, and the concept of TERT (Tuber Electrical Resistance Tomography is proposed. On the basis of the research on the forward and the inverse problems of the TERT system, a hybrid algorithm based on genetic algorithm is proposed, which can be used in TERT system to monitor the growth status of the plant tubers. The image reconstruction of TERT system is different from the conventional ERT system for two phase-flow measurement. Imaging of TERT needs more precision measurement and the conventional ERT cares more about the image reconstruction speed. A variety of algorithms are analyzed and optimized for the purpose of making them suitable for TERT system. For example: linear back projection, modified Newton-Raphson and genetic algorithm. Experimental results showed that the novel hybrid algorithm is superior to other algorithm and it can effectively improve the image reconstruction quality.

Offset-electrode profile acquisition strategy for electrical resistivity tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Robbins, Austin R.; Plattner, Alain

2018-04-01

We present an electrode layout strategy that allows electrical resistivity profiles to image the third dimension close to the profile plane. This "offset-electrode profile" approach involves laterally displacing electrodes away from the profile line in an alternating fashion and then inverting the resulting data using three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography software. In our synthetic and field surveys, the offset-electrode method succeeds in revealing three-dimensional structures in the vicinity of the profile plane, which we could not achieve using three-dimensional inversions of linear profiles. We confirm and explain the limits of linear electrode profiles through a discussion of the three-dimensional sensitivity patterns: For a homogeneous starting model together with a linear electrode layout, all sensitivities remain symmetric with respect to the profile plane through each inversion step. This limitation can be overcome with offset-electrode layouts by breaking the symmetry pattern among the sensitivities. Thanks to freely available powerful three-dimensional resistivity tomography software and cheap modern computing power, the requirement for full three-dimensional calculations does not create a significant burden and renders the offset-electrode approach a cost-effective method. By offsetting the electrodes in an alternating pattern, as opposed to laying the profile out in a U-shape, we minimize shortening the profile length.

Simultaneous reconstruction of outer boundary shape and conductivity distribution in electrical impedance tomography

KAUST Repository

Hyvö nen, Nuutti

2016-01-01

The simultaneous retrieval of the exterior boundary shape and the interior admittivity distribution of an examined body in electrical impedance tomography is considered. The reconstruction method is built for the complete electrode model

Electrical resistivity tomography for studying liquefaction induced by the May 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake (Mw = 6.1, northern Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Giocoli, A.; Quadrio, B.; Bellanova, J.; Lapenna, V.; Piscitelli, S.

2014-04-01

This work shows the result of an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) survey carried out for imaging and characterizing the shallow subsurface affected by the coseismic effects of the Mw = 6.1 Emilia-Romagna (northern Italy) earthquake that occurred on 20 May 2012. The most characteristic coseismic effects were ground failure, lateral spreading and liquefaction that occurred extensively along the paleo-Reno River in the urban areas of San Carlo and Mirabello (southwestern portion of Ferrara Province). In total, six electrical resistivity tomographies were performed and calibrated with surface geological surveys, exploratory boreholes and aerial photo interpretations. This was one of first applications of the electrical resistivity tomography method in investigating coseismic liquefaction.

Electrical resistivity tomography for studying liquefaction induced by the May 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake (Mw = 6.1, North Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Giocoli, A.; Quadrio, B.; Bellanova, J.; Lapenna, V.; Piscitelli, S.

2013-10-01

This work shows the result of an Electrical Resistivity Tomography survey carried out for imaging and characterizing the shallow subsurface affected by the coseismic effects of the Mw = 6.1 Emilia-Romagna (North Italy) earthquake occurred on 20 May 2012. The most characteristic coseismic effects were ground failure, lateral spreading and liquefaction that occurred extensively along the paleo-Reno river in the urban areas of San Carlo, a hamlet of Sant'Agostino municipality, and of Mirabello (south-western portion of the Ferrara Province). Totally, six Electrical Resistivity Tomography were performed and calibrated with surface geological surveys, exploratory borehole and aerial photo interpretations. This was one of the first applications of the Electrical Resistivity Tomography method in investigating coseismic liquefaction.

Multiple biopsy probe sampling enabled minimally invasive electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shini, Mohanad; Rubinsky, Boris

2008-01-01

Biopsies are a reliable method for examining tissues and organs inside the body, in particular for detection of tumors. However, a single biopsy produces only limited information on the site from which it is taken. Therefore, tumor detection now employs multiple biopsy samplings to examine larger volumes of tissue. Nevertheless, even with multiple biopsies, the information remains discrete, while the costs of biopsy increase. Here we propose and evaluate the feasibility of using minimally invasive medical imaging as a means to overcome the limitations of discrete biopsy sampling. The minimally invasive medical imaging technique employs the biopsy probe as electrodes for measurements of electrical impedance tomography relevant data during each biopsy sampling. The data from multiple samplings are combined and used to produce an EIT image of the tissue. Two- and three-dimensional mathematical simulations confirm that the minimally invasive medical imaging technique can produce electrical impedance tomography images of the tissues between the biopsy probe insertion sites. We show that these images can detect tumors that would be missed with multiple biopsy samplings only, and that the technique may facilitate the detection of tumors with fewer biopsies, thereby reducing the cost of cancer detection

Electrical impedance tomography of the 1995 OGI gasoline release

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daily, W.; Ramirez, A.

1996-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) was used to image the plume resulting from a release of 378 liters (100 gallons) of gasoline into a sandy acquifer. Images were made in 5 planes before and 5 times during the release, to generate a detailed picture of the spatial as well as the temporal development of the plume as it spread at the water table. Information of the electrical impedance (both in phase and out of phase voltages) was used or several different frequencies to produce images. We observed little dispersion in the images either before or after the gasoline entered the acquifer. Likewise, despite some laboratory measurements of impedances, there was no evidence of a change in the reactance in the soil because of the gasoline

Using DC electrical resistivity tomography to quantify preferential flow in fractured rock environments

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

May, F

2011-09-01

Full Text Available . This investigation aims to identify preferential flow paths in fractured rock environments. Time-lapse Electrical Resistivity Tomography (TLERT, Lund Imaging System), is regarded as a suitable method for identifying preferential water flow....

In-mine (tunnel-to-tunnel) electrical resistance tomography in South African platinum mines

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Schoor, Abraham M

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The applicability of tunnel-to-tunnel electrical resistance tomography (ERT) for imaging disruptive geological structures ahead of mining, in an igneous platinum mining environment is assessed. The geophysical targets of interest are slump...

A shallow geothermal experiment in a sandy aquifer monitored using electric resistivity tomography

OpenAIRE

Hermans, Thomas; Vandenbohede, Alexander; Lebbe, Luc; Nguyen, Frédéric

2012-01-01

Groundwater resources are increasingly used around the world for geothermal exploitation systems. To monitor such systems and to estimate their governing parameters, we rely mainly on borehole observations of the temperature field at a few locations. Bulk electrical resistivity variations can bring important information on temperature changes in aquifers. In this paper, we demonstrate the ability of surface electrical resistivity tomography to monitor spatially temperature variations in a san...

Monotonicity-based electrical impedance tomography for lung imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Liangdong; Harrach, Bastian; Seo, Jin Keun

2018-04-01

This paper presents a monotonicity-based spatiotemporal conductivity imaging method for continuous regional lung monitoring using electrical impedance tomography (EIT). The EIT data (i.e. the boundary current-voltage data) can be decomposed into pulmonary, cardiac and other parts using their different periodic natures. The time-differential current-voltage operator corresponding to the lung ventilation can be viewed as either semi-positive or semi-negative definite owing to monotonic conductivity changes within the lung regions. We used these monotonicity constraints to improve the quality of lung EIT imaging. We tested the proposed methods in numerical simulations, phantom experiments and human experiments.

Polynomial Collocation for Handling an Inaccurately Known Measurement Configuration in Electrical Impedance Tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hyvönen, Niina; Kaarnioja, V.; Mustonen, L.

2017-01-01

The objective of electrical impedance tomography is to reconstruct the internal conductivity of a physical body based on measurements of current and potential at a finite number of electrodes attached to its boundary. Although the conductivity is the quantity of main interest in impedance...... tomography, a real-world measurement configuration includes other unknown parameters as well: The information on the contact resistances, electrode positions, and body shape is almost always incomplete. In this work, the dependence of the electrode measurements on all aforementioned model properties...

Vector tomography for reconstructing electric fields with non-zero divergence in bounded domains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koulouri, Alexandra, E-mail: koulouri@uni-muenster.de [Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics, University of Münster, Einsteinstrasse 62, D-48149 Münster (Germany); Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2BT (United Kingdom); Brookes, Mike [Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2BT (United Kingdom); Rimpiläinen, Ville [Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, D-48149 Münster (Germany); Department of Mathematics, University of Auckland, Private bag 92019, Auckland 1142 (New Zealand)

2017-01-15

In vector tomography (VT), the aim is to reconstruct an unknown multi-dimensional vector field using line integral data. In the case of a 2-dimensional VT, two types of line integral data are usually required. These data correspond to integration of the parallel and perpendicular projection of the vector field along the integration lines and are called the longitudinal and transverse measurements, respectively. In most cases, however, the transverse measurements cannot be physically acquired. Therefore, the VT methods are typically used to reconstruct divergence-free (or source-free) velocity and flow fields that can be reconstructed solely from the longitudinal measurements. In this paper, we show how vector fields with non-zero divergence in a bounded domain can also be reconstructed from the longitudinal measurements without the need of explicitly evaluating the transverse measurements. To the best of our knowledge, VT has not previously been used for this purpose. In particular, we study low-frequency, time-harmonic electric fields generated by dipole sources in convex bounded domains which arise, for example, in electroencephalography (EEG) source imaging. We explain in detail the theoretical background, the derivation of the electric field inverse problem and the numerical approximation of the line integrals. We show that fields with non-zero divergence can be reconstructed from the longitudinal measurements with the help of two sparsity constraints that are constructed from the transverse measurements and the vector Laplace operator. As a comparison to EEG source imaging, we note that VT does not require mathematical modeling of the sources. By numerical simulations, we show that the pattern of the electric field can be correctly estimated using VT and the location of the source activity can be determined accurately from the reconstructed magnitudes of the field. - Highlights: • Vector tomography is used to reconstruct electric fields generated by dipole

Compensation for geometric modeling errors by positioning of electrodes in electrical impedance tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hyvönen, N.; Majander, H.; Staboulis, Stratos

2017-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography aims at reconstructing the conductivity inside a physical body from boundary measurements of current and voltage at a finite number of contact electrodes. In many practical applications, the shape of the imaged object is subject to considerable uncertainties...

Effects of the belt electrode skeletal muscle electrical stimulation system on lower extremity skeletal muscle activity: Evaluation using positron emission tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Numata, Hitoaki; Nakase, Junsuke; Inaki, Anri; Mochizuki, Takafumi; Oshima, Takeshi; Takata, Yasushi; Kinuya, Seigo; Tsuchiya, Hiroyuki

2016-01-01

Lower-extremity muscle weakness in athletes after lower limb trauma or surgery can hinder their return to sports, and the associated muscle atrophy may lead to deterioration in performance after returning to sports. Recently, belt electrode skeletal muscle electrical stimulation (B-SES) which can contract all the lower limb skeletal muscles simultaneously was developed. However, no study has evaluated skeletal muscle activity with B-SES. Since only superficial muscles as well as a limited number of muscles can be investigated using electromyography, we investigated whether positron emission tomography (PET) can evaluate the activity of all the skeletal muscles in the body simultaneously. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the B-SES system using PET. Twelve healthy males (mean age, 24.3 years) were divided into two groups. The subjects in the control group remained in a sitting position for 10 min, and [(18)F] fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) was intravenously injected. In the exercise group, subjects exercised using the B-SES system for 20 min daily for three consecutive days as a pre-test exercise. On the measurement day, they exercised for 10 min, received an injection of FDG, and exercised for another 10 min. PET-computed tomography images were obtained in each group 60 min after the FDG injection. Regions of interest were drawn in each lower-extremity muscle. We compared each skeletal muscle metabolism using the standardized uptake value. In the exercise group, FDG accumulation in the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, quadriceps femoris, sartorius, and hamstrings was significantly higher than the muscles in the control (P skeletal muscle activity of the gluteal muscles as well as the most lower-extremity muscles simultaneously. Copyright © 2015 The Japanese Orthopaedic Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrical Resistance Tomography to monitor vadose water movement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez, A.; Daily, W.; LaBrecque, D.

1991-01-01

We report results of one test in which Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) was used to map the changes in electrical resistivity in the vadose zone as a function of time while water infiltration occurred. The ERT images were used to infer shape and movement of the infiltration plume in the unsaturated soil. We supplied a continuous water source at a point about 10 feet below the surface (at the end of a shallow screened hole) for only a short time--2.5 hours. This pulsed source introduced a open-quote slug close-quote of water whose infiltration was followed to about 60 foot depth during a 23 hour period. The ERT images show resistivity decreases as the water content of the vadose zone increased while water was added to the soil; the resistivity of the soil later increased after the supply of water was cut-off and the induced soil moisture began to subside

Application of electrical resistivity tomography techniques for mapping man-made sinkholes

Science.gov (United States)

Rey, J.; Martínez, J.; Hidalgo, C.; Dueñas, J.

2012-04-01

The suitability of the geophysical prospecting by electrical resistivity tomography to detect and map man-made subsurface cavities and related sinkholes has been studied in the Linares abandoned mining district (Spain). We have selected for this study four mined sectors constituted of different lithologies: granite and phyllites of Paleozoic age, and Triassic shales and sandstones. In three of these sectors, detail underground topographic surveys were carried out to chart the position and dimensions of the mining voids (galleries and chamber), in order to analyze the resolution of this methodology to characterize these cavities by using different electrode arrays. The results are variable, depending on the depth and diameter of the void, the selected electrode array, the spacing between electrodes, geological complexity and data density. These results also indicate that when the cavity is empty, an anomaly with a steep gradient and high resistivity values is registered, because the air that fills the mining void is dielectric, while when the cavities are filled with fine grain sediments, frequently saturated in water, the electrical resistance is lower. In relation with the three different multi-electrode arrays tested, the Wenner-Schlumberger array has resulted to offer the maximum resolution in all these cases, with lower and more stable values for the RMS than the other arrays. Therefore, this electrode array has been applied in the fourth studied sector, a former mine near the city centre of Linares, in an area of urban expansion in which there are problems of subsidence. Two sets of four electrical tomography profiles have been carried out, perpendicular to each other, and which have allowed reaching depths of research between 30-35 m. This net-array allowed the identification of two shallow anomalies of low resistivity values, interpreted as old mining galleries filled with fine material saturated in water. It also allows detecting two fractures, correlated

Bubble boundary estimation in an annulus two-phase flow using electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jeong Seong

2008-02-01

For the visualization of the phase boundary in an annulus two-phase flows, the electrical impedance tomography (EIT) technique is introduced. In EIT, a set of predetermined electrical currents is injected trough the electrodes placed on the boundary of the flow passage and the induced electrical potentials are measured on the electrode. With the relationship between the injected currents and the induced voltages, the electrical conductivity distribution across the flow domain is estimated through the image reconstruction algorithm. In this, the conductivity distribution corresponds to the phase distribution. In the application of EIT to two-phase flows where there are only two conductivity values, the conductivity distribution estimation problem can be transformed into the boundary estimation problem. This paper considers a bubble boundary estimation with EIT in an annulus two-phase flows. And in many industrial cases there are a priori known internal structures inside the vessels which could be used as internal electrodes in tomographical imaging. In this paper internal electrodes were considered in electrical impedance tomography. As the image reconstruction algorithm, the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is adopted since from the control theory it is reported that the UKF shows better performance than the extended Kalman filter (EKF) that has been commonly used. The UKF algorithm was formulated to be incorporate into the image reconstruction algorithm for the present problem. Also, phantom experiments have been conducted to evaluate the improvement by UKF

Delineation of graves using electrical resistivity tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Nero, Callistus; Aning, Akwasi Acheampong; Danuor, Sylvester K.; Noye, Reginald M.

2016-03-01

A suspected old royal cemetery has been surveyed at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) campus, Kumasi, Ghana using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) with the objective of detecting graves in order to make informed decisions with regard to the future use of the area. The survey was conducted on a 10,000 m2 area. Continuous Vertical Electrical Sounding (CVES) was combined with the roll along technique for 51 profiles with 1 m probe separation separated by 2 m. Inverted data results indicated wide resistivity variations ranging between 9.34 Ωm and 600 Ωm in the near surface. Such heterogeneity suggests a disturbance of the soil at this level. Both high (≥ 600 Ωm) and low resistivity (≤ 74.7 Ωm) anomalies, relative to background levels, were identified within the first 4 m of the subsurface. These were suspected to be burial tombs because of their rectangular geometries and resistivity contrasts. The results were validated with forward numerical modeling results. The study area is therefore an old cemetery and should be preserved as a cultural heritage site.

Development of Image Reconstruction Algorithms in electrical Capacitance Tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez Marron, J. L.; Alberdi Primicia, J.; Barcala Riveira, J. M.

2007-01-01

The Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) has not obtained a good development in order to be used at industrial level. That is due first to difficulties in the measurement of very little capacitances (in the range of femto farads) and second to the problem of reconstruction on- line of the images. This problem is due also to the small numbers of electrodes (maximum 16), that made the usual algorithms of reconstruction has many errors. In this work it is described a new purely geometrical method that could be used for this purpose. (Author) 4 refs

Use of small scale electrical resistivity tomography to identify soil-root interactions during deficit irrigation

Science.gov (United States)

Vanella, D.; Cassiani, G.; Busato, L.; Boaga, J.; Barbagallo, S.; Binley, A.; Consoli, S.

2018-01-01

Plant roots activity affect the exchanges of mass and energy between the soil and atmosphere. However, it is challenging to monitor the activity of the root-zone because roots are not visible from the soil surface, and root systems undergo spatial and temporal variations in response to internal and external conditions. Therefore, measurements of the activity of root systems are interesting to ecohydrologists in general, and are especially important for specific applications, such as irrigation water management. This study demonstrates the use of small scale three-dimensional (3-D) electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to monitor the root-zone of orange trees irrigated by two different regimes: (i) full rate, in which 100% of the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) is provided; and (ii) partial root-zone drying (PRD), in which 50% of ETc is supplied to alternate sides of the tree. We performed time-lapse 3-D ERT measurements on these trees from 5 June to 24 September 2015, and compared the long-term and short-term changes before, during, and after irrigation events. Given the small changes in soil temperature and pore water electrical conductivity, we interpreted changes of soil electrical resistivity from 3-D ERT data as proxies for changes in soil water content. The ERT results are consistent with measurements of transpiration flux and soil temperature. The changes in electrical resistivity obtained from ERT measurements in this case study indicate that root water uptake (RWU) processes occur at the 0.1 m scale, and highlight the impact of different irrigation schemes.

Pneumothorax in a Preterm Infant Monitored by Electrical Impedance Tomography: A Case Report

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Miedema, M.; Frerichs, I.; de Jongh, F. H. C.; van Veenendaal, M. B.; van Kaam, A. H.

2011-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive bedside tool for monitoring regional changes in ventilation. We report, for the first time, the EIT images of a ventilated preterm infant with a unilateral pneumothorax, showing a loss of regional ventilation in the affected lung during both

Application of electrical tomography to study the internal structure of rock glaciers in Altai

OpenAIRE

G. S. Dyakova; V. V. Olenchenko; O. V. Ostanin

2017-01-01

Internal structure of rock glaciers was investigated at two key sites in Altai by means of electric tomography. It had been found that the rock glaciers of the same type, located at different altitude levels, differ in electric resistances of ice nuclei and the degree of consolidation of the ice material inside of them. Typical characteristics of the ice core of a rock glacier in the high-mountain area are the following: electrical resistivity is about 1000–2000 kOhm∙m and a high degree of th...

Ventilation and perfusion imaging by electrical impedance tomography: a comparison with radionuclide scanning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kunst, P. W.; Vonk Noordegraaf, A.; Hoekstra, O. S.; Postmus, P. E.; de Vries, P. M.

1998-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a technique that makes it possible to measure ventilation and pulmonary perfusion in a volume that approximates to a 2D plane. The possibility of using EIT for measuring the left-right division of ventilation and perfusion was compared with that of

Application of Electrical Resistivity Tomography for Detecting Root Biomass in Coffee Trees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Mauricio Paglis

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Roots play an important role in plants and are responsible for several functions; among them are anchorage and nutrient and water absorption. Several methodologies are being tested and used to study plant root systems in order to avoid destructive root sampling. Electrical resistivity tomography is among these methodologies. The aim of this preliminary study was to use electrical resistivity for detecting root biomass in coffee trees. Measurements were performed in a soil transect with an ABM AL 48-b resistivimeter with a pole-dipole configuration. The tomograms indicated variability in soil resistivity values ranging from 120 to 1400 Ω·m−1. At the first 0.30 cm soil layer, these values were between 267 and 952 Ω·m−1. Oriented by this result, root samples were taken at 0.10, 0.20, and 0.30 m depths within 0.50 m intervals along the soil transect to compare soil resistivity with root mass density (RMD. RMD data, up to this depth, varied from 0.000019 to 0.009469 Mg·m−3, showing high spatial variability and significant relationship to the observed values of soil resistivity. These preliminary results showed that the electrical resistivity tomography can contribute to root biomass studies in coffee plants; however, more experiments are necessary to confirm the found results in Brazil coffee plantations.

Analysis and interpretation of electrical resistivity tomography data of alluvial aquifer of Tamanrasset Southern Algeria

Science.gov (United States)

Zeddouri, Aziez; Elkheir, Abderrahmane Ben; Hadj-Said, Samia; Taupin, Jean-Denis; Leduc, Christian; Patris, Nicholas

2018-05-01

A groundwater exploration work in the Tamanrasset region in southern Algeria was started in August 2016 to assess the water reserves in the hydrogeological system related to the Oued Tamanrasset underflow water table which overcomes a volcanic basement. Five (05) electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys were conducted in Tamanrasset area by using ABEM Terrameter LS system. the low electrical contrast between wet alluvium and water saturated alterites makes difficult the electrical response interpretation. to overcome the difficulties of interpretation of ERT profiles, field investigations, laboratory tests and software simulations, were carried out in order to clearly identify the structure of the hydrogeological system. The experimental investigation of the electrical characteristics of the alluvium as a function of water saturation was carried by the use of two devices (Wenner α and Schlumberger). Samples true resistivity values varies between 50 Ω.m for a 100% saturated sample and 1250 Ω.m for a 25% saturation sample. The interpretation of the measurements by the RES2DINV software made it possible to give 2D images of the subsoil up to a depth of 50 m. the electrical contrast between the bedrock and the overlying formations made it possible to identify it, however, it was difficult to distinguish alterites from alluvium. A methodology combining piezometric survey, geo-electrical measurements and field observations improves the interpretation of electrical tomography profiles and the application of the ERT method for accurate characterization of water resources in the Tamanrasset region.

SU-E-I-52: Validation of Multi-Frequency Electrical Impedance Tomography Using Computed Tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kohli, K; Liu, F; Krishnan, K [BC Cancer Agency, Surrey, BC (United Kingdom)

2014-06-01

Purpose: Multi-frequency EIT has been reported to be a potential tool in distinguishing a tissue anomaly from background. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of acquiring functional information by comparing multi-frequency EIT images in reference to the structural information from the CT image through fusion. Methods: EIT data was acquired from a slice of winter melon using sixteen electrodes around the phantom, injecting a current of 0.4mA at 100, 66, 24.8 and 9.9 kHz. Differential EIT images were generated by considering different combinations of pair frequencies, one serving as reference data and the other as test data. The experiment was repeated after creating an anomaly in the form of an off-centered cavity of diameter 4.5 cm inside the melon. All EIT images were reconstructed using Electrical Impedance Tomography and Diffuse Optical Tomography Reconstruction Software (EIDORS) package in 2-D differential imaging mode using one-step Gaussian Newton minimization solver. CT image of the melon was obtained using a Phillips CT Scanner. A segmented binary mask image was generated based on the reference electrode position and the CT image to define the regions of interest. The region selected by the user was fused with the CT image through logical indexing. Results: Differential images based on the reference and test signal frequencies were reconstructed from EIT data. Result illustrated distinct structural inhomogeneity in seeded region compared to fruit flesh. The seeded region was seen as a higherimpedance region if the test frequency was lower than the base frequency in the differential EIT reconstruction. When the test frequency was higher than the base frequency, the signal experienced less electrical impedance in the seeded region during the EIT data acquisition. Conclusion: Frequency-based differential EIT imaging can be explored to provide additional functional information along with structural information from CT for identifying different tissues.

SU-E-I-52: Validation of Multi-Frequency Electrical Impedance Tomography Using Computed Tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kohli, K; Liu, F; Krishnan, K

2014-01-01

Purpose: Multi-frequency EIT has been reported to be a potential tool in distinguishing a tissue anomaly from background. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of acquiring functional information by comparing multi-frequency EIT images in reference to the structural information from the CT image through fusion. Methods: EIT data was acquired from a slice of winter melon using sixteen electrodes around the phantom, injecting a current of 0.4mA at 100, 66, 24.8 and 9.9 kHz. Differential EIT images were generated by considering different combinations of pair frequencies, one serving as reference data and the other as test data. The experiment was repeated after creating an anomaly in the form of an off-centered cavity of diameter 4.5 cm inside the melon. All EIT images were reconstructed using Electrical Impedance Tomography and Diffuse Optical Tomography Reconstruction Software (EIDORS) package in 2-D differential imaging mode using one-step Gaussian Newton minimization solver. CT image of the melon was obtained using a Phillips CT Scanner. A segmented binary mask image was generated based on the reference electrode position and the CT image to define the regions of interest. The region selected by the user was fused with the CT image through logical indexing. Results: Differential images based on the reference and test signal frequencies were reconstructed from EIT data. Result illustrated distinct structural inhomogeneity in seeded region compared to fruit flesh. The seeded region was seen as a higherimpedance region if the test frequency was lower than the base frequency in the differential EIT reconstruction. When the test frequency was higher than the base frequency, the signal experienced less electrical impedance in the seeded region during the EIT data acquisition. Conclusion: Frequency-based differential EIT imaging can be explored to provide additional functional information along with structural information from CT for identifying different tissues

Cone-based Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Pidlisecky, A.; Knight, R.; Haber, E.

2005-05-01

Determining the 3D spatial distribution of subsurface properties is a critical part of managing the clean-up of contaminated sites. Most standard hydrologic methods sample small regions immediately adjacent to wells or testing devices. This provides data which are not representative of the entire region of interest. Furthermore, at many contaminated sites invasive methods are not acceptable, due to the risks associated with contacting and spreading the contaminants. To address these issues, we have developed a minimally invasive technology that provides information about the 3D distribution of electrical conductivity. This new technique, cone-based electrical resistivity tomography (C-bert), involves placing several permanent current electrodes in the subsurface and using electrodes mounted on a cone penetrometer to measure the resultant potential field while advancing the cone into the subsurface. In addition to potential field measurements, we obtain the standard suite of cone-penetration measurements, including high resolution resistivity logs; these data can then be used to constrain the inversion of the potential field data. A major challenge of working with these data is that the cone penetrometer is highly conductive, and thus presents a large local perturbation around the measurement location. As the cone is very small (approximately 30mm in diameter) with respect to the total model space, explicitly modeling the cone is computationally demanding. We developed a method for solving the forward model that reduces computational time by an order of magnitude. This solution method, iteratively determined boundary conditions, makes it possible to correct for the cone effect before inversion of the data. Results from synthetic experiments suggest that the C-bert method of data acquisition can result in high quality electrical conductivity images of the subsurface. We tested the practicality of this technique by performing a field test of the C-bert system to image

Application of stochastic Galerkin FEM to the complete electrode model of electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leinonen, Matti; Hakula, Harri; Hyvönen, Nuutti

2014-01-01

The aim of electrical impedance tomography is to determine the internal conductivity distribution of some physical body from boundary measurements of current and voltage. The most accurate forward model for impedance tomography is the complete electrode model, which consists of the conductivity equation coupled with boundary conditions that take into account the electrode shapes and the contact resistances at the corresponding interfaces. If the reconstruction task of impedance tomography is recast as a Bayesian inference problem, it is essential to be able to solve the complete electrode model forward problem with the conductivity and the contact resistances treated as a random field and random variables, respectively. In this work, we apply a stochastic Galerkin finite element method to the ensuing elliptic stochastic boundary value problem and compare the results with Monte Carlo simulations

Recent Progress on the Factorization Method for Electrical Impedance Tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bastian Harrach

2013-01-01

method was introduced by Kirsch for inverse scattering problems and extended to electrical impedance tomography (EIT by Brühl and Hanke. Since these pioneering works, substantial progress has been made on the theoretical foundations of the method. The necessary assumptions have been weakened, and the proofs have been considerably simplified. In this work, we aim to summarize this progress and present a state-of-the-art formulation of the Factorization Method for EIT with continuous data. In particular, we formulate the method for general piecewise analytic conductivities and give short and self-contained proofs.

Regularization iteration imaging algorithm for electrical capacitance tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Guowei; Liu, Shi; Chen, Hongyan; Wang, Xueyao

2018-03-01

The image reconstruction method plays a crucial role in real-world applications of the electrical capacitance tomography technique. In this study, a new cost function that simultaneously considers the sparsity and low-rank properties of the imaging targets is proposed to improve the quality of the reconstruction images, in which the image reconstruction task is converted into an optimization problem. Within the framework of the split Bregman algorithm, an iterative scheme that splits a complicated optimization problem into several simpler sub-tasks is developed to solve the proposed cost function efficiently, in which the fast-iterative shrinkage thresholding algorithm is introduced to accelerate the convergence. Numerical experiment results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in improving the reconstruction precision and robustness.

Electrical characterization of bolus material as phantom for use in electrical impedance and computed tomography fusion imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parvind Kaur Grewal

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Phantoms are widely used in medical imaging to predict image quality prior to clinical imaging. This paper discusses the possible use of bolus material, as a conductivity phantom, for validation and interpretation of electrical impedance tomography (EIT images. Bolus is commonly used in radiation therapy to mimic tissue. When irradiated, it has radiological characteristics similar to tissue. With increased research interest in CT/EIT fusion imaging there is a need to find a material which has both the absorption coefficient and electrical conductivity similar to biological tissues. In the present study the electrical properties, specifically resistivity, of various commercially available bolus materials were characterized by comparing their frequency response with that of in-vivo connective adipose tissue. It was determined that the resistivity of Gelatin Bolus is similar to in-vivo tissue in the frequency range 10 kHz to 1MHz and therefore has potential to be used in EIT/CT fusion imaging studies.

Electrical impedance tomography in the assessment of extravascular lung water in noncardiogenic acute respiratory failure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kunst, P. W.; Vonk Noordegraaf, A.; Raaijmakers, E.; Bakker, J.; Groeneveld, A. B.; Postmus, P. E.; de Vries, P. M.

1999-01-01

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To establish the value of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) in assessing pulmonary edema in noncardiogenic acute respiratory failure (ARF), as compared to the thermal dye double indicator dilution technique (TDD). DESIGN: Prospective clinical study. SETTING: ICU of a general

Damage detection and conductivity evolution in carbon nanofiber epoxy via electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tallman, T N; Wang, K W; Gungor, S; Bakis, C E

2014-01-01

Utilizing electrically conductive nanocomposites for integrated self-sensing and health monitoring is a promising area of structural health monitoring (SHM) research wherein local changes in conductivity coincide with damage. In this research we conduct proof of concept investigations using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) for damage detection by identifying conductivity changes and by imaging conductivity evolution in a carbon nanofiber (CNF) filled epoxy composite. CNF/epoxy is examined because fibrous composites can be manufactured with a CNF/epoxy matrix thereby enabling the entire matrix to become self-sensing. We also study the mechanisms of conductivity evolution in CNF/epoxy through electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) testing. The results of these tests indicate that thermal expansion is responsible for conductivity evolution in a CNF/epoxy composite. (paper)

Practical human abdominal fat imaging utilizing electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaguchi, T; Maki, K; Katashima, M

2010-07-01

The fundamental cause of metabolic syndrome is thought to be abdominal obesity. Accurate diagnosis of abdominal obesity can be done by an x-ray computed tomography (CT) scan. But CT is expensive, bulky and entails the risks involved with radiation. To overcome such disadvantages, we attempted to develop a measuring device that could apply electrical impedance tomography to abdominal fat imaging. The device has 32 electrodes that can be attached to a subject's abdomen by a pneumatic mechanism. That way, electrode position data can be acquired simultaneously. An applied alternating current of 1.0 mArms was used at a frequency of 500 kHz. Sensed voltage data were carefully filtered to remove noise and processed to satisfy the reciprocal theorem. The image reconstruction software was developed concurrently, applying standard finite element methods and the Marquardt method to solve the mathematical inverse problem. The results of preliminary experiments showed that abdominal subcutaneous fat and the muscle surrounding the viscera could be imaged in humans. While our imaging of visceral fat was not of sufficient quality, it was suggested that we will be able to develop a safe and practical abdominal fat scanner through future improvements.

Practical human abdominal fat imaging utilizing electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, T; Katashima, M; Maki, K

2010-01-01

The fundamental cause of metabolic syndrome is thought to be abdominal obesity. Accurate diagnosis of abdominal obesity can be done by an x-ray computed tomography (CT) scan. But CT is expensive, bulky and entails the risks involved with radiation. To overcome such disadvantages, we attempted to develop a measuring device that could apply electrical impedance tomography to abdominal fat imaging. The device has 32 electrodes that can be attached to a subject's abdomen by a pneumatic mechanism. That way, electrode position data can be acquired simultaneously. An applied alternating current of 1.0 mArms was used at a frequency of 500 kHz. Sensed voltage data were carefully filtered to remove noise and processed to satisfy the reciprocal theorem. The image reconstruction software was developed concurrently, applying standard finite element methods and the Marquardt method to solve the mathematical inverse problem. The results of preliminary experiments showed that abdominal subcutaneous fat and the muscle surrounding the viscera could be imaged in humans. While our imaging of visceral fat was not of sufficient quality, it was suggested that we will be able to develop a safe and practical abdominal fat scanner through future improvements

Electrical resistivity tomography at the DOE Hanford site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narbutovskih, S.M.

1996-01-01

Recent work at the DOE Hanford site has established the potential of applying Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) for early leak detection under hazardous waste storage facilities. Several studies have been concluded to test the capabilities and limitations of ERT for two different applications. First, field experiments have been conducted to determine the utility of ERT to detect and map leaks from underground storage tanks during waste removal processes. Second, the use of ERT for long term vadose zone monitoring has been tested under different field conditions of depth, installation design, acquisition mode/equipment and infiltration chemistry. This work involves transferring the technology from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) program at the DOE Hanford Site. This paper covers field training studies relevant to the second application for long term vadose monitoring. Electrical resistivity tomography is a cross-borehole, imaging technique for mapping subsurface resistivity variations. Electrodes are placed at predetermined depths in an array of boreholes. Electrical current is introduced into one electrode pair located in one borehole while the resulting voltage change is detected between electrode pairs in other boreholes similar to a surface dipole-dipole array. These data are topographically inverted to image temporal resistivity contrasts associated with an infiltration event. Thus a dynamic plume is spatially mapped as a function of time. As a long-term vadose zone monitoring method, different field conditions and performance requirements exist than those for short term tank leak detection. To test ERT under these conditions, two vertical electrode arrays were constructed to a depth of 160 feet with a linear surface array between boreholes. The fielding was used to facilitate the technology transfer from LLNL to the Hanford RCRA program. Installation methods, commercial equipment and

Using electrical resistivity tomography to differentiate sapwood from heartwood: application to conifers.

Science.gov (United States)

Guyot, Adrien; Ostergaard, Kasper T; Lenkopane, Mothei; Fan, Junliang; Lockington, David A

2013-02-01

Estimating sapwood area is one of the main sources of error when upscaling point scale sap flow measurements to whole-tree water use. In this study, the potential use of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to determine the sapwood-heartwood (SW-HW) boundary is investigated for Pinus elliottii Engelm var. elliottii × Pinus caribaea Morelet var. hondurensis growing in a subtropical climate. Specifically, this study investigates: (i) how electrical resistivity is correlated to either wood moisture content, or electrolyte concentration, or both, and (ii) how the SW-HW boundary is defined in terms of electrical resistivity. Tree cross-sections at breast height are analysed using ERT before being felled and the cross-section surface sampled for analysis of major electrolyte concentrations, wood moisture content and density. Electrical resistivity tomography results show patterns with high resistivities occurring in the inner part of the cross-section, with much lower values towards the outside. The high-resistivity areas were generally smaller than the low-resistivity areas. A comparison between ERT and actual SW area measured after felling shows a slope of the linear regression close to unity (=0.96) with a large spread of values (R(2) = 0.56) mostly due to uncertainties in ERT. Electrolyte concentrations along sampled radial transects (cardinal directions) generally showed no trend from the centre of the tree to the bark. Wood moisture content and density show comparable trends that could explain the resistivity patterns. While this study indicates the potential for application of ERT for estimating SW area, it shows that there remains a need for refinement in locating the SW-HW boundary (e.g., by improvement of the inversion method, or perhaps electrode density) in order to increase the robustness of the method.

Effects of the South American psychoactive beverage ayahuasca on regional brain electrical activity in humans: a functional neuroimaging study using low-resolution electromagnetic tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Riba, Jordi; Anderer, Peter; Jané, Francesc; Saletu, Bernd; Barbanoj, Manel J

2004-01-01

Ayahuasca, a South American psychotropic plant tea obtained from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, combines monoamine oxidase-inhibiting beta-carboline alkaloids with N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic agent showing 5-HT(2A) agonist activity. In a clinical research setting, ayahuasca has demonstrated a combined stimulatory and psychedelic effect profile, as measured by subjective effect self-assessment instruments and dose-dependent changes in spontaneous brain electrical activity, which parallel the time course of subjective effects. In the present study, the spatial distribution of ayahuasca-induced changes in brain electrical activity was investigated by means of low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA). Electroencephalography recordings were obtained from 18 volunteers after the administration of a dose of encapsulated freeze-dried ayahuasca containing 0.85 mg DMT/kg body weight and placebo. The intracerebral power density distribution was computed with LORETA from spectrally analyzed data, and subjective effects were measured by means of the Hallucinogen Rating Scale (HRS). Statistically significant differences compared to placebo were observed for LORETA power 60 and 90 min after dosing, together with increases in all six scales of the HRS. Ayahuasca decreased power density in the alpha-2, delta, theta and beta-1 frequency bands. Power decreases in the delta, alpha-2 and beta-1 bands were found predominantly over the temporo-parieto-occipital junction, whereas theta power was reduced in the temporomedial cortex and in frontomedial regions. The present results suggest the involvement of unimodal and heteromodal association cortex and limbic structures in the psychological effects elicited by ayahuasca. Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Improved system for identifying biological tissue temperature using electrical impedance tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korolyuk Evgeniy

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a cheap and compact medical system that determines the temperature of an object using broadband impedance tomography. This system can be used in medicine to visualize ice structure in tissue during cryosurgical operations, as well as for fault diagnosis and location in studied industrial objects. These effects are achieved by measuring electrical impedance between electrode pairs in the measuring chamber. The assembled prototype is compact, consumes little power, and allows to non-invasively determine the impedance of a target object in real time. The research included experimental studies to determine the dependence of the impedance spectrum of saline water and muscle tissue on temperature in broad band spectrum, which allowed to obtain the dependence of total electrical impedance of target objects on temperature.

A method to improve tree water use estimates by distinguishing sapwood from heartwood using Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Guyot, A.; Ostergaard, K.; Lenkopane, M.; Fan, J.; Lockington, D. A.

2011-12-01

Estimating whole-plant water use in trees requires reliable and accurate methods. Measuring sap velocity and extrapolating to tree water use is seen as the most commonly used. However, deducing the tree water use from sap velocity requires an estimate of the sapwood area. This estimate is the highest cause of uncertainty, and can reach more than 50 % of the uncertainty in the estimate of water use per day. Here, we investigate the possibility of using Electrical Resistivity Tomography to evaluate the sapwood area distribution in a plantation of Pinus elliottii. Electric resistivity tomographs of Pinus elliottii show a very typical pattern of electrical resistivity, which is highly correlated to sapwood and heartwood distribution. To identify the key factors controlling the variation of electrical resistivity, cross sections at breast height for ten trees have been monitored with electrical resistivity tomography. Trees have been cut down after the experiment to identify the heartwood/sapwood boundaries and to extract wood and sap samples. pH, electrolyte concentration and wood moisture content have then been analysed for these samples. Results show that the heartwood/sapwood patterns are highly correlated with electrical resistivity, and that the wood moisture content is the most influencing factor controlling the variability of the patterns. These results show that electric resistivity tomography could be used as a powerful tool to identify the sapwood area, and thus be used in combination with sapflow sensors to map tree water use at stand scale. However, if Pinus elliottii shows typical patterns, further work is needed to identify to see if there are species - specific characterictics as shown in previous works (, electrolyte gradients from the bark to the heartwood). Also, patterns of high resistivity in between needles positions, which are not correlated with either wood moisture content or sapwood, appear to be artifacts. Thus, inversion methods have also to

Applications of electrical resistance tomography to subsurface environmental restoration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramirez, A.L. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); Daily, W.D.

1994-11-15

We are developing a new imaging technique, Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT), to map subsurface liquids as flow occurs during natural or clean-up processes and to map geologic structure. Natural processes (such as surface water infiltrating the vadose zone) and man-induced processes (such as tank leaks and clean-up processes such as steam injection), can create changes in a soil`s electrical properties that are readily measured. We have conducted laboratory and a variety of field experiments to investigate the capabilities and limitations of ERT for imaging underground structures and processes. In the last four years we have used ERT to successfully monitor several field processes including: a subsurface steam injection process (for VOC removal), an air injection process (below the water table) for VOC removal, water infiltration through the vadose zone, radio-frequency heating, ohmic heating, and tank and pond leaks. The information derived from ERT can be used by remediation projects to: detect and locate leaks, determine the effectiveness of clean-up processes, select appropriate clean-up alternatives, and to verify the installation and performance of subsurface barriers.

Electrical impedance tomography imaging using a priori ultrasound data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soleimani Manuchehr

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Different imaging systems (e.g. electrical, magnetic, and ultrasound rely on a wide variety of physical properties, and the datasets obtained from such systems provide only partial information about the unknown true state. One approach is to choose complementary imaging systems, and to combine the information to achieve a better representation. Methods This paper discusses the combination of ultrasound and electrical impedance tomography (EIT information. Ultrasound reflection signals are good at locating sharp acoustic density changes associated with the boundaries of objects. Some boundaries, however, may be indeterminable due to masking from intermediate boundaries or because they are outside the ultrasound beam. Conversely, the EIT data contains relatively low-quality information, but it includes the whole region enclosed by the electrodes. Results Results are shown from a narrowband level-set method applied to 2D and 3D EIT incorporating limited angle ultrasound time of flight data. Conclusion The EIT reconstruction is shown to be faster and more accurate using the additional edge information from both one and four transducer ultrasound systems.

Image Reconstruction Algorithm For Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arko

2001-01-01

). Most image reconstruction algorithms for electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) use sensitivity maps as weighting factors. The computation is fast, involving a simple multiply-and- accumulate (MAC) operation, but the resulting image suffers from blurring due to the soft-field effect of the sensor. This paper presents a low cost iterative method employing proportional thresholding, which improves image quality dramatically. The strategy for implementation, computational cost, and achievable speed is examined when using a personal computer (PC) and Digital Signal Processor (DSP). For PC implementation, Watcom C++ 10.6 and Visual C++ 5.0 compilers were used. The experimental results are compared to the images reconstructed by commercially available software. The new algorithm improves the image quality significantly at a cost of a few iterations. This technique can be readily exploited for online applications

Spatial and temporal monitoring of soil moisture using surface electrical resistivity tomography in Mediterranean soils

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alamry, Abdulmohsen S.; van der Meijde, Mark; Noomen, Marleen; Addink, Elisabeth A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/224281216; van Benthem, Rik; de Jong, Steven M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/120221306

2017-01-01

ERT techniques are especially promising in (semi-arid) areas with shallow and rocky soils where other methods fail to produce soil moisture maps and to obtain soil profile information. Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) was performed in the Peyne catchment in southern France at four sites

Regional pressure volume curves by electrical impedance tomography in a model of acute lung injury

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kunst, P. W.; Böhm, S. H.; Vazquez de Anda, G.; Amato, M. B.; Lachmann, B.; Postmus, P. E.; de Vries, P. M.

2000-01-01

OBJECTIVE: A new noninvasive method, electrical impedance tomography (EIT), was used to make pressure-impedance (PI) curves in a lung lavage model of acute lung injury in pigs. The lower inflection point (LIP) and the upper deflection point (UDP) were determined from these curves and from the

2D and 3D reconstructions in acousto-electric tomography

KAUST Repository

Kuchment, Peter; Kunyansky, Leonid

2011-01-01

We propose and test stable algorithms for the reconstruction of the internal conductivity of a biological object using acousto-electric measurements. Namely, the conventional impedance tomography scheme is supplemented by scanning the object with acoustic waves that slightly perturb the conductivity and cause the change in the electric potential measured on the boundary of the object. These perturbations of the potential are then used as the data for the reconstruction of the conductivity. The present method does not rely on 'perfectly focused' acoustic beams. Instead, more realistic propagating spherical fronts are utilized, and then the measurements that would correspond to perfect focusing are synthesized. In other words, we use synthetic focusing. Numerical experiments with simulated data show that our techniques produce high-quality images, both in 2D and 3D, and that they remain accurate in the presence of high-level noise in the data. Local uniqueness and stability for the problem also hold. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd.

2D and 3D reconstructions in acousto-electric tomography

KAUST Repository

Kuchment, Peter

2011-04-18

We propose and test stable algorithms for the reconstruction of the internal conductivity of a biological object using acousto-electric measurements. Namely, the conventional impedance tomography scheme is supplemented by scanning the object with acoustic waves that slightly perturb the conductivity and cause the change in the electric potential measured on the boundary of the object. These perturbations of the potential are then used as the data for the reconstruction of the conductivity. The present method does not rely on \\'perfectly focused\\' acoustic beams. Instead, more realistic propagating spherical fronts are utilized, and then the measurements that would correspond to perfect focusing are synthesized. In other words, we use synthetic focusing. Numerical experiments with simulated data show that our techniques produce high-quality images, both in 2D and 3D, and that they remain accurate in the presence of high-level noise in the data. Local uniqueness and stability for the problem also hold. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd.

In vivo bioimpedance measurement of healthy and ischaemic rat brain: implications for stroke imaging using electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dowrick, T; Blochet, C; Holder, D

2015-01-01

In order to facilitate the imaging of haemorrhagic and ischaemic stroke using frequency difference electrical impedance tomography (EIT), impedance measurements of normal and ischaemic brain, and clotted blood during haemorrhage, were gathered using a four-terminal technique in an in vivo animal model, a first for ischaemic measurements. Differences of 5–10% in impedance were seen between the frequency spectrums of healthy and ischaemic brain, over the frequency range 0–3 kHz, while the spectrum of blood was predominately uniform. The implications of imaging blood/ischaemia in the brain using electrical impedance tomography are discussed, supporting the notion that it will be possible to differentiate stroke from haemorrhage. (paper)

Hydrologic Process-oriented Optimization of Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Hinnell, A.; Bechtold, M.; Ferre, T. A.; van der Kruk, J.

2010-12-01

Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is commonly used in hydrologic investigations. Advances in joint and coupled hydrogeophysical inversion have enhanced the quantitative use of ERT to construct and condition hydrologic models (i.e. identify hydrologic structure and estimate hydrologic parameters). However the selection of which electrical resistivity data to collect and use is often determined by a combination of data requirements for geophysical analysis, intuition on the part of the hydrogeophysicist and logistical constraints of the laboratory or field site. One of the advantages of coupled hydrogeophysical inversion is the direct link between the hydrologic model and the individual geophysical data used to condition the model. That is, there is no requirement to collect geophysical data suitable for independent geophysical inversion. The geophysical measurements collected can be optimized for estimation of hydrologic model parameters rather than to develop a geophysical model. Using a synthetic model of drip irrigation we evaluate the value of individual resistivity measurements to describe the soil hydraulic properties and then use this information to build a data set optimized for characterizing hydrologic processes. We then compare the information content in the optimized data set with the information content in a data set optimized using a Jacobian sensitivity analysis.

Electrical resistivity tomography at the DOE Hanford site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narbutovskih, S.M.; Halter, T.D.; Sweeney, M.D.; Daily, W.; Ramirez, A.L.

1996-01-01

Recent work at the DOE Hanford site has established the potential of applying Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) for early leak detection under hazardous waste storage facilities. Several studies have been concluded to test the capabilities and limitations of ERT for two different applications. First, field experiments have been conducted to determine the utility of ERT to detect and map leaks from underground storage tanks during waste removal processes. Second, the use of ERT for long term vadose zone monitoring has been tested under different field conditions of depth, installation design, acquisition mode/equipment and infiltration chemistry. This work involves transferring the technology from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) program at the DOE Hanford Site. This paper covers field training studies relevant to the second application for long term vadose zone monitoring

A case of skeletal tuberculosis and psoas abscess: disease activity evaluated using 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimizuka, Yoshifumi; Hasegawa, Naoki; Ishii, Makoto; Murakami, Koji; Ishioka, Kota; Yagi, Kazuma; Ishii, Ken; Watanabe, Kota; Soejima, Kenzo; Betsuyaku, Tomoko

2013-01-01

Psoas abscess complicating tuberculous spondylitis is a rare morbidity in extrapulmonary tuberculosis. There are no established guidelines for evaluating the clinical response of psoas abscess. Although several studies have shown that positron emission tomography-computed tomography with 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose can play a potential role in diagnosing multifocal tuberculosis and monitoring the clinical response of pulmonary tuberculosis, to our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that positron emission tomography-computed tomography is useful for evaluating local inflammation and disease activity of a tuberculous psoas abscess. We report a case of multifocal bone and lymph node tuberculosis with concomitant lumbar psoas abscess in a 77-year-old man, along with a literature review. An initial positron emission tomography-computed tomography scan showed intense 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose accumulation in the sternum, ribs, vertebrae, and lymph nodes. The patient was successfully treated with antitubercular agents and computed tomography-guided drainage therapy. A follow-up positron emission tomography-computed tomography after abscess drainage and 9 months of antitubercular drug treatment revealed that the majority of lesions improved; however, protracted inflammation surrounding the psoas abscess was still observed. These results indicate that disease activity of psoas abscess can remain, even after successful drainage and antitubercular medication regime of appropriate duration. We have successfully followed up the extent of skeletal tuberculosis complicated with psoas abscess by positron emission tomography-computed tomography. In this patient, positron emission tomography-computed tomography is useful for evaluating the disease activity of tuberculous psoas abscess and for assessing the appropriate duration of antitubercular drug therapy in psoas abscess

Muons tomography applied to geosciences and volcanology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marteau, J., E-mail: marteau@ipnl.in2p3.fr [Institut de Physique Nucleaire de Lyon (UMR CNRS-IN2P3 5822), Universite Lyon 1, Lyon (France); Gibert, D.; Lesparre, N. [Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (UMR CNRS 7154), Sorbonne Paris Cite, Paris (France); Nicollin, F. [Geosciences Rennes (CNRS UMR 6118), Universite Rennes 1, Bat. 15 Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes cedex (France); Noli, P. [Universita degli studi di Napoli Federico II and INFN sez. Napoli (Italy); Giacoppo, F. [Laboratory for High Energy Physics, University of Bern, SidlerStrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern (Switzerland)

2012-12-11

Imaging the inner part of large geological targets is an important issue in geosciences with various applications. Different approaches already exist (e.g. gravimetry, electrical tomography) that give access to a wide range of information but with identified limitations or drawbacks (e.g. intrinsic ambiguity of the inverse problem, time consuming deployment of sensors over large distances). Here we present an alternative and complementary tomography method based on the measurement of the cosmic muons flux attenuation through the geological structures. We detail the basics of this muon tomography with a special emphasis on the photo-active detectors.

Electrical impedance tomography with compensation for electrode positioning variations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blott, B.H.; Daniell, G.J.; Meeson, S.

1998-01-01

Ideally electrical impedance tomography (EIT) should not be oversensitive to electrode positions, but this conflicts with efforts to produce high-resolution images. Two procedures are presented that balance reducing the sensitivity to electrode position errors with generating practicable EIT images. The first provides a criterion based on electrode sensitivity for regularizing the reconstruction through spectral expansion. The main consequences of this are that smoother images are produced and the number of artefacts and their magnitude are generally reduced. The second modification uses the recorded data to compensate for electrode movements that have occurred after the reference data were measured. Image smoothness is used as the criterion for the readjustment. Computer simulation tests have shown that this modification produces improved image fidelity. (author)

Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT): A Short Review

Science.gov (United States)

Kanti Bera, Tushar

2018-03-01

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is a tomographic imaging method which solves an ill posed inverse problem using the boundary voltage-current data collected from the surface of the object under test. Though the spatial resolution is comparatively low compared to conventional tomographic imaging modalities, due to several advantages EIT has been studied for a number of applications such as medical imaging, material engineering, civil engineering, biotechnology, chemical engineering, MEMS and other fields of engineering and applied sciences. In this paper, the applications of EIT have been reviewed and presented as a short summary. The working principal, instrumentation and advantages are briefly discussed followed by a detail discussion on the applications of EIT technology in different areas of engineering, technology and applied sciences.

Modeling of Potential Distribution of Electrical Capacitance Tomography Sensor for Multiphase Flow Image

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Sathiyamoorthy

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT was used to develop image of various multi phase flow of gas-liquid-solid in a closed pipe. The principal difficulties to obtained real time image from ECT sensor are permittivity distribution across the plate and capacitance is nonlinear; the electric field is distorted by the material present and is also sensitive to measurement errors and noise. This work present a detailed description is given on method employed for image reconstruction from the capacitance measurements. The discretization and iterative algorithm is developed for improving the predictions with minimum error. The author analyzed eight electrodes square sensor ECT system with two-phase water-gas and solid-gas.

Electrical resistance tomography during gas injection at the Savannah River Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez, A.L.; Daily, W.D.

1993-05-01

Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) is used to monitor some of the in situ remediation processes being evaluated for removal of volatile organic compounds from subsurface water and soil at the Integrated Demonstration for VOC's in Soils and Groundwater at Non Arid Sites, the Savannah River Site, near Aiken, South Carolina. Air was injected in the saturated zone and the intrained air was tomographically imaged by its effects on the formation electrical resistivity. The authors found that the flow paths are confined to a complex three dimensional network of channels, some of which extend as far as 30 m from the injection well. They conclude, based on these results, that the shape and extent of the air plume are controlled by spatial variations in the local gas permeability. These channels are somewhat unstable over a period of months and new channels appear to form with time

A case of skeletal tuberculosis and psoas abscess: disease activity evaluated using (18) F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimizuka, Yoshifumi; Ishii, Makoto; Murakami, Koji; Ishioka, Kota; Yagi, Kazuma; Ishii, Ken; Watanabe, Kota; Soejima, Kenzo; Betsuyaku, Tomoko; Hasegawa, Naoki

2013-11-14

Psoas abscess complicating tuberculous spondylitis is a rare morbidity in extrapulmonary tuberculosis. There are no established guidelines for evaluating the clinical response of psoas abscess. Although several studies have shown that positron emission tomography-computed tomography with 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose can play a potential role in diagnosing multifocal tuberculosis and monitoring the clinical response of pulmonary tuberculosis, to our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that positron emission tomography-computed tomography is useful for evaluating local inflammation and disease activity of a tuberculous psoas abscess. We report a case of multifocal bone and lymph node tuberculosis with concomitant lumbar psoas abscess in a 77-year-old man, along with a literature review. An initial positron emission tomography-computed tomography scan showed intense 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose accumulation in the sternum, ribs, vertebrae, and lymph nodes. The patient was successfully treated with antitubercular agents and computed tomography-guided drainage therapy. A follow-up positron emission tomography-computed tomography after abscess drainage and 9 months of antitubercular drug treatment revealed that the majority of lesions improved; however, protracted inflammation surrounding the psoas abscess was still observed. These results indicate that disease activity of psoas abscess can remain, even after successful drainage and antitubercular medication regime of appropriate duration. We have successfully followed up the extent of skeletal tuberculosis complicated with psoas abscess by positron emission tomography-computed tomography. In this patient, positron emission tomography-computed tomography is useful for evaluating the disease activity of tuberculous psoas abscess and for assessing the appropriate duration of antitubercular drug therapy in psoas abscess.

An analysis of electrical impedance tomography with applications to Tikhonov regularization

KAUST Repository

Jin, Bangti

2012-01-16

This paper analyzes the continuum model/complete electrode model in the electrical impedance tomography inverse problem of determining the conductivity parameter from boundary measurements. The continuity and differentiability of the forward operator with respect to the conductivity parameter in L p-norms are proved. These analytical results are applied to several popular regularization formulations, which incorporate a priori information of smoothness/sparsity on the inhomogeneity through Tikhonov regularization, for both linearized and nonlinear models. Some important properties, e.g., existence, stability, consistency and convergence rates, are established. This provides some theoretical justifications of their practical usage. © EDP Sciences, SMAI, 2012.

An analysis of electrical impedance tomography with applications to Tikhonov regularization

KAUST Repository

Jin, Bangti; Maass, Peter

2012-01-01

This paper analyzes the continuum model/complete electrode model in the electrical impedance tomography inverse problem of determining the conductivity parameter from boundary measurements. The continuity and differentiability of the forward operator with respect to the conductivity parameter in L p-norms are proved. These analytical results are applied to several popular regularization formulations, which incorporate a priori information of smoothness/sparsity on the inhomogeneity through Tikhonov regularization, for both linearized and nonlinear models. Some important properties, e.g., existence, stability, consistency and convergence rates, are established. This provides some theoretical justifications of their practical usage. © EDP Sciences, SMAI, 2012.

Electrical resistivity tomography investigation of coseismic liquefaction and fracturing at San Carlo, Ferrara Province, Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasser Abu Zeid

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Massive surface fracturing and sand ejection took place during the main shock of the May 20, 2012, earthquake (Ml = 5.9 in the Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy. These phenomena were induced by the liquefaction of water-saturated sand layers, and they damaged several buildings, as well as many roads and sidewalks. They were clustered between the villages of Sant'Agostino and Vigarano Mainarda, located along a paleo-reach of the Reno River [Papathanassiou et al. 2012, this volume]. The subsurface surrounding two major (several decameters long ground ruptures was investigated using electrical resistivity tomographies (ERT, as resistivity is strongly affected by the chemico-physical conditions of loose sediments. Italian regulations require the Municipalities within seismically active areas to develop maps of the potential liquefaction risk. Not all of the territories that are under this kind of risk have been investigated to date. A strong effort to improve this knowledge is therefore needed. Noninvasive geophysical methods can help to fill this gap, as high-resolution techniques are available with good result-to-cost ratios. Among the available methodologies, the most suitable are the methods based on electrical resistivity and permittivity, as they are highly sensitive to the presence of underground water. The ERT method has been carried out successfully across active faults, providing crucial paleoseismological information [Caputo et al. 2003, 2007]. […

A Versatile and Reproducible Multi-Frequency Electrical Impedance Tomography System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Avery

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A highly versatile Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT system, nicknamed the ScouseTom, has been developed. The system allows control over current amplitude, frequency, number of electrodes, injection protocol and data processing. Current is injected using a Keithley 6221 current source, and voltages are recorded with a 24-bit EEG system with minimum bandwidth of 3.2 kHz. Custom PCBs interface with a PC to control the measurement process, electrode addressing and triggering of external stimuli. The performance of the system was characterised using resistor phantoms to represent human scalp recordings, with an SNR of 77.5 dB, stable across a four hour recording and 20 Hz to 20 kHz. In studies of both haeomorrhage using scalp electrodes, and evoked activity using epicortical electrode mats in rats, it was possible to reconstruct images matching established literature at known areas of onset. Data collected using scalp electrode in humans matched known tissue impedance spectra and was stable over frequency. The experimental procedure is software controlled and is readily adaptable to new paradigms. Where possible, commercial or open-source components were used, to minimise the complexity in reproduction. The hardware designs and software for the system have been released under an open source licence, encouraging contributions and allowing for rapid replication.

Duality reconstruction algorithm for use in electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdullah, M.Z.; Dickin, F.J.

1996-01-01

A duality reconstruction algorithm for solving the inverse problem in electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is described. In this method, an algorithm based on the Geselowitz compensation (GC) theorem is used first to reconstruct an approximate version of the image. It is then fed as a first guessed data to the modified Newton-Raphson (MNR) algorithm which iteratively correct the image until a final acceptable solution is reached. The implementation of the GC and MNR based algorithms using the finite element method will be discussed. Reconstructed images produced by the algorithm will also be presented. Consideration is also given to the most computationally intensive aspects of the algorithm, namely the inversion of the large and sparse matrices. The methods taken to approximately compute the inverse ot those matrices will be outlined. (author)

QUANTIFICATION OF RESPIRATORY SINUS ARRHYTHMIA WITH HIGH-FRAMERATE ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE TOMOGRAPHY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christoph Hoog Antink

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia, the variation in the heart rate synchronized with the breathing cycle, forms an interconnection between cardiac-related and respiratory-related signals. It can be used by itself for diagnostic purposes, or by exploiting the redundancies it creates, for example by extracting respiratory rate from an electrocardiogram (ECG. To perform quantitative analysis and patient specific modeling, however, simultaneous information about ventilation as well as cardiac activity needs to be recorded and analyzed. The recent advent of medically approved Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT devices capable of recording up to 50 frames per second facilitates the application of this technology. This paper presents the automated selection of a cardiac-related signal from EIT data and quantitative analysis of this signal. It is demonstrated that beat-to-beat intervals can be extracted with a median absolute error below 20 ms. A comparison between ECG and EIT data shows a variation in peak delay time that requires further analysis. Finally, the known coupling of heart rate variability and tidal volume can be shown and quantified using global impedance as a surrogate for tidal volume.

Linearized image reconstruction method for ultrasound modulated electrical impedance tomography based on power density distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Xizi; Xu, Yanbin; Dong, Feng

2017-01-01

Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) is a promising measurement technique with important industrial and clinical applications. However, with limited effective measurements, it suffers from poor spatial resolution due to the ill-posedness of the inverse problem. Recently, there has been an increasing research interest in hybrid imaging techniques, utilizing couplings of physical modalities, because these techniques obtain much more effective measurement information and promise high resolution. Ultrasound modulated electrical impedance tomography (UMEIT) is one of the newly developed hybrid imaging techniques, which combines electric and acoustic modalities. A linearized image reconstruction method based on power density is proposed for UMEIT. The interior data, power density distribution, is adopted to reconstruct the conductivity distribution with the proposed image reconstruction method. At the same time, relating the power density change to the change in conductivity, the Jacobian matrix is employed to make the nonlinear problem into a linear one. The analytic formulation of this Jacobian matrix is derived and its effectiveness is also verified. In addition, different excitation patterns are tested and analyzed, and opposite excitation provides the best performance with the proposed method. Also, multiple power density distributions are combined to implement image reconstruction. Finally, image reconstruction is implemented with the linear back-projection (LBP) algorithm. Compared with ERT, with the proposed image reconstruction method, UMEIT can produce reconstructed images with higher quality and better quantitative evaluation results. (paper)

Design and Construction of Equipment for Applying the Geophysical Prospecting Method Electric Tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Héctor Giraldo Sánchez

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Outlines the procedure for the design and construction of electric equipment for geophysical prospecting through electrical tomography method. The team is of average power, ensuring exploration depths quite suitable for applications and commercial and geotechnical studies. The device is essentially a DC voltage source of 500 volts that is able to provide a maximum current of 1 amp. It also contains a small charge current source of electrical currents counteract naturally found in the subsoil and are manifested as a difference in the surface potential. A general explanation of the geophysical method in question, helps to understand the basic principles of operation of the equipment and functions to be fulfilled. After building the team, we conducted a field data acquisition, in area near the town of Gachancipa Cundinamarca. The data from this equipment are processed with specialized software. The images obtained with the software presents the distributions of subsurface resistivity can be associated with the possible structures and geology of the study area.

Application of electrical resistance tomography to glass melter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichijo, Noriaki; Sakai, Taiji; Fujiwara, Hiroaki; Matsuno, Shinsuke; Misumi, Ryuta; Nishi, Kazuhiko; Kaminoyama, Meguru

2015-01-01

This paper describes the application of electrical resistance tomography (ERT) to glass melter to monitor the accumulation of the noble metals. To minimize the modification of the melter, existing structures such as thermowells and heating electrodes are used as electrodes of ERT, and the number of electrodes is much fewer than the conventional method. Therefore, Expanding Combination Data Acquisition method (ECDA) is developed and applies to the glass melter. ECDA method uses adjacent method and opposite method as a data acquisition and current injection electrodes are used as voltage measurement electrodes to increase the number of the data. In addition, conductivity images are reconstructed only near the wall to improve the resolution. As a result of applying to the glass melter, the conductivity change inside the melter caused by temperature can be monitored. Furthermore, lower voltage is measured in case of containing the noble metals inside the melter. Therefore, the potential as a monitoring method be confirmed. (author)

Dissolution-Enlarged Fractures Imaging Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT)

Science.gov (United States)

Siami-Irdemoosa, Elnaz

In recent years the electrical imaging techniques have been largely applied to geotechnical and environmental investigations. These techniques have proven to be the best geophysical methods for site investigations in karst terrain, particularly when the overburden soil is clay-dominated. Karst is terrain with a special landscape and distinctive hydrological system developed by dissolution of rocks, particularly carbonate rocks such as limestone and dolomite, made by enlarging fractures into underground conduits that can enlarge into caverns, and in some cases collapse to form sinkholes. Bedding planes, joints, and faults are the principal structural guides for underground flow and dissolution in almost all karstified rocks. Despite the important role of fractures in karst development, the geometry of dissolution-enlarged fractures remain poorly unknown. These features are characterized by an strong contrast with the surrounding formations in terms of physical properties, such as electrical resistivity. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was used as the primary geophysical tool to image the subsurface in a karst terrain in Greene County, Missouri. Pattern, orientation and density of the joint sets were interpreted from ERT data in the investigation site. The Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Wave (MASW) method and coring were employed to validate the interpretation results. Two sets of orthogonal visually prominent joints have been identified in the investigation site: north-south trending joint sets and west-east trending joint sets. However, most of the visually prominent joint sets are associated with either cultural features that concentrate runoff, natural surface drainage features or natural surface drainage.

Electrical resistivity tomography investigations in the ufita Valley (southern Italy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Basso

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Several Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT surveys have been carried out to study the subsurface structural and sedimentary settings of the upper Ufita River valley, and to evaluate their efficiency to distinguish the geological boundary between shallow Quaternary sedimentary deposits and clayey bedrock characterized by moderate resistivity contrast. Five shallow ERTs were carried out across a morphological scarp running at the foot of the northeastern slope of the valley. This valley shoulder is characterized by a set of triangular facets, that some authors associated to the presence of a SW-dipping normal fault. The geological studies allow us to interpret the shallow ERTs results obtaining a resistivity range for each Quaternary sedimentary deposit. The tomographies showed the geometrical relationships of alluvial and slope deposits, having a maximum thickness of 30-40 m, and the morphology of the bedrock. The resistivity range obtained for each sedimentary body has been used for calibrating the tomographic results of one 3560m-long deep ERT carried out across the deeper part of the intramountain depression with an investigation depth of about 170 m. The deep resistivity result highlighted the complex alluvial setting, characterized by alternating fine grained lacustrine deposits and coarser gravelly fluvial sediments.

Electrical impedance tomography system: an open access circuit design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soleimani Manuchehr

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This paper reports a simple 2-D system for electrical impedance tomography EIT, which works efficiently and is low cost. The system has been developed in the Sharif University of Technology Tehran-Iran (for the author's MSc Project. Methods The EIT system consists of a PC in which an I/O card is installed with an external current generator, a multiplexer, a power supply and a phantom with an array of electrodes. The measurement system provides 12-bit accuracy and hence, suitable data acquisition software has been prepared accordingly. The synchronous phase detection method has been implemented for voltage measurement. Different methods of image reconstruction have been used with this instrument to generate electrical conductivity images. Results The results of simulation and real measurement of the system are presented. The reconstruction programs were written in MATLAB and the data acquisition software in C++. The system has been tested with both static and dynamic mode in a 2-D domain. Better results have been produced in the dynamic mode of operation, due to the cancellation of errors. Conclusion In the spirit of open access publication the design details of this simple EIT system are made available here.

Magnetoacoustic Tomography with Magnetic Induction (MAT-MI) for Imaging Electrical Conductivity of Biological Tissue: A Tutorial Review

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xu; Yu, Kai; He, Bin

2016-01-01

Magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction (MAT-MI) is a noninvasive imaging method developed to map electrical conductivity of biological tissue with millimeter level spatial resolution. In MAT-MI, a time-varying magnetic stimulation is applied to induce eddy current inside the conductive tissue sample. With the existence of a static magnetic field, the Lorentz force acting on the induced eddy current drives mechanical vibrations producing detectable ultrasound signals. These ultrasound signals can then be acquired to reconstruct a map related to the sample’s electrical conductivity contrast. This work reviews fundamental ideas of MAT-MI and major techniques developed in these years. First, the physical mechanisms underlying MAT-MI imaging are described including the magnetic induction and Lorentz force induced acoustic wave propagation. Second, experimental setups and various imaging strategies for MAT-MI are reviewed and compared together with the corresponding experimental results. In addition, as a recently developed reverse mode of MAT-MI, magneto-acousto-electrical tomography with magnetic induction (MAET-MI) is briefly reviewed in terms of its theory and experimental studies. Finally, we give our opinions on existing challenges and future directions for MAT-MI research. With all the reported and future technical advancement, MAT-MI has the potential to become an important noninvasive modality for electrical conductivity imaging of biological tissue. PMID:27542088

Dynamic Phase Boundary Estimation in Two-phase Flows Based on Electrical Impedance Tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jeong Seong; Muhammada, Nauman Malik; Kim, Kyung Youn; Kim, Sin

2008-01-01

For the dynamic visualization of the phase boundary in two-phase flows, the electrical impedance tomography (EIT) technique is introduced. In EIT, a set of predetermined electrical currents is injected through the electrodes placed on the boundary of the flow passage and the induced electrical potentials are measured on the electrodes. With the relationship between the injected currents and the induced voltages, the electrical conductivity distribution across the flow domain is estimated through the image reconstruction algorithm where the conductivity distribution corresponds to the phase distribution. In the application of EIT to two-phase flows where there are only two conductivity values, the conductivity distribution estimation problem can be transformed into the boundary estimation problem. This paper considers phase boundary estimation with EIT in annular two-phase flows. As the image reconstruction algorithm, the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is adopted since from the control theory it is reported that the UKF shows better performance than the extended Kalman filter (EKF) that has been commonly used. For the present problem, the formulation of UKF algorithm involved its incorporation in the adopted image reconstruction algorithm. Also, phantom experiments have been conducted to evaluate the improvement reported by UKF

High resolution electrical resistivity tomography of golf course greens irrigated with reclaimed wastewater: Hydrological approach

Science.gov (United States)

Tapias, Josefina C.; Lovera, Raúl; Himi, Mahjoub; Gallardo, Helena; Sendrós, Alexandre; Marguí, Eva; Queralt, Ignasi; Casas, Albert

2014-05-01

Actually, there are over 300 golf courses and more than three thousand licensed players in Spain. For this reason golf cannot be considered simply a hobby or a sport, but a very significant economic activity. Considered as one of the most rapidly expanding land-use and water demanding business in the Mediterranean, golf course development generates controversy. In the recent years there has been a considerable demand for golf courses to adopt environmentally sustainable strategies and particularly water authorities are forcing by law golf managers to irrigate with alternative water resources, mainly reclaimed wastewater. Watering practices must be based on soil properties that are characterized by samples removed from the different zones of the golf course and submitted to an accredited physical soil testing laboratory. Watering schedules are critical on greens with poor drainage or on greens with excessively high infiltration rates. The geophysical survey was conducted over the greens of the Girona Golf Club. Eighteen electrical resistivity tomographies were acquired using a mixed Wenner-Schlumberger configuration with electrodes placed 0.5 meter apart. Small stainless-steel nails were used as electrodes to avoid any damage in the fine turfgrass of greens The resistivity meter was set for systematically and automatically selects current electrodes and measurement electrodes to sample apparent resistivity values. Particle size analysis (PSA) has been performed on soil materials of any putting green. The PSA analysis has been composed of two distinct phases. The first has been the textural analysis of the soils for determining the content of sand, silt, and clay fraction via the use of a stack of sieves with decreasing sized openings from the top sieve to the bottom. Subsequently, the hydraulic conductivity of the substrates has been evaluated by means of Bredding and Hazen empirical relationships. The results of this research show that the electrical resistivity

A motion-compensated cone-beam CT using electrical impedance tomography imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pengpan, T; Smith, N D; Qiu, W; Yao, A; Mitchell, C N; Soleimani, M

2011-01-01

Cone-beam CT (CBCT) is an imaging technique used in conjunction with radiation therapy. For example CBCT is used to verify the position of lung cancer tumours just prior to radiation treatment. The accuracy of the radiation treatment of thoracic and upper abdominal structures is heavily affected by respiratory movement. Such movement typically blurs the CBCT reconstruction and ideally should be removed. Hence motion-compensated CBCT has recently been researched for correcting image artefacts due to breathing motion. This paper presents a new dual-modality approach where CBCT is aided by using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) for motion compensation. EIT can generate images of contrasts in electrical properties. The main advantage of using EIT is its high temporal resolution. In this paper motion information is extracted from EIT images and incorporated directly in the CBCT reconstruction. In this study synthetic moving data are generated using simulated and experimental phantoms. The paper demonstrates that image blur, created as a result of motion, can be reduced through motion compensation with EIT

Electrical Resistance Tomography for Subsurface Imaging. Innovative Technology Summary Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

None

2000-01-01

Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) noninvasively maps the 3-D resistivity field in the subsurface. It can be used on a scale from feet to kilometers. The 3-D resistivity field can be used to infer subsurface hydrogeological features and provides good resolution mapping of confining layers of various types. ERT imaging has been used for real-time monitoring and process control of remediation processes such as soil heating, pump and treat, steam injection, electrokinetics, Dynamic Underground Stripping (TechID 7), Hydrous Pyrolysis/Oxidation (TechID 1519) and more. ERT can be deployed via rapid and inexpensive installation of electrodes using a Cone Penetrometer (TechID 243). Additional applications are described under TechID 140 (Tanks) and TechID 2120 (Injected Subsurface Barriers); see also the related technology TechID 2121 (EIT)

A neural network image reconstruction technique for electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adler, A.; Guardo, R.

1994-01-01

Reconstruction of Images in Electrical Impedance Tomography requires the solution of a nonlinear inverse problem on noisy data. This problem is typically ill-conditioned and requires either simplifying assumptions or regularization based on a priori knowledge. This paper presents a reconstruction algorithm using neural network techniques which calculates a linear approximation of the inverse problem directly from finite element simulations of the forward problem. This inverse is adapted to the geometry of the medium and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) used during network training. Results show good conductivity reconstruction where measurement SNR is similar to the training conditions. The advantages of this method are its conceptual simplicity and ease of implementation, and the ability to control the compromise between the noise performance and resolution of the image reconstruction

Applicability of electrical resistance tomography to rectangular vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichijo, Noriaki; Matsuno, Shinsuke; Tokura, Susumu; Tochigi, Yoshikatsu; Misumi, Ryuta; Nishi, Kazuhiko; Kaminoyama, Meguru

2012-01-01

To ensure a stable operation of Joule-heated glass melters, it is necessary to observe the distribution of platinum group metal particles (noble metals) in molten glass. Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) has a potential to visualize the inside of the melter section because it can be applied at severe conditions such as high temperature and radioactive fields. Due to designing limitations, it is difficult to install electrodes on the wall of the glass melter. In addition, ERT is hardly applied to a rectangular section. To solve these problems, numerical and experimental studies have been implemented. To apply the ERT method, 8 electrodes are inserted from the top of the melter and set near the bottom to visualize the accumulation of noble metals on the bottom area. As a result of the numerical simulation and the experiment, it was clarified that the ERT can be applied to the rectangular vessel by inserting electrodes from the top of the vessel and has a potential to observe the accumulation of noble metals. (author)

Measurement strategy for rectangular electrical capacitance tomography sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye, Jiamin; Ge, Ruihuan; Qiu, Guizhi; Wang, Haigang

2014-01-01

To investigate the influence of the measurement strategy for the rectangular electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) sensor, a Finite Element Method (FEM) is utilized to create the model for simulation. The simulation was carried out using COMSOL Multiphysics(trade mark, serif) and Matlab(trade mark, serif). The length-width ratio of the rectangular sensing area is 5. Twelve electrodes are evenly arranged surrounding the pipe. The covering ratio of the electrodes is 90%. The capacitances between different electrode pairs are calculated for a bar distribution. The air of the relative permittivity 1.0 and the material of the permittivity 3.0 are used for the calibration. The relative permittivity of the second phase is 3.0. The noise free and noise data are used for the image reconstruction using the Linear Back Projection (LBP). The measurement strategies with 1-, 2- and 4- electrode excitation are compared using the correlation coefficient. Preliminary results show that the measurement strategy with 2-electrode excitation outperforms other measurement strategies with 1- or 4-electrode excitation

Sensitivity analysis of magnetic field measurements for magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography (MREIT)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Göksu, Cihan; Scheffler, Klaus; Ehses, Philipp

2017-01-01

Purpose: Clinical use of magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography (MREIT) still requires significant sensitivity improvements. Here, the measurement of the current-induced magnetic field (DBz,c) is improved using systematic efficiency analyses and optimization of multi-echo spin echo...... (MESE) and steady-state free precession free induction decay (SSFP-FID) sequences. Theory and Methods: Considering T1, T2, and T 2 relaxation in the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the MR magnitude images, the efficiency of MESE and SSFP-FID MREIT experiments, and its dependence on the sequence...

Simultaneous reconstruction of outer boundary shape and conductivity distribution in electrical impedance tomography

KAUST Repository

Hyvönen, Nuutti

2016-01-05

The simultaneous retrieval of the exterior boundary shape and the interior admittivity distribution of an examined body in electrical impedance tomography is considered. The reconstruction method is built for the complete electrode model and it is based on the Frechet derivative of the corresponding current-to-voltage map with respect to the body shape. The reconstruction problem is cast into the Bayesian framework, and maximum a posteriori estimates for the admittivity and the boundary geometry are computed. The feasibility of the approach is evaluated by experimental data from water tank measurements.

Integration of constrained electrical and seismic tomographies to study the landslide affecting the cathedral of Agrigento

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Capizzi, P; Martorana, R

2014-01-01

The Cathedral of Saint Gerland, located on the top of the hill of Agrigento, is an important historical church, which dates back to the Arab–Norman period (XI century). Unfortunately throughout its history the Cathedral and the adjacent famous Archaeological Park of the ‘Valley of the Temples’ have been affected by landslides. In this area the interleaving of calcarenites, silt, sand and clay is complicated by the presence of dislocated rock blocks and cavities and by a system of fractures partly filled with clay or water. Integrated geophysical surveys were carried out on the north side of the hill, on which the Cathedral of Agrigento is founded, to define lithological structures involved in the failure process. Because of the landslide, the cathedral has been affected by fractures, which resulted in the overall instability of the structure. Along each of four footpaths a combination of 2D electrical resistivity tomographies (ERT) and 2D seismic refraction tomographies (SRT) was performed. Moreover, along two of these footpaths microtremor (HVSR) and surface wave soundings (MASW) were carried out to reconstruct 2D sections of shear waves velocity. Furthermore a 3D electrical resistivity tomography was carried out in a limited area characterized by gentle slopes. After a preliminary phase, in which the data were processed independently, a subsequent inversion of seismic and electrical data was constrained with stratigraphic information obtained from geognostic continuous core boreholes located along the geophysical lines. This process allowed us to significantly increase the robustness of the geophysical models. The acquired data were interpolated to construct 3D geophysical models of the electrical resistivity and of the P-wave velocity. The interpolation algorithm took into account the average direction and immersion of geological strata. Results led to a better understanding of the complexity of the subsoil in the investigated area. The use of integrated

Vector tomography for reconstructing electric fields with non-zero divergence in bounded domains

Science.gov (United States)

Koulouri, Alexandra; Brookes, Mike; Rimpiläinen, Ville

2017-01-01

In vector tomography (VT), the aim is to reconstruct an unknown multi-dimensional vector field using line integral data. In the case of a 2-dimensional VT, two types of line integral data are usually required. These data correspond to integration of the parallel and perpendicular projection of the vector field along the integration lines and are called the longitudinal and transverse measurements, respectively. In most cases, however, the transverse measurements cannot be physically acquired. Therefore, the VT methods are typically used to reconstruct divergence-free (or source-free) velocity and flow fields that can be reconstructed solely from the longitudinal measurements. In this paper, we show how vector fields with non-zero divergence in a bounded domain can also be reconstructed from the longitudinal measurements without the need of explicitly evaluating the transverse measurements. To the best of our knowledge, VT has not previously been used for this purpose. In particular, we study low-frequency, time-harmonic electric fields generated by dipole sources in convex bounded domains which arise, for example, in electroencephalography (EEG) source imaging. We explain in detail the theoretical background, the derivation of the electric field inverse problem and the numerical approximation of the line integrals. We show that fields with non-zero divergence can be reconstructed from the longitudinal measurements with the help of two sparsity constraints that are constructed from the transverse measurements and the vector Laplace operator. As a comparison to EEG source imaging, we note that VT does not require mathematical modeling of the sources. By numerical simulations, we show that the pattern of the electric field can be correctly estimated using VT and the location of the source activity can be determined accurately from the reconstructed magnitudes of the field.

Experimental measurement of oil–water two-phase flow by data fusion of electrical tomography sensors and venturi tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Yinyan; Deng, Yuchi; Zhang, Maomao; Yu, Peining; Li, Yi

2017-01-01

Oil–water two-phase flows are commonly found in the production processes of the petroleum industry. Accurate online measurement of flow rates is crucial to ensure the safety and efficiency of oil exploration and production. A research team from Tsinghua University has developed an experimental apparatus for multiphase flow measurement based on an electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) sensor, an electrical resistance tomography (ERT) sensor, and a venturi tube. This work presents the phase fraction and flow rate measurements of oil–water two-phase flows based on the developed apparatus. Full-range phase fraction can be obtained by the combination of the ECT sensor and the ERT sensor. By data fusion of differential pressures measured by venturi tube and the phase fraction, the total flow rate and single-phase flow rate can be calculated. Dynamic experiments were conducted on the multiphase flow loop in horizontal and vertical pipelines and at various flow rates. (paper)

Design of electrical capacitance tomography sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Wuqiang

2010-01-01

Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) has been developed since the late 1980s for visualization and measurement of a permittivity distribution in a cross section using a multi-electrode capacitance sensor. While the hardware and image reconstruction algorithms for ECT have been published extensively and the topics have been reviewed, few papers have been published to discuss ECT sensors and the design issues, which are crucial for a specific application. This paper will briefly discuss the principles of ECT sensors, but mostly will address key issues for ECT sensor design, with reference to some existing ECT sensors as a good understanding of the key issues would help optimization of the design of ECT sensors. The key issues to be discussed include the number and length of electrodes, the use of external and internal electrodes, implications of wall thickness, earthed screens (including the outer screen, axial end screens and radial screens), driven guard electrodes, dealing with high temperature and high pressure, twin planes for velocity measurement by cross correlation and limitations in sensor diameter. While conventional ECT sensors are circular with the electrodes in a single plane or in twin planes, some non-conventional ECT sensors, such as square, conical and 3D sensors, will also be discussed. As a practical guidance, the procedure to fabricate an ECT sensor will be given. In the end are summary and discussion on future challenges, including re-engineering of ECT sensors. (topical review)

Specificity of the tomography implementation in electric arc domain - Validity in medical imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benech, Julie

2008-01-01

The aim of these works was to implement a new experimental method to characterize 3D thermal plasmas by emission spectroscopy. The method used is based on tomographic technique which is widely used in medical imaging nowadays. However, tomography that we have developed and applied to electric arc is specific as the number of accessible projections angles is strongly limited: 4 projections our case against basically 64 in medical imaging. The particularity of our experimental tomographic system is that measurements are resolved both spectrally and spatially. The spectral resolution is necessary to determine the temperature values from method based on atomic line intensity. The spatial resolution is needed to simultaneously acquire the whole width of the plasma and so to reconstruct a whole cross-section in only one acquisition. One of the principal objective was to realize the experimental system of four-view tomography for thermal plasmas. Thanks to this device, we showed that the characterization of non-axisymmetric plasma is possible and that it enables to reconstruct 3D temperature maps. Finally, our tomographic method is applied with medical imaging data acquired in SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography). These tests allowed validating the use of our tomographic reconstruction technique in SPECT, particularly the used iterative algebraic algorithm and the limited-view configuration. (author) [fr

Frequency-Division Multiplexing for Electrical Impedance Tomography in Biomedical Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yair Granot

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Electrical impedance tomography (EIT produces an image of the electrical impedance distribution of tissues in the body, using electrodes that are placed on the periphery of the imaged area. These electrodes inject currents and measure voltages and from these data, the impedance can be computed. Traditional EIT systems usually inject current patterns in a serial manner which means that the impedance is computed from data collected at slightly different times. It is usually also a time-consuming process. In this paper, we propose a method for collecting data concurrently from all of the current patterns in biomedical applications of EIT. This is achieved by injecting current through all of the current injecting electrodes simultaneously, and measuring all of the resulting voltages at once. The signals from various current injecting electrodes are separated by injecting different frequencies through each electrode. This is called frequency-division multiplexing (FDM. At the voltage measurement electrodes, the voltage related to each current injecting electrode is isolated by using Fourier decomposition. In biomedical applications, using different frequencies has important implications due to dispersions as the tissue's electrical properties change with frequency. Another significant issue arises when we are recording data in a dynamic environment where the properties change very fast. This method allows simultaneous measurements of all the current patterns, which may be important in applications where the tissue changes occur in the same time scale as the measurement. We discuss the FDM EIT method from the biomedical point of view and show results obtained with a simple experimental system.

Sparsity reconstruction in electrical impedance tomography: An experimental evaluation

KAUST Repository

Gehre, Matthias

2012-02-01

We investigate the potential of sparsity constraints in the electrical impedance tomography (EIT) inverse problem of inferring the distributed conductivity based on boundary potential measurements. In sparsity reconstruction, inhomogeneities of the conductivity are a priori assumed to be sparse with respect to a certain basis. This prior information is incorporated into a Tikhonov-type functional by including a sparsity-promoting ℓ1-penalty term. The functional is minimized with an iterative soft shrinkage-type algorithm. In this paper, the feasibility of the sparsity reconstruction approach is evaluated by experimental data from water tank measurements. The reconstructions are computed both with sparsity constraints and with a more conventional smoothness regularization approach. The results verify that the adoption of ℓ1-type constraints can enhance the quality of EIT reconstructions: in most of the test cases the reconstructions with sparsity constraints are both qualitatively and quantitatively more feasible than that with the smoothness constraint. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design and development of electrical impedance tomography system with 32 electrodes and microcontroller

Science.gov (United States)

Ansory, Achmad; Prajitno, Prawito; Wijaya, Sastra Kusuma

2018-02-01

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is an imaging method that is able to estimate electrical impedance distribution inside an object. This EIT system is developed by using 32 electrodes and microcontroller based module. From a pair of electrodes, sinusoidal current of 3 mA is injected and the voltage differences between other pairs of electrodes are measured. Voltage measurement data are then sent to MATLAB and EIDORS software; the data are used to reconstruct two dimensions image. The system can detect and determine the position of a phantom in the tank. The object's position is accurately reconstructed and determined with the average shifting of 0.69 cm but object's area cannot be accurately reconstructed. The object's image is more accurately reconstructed when the object is located near to electrodes, has a larger size, and when the current injected to the system has a frequency of 100 kHz or 200kHz.

Characterizing root system characteristics with Electrical resistivity Tomography: a virtual rhizotron simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, Sathyanarayan; Ehosioke, Solomon; Lesparre, Nolwenn; Nguyen, Frédéric; Javaux, Mathieu

2017-04-01

Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) is more and more used for monitoring soil water content in a cropped soil. Yet, the impact of roots on the signal is often neglected and a topic of controversy. In several studies related to soil-root system, it has been showed that the measured root mass density statistically correlates with the electrical conductivity (EC) data obtained from ERT. In addition, some studies suggest that some roots are more electrically conductive than soil for most water content. Thus, higher EC of roots suggest that it might have a measurable impact on ERT signals. In this work, virtual rhizotrons are simulated using the software package called R-SWMS that solves water and solute transport in plant root-soil system, including root growth. The distribution of water content obtained from R-SWMS simulation is converted into EC data using pedo-physical models. The electrical properties of roots and rhizosphere are explicitly included in the EC data to form a conductivity map (CM) with a very detailed spatial resolution. Forward ERT simulations is then carried out for CM generated for various root architectures and soil conditions to study the impact of roots on ERT forward (current and voltage patterns) and inverse solutions. It is demonstrated that under typical injection schemes with lateral electrodes, root system is hardly measurable. However, it is showed that adding electrodes and constraints on the ERT inversion based on root architecture help quantifying root system mass and extent.

A reconstruction algorithm for electrical impedance tomography based on sparsity regularization

KAUST Repository

Jin, Bangti

2011-08-24

This paper develops a novel sparse reconstruction algorithm for the electrical impedance tomography problem of determining a conductivity parameter from boundary measurements. The sparsity of the \\'inhomogeneity\\' with respect to a certain basis is a priori assumed. The proposed approach is motivated by a Tikhonov functional incorporating a sparsity-promoting ℓ 1-penalty term, and it allows us to obtain quantitative results when the assumption is valid. A novel iterative algorithm of soft shrinkage type was proposed. Numerical results for several two-dimensional problems with both single and multiple convex and nonconvex inclusions were presented to illustrate the features of the proposed algorithm and were compared with one conventional approach based on smoothness regularization. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PREFACE: XV International Conference on Electrical Bio-Impedance (ICEBI) & XIV Conference on Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT)

Science.gov (United States)

Pliquett, Uwe

2013-04-01

. Structures down to sub-micrometer range and complex impedance measurements tools integrated at single chips are now affordable. Moreover, the introduction of alternative signals and data processing algorithms focuses on very fast and parallel electrical characterization which in turn pushes this technique to new applications and markets. Electrical impedance tomography today yields pictures in real time with a resolution that was impossible 10 years ago. The XVth International Conference on Electrical Bio-Impedance in conjunction with the XIVth Electrical Impedance Tomography ICEBI/EIT 2013 organized by the Institute for Bioprocessing and Analytical Measurement Techniques, Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany, together with the EIT-group at the University of Göttingen, Germany, brings world leading scientists in these fields together. It is a platform to present the latest developments in instrumentation and signal processing but also points to new applications, especially in the field of biosensors and non-linear phenomena. Two Keynote lectures will extend the view of the participants above the mainstream of bio-impedance measurement. Friederich Kremer (University of Leipzig) delivers the plenary lecture on broad bandwidth dielectric spectroscopy. New achievements in the research of ligand gated ionic channels will be presented by Klaus Benndorf (University of Jena). Leading scientists in the field of bio-impedance measurement, such as, Sverre Grimnes, Orjan Martinsen, Andrea Robitzki, Richard Bayford, Jan Gimsa and Mart Min will give lectures for students but also more experienced scientists in a pre-conference tutorial which is a good opportunity to learn or refresh the basics. List of committees Conference Chair Dr Uwe Pliquett Professor Dieter Beckmann Institut für Bioprozess- und Analysenmesstechnik eV, Rosenhof, Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany Technical Program Chair Maik Hiller Conventus Congressmanagement & Marketing GmbH, Carl-Pulfrich-Str. 1 - 07745 Jena Pre

Experimental Studies on the Changes in Resistivity and Its Anisotropy Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography

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Tao Zhu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Three measuring lines were arranged on one of free planes of magnetite cuboid samples. Apparent resistivity data were acquired by MIR-2007 resistivity meter when samples were under uniaxial compression of servocontrol YAW-5000F loadingmachine in laboratory. Then we constructed the residual resistivity images using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT and plotted the diagrams of apparent resistivity anisotropy coefficient (ARAC λ∗ and the included angle α between the major axis of apparent resistivity anisotropy ellipse and the axis of load with pressure and effective depth. Our results show that with increasing pressure, resistivity and the decreased (D region and increased (I region resistivity regions have complex behaviors, but when pressure is higher than a certain value, the average resistivity decrease and the area of D region expand gradually in all time with the increase of pressure, which may be significant to the monitoring and prediction of earthquake, volcanic activities, and large-scale geologic motions. The effects of pressure on λ∗ and α are not very outstanding for dry magnetite samples.

Electrical resistivity tomography to monitor enhanced biodegradation of hydrocarbons with Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1 at a pilot scale.

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Masy, Thibaut; Caterina, David; Tromme, Olivier; Lavigne, Benoît; Thonart, Philippe; Hiligsmann, Serge; Nguyen, Frédéric

2016-01-01

Petroleum hydrocarbons (HC) represent the most widespread contaminants and in-situ bioremediation remains a competitive treatment in terms of cost and environmental concerns. However, the efficiency of such a technique (by biostimulation or bioaugmentation) strongly depends on the environment affected and is still difficult to predict a priori. In order to overcome these uncertainties, Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) appears as a valuable non-invasive tool to detect soil heterogeneities and to monitor biodegradation. The main objective of this study was to isolate an electrical signal linked to an enhanced bacterial activity with ERT, in an aged HC-contaminated clay loam soil. To achieve this, a pilot tank was built to mimic field conditions. Compared to a first insufficient biostimulation phase, bioaugmentation with Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1 led to a HC depletion of almost 80% (6900 to 1600ppm) in 3months in the center of the contaminated zone, where pollutants were less bioavailable. In the meantime, lithological heterogeneities and microbial activities (growth and biosurfactant production) were successively discriminated by ERT images. In the future, this cost-effective technique should be more and more transferred to the field in order to monitor biodegradation processes and assist in selecting the most appropriate remediation technique. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrical resistivity tomography to monitor enhanced biodegradation of hydrocarbons with Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1 at a pilot scale

Science.gov (United States)

Masy, Thibaut; Caterina, David; Tromme, Olivier; Lavigne, Benoît; Thonart, Philippe; Hiligsmann, Serge; Nguyen, Frédéric

2016-01-01

Petroleum hydrocarbons (HC) represent the most widespread contaminants and in-situ bioremediation remains a competitive treatment in terms of cost and environmental concerns. However, the efficiency of such a technique (by biostimulation or bioaugmentation) strongly depends on the environment affected and is still difficult to predict a priori. In order to overcome these uncertainties, Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) appears as a valuable non-invasive tool to detect soil heterogeneities and to monitor biodegradation. The main objective of this study was to isolate an electrical signal linked to an enhanced bacterial activity with ERT, in an aged HC-contaminated clay loam soil. To achieve this, a pilot tank was built to mimic field conditions. Compared to a first insufficient biostimulation phase, bioaugmentation with Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1 led to a HC depletion of almost 80% (6900 to 1600 ppm) in 3 months in the center of the contaminated zone, where pollutants were less bioavailable. In the meantime, lithological heterogeneities and microbial activities (growth and biosurfactant production) were successively discriminated by ERT images. In the future, this cost-effective technique should be more and more transferred to the field in order to monitor biodegradation processes and assist in selecting the most appropriate remediation technique.

Switchless charge-discharge circuit for electrical capacitance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kryszyn, J; Smolik, W T; Radzik, B; Olszewski, T; Szabatin, R

2014-01-01

The main factor limiting the performance of electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is an extremely low value of inter-electrode capacitances. The charge-discharge circuit is a well suited circuit for a small capacitance measurement due to its immunity to noise and stray capacitance, although it has a problem associated with a charge injected by the analogue switches, which results in a dc offset. This paper presents a new diode-based circuit for capacitance measurement in which a charge transfer method is realized without switches. The circuit was built and tested in one channel configuration with 16 multiplexed electrodes. The performance of the elaborated circuit and a comparison with a classic charge-discharge circuit are presented. The elaborated circuit can be used for sensors with inter-electrode capacitances not lower than 10 fF. The presented approach allows us to obtain a similar performance to the classic charge-discharge circuit, but has a simplified design. A lack of the need to synchronize the analogue switches in the transmitter and the receiver part of this circuit could be a desirable feature in the design of measurement systems integrated with electrodes. (paper)

Multiple imaging mode X-ray computed tomography for distinguishing active and inactive phases in lithium-ion battery cathodes

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Komini Babu, Siddharth; Mohamed, Alexander I.; Whitacre, Jay F.; Litster, Shawn

2015-06-01

This paper presents the use of nanometer scale resolution X-ray computed tomography (nano-CT) in the three-dimensional (3D) imaging of a Li-ion battery cathode, including the separate volumes of active material, binder plus conductive additive, and pore. The different high and low atomic number (Z) materials are distinguished by sequentially imaging the lithium cobalt oxide electrode in absorption and then Zernike phase contrast modes. Morphological parameters of the active material and the additives are extracted from the 3D reconstructions, including the distribution of contact areas between the additives and the active material. This method could provide a better understanding of the electric current distribution and structural integrity of battery electrodes, as well as provide detailed geometries for computational models.

A Low Cost and High Speed Electrical Capacitance Tomography System Design

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Ruzairi ABDUL RAHIM

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Electrical capacitance tomography system is a system which can be used for imaging industrial multi-component processes involving non-conducting fluids in pipelines. In order to make an ECT system applicable in all kinds of industries, the cost factor of building an ECT system is essential. In this research, we focus on reducing the cost of the system while not affecting the quality of the results. In the past, most of the researches in tomography system have concentrated more on the design of the sensor, and use DAS card as the interface to the PC. This will increase the cost of the system. In this case, the cost of the data acquisition system will be needed to be taken into consideration. To develop a low cost and fast data acquisition system, a Universal Serial Bus (USB is found to be the most ideal technology. In order to further reduce the cost of the ECT system, a very low cost material, aluminium plates are used as the electrodes of the system. The information obtained in the PC will be reconstructed using iterative algorithm in order to obtain a precise image of the flow in the pipeline. The information obtained from the system will be useful for the purpose of controlling the flow in the pipeline.

Comparison of a networks-of-zones fluid mixing model for a baffled stirred vessel with three-dimensional electrical resistance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodgers, T L; Siperstein, F R; Mann, R; York, T A; Kowalski, A

2011-01-01

Reliable models for the simulation of mixing vessels are important for the understanding of real-life mixing problems. To achieve these models, information about the mixing in the system must be measured to compare with the predicted values. Electrical resistance tomography has the capability to measure spatial and temporal changes within a vessel in three dimensions even in optically inaccessible environments. This paper discusses the creation of a network-of-zones model for the prediction of mixing within a vessel with a Cowles disc-type agitator. Solving of the network-of-zones simplified transport equations for the vessel predicts the concentration distribution of an inert tracer added to the vessel. The change in this distribution with time is calculated and compared with visual inspection of the vessel. The concentration distribution inside the vessel is also measured using electrical resistance tomography and shows good agreement with the predicted values

Electric and magnetic fields in medicine and biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1985-01-01

Papers Include: The effects of low frequency (50 Hz) magnetic fields on neuro-chemical transmission in vitro; Morphological changes in E Coli subjected to DC electrical fields; An investigation of some claimed biological effects of electromagnetic fields; Electrical phenomena and bone healing - a comparison of contemporary techniques; Clinical evaluations of a portable module emitting pulsed RF energy; The design, construction and performance of a magnetic nerve stimulator; The principle of electric field tomography and its application to selective read-out of information from peripheral nerves; Applied potential tomography - clinical applications; Impendance imaging using a linear electrode array; Mathematics as an aid to experiment: human body currents induced by power frequency electric fields; Effects of electric field near 750KV transmission line and protection against their harmful consequences; Leukemia and electromagnetic fields: a case-control study; Overhead power lines and childhood cancer; Magnetic measurement of nerve action currents - a new intraoperative recording technique; The potential use of electron spin resonance or impedance measurement to image neuronal electrical activity in the human brain

Visualization of latent fingerprints beneath opaque electrical tapes by optical coherence tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Kangkang; Zhang, Ning; Meng, Li; Li, Zhigang; Xu, Xiaojing

2018-03-01

Electrical tape is found as one type of important trace evidence in crime scene. For example, it is very frequently used to insulate wires in explosive devices in many criminal cases. The fingerprints of the suspects were often left on the adhesive side of the tapes, which can provide very useful clues for the investigation and make it possible for individual identification. The most commonly used method to detect and visualize those latent fingerprints is to peel off each layer of the tapes first and then adopt the chemical methods to develop the fingerprints on the tapes. However, the peeling-off and chemical development process would degrade and contaminate the fingerprints and thus adversely affect the accuracy of identification. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a novel forensic imaging modality based on lowcoherence interferometry, which has the advantages of non-destruction, micrometer-level high resolution and crosssectional imaging. In this study, a fiber-based spectral-domain OCT (SD-OCT) system with {6μm resolution was employed to obtain the image of fingerprint sandwiched between two opaque electrical tapes without any pre-processing procedure like peeling-off. Three-dimensional (3D) OCT reconstruction was performed and the subsurface image was produced to visualize the latent fingerprints. The results demonstrate that OCT is a promising tool for recovering the latent fingerprints hidden beneath opaque electrical tape non-destructively and rapidly.

Electrical resistance tomography using steel cased boreholes as electrodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newmark, R L; Daily, W; Ramirez, A

1999-01-01

Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) using multiple electrodes installed in boreholes has been shown to be useful for both site characterization and process monitoring. In some cases, however, installing multiple downhole electrodes is too costly (e.g., deep targets) or risky (e.g., contaminated sites). For these cases we have examined the possibility of using the steel casings of existing boreholes as electrodes. The first case we investigated used an array of steel casings as electrodes. This results in very few data and thus requires additional constraints to limit the domain of possible inverse solutions. Simulations indicate that the spatial resolution and sensitivity are understandably low but it is possible to coarsely map the lateral extent of subsurface processes such as steam floods. A hybrid case uses traditional point electrode arrays combined with long-conductor electrodes (steel casings). Although this arrangement provides more data, in many cases it results in poor reconstructions of test targets. Results indicate that this method may hold promise for low resolution imaging where steel casings can be used as electrodes

A Simultaneous and Continuous Excitation Method for High-Speed Electrical Impedance Tomography with Reduced Transients and Noise Sensitivity

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Antoine Dupré

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a concept for soft field tomographic scan of all the projections of electromagnetic waves emanating from an array of electrodes. Instead of the sequential excitation of all pairs of electrodes in the list of all projections, the new method present here consists of a single and continuous excitation. This excitation signal is the linear combination of the excitation signals in the projection set at different AC frequencies. The response to a given projection is discriminated by selecting the corresponding AC frequency component in the signal spectra of the digitally demodulated signals. The main advantage of this method is the suppression of transients after each projection, which is particularly problematic in electrical impedance tomography due to contact impedance phenomena and skin effect. The second benefit over the sequential scan method is the increased number of samples for each measurement for reduced noise sensitivity with digital demodulation. The third benefit is the increased temporal resolution in high-speed applications. The main drawback is the increased number of signal sources required (one per electrode. This paper focuses on electrical impedance tomography, based on earlier work by the authors. An experimental proof-of-concept using a simple 4-electrodes electrical impedance tomographic system is presented using simulations and laboratory data. The method presented here may be extended to other modalities (ultrasonic, microwave, optical, etc..

An optimized strategy for real-time hemorrhage monitoring with electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Canhua; Dai, Meng; You, Fusheng; Shi, Xuetao; Fu, Feng; Liu, Ruigang; Dong, Xiuzhen

2011-01-01

Delayed detection of an internal hemorrhage may result in serious disabilities and possibly death for a patient. Currently, there are no portable medical imaging instruments that are suitable for long-term monitoring of patients at risk of internal hemorrhage. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has the potential to monitor patients continuously as a novel functional image modality and instantly detect the occurrence of an internal hemorrhage. However, the low spatial resolution and high sensitivity to noise of this technique have limited its application in clinics. In addition, due to the circular boundary display mode used in current EIT images, it is difficult for clinicians to identify precisely which organ is bleeding using this technique. The aim of this study was to propose an optimized strategy for EIT reconstruction to promote the use of EIT for clinical studies, which mainly includes the use of anatomically accurate boundary shapes, rapid selection of optimal regularization parameters and image fusion of EIT and computed tomography images. The method was evaluated on retroperitoneal and intraperitoneal bleeding piglet data. Both traditional backprojection images and optimized images among different boundary shapes were reconstructed and compared. The experimental results demonstrated that EIT images with precise anatomical information can be reconstructed in which the image resolution and resistance to noise can be improved effectively

Monitoring of lobectomy in cystic fibrosis with electrical impedance tomography - a new diagnostic tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmann, Sylvia; Tenbrock, Klaus; Schrading, Simone; Pikkemaat, Robert; Antink, Christoph Hoog; Santos, Susana; Spillner, Jan Wilhelm; Wagner, Norbert; Leonhardt, Steffen

2014-12-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a radiation-free technique generating cross-sectional images of the lung. EIT visualizes global and regional ventilation by illustrating the distribution of electrical bioimpedance. With an electrode belt around the patient's thorax, rotating injection-couples of a harmless alternating current allow voltage measurement of the remaining electrodes. This enables the reconstruction of a tomogram with highly dynamic changes within ventilation. We report on a female six-year-old patient with cystic fibrosis and complete destruction of the upper and middle lobe of the right lung. Lobectomy, a rare therapeutic option in patients with cystic fibrosis that needs to be considered in cases of severe localized destruction, was performed. We show a pre- and postoperative documentation of static (radiology) and dynamic investigation tools (spirometry) in correlation with EIT as a new non-invasive and radiation-free diagnostic tool for this patient group.

Quantification of ventilation distribution in regional lung injury by electrical impedance tomography and xenon computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elke, Gunnar; Weiler, Norbert; Frerichs, Inéz; Fuld, Matthew K; Halaweish, Ahmed F; Hoffman, Eric A; Grychtol, Bartłomiej

2013-01-01

Validation studies of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) based assessment of regional ventilation under pathological conditions are required to prove that EIT can reliably quantify heterogeneous ventilation distribution with sufficient accuracy. The objective of our study was to validate EIT measurements of regional ventilation through a comparison with xenon-multidetector-row computed tomography (XeCT) in an animal model of sub-lobar lung injury. Nine anesthetized mechanically ventilated supine pigs were examined before and after the induction of lung injury in two adjacent sub-lobar segments of the right lung by saline lavage or endotoxin instillation. Regional ventilation was determined in 32 anteroposterior regions of interest in the right and left lungs and the ventilation change quantified by difference images between injury and control. Six animals were included in the final analysis. Measurements of regional ventilation by EIT and XeCT correlated well before (r s = 0.89 right, r s = 0.90 left lung) and after local injury (r s = 0.79 and 0.92, respectively). No bias and narrow limits of agreement were found during both conditions. The ventilation decrease in the right injured lung was correspondingly measured by both modalities (5.5%±1.1% by EIT and 5.4%±1.9% by XeCT, p = 0.94). EIT was inferior to clearly separate the exact anatomical location of the regional injuries. Regional ventilation was overestimated (<2%) in the most ventral and dorsal regions and underestimated (2%) in the middle regions by EIT compared to XeCT. This study shows that EIT is able to reliably discern even small ventilation changes on sub-lobar level. (paper)

Electrical impedance tomography-based sensing skin for quantitative imaging of damage in concrete

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hallaji, Milad; Pour-Ghaz, Mohammad; Seppänen, Aku

2014-01-01

This paper outlines the development of a large-area sensing skin for damage detection in concrete structures. The developed sensing skin consists of a thin layer of electrically conductive copper paint that is applied to the surface of the concrete. Cracking of the concrete substrate results in the rupture of the sensing skin, decreasing its electrical conductivity locally. The decrease in conductivity is detected with electrical impedance tomography (EIT) imaging. In previous works, electrically based sensing skins have provided only qualitative information on the damage on the substrate surface. In this paper, we study whether quantitative imaging of the damage is possible. We utilize application-specific models and computational methods in the image reconstruction, including a total variation (TV) prior model for the damage and an approximate correction of the modeling errors caused by the inhomogeneity of the painted sensing skin. The developed damage detection method is tested experimentally by applying the sensing skin to polymeric substrates and a reinforced concrete beam under four-point bending. In all test cases, the EIT-based sensing skin provides quantitative information on cracks and/or other damages on the substrate surface: featuring a very low conductivity in the damage locations, and a reliable indication of the lengths and shapes of the cracks. The results strongly support the applicability of the painted EIT-based sensing skin for damage detection in reinforced concrete elements and other substrates. (paper)

Evaluation of reconstruction parameters of electrical impedance tomography on aorta detection during saline bolus injection

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Thürk Florian

2016-09-01

Full Text Available An accurate detection of anatomical structures in electrical impedance tomography (EIT is still at an early stage. Aorta detection in EIT is of special interest, since it would favor non-invasive assessment of hemodynamic processes in the body. Here, diverse EIT reconstruction parameters of the GREIT algorithm were systematically evaluated to detect the aorta after saline bolus injection in apnea. True aorta position and size were taken from computed tomography (CT. A comparison with CT showed that the smallest error for aorta displacement was attained for noise figure nf = 0.7, weighting radius rw = 0.15, and target size ts = 0.01. The spatial extension of the aorta was most precise for nf = 0.7, rw = 0.25, and ts = 0.07. Detection accuracy (F1-score was highest with nf = 0.6, rw = 0.15, and ts = 0.04. This work provides algorithm-related evidence for potentially accurate aorta detection in EIT after injection of a saline bolus.

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

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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.

Motion-compensated cone beam computed tomography using a conjugate gradient least-squares algorithm and electrical impedance tomography imaging motion data.

Science.gov (United States)

Pengpen, T; Soleimani, M

2015-06-13

Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is an imaging modality that has been used in image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). For applications such as lung radiation therapy, CBCT images are greatly affected by the motion artefacts. This is mainly due to low temporal resolution of CBCT. Recently, a dual modality of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and CBCT has been proposed, in which the high temporal resolution EIT imaging system provides motion data to a motion-compensated algebraic reconstruction technique (ART)-based CBCT reconstruction software. High computational time associated with ART and indeed other variations of ART make it less practical for real applications. This paper develops a motion-compensated conjugate gradient least-squares (CGLS) algorithm for CBCT. A motion-compensated CGLS offers several advantages over ART-based methods, including possibilities for explicit regularization, rapid convergence and parallel computations. This paper for the first time demonstrates motion-compensated CBCT reconstruction using CGLS and reconstruction results are shown in limited data CBCT considering only a quarter of the full dataset. The proposed algorithm is tested using simulated motion data in generic motion-compensated CBCT as well as measured EIT data in dual EIT-CBCT imaging. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)-based evaluation of biological tissue phantoms to study multifrequency electrical impedance tomography (Mf-EIT) systems

KAUST Repository

Bera, Tushar Kanti

2016-03-18

Abstract: Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) phantoms are essential for the calibration, comparison and evaluation of the EIT systems. In EIT, the practical phantoms are typically developed based on inhomogeneities surrounded by a homogeneous background to simulate a suitable conductivity contrast. In multifrequency EIT (Mf-EIT) evaluation, the phantoms must be developed with the materials which have recognizable or distinguishable impedance variations over a wide range of frequencies. In this direction the impedance responses of the saline solution (background) and a number vegetable and fruit tissues (inhomogeneities) are studied with electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and the frequency responses of bioelectrical impedance and conductivity are analyzed. A number of practical phantoms with different tissue inhomogeneities and different inhomogeneity configurations are developed and the multifrequency impedance imaging is studied with the Mf-EIT system to evaluate the phantoms. The conductivity of the vegetable inhomogeneities reconstructed from the EIT imaging is compared with the conductivity values obtained from the EIS studies. Experimental results obtained from multifrequency EIT reconstruction demonstrate that the electrical impedance of all the biological tissues inhomogenity decreases with frequency. The potato tissue phantom produces better impedance image in high frequency ranges compared to the cucumber phantom, because the cucumber impedance at high frequency becomes lesser than that of the potato at the same frequency range. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2016 The Visualization Society of Japan

High-resolution electrical resistivity tomography applied to patterned ground, Wedel Jarlsberg Land, south-west Spitsbergen

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Marek Kasprzak

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This article presents results of two-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography (ERT applied to three types of patterned ground in Wedel-Jarlsberg Land (Svalbard, carried out in late July 2012. The structures investigated include sorted circles, non-sorted polygons and a net with sorted coarser material. ERT was used to recognize the internal ground structure, the shape of permafrost table below the active layer and the geometric relationships between permafrost, ground layering and surface patterns. Results of inversion modelling indicate that the permafrost table occurs at a depth of 0.5–1 m in a mountain valley and 1–2.5 m on raised marine terraces. The permafrost table was nearly planar beneath non-sorted deposits and wavy beneath sorted materials. The mutual relationships between the permafrost table and the shape of a stone circle are different from those typically presented in literature. Ground structure beneath the net with sorted coarser materials is complex as implied in convective models. In non-sorted polygons, the imaging failed to reveal vertical structures between them.

Feature-space assessment of electrical impedance tomography coregistered with computed tomography in detecting multiple contrast targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishnan, Kalpagam; Liu, Jeff; Kohli, Kirpal

2014-01-01

Purpose: Fusion of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) with computed tomography (CT) can be useful as a clinical tool for providing additional physiological information about tissues, but requires suitable fusion algorithms and validation procedures. This work explores the feasibility of fusing EIT and CT images using an algorithm for coregistration. The imaging performance is validated through feature space assessment on phantom contrast targets. Methods: EIT data were acquired by scanning a phantom using a circuit, configured for injecting current through 16 electrodes, placed around the phantom. A conductivity image of the phantom was obtained from the data using electrical impedance and diffuse optical tomography reconstruction software (EIDORS). A CT image of the phantom was also acquired. The EIT and CT images were fused using a region of interest (ROI) coregistration fusion algorithm. Phantom imaging experiments were carried out on objects of different contrasts, sizes, and positions. The conductive medium of the phantoms was made of a tissue-mimicking bolus material that is routinely used in clinical radiation therapy settings. To validate the imaging performance in detecting different contrasts, the ROI of the phantom was filled with distilled water and normal saline. Spatially separated cylindrical objects of different sizes were used for validating the imaging performance in multiple target detection. Analyses of the CT, EIT and the EIT/CT phantom images were carried out based on the variations of contrast, correlation, energy, and homogeneity, using a gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM). A reference image of the phantom was simulated using EIDORS, and the performances of the CT and EIT imaging systems were evaluated and compared against the performance of the EIT/CT system using various feature metrics, detectability, and structural similarity index measures. Results: In detecting distilled and normal saline water in bolus medium, EIT as a stand

Reconstruction of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) images based on the expectation maximum (EM) method.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qi; Wang, Huaxiang; Cui, Ziqiang; Yang, Chengyi

2012-11-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) calculates the internal conductivity distribution within a body using electrical contact measurements. The image reconstruction for EIT is an inverse problem, which is both non-linear and ill-posed. The traditional regularization method cannot avoid introducing negative values in the solution. The negativity of the solution produces artifacts in reconstructed images in presence of noise. A statistical method, namely, the expectation maximization (EM) method, is used to solve the inverse problem for EIT in this paper. The mathematical model of EIT is transformed to the non-negatively constrained likelihood minimization problem. The solution is obtained by the gradient projection-reduced Newton (GPRN) iteration method. This paper also discusses the strategies of choosing parameters. Simulation and experimental results indicate that the reconstructed images with higher quality can be obtained by the EM method, compared with the traditional Tikhonov and conjugate gradient (CG) methods, even with non-negative processing. Copyright © 2012 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cross-sectional changes in lung volume measured by electrical impedance tomography are representative for the whole lung in ventilated preterm infants

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Burg, Pauline S.; Miedema, Martijn; de Jongh, Franciscus H.C.; Frerichs, Inez; van Kaam, Anton H.

2014-01-01

Objective: Electrical impedance tomography measures lung volume in a cross-sectional slice of the lung. Whether these cross-sectional volume changes are representative of the whole lung has only been investigated in adults, showing conflicting results. This study aimed to compare cross-sectional and

Cross-sectional changes in lung volume measured by electrical impedance tomography are representative for the whole lung in ventilated preterm infants

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Burg, Pauline S.; Miedema, Martijn; de Jongh, Frans H.; Frerichs, Inez; van Kaam, Anton H.

2014-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography measures lung volume in a cross-sectional slice of the lung. Whether these cross-sectional volume changes are representative of the whole lung has only been investigated in adults, showing conflicting results. This study aimed to compare cross-sectional and whole lung

Dynamic imaging in electrical impedance tomography of the human chest with online transition matrix identification.

Science.gov (United States)

Moura, Fernando Silva; Aya, Julio Cesar Ceballos; Fleury, Agenor Toledo; Amato, Marcelo Britto Passos; Lima, Raul Gonzalez

2010-02-01

One of the electrical impedance tomography objectives is to estimate the electrical resistivity distribution in a domain based only on electrical potential measurements at its boundary generated by an imposed electrical current distribution into the boundary. One of the methods used in dynamic estimation is the Kalman filter. In biomedical applications, the random walk model is frequently used as evolution model and, under this conditions, poor tracking ability of the extended Kalman filter (EKF) is achieved. An analytically developed evolution model is not feasible at this moment. The paper investigates the identification of the evolution model in parallel to the EKF and updating the evolution model with certain periodicity. The evolution model transition matrix is identified using the history of the estimated resistivity distribution obtained by a sensitivity matrix based algorithm and a Newton-Raphson algorithm. To numerically identify the linear evolution model, the Ibrahim time-domain method is used. The investigation is performed by numerical simulations of a domain with time-varying resistivity and by experimental data collected from the boundary of a human chest during normal breathing. The obtained dynamic resistivity values lie within the expected values for the tissues of a human chest. The EKF results suggest that the tracking ability is significantly improved with this approach.

Electrical Capacitance Volume Tomography with High-Contrast Dielectrics

Science.gov (United States)

Nurge, Mark

2010-01-01

The Electrical Capacitance Volume Tomography (ECVT) system has been designed to complement the tools created to sense the presence of water in nonconductive spacecraft materials, by helping to not only find the approximate location of moisture but also its quantity and depth. The ECVT system has been created for use with a new image reconstruction algorithm capable of imaging high-contrast dielectric distributions. Rather than relying solely on mutual capacitance readings as is done in traditional electrical capacitance tomography applications, this method reconstructs high-resolution images using only the self-capacitance measurements. The image reconstruction method assumes that the material under inspection consists of a binary dielectric distribution, with either a high relative dielectric value representing the water or a low dielectric value for the background material. By constraining the unknown dielectric material to one of two values, the inverse math problem that must be solved to generate the image is no longer ill-determined. The image resolution becomes limited only by the accuracy and resolution of the measurement circuitry. Images were reconstructed using this method with both synthetic and real data acquired using an aluminum structure inserted at different positions within the sensing region. The cuboid geometry of the system has two parallel planes of 16 conductors arranged in a 4 4 pattern. The electrode geometry consists of parallel planes of copper conductors, connected through custom-built switch electronics, to a commercially available capacitance to digital converter. The figure shows two 4 4 arrays of electrodes milled from square sections of copper-clad circuit-board material and mounted on two pieces of glass-filled plastic backing, which were cut to approximately square shapes, 10 cm on a side. Each electrode is placed on 2.0-cm centers. The parallel arrays were mounted with the electrode arrays approximately 3 cm apart. The open ends

Hardware Design of Tuber Electrical Resistance Tomography System Based on the Soil Impedance Test and Analysis

OpenAIRE

Liu Shuyi; Deng Xiang; Jiang Zili; Tang Yu

2016-01-01

The hardware design of tuber electrical resistance tomography (TERT) system is one of the key research problems of TERT data acquisition system. The TERT system can be applied to the tuber growth process monitoring in agriculture, i.e., the TERT data acquisition system can realize the real imaging of tuber plants in soil. In TERT system, the imaging tuber and soil multiphase medium is quite complexity. So, the impedance test and analysis of soil multiphase medium is very important to the desi...

Imaging subsurface migration of dissolved CO2 in a shallow aquifer using 3-D time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Auken, Esben; Doetsch, Joseph; Fiandaca, Gianluca

2014-01-01

Contamination of groundwater by leaking CO2 is a potential risk of carbon sequestration. With the help of a field experiment in western Denmark, we investigate to what extent surface electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) can detect and image dissolved CO2 in a shallow aquifer. For this purpose...... the injection start. During these 120days, the CO2 migrates about 25m in the expected groundwater flow direction. Water electrical conductivity (EC) sampling using small screens in 29 wells allows for very good verification of the ERT results. Water EC and ERT results generally agree very well, with the water...

Dynamic Inversion for Hydrological Process Monitoring with Electrical Resistance Tomography Under Model Uncertainty

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lehikoinen, A.; Huttunen, J.M.J.; Finsterle, S.; Kowalsky, M.B.; Kaipio, J.P.

2009-08-01

We propose an approach for imaging the dynamics of complex hydrological processes. The evolution of electrically conductive fluids in porous media is imaged using time-lapse electrical resistance tomography. The related dynamic inversion problem is solved using Bayesian filtering techniques, that is, it is formulated as a sequential state estimation problem in which the target is an evolving posterior probability density of the system state. The dynamical inversion framework is based on the state space representation of the system, which involves the construction of a stochastic evolution model and an observation model. The observation model used in this paper consists of the complete electrode model for ERT, with Archie's law relating saturations to electrical conductivity. The evolution model is an approximate model for simulating flow through partially saturated porous media. Unavoidable modeling and approximation errors in both the observation and evolution models are considered by computing approximate statistics for these errors. These models are then included in the construction of the posterior probability density of the estimated system state. This approximation error method allows the use of approximate - and therefore computationally efficient - observation and evolution models in the Bayesian filtering. We consider a synthetic example and show that the incorporation of an explicit model for the model uncertainties in the state space representation can yield better estimates than a frame-by-frame imaging approach.

Chest electrical impedance tomography examination, data analysis, terminology, clinical use and recommendations: Consensus statement of the TRanslational EIT developmeNt stuDy group

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frerichs, I. (Inéz); M.B.P. Amato (Marcelo); A.H. van Kaam (Anton); Tingay, D.G. (David G.); Zhao, Z. (Zhanqi); Grychtol, B. (Bartlomiej); Bodenstein, M. (Marc); Gagnon, H. (Hervé); S.H. Bohm; Teschner, E. (Eckhard); O. Stenqvist (Ola); Mauri, T. (Tommaso); Torsani, V. (Vinicius); Camporota, L. (Luigi); Schibler, A. (Andreas); Wolf, G.K. (Gerhard K.); D.A.M.P.J. Gommers (Diederik); S. Leonhardt (Steffen); Adler, A. (Andy); Fan, E. (Eddy); Lionheart, W.R.B. (William R.B.); Riedel, T. (Thomas); Rimensberger, P.C. (Peter C.); Suarez, F. (Fernando); Weiler, S.N. (Sipmann Norbert); H. Wrigge (Hermann)

2017-01-01

textabstractElectrical impedance tomography (EIT) has undergone 30 years of development. Functional chest examinations with this technology are considered clinically relevant, especially for monitoring regional lung ventilation in mechanically ventilated patients and for regional pulmonary function

Chest electrical impedance tomography examination, data analysis, terminology, clinical use and recommendations: Consensus statement of the TRanslational EIT developmeNt stuDy group

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frerichs, I. (Inéz); M.B.P. Amato (Marcelo); A.H. van Kaam (Anton); Tingay, D.G. (David G.); Zhao, Z. (Zhanqi); Grychtol, B. (Bartlomiej); Bodenstein, M. (Marc); Gagnon, H. (Hervé); S.H. Bohm; Teschner, E. (Eckhard); O. Stenqvist (Ola); Mauri, T. (Tommaso); Torsani, V. (Vinicius); Camporota, L. (Luigi); Schibler, A. (Andreas); Wolf, G.K. (Gerhard K.); D.A.M.P.J. Gommers (Diederik); S. Leonhardt (Steffen); Adler, A. (Andy); Fan, E. (Eddy); Lionheart, W.R.B. (William R.B.); Riedel, T. (Thomas); Rimensberger, P.C. (Peter C.); Sipmann, F.S. (Fernando Suarez); Weiler, N. (Norbert); H. Wrigge (Hermann)

2016-01-01

textabstractElectrical impedance tomography (EIT) has undergone 30 years of development. Functional chest examinations with this technology are considered clinically relevant, especially for monitoring regional lung ventilation in mechanically ventilated patients and for regional pulmonary function

Simultaneous reconstruction of permittivity and conductivity using multi-frequency admittance measurement in electrical capacitance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Maomao; Soleimani, Manuchehr

2016-01-01

Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is an imaging method mainly capable of reconstructing dielectric permittivity. Generally, the reactance part of complex admittance is measured in a selected frequency. This paper presents for the first time an in depth and systematic analysis of complex admittance data for simultaneous reconstruction of both electrical conductivity and dielectric permittivity. A complex-valued forward model, Jacobian matrix and inverse solution are developed in the time harmonic excitation mode to allow for multi-frequency measurements. Realistic noise models are used to evaluate the performance of complex admittance ECT in a range of excitation frequencies. This paper demonstrates far greater potential for ECT as a versatile imaging tool through novel analysis of complex admittance imaging using a dual conductivity permittivity inversion method. The paper demonstrates that various classes of contactless capacitance based measurement devices can be analysed through complex multi-frequency ECT. (paper)

Determination of the distribution of air and water in porous media by electrical impedance tomography and magneto-electrical imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haegel, Franz-Hubert, E-mail: f.h.haegel@fz-juelich.de [Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Institut fuer Chemie und Dynamik der Geosphaere, ICG-4 Agrosphaere, 52425 Juelich (Germany); Zimmermann, Egon [Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Zentralinstitut fuer Elektronik, 52425 Juelich (Germany); Esser, Odilia; Breede, Katrin; Huisman, Johan Alexander [Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Institut fuer Chemie und Dynamik der Geosphaere, ICG-4 Agrosphaere, 52425 Juelich (Germany); Glaas, Walter; Berwix, Joachim [Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Zentralinstitut fuer Elektronik, 52425 Juelich (Germany); Vereecken, Harry [Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Institut fuer Chemie und Dynamik der Geosphaere, ICG-4 Agrosphaere, 52425 Juelich (Germany)

2011-06-15

Monitoring the distribution of water content is essential for understanding hydrological processes in the lithosphere and the pedosphere. The movement of water in unsaturated rock formations and in the vadose zone is influenced by different processes (mainly infiltration, evaporation, percolation and capillary flow) which may be rate determining depending on the actual conditions. The interdependence of these processes also strongly influences the transport and distribution of solutes in the pore space. In order to gain a better understanding of the movement and distribution of water in unsaturated media, systematic investigations with non-invasive or minimal invasive methods appear to be most suitable. Studies on the distribution of electrical conductivity can improve risk analysis concerning waste disposals in general and nuclear waste repositories in particular. Induced polarization and magnetic flux density determined with two highly sensitive accessories yield additional information and may allow for better discrimination of coupled flow processes. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) with 20 current injection and 48 voltage electrodes was used here to monitor the evaporation of tap water from a container filled with sand under laboratory conditions at 20 deg. C. The results are compared with data obtained by determining spectral induced polarization (SIP) of sand during desaturation in a multi-step outflow equipment. Infiltration processes and evaporation from sand saturated with 0.01 M CaCl{sub 2} were determined by magneto-electrical resistivity imaging technique (MERIT). The results were obtained from a long-term experiment under controlled conditions.

Image reconstruction method for electrical capacitance tomography based on the combined series and parallel normalization model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, Xiangyuan; Guo, Shuqing

2008-01-01

In this paper, a novel image reconstruction method for electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) based on the combined series and parallel model is presented. A regularization technique is used to obtain a stabilized solution of the inverse problem. Also, the adaptive coefficient of the combined model is deduced by numerical optimization. Simulation results indicate that it can produce higher quality images when compared to the algorithm based on the parallel or series models for the cases tested in this paper. It provides a new algorithm for ECT application

Utilisation of electrical impedance tomography in breast cancer diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Raneta, O; Ondruš, D; Bella, V

2012-01-01

Breast cancer presents a serious medical and social problem worldwide. Early detection is key to effective breast cancer treatment. Therefore, scientists are consistently looking for new diagnostic techniques that would be more efficient, easy to use and safe for the patient. The main task of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a novel low-cost non-invasive technique called electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and to determine whether EIT can qualitatively supplement the existing traditional imaging techniques in the process of breast cancer diagnostics. Randomly selected patients with mammographic and/or sonographic abnormalities were involved into the study. In total, 808 patients aged 18-94 (mean 54) years participated in the survey. Exclusion criteria involved previous breast surgery, breast core biopsy or fine needle aspiration within the last 1 and 3 months, respectively. Furthermore, patients with implanted electrically powered devices (cardioverter, pacemaker) and patients previously treated by chemo-radiotherapy were also excluded. The EIT examination was performed using the electrical impedance computer mammograph MEIK developed by the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences. The following results were obtained: sensitivity of EIT was 87%, X-ray mammography (MMG) 89% and ultrasonography (USG) 91%; specificity of EIT was 85%, MMG 91% and USG 84%. Negative predictive value (NPV) of all three modalities showed nearly equal values, with slight advantage of the USG. MMG had the highest positive predictive (PPV) value (83%), EIT had the lowest (63%). Sensitivity increased to 96% and 98%, respectively, when combinations EIT+MMG and EIT+USG were used. The specificity increased to 79% for EIT+MMG and 71% for EIT+USG. EIT+MMG and EIT+USG NPV remained the same. PPV was 65% and 58%, respectively for the EIT+MMG and EIT+USG combination. Our study findings are comparable to those of other similar studies. Although the EIT

Iterative Reconstruction Methods for Hybrid Inverse Problems in Impedance Tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoffmann, Kristoffer; Knudsen, Kim

2014-01-01

For a general formulation of hybrid inverse problems in impedance tomography the Picard and Newton iterative schemes are adapted and four iterative reconstruction algorithms are developed. The general problem formulation includes several existing hybrid imaging modalities such as current density...... impedance imaging, magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography, and ultrasound modulated electrical impedance tomography, and the unified approach to the reconstruction problem encompasses several algorithms suggested in the literature. The four proposed algorithms are implemented numerically in two...

Video rate electrical impedance tomography of vascular changes: preclinical development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halter, Ryan; Hartov, Alex; Paulsen, Keith

2008-01-01

Peripheral vasculature disease is strongly correlated with cardiovascular-associated mortality. Monitoring circulation health, especially in the peripheral limbs, is vital to detecting clinically significant disease at a stage when it can still be addressed through medical intervention. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) maps the electrical properties of tissues within the body and has been used to image dynamically varying physiology, including blood flow. Here, we suggest that peripheral vasculature health can be monitored with EIT by imaging the hemodynamics of peripheral vessels and the surrounding tissues during reactive hyperemia testing. An analysis based on distinguishability theory is presented that indicates that an EIT system capable of making measurements with a precision of 50 µV may be able to detect small changes in vessel size associated with variations in blood flow. An EIT system with these precision capabilities is presented that is able to collect data at frame rates exceeding 30 fps over a broad frequency range up to 10 MHz. The system's high speed imaging performance is verified through high contrast phantom experiments and through physiological imaging of induced ischemia with a human forearm. Region of interest analysis of the induced ischemia images shows a marked decrease in conductivity over time, changing at a rate of approximately −3 × 10 −7 S m −1 s −1 , which is the same order of magnitude as reported in the literature. The distinguishability analysis suggests that a system such as the one developed here may provide a means to characterize the hemodynamics associated with blood flow through the peripheral vasculature

An Effective Measured Data Preprocessing Method in Electrical Impedance Tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chenglong Yu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available As an advanced process detection technology, electrical impedance tomography (EIT has widely been paid attention to and studied in the industrial fields. But the EIT techniques are greatly limited to the low spatial resolutions. This problem may result from the incorrect preprocessing of measuring data and lack of general criterion to evaluate different preprocessing processes. In this paper, an EIT data preprocessing method is proposed by all rooting measured data and evaluated by two constructed indexes based on all rooted EIT measured data. By finding the optimums of the two indexes, the proposed method can be applied to improve the EIT imaging spatial resolutions. In terms of a theoretical model, the optimal rooting times of the two indexes range in [0.23, 0.33] and in [0.22, 0.35], respectively. Moreover, these factors that affect the correctness of the proposed method are generally analyzed. The measuring data preprocessing is necessary and helpful for any imaging process. Thus, the proposed method can be generally and widely used in any imaging process. Experimental results validate the two proposed indexes.

Denoising of B1+ field maps for noise-robust image reconstruction in electrical properties tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michel, Eric; Hernandez, Daniel; Cho, Min Hyoung; Lee, Soo Yeol

2014-01-01

Purpose: To validate the use of adaptive nonlinear filters in reconstructing conductivity and permittivity images from the noisy B 1 + maps in electrical properties tomography (EPT). Methods: In EPT, electrical property images are computed by taking Laplacian of the B 1 + maps. To mitigate the noise amplification in computing the Laplacian, the authors applied adaptive nonlinear denoising filters to the measured complex B 1 + maps. After the denoising process, they computed the Laplacian by central differences. They performed EPT experiments on phantoms and a human brain at 3 T along with corresponding EPT simulations on finite-difference time-domain models. They evaluated the EPT images comparing them with the ones obtained by previous EPT reconstruction methods. Results: In both the EPT simulations and experiments, the nonlinear filtering greatly improved the EPT image quality when evaluated in terms of the mean and standard deviation of the electrical property values at the regions of interest. The proposed method also improved the overall similarity between the reconstructed conductivity images and the true shapes of the conductivity distribution. Conclusions: The nonlinear denoising enabled us to obtain better-quality EPT images of the phantoms and the human brain at 3 T

Small-scale electrical resistivity tomography of wet fractured rocks.

Science.gov (United States)

LaBrecque, Douglas J; Sharpe, Roger; Wood, Thomas; Heath, Gail

2004-01-01

This paper describes a series of experiments that tested the ability of the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) method to locate correctly wet and dry fractures in a meso-scale model. The goal was to develop a method of monitoring the flow of water through a fractured rock matrix. The model was a four by six array of limestone blocks equipped with 28 stainless steel electrodes. Dry fractures were created by placing pieces of vinyl between one or more blocks. Wet fractures were created by injecting tap water into a joint between blocks. In electrical terms, the dry fractures are resistive and the wet fractures are conductive. The quantities measured by the ERT system are current and voltage around the outside edge of the model. The raw ERT data were translated to resistivity values inside the model using a three-dimensional Occam's inversion routine. This routine was one of the key components of ERT being tested. The model presented several challenges. First, the resistivity of both the blocks and the joints was highly variable. Second, the resistive targets introduced extreme changes the software could not precisely quantify. Third, the abrupt changes inherent in a fracture system were contrary to the smoothly varying changes expected by the Occam's inversion routine. Fourth, the response of the conductive fractures was small compared to the background variability. In general, ERT was able to locate correctly resistive fractures. Problems occurred, however, when the resistive fracture was near the edges of the model or when multiple fractures were close together. In particular, ERT tended to position the fracture closer to the model center than its true location. Conductive fractures yielded much smaller responses than the resistive case. A difference-inversion method was able to correctly locate these targets.

[Research on respiration course of human at different postures by electrical impedance tomography].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaoyan; Wu, Jun; Wang, Huaxiang; Li, Da

2010-10-01

In this paper, the respiration courses of human at different postures are reconstructed by electrical impedance tomography (EIT). Conjugate gradient least squares (CGLS) algorithm is applied to reconstruct the resistivity distribution during respiration courses, and the EIT images taken from human at flat lying, left lying, right lying, sitting and prone postures are reconstructed and compared. The relative changes of the resistivity in region of interest (ROI) are analyzed to evidence the influences caused by different postures. Results show that the changes in postures are the most influential factors for the reconstructions, and the EIT images vary with the postures. In human at flat-lying posture, the left and right lungs have larger pulmonary ventilation volume simultaneously, and the EIT-measured data are of lower variability.

Multi-channel electrical impedance tomography for regional tissue hydration monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Xiaohui; Kao, Tzu-Jen; Ashe, Jeffrey M; Boverman, Gregory; Sabatini, James E; Davenport, David M

2014-01-01

Poor assessment of hydration status during hemodialysis can lead to under- or over-hydration in patients with consequences of increased morbidity and mortality. In current practice, fluid management is largely based on clinical assessments to estimate dry weight (normal hydration body weight). However, hemodialysis patients usually have co-morbidities that can make the signs of fluid status ambiguous. Therefore, achieving normal hydration status remains a major challenge for hemodialysis therapy. Electrical impedance technology has emerged as a promising method for hydration monitoring due to its non-invasive nature, low cost and ease-of-use. Conventional electrical impedance-based hydration monitoring systems employ single-channel current excitation (either 2-electrode or 4-electrode methods) to perturb and extract averaged impedance from bulk tissue and use generalized models from large populations to derive hydration estimates. In the present study, a prototype, single-frequency electrical impedance tomography (EIT) system with simultaneous multi-channel current excitation was used to enable regional hydration change detection. We demonstrated the capability to detect a difference in daily impedance change between left leg and right leg in healthy human subjects, who wore a compression sock only on one leg to reduce daily gravitational fluid accumulation. The impedance difference corresponded well with the difference of lower leg volume change between left leg and right leg measured by volumetry, which on average is ∼35 ml, accounting for 0.7% of the lower leg volume. We have demonstrated the feasibility of using multi-channel EIT to extract hydration information in different tissue layers with minimal skin interference. Our simultaneous, multi-channel current excitation approach provides an effective method to separate electrode contact impedance and skin condition artifacts from hydration signals. The prototype system has the potential to be used in

Multi-channel electrical impedance tomography for regional tissue hydration monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaohui; Kao, Tzu-Jen; Ashe, Jeffrey M; Boverman, Gregory; Sabatini, James E; Davenport, David M

2014-06-01

Poor assessment of hydration status during hemodialysis can lead to under- or over-hydration in patients with consequences of increased morbidity and mortality. In current practice, fluid management is largely based on clinical assessments to estimate dry weight (normal hydration body weight). However, hemodialysis patients usually have co-morbidities that can make the signs of fluid status ambiguous. Therefore, achieving normal hydration status remains a major challenge for hemodialysis therapy. Electrical impedance technology has emerged as a promising method for hydration monitoring due to its non-invasive nature, low cost and ease-of-use. Conventional electrical impedance-based hydration monitoring systems employ single-channel current excitation (either 2-electrode or 4-electrode methods) to perturb and extract averaged impedance from bulk tissue and use generalized models from large populations to derive hydration estimates. In the present study, a prototype, single-frequency electrical impedance tomography (EIT) system with simultaneous multi-channel current excitation was used to enable regional hydration change detection. We demonstrated the capability to detect a difference in daily impedance change between left leg and right leg in healthy human subjects, who wore a compression sock only on one leg to reduce daily gravitational fluid accumulation. The impedance difference corresponded well with the difference of lower leg volume change between left leg and right leg measured by volumetry, which on average is ~35 ml, accounting for 0.7% of the lower leg volume. We have demonstrated the feasibility of using multi-channel EIT to extract hydration information in different tissue layers with minimal skin interference. Our simultaneous, multi-channel current excitation approach provides an effective method to separate electrode contact impedance and skin condition artifacts from hydration signals. The prototype system has the potential to be used in clinical

Pulseless electrical activity in acute massive pulmonary embolism during thrombolytic therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Han-Hua Yu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We report a case of acute pulmonary embolism with hemodynamic instability diagnosed by a computed tomography pulmonary angiogram. The patient developed pulseless electrical activity during systemic thrombolytic therapy with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator. Successful return of spontaneous circulation was achieved after immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation with chest compressions for 6 min. His electrocardiogram (ECG on arrival in the emergency department displayed sinus tachycardia, an S wave in lead I, a Q wave in lead III, incomplete right bundle branch block (RBBB, T-wave inversion (TWI in leads V1–V3, ST elevation in leads aVR and V1, and ST depression in leads I, II, III, aVF, and V4–V6. These characteristic ECG changes might have prognostic value for clinical deterioration. He recovered after treatment. After discharge, the ECG showed resolution of TWI in leads V1–V3 and incomplete RBBB, suggesting recovery from right ventricular dysfunction, which was confirmed by an echocardiogram on follow in the outpatient department.

Monitoring CO2 migration in a shallow sand aquifer using 3D crosshole electrical resistivity tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Xianjin; Lassen, Rune Nørbæk; Jensen, Karsten Høgh

2015-01-01

Three-dimensional (3D) crosshole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was used to monitor a pilot CO2 injection experiment at Vrøgum, western Denmark. The purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of the ERT method for detection of small electrical conductivity (EC) changes during the first 2....... The combined HBB and VBB data sets were inverted using a difference inversion algorithm for cancellation of coherent noises and enhanced resolution of small changes. ERT detected the small bulk EC changes (resistive gaseous CO2. The primary factors that control...... bulk EC changes may be caused by limited and variable ERT resolution, low ERT sensitivity to resistive anomalies and uncalibrated CO2 gas saturation. ERT data show a broader CO2 plume while water sample EC had higher fine-scale variability. Our ERT electrode configuration can be optimized for more...

Electrical Resistivity Tomography using a finite element based BFGS algorithm with algebraic multigrid preconditioning

Science.gov (United States)

Codd, A. L.; Gross, L.

2018-03-01

We present a new inversion method for Electrical Resistivity Tomography which, in contrast to established approaches, minimizes the cost function prior to finite element discretization for the unknown electric conductivity and electric potential. Minimization is performed with the Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno method (BFGS) in an appropriate function space. BFGS is self-preconditioning and avoids construction of the dense Hessian which is the major obstacle to solving large 3-D problems using parallel computers. In addition to the forward problem predicting the measurement from the injected current, the so-called adjoint problem also needs to be solved. For this problem a virtual current is injected through the measurement electrodes and an adjoint electric potential is obtained. The magnitude of the injected virtual current is equal to the misfit at the measurement electrodes. This new approach has the advantage that the solution process of the optimization problem remains independent to the meshes used for discretization and allows for mesh adaptation during inversion. Computation time is reduced by using superposition of pole loads for the forward and adjoint problems. A smoothed aggregation algebraic multigrid (AMG) preconditioned conjugate gradient is applied to construct the potentials for a given electric conductivity estimate and for constructing a first level BFGS preconditioner. Through the additional reuse of AMG operators and coarse grid solvers inversion time for large 3-D problems can be reduced further. We apply our new inversion method to synthetic survey data created by the resistivity profile representing the characteristics of subsurface fluid injection. We further test it on data obtained from a 2-D surface electrode survey on Heron Island, a small tropical island off the east coast of central Queensland, Australia.

A configurable electrical capacitance tomography system using a combining electrode strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Yunjie; Peng, Lihui

2013-01-01

Systematic investigation of a combining electrode strategy for electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is carried out. A configurable digital and analogue mixed ECT system using a combining electrode strategy is presented. Compared to the traditional ECT system, the presented system can be configured flexibly as the traditional ECT sensor mode and the combining electrode mode by connecting a number of electrodes as a combined electrode. In particular, the combining electrode mode is increasing the number of capacitance measurement data and the amelioration of sensitivity distribution. An image reconstruction framework is proposed by configuring the presented ECT system as the corresponding sensor mode adaptive to the permittivity distribution to be reconstructed, which includes the traditional ECT sensor mode, the symmetric combining electrode mode, the asymmetric combining electrode mode and the mixed combining electrode mode. Both simulation and experimental results show that image reconstructions with better quality and robustness to measurement noise can be obtained under the proposed adaptive image reconstruction framework by using the presented configurable ECT system. (paper)

Suitability of a PXI platform for an electrical impedance tomography system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kourunen, J; Savolainen, T; Lehikoinen, A; Vauhkonen, M; Heikkinen, L M

2009-01-01

There are many different electrical impedance tomography (EIT) systems which are either non-commercial (in-house products) or commercial products. However, these systems are usually designed for specific applications and therefore the functionality of the systems might be limited. Nowadays there are commercially available many low-cost, efficient and accurate multifunctional components for data acquisition and signal processing. Therefore, it should be possible to construct an EIT system which is mainly built from commercially available components. The main goal of this work was to study the performance of a PXI-based EIT system . In this work, a PXI-based EIT system with 16 independent current injection channels and 80 independent measurement channels was constructed and tested. The results indicate that an EIT system can be constructed using a PXI platform which decreases the construction time of the system. Moreover, the system is efficient, accurate, modular, and it is not limited to any predetermined measurement protocols

Modeling electrically active viscoelastic membranes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sitikantha Roy

Full Text Available The membrane protein prestin is native to the cochlear outer hair cell that is crucial to the ear's amplification and frequency selectivity throughout the whole acoustic frequency range. The outer hair cell exhibits interrelated dimensional changes, force generation, and electric charge transfer. Cells transfected with prestin acquire unique active properties similar to those in the native cell that have also been useful in understanding the process. Here we propose a model describing the major electromechanical features of such active membranes. The model derived from thermodynamic principles is in the form of integral relationships between the history of voltage and membrane resultants as independent variables and the charge density and strains as dependent variables. The proposed model is applied to the analysis of an active force produced by the outer hair cell in response to a harmonic electric field. Our analysis reveals the mechanism of the outer hair cell active (isometric force having an almost constant amplitude and phase up to 80 kHz. We found that the frequency-invariance of the force is a result of interplay between the electrical filtering associated with prestin and power law viscoelasticity of the surrounding membrane. Paradoxically, the membrane viscoelasticity boosts the force balancing the electrical filtering effect. We also consider various modes of electromechanical coupling in membrane with prestin associated with mechanical perturbations in the cell. We consider pressure or strains applied step-wise or at a constant rate and compute the time course of the resulting electric charge. The results obtained here are important for the analysis of electromechanical properties of membranes, cells, and biological materials as well as for a better understanding of the mechanism of hearing and the role of the protein prestin in this mechanism.

Optimal Electrode Selection for Electrical Resistance Tomography in Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites

Science.gov (United States)

Escalona Galvis, Luis Waldo; Diaz-Montiel, Paulina; Venkataraman, Satchi

2017-01-01

Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) offers a non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique that takes advantage of the inherent electrical properties in carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites for internal damage characterization. This paper investigates a method of optimum selection of sensing configurations for delamination detection in thick cross-ply laminates using ERT. Reduction in the number of sensing locations and measurements is necessary to minimize hardware and computational effort. The present work explores the use of an effective independence (EI) measure originally proposed for sensor location optimization in experimental vibration modal analysis. The EI measure is used for selecting the minimum set of resistance measurements among all possible combinations resulting from selecting sensing electrode pairs. Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is applied to obtain a spectral representation of the resistance measurements in the laminate for subsequent EI based reduction to take place. The electrical potential field in a CFRP laminate is calculated using finite element analysis (FEA) applied on models for two different laminate layouts considering a set of specified delamination sizes and locations with two different sensing arrangements. The effectiveness of the EI measure in eliminating redundant electrode pairs is demonstrated by performing inverse identification of damage using the full set and the reduced set of resistance measurements. This investigation shows that the EI measure is effective for optimally selecting the electrode pairs needed for resistance measurements in ERT based damage detection. PMID:28772485

Online transition matrix identification of the state evolution model for the extended Kalman filter in electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moura, Fernando S; Aya, Julio C C; Lima, Raul G; Fleury, Agenor T

2008-01-01

One of the electrical impedance tomography objectives is to estimate the electrical resistivity distribution in a domain based only on contour electrical potential measurements caused by an imposed electrical current distribution into the boundary. In biomedical applications, the random walk model is frequently used as evolution model and, under this conditions, it is observed poor tracking ability of the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). An analytically developed evolution model is not feasible at this moment. The present work investigates the possibility of identifying the evolution model in parallel to the EKF and updating the evolution model with certain periodicity. The evolution model is identified using the history of resistivity distribution obtained by a sensitivity matrix based algorithm. To numerically identify the linear evolution model, it is used the Ibrahim Time Domain Method, normally used to identify the transition matrix on structural dynamics. The investigation was performed by numerical simulations of a time varying domain with the addition of noise. Numerical dificulties to compute the transition matrix were solved using a Tikhonov regularization. The EKF numerical simulations suggest that the tracking ability is significantly improved.

基于直接寻找法的电阻抗断层成像%Electrical Impedance Tomography Based on Direct Search Method

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

蔡畅; 严壮志

2005-01-01

Solution to impedance distribution in electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is an ill-posed nonlinear inverse problem. It is especially difficult to reconstruct an EIT image in the center area of a measured object. Tikhonov regularization with some prior information is a sound regularization method for static electrical impedance tomography under the condition that some true impedance distribution information is known a priori. This paper presents a direct search method (DSM) as pretreatment of image reconstruction through which one not only can construct a regularization matrix which maylocate in areas of impedance change, but also can obtain an initial impedance distribution more similar to the true impedance distribution, as well as better current modes which can better distinguish the initial distribution and the true distribution. Simulation results indicate that, by using DSM, resolution in the center area of the measured object can be improved significantly.

Sinkhole detection using electrical resistivity tomography in Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youssef, Ahmed M; Zabramawi, Yasser A; El-Kaliouby, Hesham

2012-01-01

Karst phenomena exist in different areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, causing serious environmental problems that affect urban development and infrastructure (buildings, roads and highways). One of the most important problems are sinkholes, which most of the time consist of unfilled voids. These sinkholes are formed as a result of the chemical leaching of carbonate and evaporite formations by percolating water. Field investigations show that there are many surface expressions of sinkholes in the area; some appear on the ground surface and others are hidden in the subsurface. Geophysical data were collected at the study area using two-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) with different electrode spacings to delineate buried sinkholes and associated subsurface cavities. Our findings indicated that the dipole–dipole method using an electrode spacing of 1 m was successful in detecting a known subsurface sinkhole. According to the ERT method the detected sinkhole depth ranges from 2 to 4 m, its height ranges from 2 to 4 m, and its width ranges from 5 to 7 m. Field observation has verified the geophysical data, especially along the profile A-A. Finally, closely spaced ERT profiles were successful in determining the three-dimensional volume of the subsurface sinkhole. (paper)

SPECT-imaging of activity-dependent changes in regional cerebral blood flow induced by electrical and optogenetic self-stimulation in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolodziej, Angela; Lippert, Michael; Angenstein, Frank; Neubert, Jenni; Pethe, Annette; Grosser, Oliver S; Amthauer, Holger; Schroeder, Ulrich H; Reymann, Klaus G; Scheich, Henning; Ohl, Frank W; Goldschmidt, Jürgen

2014-12-01

Electrical and optogenetic methods for brain stimulation are widely used in rodents for manipulating behavior and analyzing functional connectivities in neuronal circuits. High-resolution in vivo imaging of the global, brain-wide, activation patterns induced by these stimulations has remained challenging, in particular in awake behaving mice. We here mapped brain activation patterns in awake, intracranially self-stimulating mice using a novel protocol for single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Mice were implanted with either electrodes for electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle (mfb-microstim) or with optical fibers for blue-light stimulation of channelrhodopsin-2 expressing neurons in the ventral tegmental area (vta-optostim). After training for self-stimulation by current or light application, respectively, mice were implanted with jugular vein catheters and intravenously injected with the flow tracer 99m-technetium hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) during seven to ten minutes of intracranial self-stimulation or ongoing behavior without stimulation. The 99mTc-brain distributions were mapped in anesthetized animals after stimulation using multipinhole SPECT. Upon self-stimulation rCBF strongly increased at the electrode tip in mfb-microstim mice. In vta-optostim mice peak activations were found outside the stimulation site. Partly overlapping brain-wide networks of activations and deactivations were found in both groups. When testing all self-stimulating mice against all controls highly significant activations were found in the rostromedial nucleus accumbens shell. SPECT-imaging of rCBF using intravenous tracer-injection during ongoing behavior is a new tool for imaging regional brain activation patterns in awake behaving rodents providing higher spatial and temporal resolutions than 18F-2-fluoro-2-dexoyglucose positron emission tomography. Copyright © 2014 The Authors

A partially reflecting random walk on spheres algorithm for electrical impedance tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maire, Sylvain, E-mail: maire@univ-tln.fr [Laboratoire LSIS Equipe Signal et Image, Université du Sud Toulon-Var, Av. Georges Pompidou, BP 56, 83162 La Valette du Var Cedex (France); Simon, Martin, E-mail: simon@math.uni-mainz.de [Institute of Mathematics, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55099 Mainz (Germany)

2015-12-15

In this work, we develop a probabilistic estimator for the voltage-to-current map arising in electrical impedance tomography. This novel so-called partially reflecting random walk on spheres estimator enables Monte Carlo methods to compute the voltage-to-current map in an embarrassingly parallel manner, which is an important issue with regard to the corresponding inverse problem. Our method uses the well-known random walk on spheres algorithm inside subdomains where the diffusion coefficient is constant and employs replacement techniques motivated by finite difference discretization to deal with both mixed boundary conditions and interface transmission conditions. We analyze the global bias and the variance of the new estimator both theoretically and experimentally. Subsequently, the variance of the new estimator is considerably reduced via a novel control variate conditional sampling technique which yields a highly efficient hybrid forward solver coupling probabilistic and deterministic algorithms.

Characterizing Uncertainty In Electrical Resistivity Tomography Images Due To Subzero Temperature Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Herring, T.; Cey, E. E.; Pidlisecky, A.

2017-12-01

Time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is used to image changes in subsurface electrical conductivity (EC), e.g. due to a saline contaminant plume. Temperature variation also produces an EC response, which interferes with the signal of interest. Temperature compensation requires the temperature distribution and the relationship between EC and temperature, but this relationship at subzero temperatures is not well defined. The goal of this study is to examine how uncertainty in the subzero EC/temperature relationship manifests in temperature corrected ERT images, especially with respect to relevant plume parameters (location, contaminant mass, etc.). First, a lab experiment was performed to determine the EC of fine-grained glass beads over a range of temperatures (-20° to 20° C) and saturations. The measured EC/temperature relationship was then used to add temperature effects to a hypothetical EC model of a conductive plume. Forward simulations yielded synthetic field data to which temperature corrections were applied. Varying the temperature/EC relationship used in the temperature correction and comparing the temperature corrected ERT results to the synthetic model enabled a quantitative analysis of the error of plume parameters associated with temperature variability. Modeling possible scenarios in this way helps to establish the feasibility of different time-lapse ERT applications by quantifying the uncertainty associated with parameter(s) of interest.

Electrical resistivity borehole measurements: application to an urban tunnel site

Science.gov (United States)

Denis, A.; Marache, A.; Obellianne, T.; Breysse, D.

2002-06-01

This paper shows how it is possible to use wells drilled during geotechnical pre-investigation of a tunneling site to obtain a 2-D image of the resistivity close to a tunnel boring machine. An experimental apparatus is presented which makes it possible to perform single and borehole-to-borehole electrical measurements independent of the geological and hydrogeological context, which can be activated at any moment during the building of the tunnel. This apparatus is first demonstrated through its use on a test site. Numerical simulations and data inversion are used to analyse the experimental results. Finally, electrical resistivity tomography and single-borehole measurements on a tunneling site are presented. Experimental results show the viability of the apparatus and the efficiency of the inverse algorithm, and also highlight the limitations of the electrical resistivity tomography as a tool for geotechnical investigation in urban areas.

Mimicking muscle activity with electrical stimulation

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Lise A.; Fuglevand, Andrew J.

2011-02-01

Functional electrical stimulation is a rehabilitation technology that can restore some degree of motor function in individuals who have sustained a spinal cord injury or stroke. One way to identify the spatio-temporal patterns of muscle stimulation needed to elicit complex upper limb movements is to use electromyographic (EMG) activity recorded from able-bodied subjects as a template for electrical stimulation. However, this requires a transfer function to convert the recorded (or predicted) EMG signals into an appropriate pattern of electrical stimulation. Here we develop a generalized transfer function that maps EMG activity into a stimulation pattern that modulates muscle output by varying both the pulse frequency and the pulse amplitude. We show that the stimulation patterns produced by this transfer function mimic the active state measured by EMG insofar as they reproduce with good fidelity the complex patterns of joint torque and joint displacement.

Electrical Impedance Tomography Reconstruction Through Simulated Annealing using a New Outside-in Heuristic and GPU Parallelization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tavares, R S; Tsuzuki, M S G; Martins, T C

2012-01-01

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is an imaging technique that attempts to reconstruct the conductivity distribution inside an object from electrical currents and potentials applied and measured at its surface. The EIT reconstruction problem is approached as an optimization problem, where the difference between the simulated and measured distributions must be minimized. This optimization problem can be solved using Simulated Annealing (SA), but at a high computational cost. To reduce the computational load, it is possible to use an incomplete evaluation of the objective function. This algorithm showed to present an outside-in behavior, determining the impedance of the external elements first, similar to a layer striping algorithm. A new outside-in heuristic to make use of this property is proposed. It also presents the impact of using GPU for parallelizing matrix-vector multiplication and triangular solvers. Results with experimental data are presented. The outside-in heuristic showed to be faster when compared to the conventional SA algorithm.

Imaging Pathways in Fractured Rock Using Three-Dimensional Electrical Resistivity Tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Judith; Slater, Lee; Johnson, Timothy; Shapiro, Allen; Tiedeman, Claire; Ntarlagiannis, Dimitrios; Johnson, Carole; Day-Lewis, Frederick; Lacombe, Pierre; Imbrigiotta, Thomas; Lane, John

2016-03-01

Major challenges exist in delineating bedrock fracture zones because these cause abrupt changes in geological and hydrogeological properties over small distances. Borehole observations cannot sufficiently capture heterogeneity in these systems. Geophysical techniques offer the potential to image properties and processes in between boreholes. We used three-dimensional cross borehole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in a 9 m (diameter) × 15 m well field to capture high-resolution flow and transport processes in a fractured mudstone contaminated by chlorinated solvents, primarily trichloroethylene. Conductive (sodium bromide) and resistive (deionized water) injections were monitored in seven boreholes. Electrode arrays with isolation packers and fluid sampling ports were designed to enable acquisition of ERT measurements during pulsed tracer injections. Fracture zone locations and hydraulic pathways inferred from hydraulic head drawdown data were compared with electrical conductivity distributions from ERT measurements. Static ERT imaging has limited resolution to decipher individual fractures; however, these images showed alternating conductive and resistive zones, consistent with alternating laminated and massive mudstone units at the site. Tracer evolution and migration was clearly revealed in time-lapse ERT images and supported by in situ borehole vertical apparent conductivity profiles collected during the pulsed tracer test. While water samples provided important local information at the extraction borehole, ERT delineated tracer migration over spatial scales capturing the primary hydrogeological heterogeneity controlling flow and transport. The fate of these tracer injections at this scale could not have been quantified using borehole logging and/or borehole sampling methods alone. © 2015, National Ground Water Association.

Imaging pathways in fractured rock using three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Judith; Slater, Lee; Johnson, Timothy B.; Shapiro, Allen M.; Tiedeman, Claire; Ntlargiannis, Dimitrios; Johnson, Carole D.; Day-Lewis, Frederick D.; Lacombe, Pierre; Imbrigiotta, Thomas; Lane, John W.

2016-01-01

Major challenges exist in delineating bedrock fracture zones because these cause abrupt changes in geological and hydrogeological properties over small distances. Borehole observations cannot sufficiently capture heterogeneity in these systems. Geophysical techniques offer the potential to image properties and processes in between boreholes. We used three-dimensional cross borehole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in a 9 m (diameter) × 15 m well field to capture high-resolution flow and transport processes in a fractured mudstone contaminated by chlorinated solvents, primarily trichloroethylene. Conductive (sodium bromide) and resistive (deionized water) injections were monitored in seven boreholes. Electrode arrays with isolation packers and fluid sampling ports were designed to enable acquisition of ERT measurements during pulsed tracer injections. Fracture zone locations and hydraulic pathways inferred from hydraulic head drawdown data were compared with electrical conductivity distributions from ERT measurements. Static ERT imaging has limited resolution to decipher individual fractures; however, these images showed alternating conductive and resistive zones, consistent with alternating laminated and massive mudstone units at the site. Tracer evolution and migration was clearly revealed in time-lapse ERT images and supported by in situ borehole vertical apparent conductivity profiles collected during the pulsed tracer test. While water samples provided important local information at the extraction borehole, ERT delineated tracer migration over spatial scales capturing the primary hydrogeological heterogeneity controlling flow and transport. The fate of these tracer injections at this scale could not have been quantified using borehole logging and/or borehole sampling methods alone.

An electrical impedance tomography (EIT) multi-electrode needle-probe device for local assessment of heterogeneous tissue impeditivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Meroni, Davide; Maglioli, Camilla Carpano; Bovio, Dario; Greco, Francesco G; Aliverti, Andrea

2017-07-01

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is an image reconstruction technique applied in medicine for the electrical imaging of living tissues. In literature there is the evidence that a large resistivity variation related to the differences of the human tissues exists. As a result of this interest for the electrical characterization of the biological samples, recently the attention is also focused on the identification and characterization of the human tissue, by studying the homogeneity of its structure. An 8 electrodes needle-probe device has been developed with the intent of identifying the structural inhomogeneities under the surface layers. Ex-vivo impeditivity measurements, by placing the needle-probe in 5 different patterns of fat and lean porcine tissue, were performed, and impeditivity maps were obtained by EIDORS open source software for image reconstruction in electrical impedance. The values composing the maps have been analyzed, pointing out a good tissue discrimination, and the conformity with the real images. We conclude that this device is able to perform impeditivity maps matching to reality for position and orientation. In all the five patterns presented is possible to identify and replicate correctly the heterogeneous tissue under test. This new procedure can be helpful to the medical staff to completely characterize the biological sample, in different unclear situations.

A Novel Method for Monitoring Data Quality in Electrical Impedance Tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adler, Andy; Mamatjan, Yasin; Grychtol, Bartłomiej; Gaggero, Pascal; Justiz, Jörn; Koch, Volker

2013-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has the promise to help improve care for patients undergoing ventilation therapy by providing real-time bed-side information on the distribution of ventilation in their lungs. To realise this potential, it is important for an EIT system to provide a reliable and meaningful signal at all times, or alert clinicians when this is not possible. Because the reconstructed images in EIT are sensitive to system instabilities (including electrode connection problems) and artifacts caused by e.g. movement or sweat, there is a need for EIT systems to continuously monitor, recognize and, if possible, correct for such errors. Motivated by this requirement, our paper describes a novel approach to quantitatively measure EIT data quality suitable for online and offline applications. We used a publicly available data set of ventilation data from two pediatric patients with lung disease to evaluate the data quality on clinical data. Results suggest that the developed data quality could be a useful tool for real-time assessment of the quality of EIT data and, hence, to indicate the reliability of any derived physiological information.

Monitoring of interaction of low-frequency electric field with biological tissues upon optical clearing with optical coherence tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Peña, Adrián F; Doronin, Alexander; Tuchin, Valery V; Meglinski, Igor

2014-08-01

The influence of a low-frequency electric field applied to soft biological tissues ex vivo at normal conditions and upon the topical application of optical clearing agents has been studied by optical coherence tomography (OCT). The electro-kinetic response of tissues has been observed and quantitatively evaluated by the double correlation OCT approach, utilizing consistent application of an adaptive Wiener filtering and Fourier domain correlation algorithm. The results show that fluctuations, induced by the electric field within the biological tissues are exponentially increased in time. We demonstrate that in comparison to impedance measurements and the mapping of the temperature profile at the surface of the tissue samples, the double correlation OCT approach is much more sensitive to the changes associated with the tissues' electro-kinetic response. We also found that topical application of the optical clearing agent reduces the tissues' electro-kinetic response and is cooling the tissue, thus reducing the temperature induced by the electric current by a few degrees. We anticipate that dcOCT approach can find a new application in bioelectrical impedance analysis and monitoring of the electric properties of biological tissues, including the resistivity of high water content tissues and its variations.

Reconstruction of conductivity change in lung lobes utilizing electrical impedance tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schullcke Benjamin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT is a novel medical imaging technology which is expected to give valuable information for the treatment of mechanically ventilated patients as well as for patients with obstructive lung diseases. In lung-EIT electrodes are attached around the thorax to inject small alternating currents and to measure resulting voltages. These voltages depend on the internal conductivity distribution and thus on the amount of air in the lungs. Based on the measured voltages, image reconstruction algorithms are employed to generate tomographic images reflecting the regional ventilation of the lungs. However, the ill-posedness of the reconstruction problem leads to reconstructed images that are severely blurred compared to morphological imaging technologies, such as X-ray computed tomography or Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Thus, a correct identification of the particular ventilation in anatomically assignable units, e.g. lung-lobes, is often hindered. In this study a 3D-FEM model of a human thorax has been used to simulate electrode voltages at different lung conditions. Two electrode planes with 16 electrodes at each layer have been used and different amount of emphysema and mucus plugging was simulated with different severity in the lung lobes. Patient specific morphological information about the lung lobes is used in the image reconstruction process. It is shown that this kind of prior information leads to better reconstructions of the conductivity change in particular lung lobes than in classical image reconstruction approaches, where the anatomy of the patients’ lungs is not considered. Thus, the described approach has the potential to open new and promising applications for EIT. It might be used for diagnosis and disease monitoring for patients with obstructive lung diseases but also in other applications, e.g. during the placement of endobronchial valves in patients with severe emphysema.

Basic setup for breast conductivity imaging using magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Byung Il; Oh, Suk Hoon; Kim, Tae-Seong; Woo, Eung Je; Lee, Soo Yeol; Kwon, Ohin; Seo, Jin Keun

2006-01-01

We present a new medical imaging technique for breast imaging, breast MREIT, in which magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography (MREIT) is utilized to get high-resolution conductivity and current density images of the breast. In this work, we introduce the basic imaging setup of the breast MREIT technique with an investigation of four different imaging configurations of current-injection electrode positions and pathways through computer simulation studies. Utilizing the preliminary findings of a best breast MREIT configuration, additional numerical simulation studies have been carried out to validate breast MREIT at different levels of SNR. Finally, we have performed an experimental validation with a breast phantom on a 3.0 T MREIT system. The presented results strongly suggest that breast MREIT with careful imaging setups could be a potential imaging technique for human breast which may lead to early detection of breast cancer via improved differentiation of cancerous tissues in high-resolution conductivity images

Effect of the number of electrodes on the reconstructed lung shape in electrical impedance tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schullcke Benjamin

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Electrical impedance tomography (EIT is used to monitor the regional distribution of ventilation in a transversal plane of the thorax. In this manuscript we evaluate the impact of different quantities of electrodes used for current injection and voltage measurement on the reconstructed shape of the lungs. Results indicate that the shape of reconstructed impedance changes in the body depends on the number of electrodes. In this manuscript, we demonstrate that a higher number of electrodes do not necessarily increase the image quality. For the used stimulation pattern, utilizing neighboring electrodes for current injection and voltage measurement, we conclude that the shape of the lungs is best reconstructed if 16 electrodes are used.

Improving image quality in Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT using Projection Error Propagation-based Regularization (PEPR technique: A simulation study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tushar Kanti Bera

2011-03-01

Full Text Available A Projection Error Propagation-based Regularization (PEPR method is proposed and the reconstructed image quality is improved in Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT. A projection error is produced due to the misfit of the calculated and measured data in the reconstruction process. The variation of the projection error is integrated with response matrix in each iterations and the reconstruction is carried out in EIDORS. The PEPR method is studied with the simulated boundary data for different inhomogeneity geometries. Simulated results demonstrate that the PEPR technique improves image reconstruction precision in EIDORS and hence it can be successfully implemented to increase the reconstruction accuracy in EIT.>doi:10.5617/jeb.158 J Electr Bioimp, vol. 2, pp. 2-12, 2011

Geophysical methods in protected environments. Electrical resistivity tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rubio Sánchez-Aguililla, F.M.; Ramiro-Camacho, A.; Ibarra Torre, P.

2017-01-01

There is a strong interest in protecting the environment with the aim of its long term preservation. Sometimes the heritage value of these natural areas is related to their biodiversity as there are restricted ecosystems that depend directly on them. In other cases there a singular geological record might exist, essential for the understanding of certain processes affecting the planet, such as volcanic events or glacial periods. To achieve the protection and conservation of these areas it is necessary to generate knowledge about the distribution of geological materials and groundwater masses, to study the parameters that dominate the behaviour of these systems and then define those elements that require special protection or attention. In these protected environments, research methods with a minimal environmental impact should be used. Therefore, indirect methods, such as geophysical techniques, are reliable and complementary tools with a minimum environmental impact and are therefore useful for research these unique areas. The IGME has conducted several geophysical surveys in different protected environments in Spain with the aim of achieving a better understanding, and thus facilitate their preservation and exploitation in a sustainable manner. In this paper we present a review of some case studies where geophysical methods have been used. In all the cases electrical resistivity tomography has been the axis of the geophysical research and stands out due to its great effectiveness. The main objective of this communication is to divulgate and increase awareness of the important role that these geophysical methods can play in the sustainable study of these unique places. [es

Electrical resistivity tomography as monitoring tool for unsaturated zone transport: an example of preferential transport of deicing chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Wehrer, Markus; Lissner, Heidi; Bloem, Esther; French, Helen; Totsche, Kai Uwe

2014-01-01

Non-invasive spatially resolved monitoring techniques may hold the key to observe heterogeneous flow and transport behavior of contaminants in soils. In this study, time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was employed during an infiltration experiment with deicing chemical in a small field lysimeter. Deicing chemicals like potassium formate, which frequently impact soils on airport sites, were infiltrated during snow melt. Chemical composition of seepage water and the electrical response was recorded over the spring period 2010. Time-lapse electrical resistivity tomographs are able to show the infiltration of the melt water loaded with ionic constituents of deicing chemicals and their degradation product hydrogen carbonate. The tomographs indicate early breakthrough behavior in parts of the profile. Groundtruthing with pore fluid conductivity and water content variations shows disagreement between expected and observed bulk conductivity. This was attributed to the different sampling volume of traditional methods and ERT due to a considerable fraction of immobile water in the soil. The results show that ERT can be used as a soil monitoring tool on airport sites if assisted by common soil monitoring techniques.

Three Dimensional Visualization for the Steam Injection into Water Pool using Electrical Resistance Tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khambampati, Anil Kumar; Lee, Jeong Seong; Kim, Sin; Kim, Kyung Youn

2010-01-01

The direct injection of steam into a water pool is a method of heat transfer used in many process industries. The amount of research in this area however is limited to the nuclear industry, with applications relating to reactor cooling systems. Electrical resistance tomography (ERT), a low cost, non-invasive and which has high temporal resolution characteristics, can be used as a visualization tool for the resistivity distribution for the steam injection into water pool such as IRWST. In this paper, three dimensional resistivity distribution of the process is obtained through ERT using iterative Gauss-Newton method. Numerical experiments are performed by assuming different resistive objects in the water pool. Numerical results show that ERT is successful in estimating the resistivity distribution for the injection of steam in the water pool

Imaging Saltwater Intrusion Along the Coast of Monterey Bay Using Long-Offset Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Goebel, M.; Knight, R. J.; Pidlisecky, A.

2016-12-01

Coastal regions represent a complex dynamic interface where saltwater intrusion moves seawater landward and groundwater discharge moves freshwater seaward. These processes can have a dramatic impact on water quality, affecting both humans and coastal ecosystems. The ability to map the subsurface distribution of fresh and salt water is a critical step in predicting and managing water quality in coastal regions. This is commonly accomplished using wells, which are expensive and provide point information, which may fail to capture the spatial complexity in subsurface conditions. We present an alternate method for acquiring data, long-offset Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), which is non-invasive, cost effective, and can address the problem of poor spatial sampling. This geophysical method can produce continuous profiles of subsurface electrical resistivity to a depth of 300 m, with spatial resolution on the order of tens of meters. Our research focuses on the Monterey Bay region, where sustained groundwater extraction over the past century has led to significant saltwater intrusion. ERT was acquired along 40 kilometers of the coast using the roll along method, allowing for continuous overlap in data acquisition. Electrodes were spaced every 22.2 m, with a total of 81 electrodes along the 1.8 km active cable length. The data show a complex distribution of fresh and salt water, influenced by geology, groundwater pumping, recharge, and land-use. While the inverted ERT resistivity profiles correspond well with existing data sets and geologic interpretations in the region, the spatial complexity revealed through the ERT data goes beyond what is known from traditional data sources alone. This leads us to conclude that this form of data can be extremely useful in informing and calibrating groundwater flow models, making targeted management decisions, and monitoring changes in subsurface salinities over time.

Electrical resistance tomography using steel cased boreholes as long electrodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daily, W; Newmark, R L; Ramirez, A

1999-01-01

Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) using multiple electrodes installed in boreholes has been shown to be useful for both site characterization and process monitoring. In some cases, however, installing multiple downhole electrodes is too costly (e.g., deep targets) or risky (e.g., contaminated sites). For these cases we have examined the possibility of using the steel casings of existing boreholes as electrodes. Several possibilities can be considered. The first case we investigated uses an array of steel casings as electrodes. This results in very few data and thus requires additional constraints to limit the domain of possible inverse solutions. Simulations indicate that the spatial resolution and sensitivity are understandably low but it is possible to coarsely map the lateral extent of subsurface processes such as steam floods. The second case uses an array of traditional point borehole electrodes combined with long-conductor electrodes (steel casings). Although this arrangement provides more data, in many cases it results in poor reconstructions of test targets. Results indicate that this method may hold promise for low resolution imaging where steel casings can be used as electrodes but the merits depend strongly on details of each application. Field tests using these configurations are currently being conducted

Real-time management of faulty electrodes in electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartinger, Alzbeta E; Guardo, Robert; Adler, Andy; Gagnon, Hervé

2009-02-01

Completely or partially disconnected electrodes are a fairly common occurrence in many electrical impedance tomography (EIT) clinical applications. Several factors can contribute to electrode disconnection: patient movement, perspiration, manipulations by clinical staff, and defective electrode leads or electronics. By corrupting several measurements, faulty electrodes introduce significant image artifacts. In order to properly manage faulty electrodes, it is necessary to: 1) account for invalid data in image reconstruction algorithms and 2) automatically detect faulty electrodes. This paper presents a two-part approach for real-time management of faulty electrodes based on the principle of voltage-current reciprocity. The first part allows accounting for faulty electrodes in EIT image reconstruction without a priori knowledge of which electrodes are at fault. The method properly weights each measurement according to its compliance with the principle of voltage-current reciprocity. Results show that the algorithm is able to automatically determine the valid portion of the data and use it to calculate high-quality images. The second part of the approach allows automatic real-time detection of at least one faulty electrode with 100% sensitivity and two faulty electrodes with 80% sensitivity enabling the clinical staff to fix the problem as soon as possible to minimize data loss.

Experimental evaluation of electrical conductivity imaging of anisotropic brain tissues using a combination of diffusion tensor imaging and magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sajib, Saurav Z. K.; Jeong, Woo Chul; Oh, Tong In; Kim, Hyung Joong, E-mail: bmekim@khu.ac.kr, E-mail: ejwoo@khu.ac.kr; Woo, Eung Je, E-mail: bmekim@khu.ac.kr, E-mail: ejwoo@khu.ac.kr [Department of Biomedical Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447 (Korea, Republic of); Kyung, Eun Jung [Department of Pharmacology, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyun Bum [Department of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 17104 (Korea, Republic of); Kwon, Oh In [Department of Mathematics, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029 (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-15

Anisotropy of biological tissues is a low-frequency phenomenon that is associated with the function and structure of cell membranes. Imaging of anisotropic conductivity has potential for the analysis of interactions between electromagnetic fields and biological systems, such as the prediction of current pathways in electrical stimulation therapy. To improve application to the clinical environment, precise approaches are required to understand the exact responses inside the human body subjected to the stimulated currents. In this study, we experimentally evaluate the anisotropic conductivity tensor distribution of canine brain tissues, using a recently developed diffusion tensor-magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography method. At low frequency, electrical conductivity of the biological tissues can be expressed as a product of the mobility and concentration of ions in the extracellular space. From diffusion tensor images of the brain, we can obtain directional information on diffusive movements of water molecules, which correspond to the mobility of ions. The position dependent scale factor, which provides information on ion concentration, was successfully calculated from the magnetic flux density, to obtain the equivalent conductivity tensor. By combining the information from both techniques, we can finally reconstruct the anisotropic conductivity tensor images of brain tissues. The reconstructed conductivity images better demonstrate the enhanced signal intensity in strongly anisotropic brain regions, compared with those resulting from previous methods using a global scale factor.

Science Activities in Energy: Electrical Energy.

Science.gov (United States)

Oak Ridge Associated Universities, TN.

Presented is a science activities in energy package which includes 16 activities relating to electrical energy. Activities are simple, concrete experiments for fourth, fifth and sixth grades which illustrate principles and problems relating to energy. Each activity is outlined in a single card which is introduced by a question. A teacher's…

Linearity of electrical impedance tomography during maximum effort breathing and forced expiration maneuvers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ngo, Chuong; Leonhardt, Steffen; Zhang, Tony; Lüken, Markus; Misgeld, Berno; Vollmer, Thomas; Tenbrock, Klaus; Lehmann, Sylvia

2017-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) provides global and regional information about ventilation by means of relative changes in electrical impedance measured with electrodes placed around the thorax. In combination with lung function tests, e.g. spirometry and body plethysmography, regional information about lung ventilation can be achieved. Impedance changes strictly correlate with lung volume during tidal breathing and mechanical ventilation. Initial studies presumed a correlation also during forced expiration maneuvers. To quantify the validity of this correlation in extreme lung volume changes during forced breathing, a measurement system was set up and applied on seven lung-healthy volunteers. Simultaneous measurements of changes in lung volume using EIT imaging and pneumotachography were obtained with different breathing patterns. Data was divided into a synchronizing phase (spontaneous breathing) and a test phase (maximum effort breathing and forced maneuvers). The EIT impedance changes correlate strictly with spirometric data during slow breathing with increasing and maximum effort ([Formula: see text]) and during forced expiration maneuvers ([Formula: see text]). Strong correlations in spirometric volume parameters [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]), [Formula: see text]/FVC ([Formula: see text]), and flow parameters PEF, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) were observed. According to the linearity during forced expiration maneuvers, EIT can be used during pulmonary function testing in combination with spirometry for visualisation of regional lung ventilation.

Ultrasound guided electrical impedance tomography for 2D free-interface reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Guanghui; Ren, Shangjie; Dong, Feng

2017-07-01

The free-interface detection problem is normally seen in industrial or biological processes. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive technique with advantages of high-speed and low cost, and is a promising solution for free-interface detection problems. However, due to the ill-posed and nonlinear characteristics, the spatial resolution of EIT is low. To deal with the issue, an ultrasound guided EIT is proposed to directly reconstruct the geometric configuration of the target free-interface. In the method, the position of the central point of the target interface is measured by a pair of ultrasound transducers mounted at the opposite side of the objective domain, and then the position measurement is used as the prior information for guiding the EIT-based free-interface reconstruction. During the process, a constrained least squares framework is used to fuse the information from different measurement modalities, and the Lagrange multiplier-based Levenberg-Marquardt method is adopted to provide the iterative solution of the constraint optimization problem. The numerical results show that the proposed ultrasound guided EIT method for the free-interface reconstruction is more accurate than the single modality method, especially when the number of valid electrodes is limited.

Ultrasound guided electrical impedance tomography for 2D free-interface reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang, Guanghui; Ren, Shangjie; Dong, Feng

2017-01-01

The free-interface detection problem is normally seen in industrial or biological processes. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive technique with advantages of high-speed and low cost, and is a promising solution for free-interface detection problems. However, due to the ill-posed and nonlinear characteristics, the spatial resolution of EIT is low. To deal with the issue, an ultrasound guided EIT is proposed to directly reconstruct the geometric configuration of the target free-interface. In the method, the position of the central point of the target interface is measured by a pair of ultrasound transducers mounted at the opposite side of the objective domain, and then the position measurement is used as the prior information for guiding the EIT-based free-interface reconstruction. During the process, a constrained least squares framework is used to fuse the information from different measurement modalities, and the Lagrange multiplier-based Levenberg–Marquardt method is adopted to provide the iterative solution of the constraint optimization problem. The numerical results show that the proposed ultrasound guided EIT method for the free-interface reconstruction is more accurate than the single modality method, especially when the number of valid electrodes is limited. (paper)

Method of imaging the electrical conductivity distribution of a subsurface

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Timothy C.

2017-09-26

A method of imaging electrical conductivity distribution of a subsurface containing metallic structures with known locations and dimensions is disclosed. Current is injected into the subsurface to measure electrical potentials using multiple sets of electrodes, thus generating electrical resistivity tomography measurements. A numeric code is applied to simulate the measured potentials in the presence of the metallic structures. An inversion code is applied that utilizes the electrical resistivity tomography measurements and the simulated measured potentials to image the subsurface electrical conductivity distribution and remove effects of the subsurface metallic structures with known locations and dimensions.

PERSPECTIVE: Electrical activity enhances neuronal survival and regeneration

Science.gov (United States)

Corredor, Raul G.; Goldberg, Jeffrey L.

2009-10-01

The failure of regeneration in the central nervous system (CNS) remains an enormous scientific and clinical challenge. After injury or in degenerative diseases, neurons in the adult mammalian CNS fail to regrow their axons and reconnect with their normal targets, and furthermore the neurons frequently die and are not normally replaced. While significant progress has been made in understanding the molecular basis for this lack of regenerative ability, a second approach has gained momentum: replacing lost neurons or lost connections with artificial electrical circuits that interface with the nervous system. In the visual system, gene therapy-based 'optogenetics' prostheses represent a competing technology. Now, the two approaches are converging, as recent data suggest that electrical activity itself, via the molecular signaling pathways such activity stimulates, is sufficient to induce neuronal survival and regeneration, particularly in retinal ganglion cells. Here, we review these data, discuss the effects of electrical activity on neurons' molecular signaling pathways and propose specific mechanisms by which exogenous electrical activity may be acting to enhance survival and regeneration.

Real-time imaging of cerebral infarction in rabbits using electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Bin; Shi, Xuetao; Dai, Meng; Xu, Canhua; You, Fushen; Fu, Feng; Liu, Ruigang; Dong, Xiuzhen

2014-02-01

To investigate the possible use of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) in monitoring focal cerebral infarction in a rabbit model. A model of focal cerebral infarction was established in eight New Zealand rabbits using a photochemical method without craniectomy. Focal cerebral infarction was confirmed by histopathological examination. Intracranial impedance variation was measured using 16 electrodes placed in a circle on the scalp. EIT images were obtained using a damped least-squares reconstruction algorithm. The average resistivity value (ARV) of the infarct region on EIT images was calculated to quantify relative resistivity changes. A symmetry index was calculated to evaluate the relative difference in resistivity between the two sides of the cerebrum. EIT images and ARV curves showed that impedance changes caused by cerebral infarction increased linearly with irradiation time. A difference in ARV was found between measurements taken before and after infarct induction. Focal cerebral infarction can be monitored by EIT in the proposed animal model. The results are sufficiently encouraging that the authors plan to extend this study to humans, after further technical improvements.

Using Brain Electrical Activity Mapping to Diagnose Learning Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Torello, Michael, W.; Duffy, Frank H.

1985-01-01

Cognitive neuroscience assumes that measurement of brain electrical activity should relate to cognition. Brain Electrical Activity Mapping (BEAM), a non-invasive technique, is used to record changes in activity from one brain area to another and is 80 to 90 percent successful in classifying subjects as dyslexic or normal. (MT)

An extended L-curve method for choosing a regularization parameter in electrical resistance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Yanbin; Pei, Yang; Dong, Feng

2016-01-01

The L-curve method is a popular regularization parameter choice method for the ill-posed inverse problem of electrical resistance tomography (ERT). However the method cannot always determine a proper parameter for all situations. An investigation into those situations where the L-curve method failed show that a new corner point appears on the L-curve and the parameter corresponding to the new corner point can obtain a satisfactory reconstructed solution. Thus an extended L-curve method, which determines the regularization parameter associated with either global corner or the new corner, is proposed. Furthermore, two strategies are provided to determine the new corner–one is based on the second-order differential of L-curve, and the other is based on the curvature of L-curve. The proposed method is examined by both numerical simulations and experimental tests. And the results indicate that the extended method can handle the parameter choice problem even in the case where the typical L-curve method fails. Finally, in order to reduce the running time of the method, the extended method is combined with a projection method based on the Krylov subspace, which was able to boost the extended L-curve method. The results verify that the speed of the extended L-curve method is distinctly improved. The proposed method extends the application of the L-curve in the field of choosing regularization parameter with an acceptable running time and can also be used in other kinds of tomography. (paper)

Compensation for geometric modeling errors by positioning of electrodes in electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hyvönen, N; Majander, H; Staboulis, S

2017-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography aims at reconstructing the conductivity inside a physical body from boundary measurements of current and voltage at a finite number of contact electrodes. In many practical applications, the shape of the imaged object is subject to considerable uncertainties that render reconstructing the internal conductivity impossible if they are not taken into account. This work numerically demonstrates that one can compensate for inaccurate modeling of the object boundary in two spatial dimensions by finding compatible locations and sizes for the electrodes as a part of a reconstruction algorithm. The numerical studies, which are based on both simulated and experimental data, are complemented by proving that the employed complete electrode model is approximately conformally invariant, which suggests that the obtained reconstructions in mismodeled domains reflect conformal images of the true targets. The numerical experiments also confirm that a similar approach does not, in general, lead to a functional algorithm in three dimensions. (paper)

Ventilation and perfusion imaging by electrical impedance tomography: a comparison with radionuclide scanning.

Science.gov (United States)

Kunst, P W; Vonk Noordegraaf, A; Hoekstra, O S; Postmus, P E; de Vries, P M

1998-11-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a technique that makes it possible to measure ventilation and pulmonary perfusion in a volume that approximates to a 2D plane. The possibility of using EIT for measuring the left-right division of ventilation and perfusion was compared with that of radionuclide imaging. Following routine ventilation (81mKr) and perfusion scanning (99mTc-MAA), EIT measurements were performed at the third and the sixth intercostal level in 14 patients with lung cancer. A correlation (r = 0.98, p RC) was calculated for estimating the left-right division with EIT. The RC for the ventilation measurements was 94% and 96% for the perfusion measurements. The correlation analysis for reproducibility of the EIT measurements was 0.95 (p < 0.001) for the ventilation and 0.93 (p < 0.001) for the perfusion measurements. In conclusion, EIT can be regarded as a promising technique to estimate the left-right division of pulmonary perfusion and ventilation.

Research activities of Sumitomo Electric

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1963-07-01

Research activities of Sumitomo Electric Co. are described and illustrated with numerous photographs. The ehv laboratory is provided with high voltage and heavy current testing facilities such as 1000 kV direct current testing equipment, and a 3000-kV impulse voltage generator.

Ventilation inhomogeneity in obstructive lung diseases measured by electrical impedance tomography: a simulation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Schullcke, B; Krueger-Ziolek, S; Gong, B; Jörres, R A; Mueller-Lisse, U; Moeller, K

2017-10-10

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has mostly been used in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to monitor ventilation distribution but is also promising for the diagnosis in spontaneously breathing patients with obstructive lung diseases. Beside tomographic images, several numerical measures have been proposed to quantitatively assess the lung state. In this study two common measures, the 'Global Inhomogeneity Index' and the 'Coefficient of Variation' were compared regarding their capability to reflect the severity of lung obstruction. A three-dimensional simulation model was used to simulate obstructed lungs, whereby images were reconstructed on a two-dimensional domain. Simulations revealed that minor obstructions are not adequately recognized in the reconstructed images and that obstruction above and below the electrode plane may result in misleading values of inhomogeneity measures. EIT measurements on several electrode planes are necessary to apply these measures in patients with obstructive lung diseases in a promising manner.

No change in the regional distribution of tidal volume during lateral posture in mechanically ventilated patients assessed by electrical impedance tomography

OpenAIRE

Bein, Thomas; Ploner, Franz; Ritzka, Markus; Pfeifer, Michael; Schlitt, Hans J; Graf, Bernhard M

2010-01-01

We assessed the distribution of regional lung ventilation during moderate and steep lateral posture using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) in mechanically ventilated patients. Seven patients were placed on a kinetic treatment table. An elastic belt containing 16 electrodes was placed around the chest and was connected to the EIT device. Patients were moved to left and right lateral positions in a stepwise (10?) mode up to 60?. EIT images [arbitrary units (AU)] were generated and scanned ...

Computed tomography of surface related radionuclide distributions ('BONN'-tomography)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bockisch, A.; Koenig, R.

1989-01-01

A method called the 'BONN' tomography is described to produce planar projections of circular activity distributions using standard single photon emission computed tomography. The clinical value of the method is demonstrated for bone scans of the jaw, thorax, and pelvis. Numerical or projection-related problems are discussed. (orig.) [de

Electron Tomography Reveals the Active Phase–Support Interaction in Sulfidic Hydroprocessing Catalysts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eijsbouts, Sonja; Li, Xuang; Juan-Alcaniz, Jana; van den Oetelaar, Leon C A; Bergwerff, Jaap; Loos, Joachim; Carlsson, Anna; Vogt, E.T.C.

2017-01-01

Conventional two-dimensional (2D) transmission electron microscopy of sulfidic hydroprocessing catalysts can be deceiving and give the impression that parts of the support are overloaded with active phase. High-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy tomography reveals

Optimal distance of multi-plane sensor in three-dimensional electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Zhenhua; Yue, Shihong; Sun, Benyuan; Wang, Huaxiang

2017-12-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a visual imaging technique for obtaining the conductivity and permittivity distributions in the domain of interest. As an advanced technique, EIT has the potential to be a valuable tool for continuously bedside monitoring of pulmonary function. The EIT applications in any three-dimensional (3 D) field are very limited to the 3 D effects, i.e. the distribution of electric field spreads far beyond the electrode plane. The 3 D effects can result in measurement errors and image distortion. An important way to overcome the 3 D effect is to use the multiple groups of sensors. The aim of this paper is to find the best space resolution of EIT image over various electrode planes and select an optimal plane spacing in a 3 D EIT sensor, and provide guidance for 3 D EIT electrodes placement in monitoring lung function. In simulation and experiment, several typical conductivity distribution models, such as one rod (central, midway and edge), two rods and three rods, are set at different plane spacings between the two electrode planes. A Tikhonov regularization algorithm is utilized for reconstructing the images; the relative error and the correlation coefficient are utilized for evaluating the image quality. Based on numerical simulation and experimental results, the image performance at different spacing conditions is evaluated. The results demonstrate that there exists an optimal plane spacing between the two electrode planes for 3 D EIT sensor. And then the selection of the optimal plane spacing between the electrode planes is suggested for the electrodes placement of multi-plane EIT sensor.

Gamma-variate modeling of indicator dilution curves in electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Hentze, Benjamin; Muders, Thomas; Luepschen, Henning; Leonhardt, Steffen; Putensen, Christian; Walter, Marian

2017-07-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive imaging technique, that can be used to monitor regional lung ventilation (V̇) in intensive care units (ICU) at bedside. This work introduces a method to extract regional lung perfusion (Q̇) from EIT image streams in order to quantify regional gas exchange in the lungs. EIT data from a single porcine animal trial, recorded during injection of a contrast agent (NaCl 10%) into a central venous catheter (CVC), are used for evaluation. Using semi-negative matrix factorization (Semi-NMF) a set of source signals is extracted from the data. A subsequent non-linear fit of a gamma-variate model to the source signals results in model signals, describing contrast agent flow through the cardio-pulmonary system. A linear fit of the model signals to the EIT image stream then yields functional images ofQ̇. Additionally, a pulmonary transit function (PTF) and parameters, such as mean transit time (MTT), time to peak (TTP) and area under curve (AUC) are derived. In result, EIT was used to track changes of regional lung ventilation to perfusion ratio (V̇/Q̇) during changes of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). Furthermore, correlations of MTT and AUC with cardiac output (CO) indicate that CO measurement by EIT might be possible.

Gravity-dependent ventilation distribution in rats measured with electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rooney, Daniel; Fraser, John F; R Dunster, Kimble; Schibler, Andreas; Friese, Marlies

2009-01-01

Ventilation in larger animals and humans is gravity dependent and mainly distributed to the dependent lung. Little is known of the effect of gravity on ventilation distribution in small animals such as rodents. The aim of this study was to investigate gravity-dependent ventilation distribution and regional filling characteristics in rats. Ventilation distribution and regional lung filling were measured in six rats using electrical impedance tomography (EIT). Measurements were performed in four body positions (supine, prone, left and right lateral), and all animals were ventilated with increasing tidal volumes from 3 to 8 mL kg −1 . The effect of gravity on regional ventilation distribution was assessed with profiles of relative impedance change and calculation of the geometric centre. Regional filling was measured by calculating the slope of the plot of regional versus global relative impedance change on a breath-by-breath basis. Ventilation was significantly distributed to the non-dependent lung regardless of body position and tidal volume used. The geometric centre was located in the dependent lung in all but prone position. The regional filling characteristics followed an anatomical pattern with the posterior and the right lung generally filling faster. Gravity had little impact on regional filling. Ventilation distribution in rats is gravity dependent, whereas regional filling characteristics are dependent on anatomy

Compressed sampling for boundary measurements in three-dimensional electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Javaherian, Ashkan; Soleimani, Manuchehr

2013-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) utilizes electrodes on a medium's surface to produce measured data from which the conductivity distribution inside the medium is estimated. For the cases that relocation of electrodes is impractical or no a priori assumptions can be made to optimize the electrodes placement, a large number of electrodes may be needed to cover all possible imaging volume. This may occur in dynamically varying conductivity distribution in 3D EIT. Three-dimensional EIT then requires inverting very large linear systems to calculate the conductivity field, which causes significant problems regarding storage space and reconstruction time in addition to that data acquisition for a large number of electrodes will reduce the achievable frame rate, which is considered as major advantage of EIT imaging. This study proposes an idea to reduce the reconstruction complexity based on the well-known compressed sampling theory. By applying the so-called model-based CoSaMP algorithm to large size data collected by a 256 channel system, the size of forward operator and data acquisition time is reduced to those of a 32 channel system, while accuracy of reconstruction is significantly improved. The results demonstrate great capability of compressed sampling for overriding the challenges arising in 3D EIT. (paper)

Appliances facilitating everyday life - electricity use derived from daily activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ellegaard, Kajsa (Dept of Thematic Studies, Linkoeping Univ. (Sweden)), e-mail: kajsa.ellegard@liu.se; Widen, Joakim (Dept of Engineering Sciences, Uppsala Univ. (Sweden)); Vrotsou, Katerina (Dept of Science and Technology, Linkoeping Univ. (Sweden))

2011-06-15

The purpose of this paper is to present how, using a visualization method, electricity use can be derived from the everyday activity patterns of household members. Target groups are, on the one hand, professionals in the energy sector and energy advisors who need more knowledge about household energy use, and, on the other hand, household members wanting to reduce the energy use by revealing their own habits and thereby finding out how changed activity performance may influence electricity use. The focus is on the relation between utilizing electric appliances to perform everyday life activities and the use of electricity. The visualization method is based on the time-geographic approach developed by Haegerstrand and includes a model that estimates appliance electricity use from household members' activities. Focus, in this paper, is put on some basic activities performed to satisfy daily life needs: cooking and use of information, communication and entertainment devices. These activities appear frequently in the everyday life of households, even though not all household members perform them all. The method is applied on a data material comprising time-diaries written by 463 individuals (aged 10 to 85+) in 179 households in different parts of Sweden. The visualization method reveals when and for how long activities that claim electric appliances are performed by which individual(s). It also shows electricity load curves generated from the use of appliances at different levels, such as individual, household and group or population levels. At household level the method can reveal which household members are the main users of electricity, i.e. the division of labour between household members. Thereby it also informs about whom could be approached by energy companies and energy advisors in information campaigns. The main result of the study is that systematic differences in activity patterns in subgroups of a population can be identified (e.g. men and women) but

Gas-water two-phase flow characterization with Electrical Resistance Tomography and Multivariate Multiscale Entropy analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Chao; Zhao, Jia; Dong, Feng

2015-03-01

Flow behavior characterization is important to understand gas-liquid two-phase flow mechanics and further establish its description model. An Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) provides information regarding flow conditions at different directions where the sensing electrodes implemented. We extracted the multivariate sample entropy (MSampEn) by treating ERT data as a multivariate time series. The dynamic experimental results indicate that the MSampEn is sensitive to complexity change of flow patterns including bubbly flow, stratified flow, plug flow and slug flow. MSampEn can characterize the flow behavior at different direction of two-phase flow, and reveal the transition between flow patterns when flow velocity changes. The proposed method is effective to analyze two-phase flow pattern transition by incorporating information of different scales and different spatial directions. Copyright © 2014 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Small scale monitoring of a bioremediation barrier using miniature electrical resistivity tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Sentenac, Philippe; Hogson, Tom; Keenan, Helen; Kulessa, Bernd

2015-04-01

The aim of this study was to assess, in the laboratory, the efficiency of a barrier of oxygen release compound (ORC) to block and divert a diesel plume migration in a scaled aquifer model using miniature electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) as the monitoring system. Two plumes of contaminant (diesel) were injected in a soil model made of local sand and clay. The diesel plumes migration was imaged and monitored using a miniature resistivity array system that has proved to be accurate in soil resistivity variations in small-scaled models of soil. ERT results reflected the lateral spreading and diversion of the diesel plumes in the unsaturated zone. One of the contaminant plumes was partially blocked by the ORC barrier and a diversion and reorganisation of the diesel in the soil matrix was observed. The technique of time-lapse ERT imaging showed that a dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) contaminant like diesel can be monitored through a bioremediation barrier and the technique is well suited to monitor the efficiency of the barrier. Therefore, miniature ERT as a small-scale modelling tool could complement conventional techniques, which require more expensive and intrusive site investigation prior to remediation.

Real-time imaging of subarachnoid hemorrhage in piglets with electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Meng; Wang, Liang; Xu, Canhua; Li, Lianfeng; Gao, Guodong; Dong, Xiuzhen

2010-09-01

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is one of the most severe medical emergencies in neurosurgery. Early detection or diagnosis would significantly reduce the rate of disability and mortality, and improve the prognosis of the patients. Although the present medical imaging techniques generally have high sensitivity to identify bleeding, the use of an additional, non-invasive imaging technique capable of continuously monitoring SAH is required to prevent contingent bleeding or re-bleeding. In this study, electrical impedance tomography (EIT) was applied to detect the onset of SAH modeled on eight piglets in real time, with the subsequent process being monitored continuously. The experimental SAH model was introduced by one-time injection of 5 ml fresh autologous arterial blood into the cisterna magna. Results showed that resistivity variations within the brain caused by the added blood could be detected using the EIT method and may be associated not only with the resistivity difference among brain tissues, but also with variations of cerebrospinal fluid dynamics. In conclusion, EIT has unique potential for use in clinical practice to provide invaluable real-time neuroimaging data for SAH after the improvement of electrode design, anisotropic realistic modeling and instrumentation.

A Deformable Smart Skin for Continuous Sensing Based on Electrical Impedance Tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Visentin, Francesco; Fiorini, Paolo; Suzuki, Kenji

2016-11-16

In this paper, we present a low-cost, adaptable, and flexible pressure sensor that can be applied as a smart skin over both stiff and deformable media. The sensor can be easily adapted for use in applications related to the fields of robotics, rehabilitation, or costumer electronic devices. In order to remove most of the stiff components that block the flexibility of the sensor, we based the sensing capability on the use of a tomographic technique known as Electrical Impedance Tomography. The technique allows the internal structure of the domain under study to be inferred by reconstructing its conductivity map. By applying the technique to a material that changes its resistivity according to applied forces, it is possible to identify these changes and then localise the area where the force was applied. We tested the system when applied to flat and curved surfaces. For all configurations, we evaluate the artificial skin capabilities to detect forces applied over a single point, over multiple points, and changes in the underlying geometry. The results are all promising, and open the way for the application of such sensors in different robotic contexts where deformability is the key point.

Lung pathologies analyzed with multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography: Pilot animal study.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguiar Santos, Susana; Czaplik, Michael; Orschulik, Jakob; Hochhausen, Nadine; Leonhardt, Steffen

2018-03-31

In critically ill patients, correct diagnosis of lung disease is essential for successful therapy. Therefore, this study investigated whether new multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography (mfEIT) can detect, monitor and differentiate between pathologies associated with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). For this pilot study, 12 pigs were randomized into an ARDS (bronchoalveolar lavage) group (n = 7) and a healthy control group (n = 5). Animals were monitored by means of mfEIT. In addition to functional images, a new impaired-ventilation (rImpVent) index was developed and frequency-difference images were computed and analyzed. Amplitude functional images revealed only small differences between the groups. However, phase functional images were of greater importance in distinguishing between lung pathologies. Correlation images showed substantial differences between the two groups. The new rImpVent index achieved high sensitivity (91%) and specificity (92%) in detecting PaO 2 /FiO 2  ≤ 200 mmHg. mfEIT was able to detect lung edema, differentiate this from atelectasis, and also monitor their progress over time in terms of global and regional differences. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preliminary evaluation of cryogenic two-phase flow imaging using electrical capacitance tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Huangjun; Yu, Liu; Zhou, Rui; Qiu, Limin; Zhang, Xiaobin

2017-09-01

The potential application of the 2-D eight-electrode electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) to the inversion imaging of the liquid nitrogen-vaporous nitrogen (LN2-VN2) flow in the tube is theoretically evaluated. The phase distribution of the computational domain is obtained using the simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique with variable iterative step size. The detailed mathematical derivations for the calculations are presented. The calculated phase distribution for the two detached LN2 column case shows the comparable results with the water-air case, regardless of the much reduced dielectric permittivity of LN2 compared with water. The inversion images of total eight different LN2-VN2 flow patterns are presented and quantitatively evaluated by calculating the relative void fraction error and the correlation coefficient. The results demonstrate that the developed reconstruction technique for ECT has the capacity to reconstruct the phase distribution of the complex LN2-VN2 flow, while the accuracy of the inversion images is significantly influenced by the size of the discrete phase. The influence of the measurement noise on the image quality is also considered in the calculations.

Estimation of reliability of seismic and electromagnetic monitoring in seismic active areas by diffraction tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. N. Troyan

2001-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the algorithms and results of the numerical simulation of the solution of a 2-D inverse problem on the restoration of seismic parameters and electrical conductivity of local inhomogeneities by the diffraction tomography method based upon the first order Born approximation. The direct problems for the Lame and Maxwell equations are solved by the finite difference method. Restoration of inhomogeneities which are not very weak is implemented with the use of a small number of receivers (source-receiver pairs.

{sup 11}C-Methionine positron emission tomography may monitor the activity of encephalitis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirata, Kenji; Shiga, Tohru; Manabe, Osamu; Tamaki, Nagara [Department of Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo (Japan)], E-mail: khirata@med.hokudai.ac.jp; Fujima, Noriyuki [Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo (Japan); Usui, Reiko [Department of Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo (Japan); Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo (Japan); Kuge, Yuji [Central Institute of Isotope Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo (Japan)

2012-12-15

Encephalitis is generally diagnosed by clinical symptoms, cerebrospinal fluid examination, and imaging studies including CT, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and perfusion single photon emission tomography (SPECT). However, the role of positron emission tomography (PET) in diagnosis of encephalitis remains unclear. A 49-year-old woman presenting with coma and elevated inflammatory reaction was diagnosed as having encephalitis according to slow activity on electroencephalogram, broad cortical lesion in MR fluid attenuated inversion recovery image, and increased blood flow demonstrated by SPECT. PET revealed increased accumulation of {sup 11}C-methionine (MET) in the affected brain tissues. After the symptom had improved 2 months later, the accumulation of MET as well as the abnormal findings of MR imaging and SPECT was normalized. This case indicated that MET PET may monitor the activity of encephalitis.

Active and passive computed tomography mixed waste focus area final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, G K; Camp, D C; Decman, D J; Jackson, J A; Martz, H E; Roberson, G P.

1998-01-01

The Mixed Waste Focus Area (MWFA) Characterization Development Strategy delineates an approach to resolve technology deficiencies associated with the characterization of mixed wastes. The intent of this strategy is to ensure the availability of technologies to support the Department of Energy s (DOE) mixed-waste, low-level or transuranic (TRU) contaminated waste characterization management needs. To this end the MWFA has defined and coordinated characterization development programs to ensure that data and test results necessary to evaluate the utility of non-destructive assay technologies are available to meet site contact handled waste management schedules. Requirements used as technology development project benchmarks are based in the National TRU Program Quality Assurance Program Plan. These requirements include the ability to determine total bias and total measurement uncertainty. These parameters must be completely evaluated for waste types to be processed through a given nondestructive waste assay system constituting the foundation of activities undertaken in technology development projects. Once development and testing activities have been completed, Innovative Technology Summary Reports are generated to provide results and conclusions to support EM-30, -40, or -60 end user or customer technology selection. The active and passive computed tomography non-destructive assay system is one of the technologies selected for development by the MWFA. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has developed the active and passive computed tomography (A ampersand XT) nondestructive assay (NDA) technology to identify and accurately quantify all detectable radioisotopes in closed containers of waste. This technology will be applicable to all types of waste regardless of their classification-low level, transuranic or mixed. Mixed waste contains radioactivity and hazardous organic species. The scope of our technology is to develop a non-invasive waste-drum scanner that

Electrical impedance tomography in 3D using two electrode planes: characterization and evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagenaar, Justin; Adler, Andy

2016-06-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) uses body surface electrical stimulation and measurements to create conductivity images; it shows promise as a non-invasive technology to monitor the distribution of lung ventilation. Most applications of EIT have placed electrodes in a 2D ring around the thorax, and thus produced 2D cross-sectional images. These images are unable to distinguish out-of-plane contributions, or to image volumetric effects. Volumetric EIT can be calculated using multiple electrode planes and a 3D reconstruction algorithm. However, while 3D reconstruction algorithms are available, little has been done to understand the performance of 3D EIT in terms of the measurement configurations available. The goal of this paper is to characterize the phantom and in vivo performance of 3D EIT with two electrode planes. First, phantom measurements are used to measure the reconstruction characteristics of seven stimulation and measurement configurations. Measurements were then performed on eight healthy volunteers as a function of body posture, postures, and with various electrode configurations. Phantom results indicate that 3D EIT using two rings of electrodes provides reasonable resolution in the electrode plane but low vertical resolution. For volunteers, functional EIT images are created from inhalation curve features to analyze the effect of posture (standing, sitting, supine and decline) on regional lung behaviour. An ability to detect vertical changes in lung volume distribution was shown for two electrode configurations. Based on tank and volunteer results, we recommend the use of the 'square' stimulation and measurement pattern for two electrode plane EIT.

Exponential model normalization for electrical capacitance tomography with external electrodes under gap permittivity conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baidillah, Marlin R; Takei, Masahiro

2017-01-01

A nonlinear normalization model which is called exponential model for electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) with external electrodes under gap permittivity conditions has been developed. The exponential model normalization is proposed based on the inherently nonlinear relationship characteristic between the mixture permittivity and the measured capacitance due to the gap permittivity of inner wall. The parameters of exponential equation are derived by using an exponential fitting curve based on the simulation and a scaling function is added to adjust the experiment system condition. The exponential model normalization was applied to two dimensional low and high contrast dielectric distribution phantoms by using simulation and experimental studies. The proposed normalization model has been compared with other normalization models i.e. Parallel, Series, Maxwell and Böttcher models. Based on the comparison of image reconstruction results, the exponential model is reliable to predict the nonlinear normalization of measured capacitance in term of low and high contrast dielectric distribution. (paper)

2-D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) Assessment of Ground Failure in Urban Area

Science.gov (United States)

Nordiana, M. M.; Bery, A. A.; Taqiuddin, Z. M.; Jinmin, M.; Abir, I. A.

2018-04-01

This study was carried out to assess the foundation defects around an urban area in Selangor, Malaysia using 2-D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). The affected structure is a three storey houses and having severe foundation-based cracks. Six 2-D ERT survey lines with 5 m minimum electrode spacing using Pole-dipole array were executed parallel to building’s wall. Four boreholes were conducted to identify the depth to competent layer to verify the 2-D ERT results. Inversion model of 2-D resistivity show that the study area consists of two main zones. The first zone is a low resistivity value (resistivity values of 100-1000 Ωm at 20-70 m depth. The second zone is the granite bedrock of more than 3500 Ωm with depth greater than 70 m. These results were complimented and confirmed by borehole records. The ERT and borehole record suggest that the clay, sand, saturated zone, highly weathered zone and boulders at foundation depths may lead to ground movements which affected the stability of the building.

A multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography system for real-time 2D and 3D imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yunjie; Jia, Jiabin

2017-08-01

This paper presents the design and evaluation of a configurable, fast multi-frequency Electrical Impedance Tomography (mfEIT) system for real-time 2D and 3D imaging, particularly for biomedical imaging. The system integrates 32 electrode interfaces and the current frequency ranges from 10 kHz to 1 MHz. The system incorporates the following novel features. First, a fully adjustable multi-frequency current source with current monitoring function is designed. Second, a flexible switching scheme is developed for arbitrary sensing configuration and a semi-parallel data acquisition architecture is implemented for high-frame-rate data acquisition. Furthermore, multi-frequency digital quadrature demodulation is accomplished in a high-capacity Field Programmable Gate Array. At last, a 3D imaging software, visual tomography, is developed for real-time 2D and 3D image reconstruction, data analysis, and visualization. The mfEIT system is systematically tested and evaluated from the aspects of signal to noise ratio (SNR), frame rate, and 2D and 3D multi-frequency phantom imaging. The highest SNR is 82.82 dB on a 16-electrode sensor. The frame rate is up to 546 fps at serial mode and 1014 fps at semi-parallel mode. The evaluation results indicate that the presented mfEIT system is a powerful tool for real-time 2D and 3D imaging.

Electrical Activity in Martian Dust Storms

Science.gov (United States)

Majid, W.; Arabshahi, S.; Kocz, J.

2016-12-01

Dust storms on Mars are predicted to be capable of producing electrostatic fields and discharges, even larger than those in dust storms on Earth. Such electrical activity poses serious risks to any Human exploration of the planet and the lack of sufficient data to characterize any such activity has been identified by NASA's MEPAG as a key human safety knowledge gap. There are three key elements in the characterization of Martian electrostatic discharges: dependence on Martian environmental conditions, frequency of occurrence, and the strength of the generated electric fields. We will describe a recently deployed detection engine using NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) to carry out a long term monitoring campaign to search for and characterize the entire Mars hemisphere for powerful discharges during routine tracking of spacecraft at Mars on an entirely non-interfering basis. The resulting knowledge of Mars electrical activity would allow NASA to plan risk mitigation measures to ensure human safety during Mars exploration. In addition, these measurements will also allow us to place limits on presence of oxidants such as H2O2 that may be produced by such discharges, providing another measurement point for models describing Martian atmospheric chemistry and habitability. Because of the continuous Mars telecommunication needs of NASA's Mars-based assets, the DSN is the only instrument in the world that combines long term, high cadence, observing opportunities with large sensitive telescopes, making it a unique asset worldwide in searching for and characterizing electrostatic activity at Mars from the ground.

Accurate position estimation methods based on electrical impedance tomography measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Vergara, Samuel; Sbarbaro, Daniel; Johansen, T. A.

2017-08-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a technology that estimates the electrical properties of a body or a cross section. Its main advantages are its non-invasiveness, low cost and operation free of radiation. The estimation of the conductivity field leads to low resolution images compared with other technologies, and high computational cost. However, in many applications the target information lies in a low intrinsic dimensionality of the conductivity field. The estimation of this low-dimensional information is addressed in this work. It proposes optimization-based and data-driven approaches for estimating this low-dimensional information. The accuracy of the results obtained with these approaches depends on modelling and experimental conditions. Optimization approaches are sensitive to model discretization, type of cost function and searching algorithms. Data-driven methods are sensitive to the assumed model structure and the data set used for parameter estimation. The system configuration and experimental conditions, such as number of electrodes and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), also have an impact on the results. In order to illustrate the effects of all these factors, the position estimation of a circular anomaly is addressed. Optimization methods based on weighted error cost functions and derivate-free optimization algorithms provided the best results. Data-driven approaches based on linear models provided, in this case, good estimates, but the use of nonlinear models enhanced the estimation accuracy. The results obtained by optimization-based algorithms were less sensitive to experimental conditions, such as number of electrodes and SNR, than data-driven approaches. Position estimation mean squared errors for simulation and experimental conditions were more than twice for the optimization-based approaches compared with the data-driven ones. The experimental position estimation mean squared error of the data-driven models using a 16-electrode setup was less

Electrical Impedance Tomography: a new study method for neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome?

Science.gov (United States)

Chatziioannidis, I; Samaras, T; Nikolaidis, N

2011-01-01

Treatment of cardiorespiratory system diseases is a procedure that usually demands data collection on terms of the anatomy and the operation of the organs that are under study. Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is an alternative approach, in comparison to existing techniques. With EIT electrodes are placed in the perimeter of the human body and images of the estimated organ are reconstructed, using the measurement of its impendence (or resistance) distribution and determining its alteration through time, while at the same time the patient is not exposed to ionizing radiation. Its clinical use presupposes the correct placement of the electrodes over the perimeter of the human body, the rapid data collection and electrical safety. It is a low cost technique and it is implemented near the patient. It is able to determine the distribution of ventilation, blood supply, diffused or localized lung defects, but it can also estimate therapeutic interventions or alteration to assisted ventilation of the neonate. EIT was developed at the beginning of the 1980s, but it has only recently begun to be implemented on neonates, and especially in the study of their respiratory system function. The low rate of image analysis is considered to be a drawback, but it is offset by the potential offered for the estimation of lungs' function (both under normal and pathological conditions), since ventilation and resistance are two quite similar concepts. In this review the most important studies about EIT are mentioned as a method of estimating respiratory distress syndrome in neonates. In terms of the above mentioned development, it is supposed that this technique will offer a great amount of help to the doctor in his / her estimations of the cardiorespiratory system and to his / her selection of the best intervening strategies. PMID:22435017

Electro-location, tomography and porosity measurements in geotechnical centrifuge models based on electrical resistivity concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhihua

This research was focused on the development of electrical techniques for soil characterization and soil dynamic behavior assessment. The research carried out mainly includes (1) development of a needle probe tool for assessment of soil spatial variability in terms of porosity with high-resolution in the centrifuge testing; (2) development of an electro-location technique to accurately detect buried objects' movements inside the soil during dynamic events; (3) collaborative development of a new electrode switching system to implement electrical resistivity tomography, and electro-location with high speed and high resolution. To assess soil spatial variability with high-resolution, electrical needle probes with different tip shapes were developed to measure soil electrical resistivity. After normalizing soil resistivity by pore fluid resistivity, this information can be correlated to soil porosity. Calibrations in laboratory prepared soils were conducted. Loosening due to insertion of needle probes was evaluated. A special needle probe tool, along with data acquisition and data processing tools were developed to be operated by the new NEES robot on the centrifuge. The needle probes have great potential to resolve interfaces between soil layers and small local porosity variations with a spatial resolution approximately equal to the spacing between electrodes (about half of the probe diameter). A new electrode switching system was developed to accurately detect buried objects' movements using a new electro-location scheme. The idea was to establish an electromagnetic field in a centrifuge model by injecting low-frequency alternating currents through pairs of boundary electrodes. The locations of buried objects are related to the potentials measured on them. A closed form expression for the electric field in a rectangular specimen with insulated boundaries was obtained based on the method of images. Effects of sampling parameters on spatial resolution and tradeoffs

Sampling of finite elements for sparse recovery in large scale 3D electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Javaherian, Ashkan; Moeller, Knut; Soleimani, Manuchehr

2015-01-01

This study proposes a method to improve performance of sparse recovery inverse solvers in 3D electrical impedance tomography (3D EIT), especially when the volume under study contains small-sized inclusions, e.g. 3D imaging of breast tumours. Initially, a quadratic regularized inverse solver is applied in a fast manner with a stopping threshold much greater than the optimum. Based on assuming a fixed level of sparsity for the conductivity field, finite elements are then sampled via applying a compressive sensing (CS) algorithm to the rough blurred estimation previously made by the quadratic solver. Finally, a sparse inverse solver is applied solely to the sampled finite elements, with the solution to the CS as its initial guess. The results show the great potential of the proposed CS-based sparse recovery in improving accuracy of sparse solution to the large-size 3D EIT. (paper)

A comparison framework for temporal image reconstructions in electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gagnon, Hervé; Adler, Andy; Grychtol, Bartłomiej

2015-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) provides low-resolution images of internal conductivity distributions, but is able to achieve relatively high temporal resolutions. Most EIT image reconstruction algorithms do not explicitly account for the temporal constraints on the measurements or physiological processes under investigation. Instead, algorithms typically assume both that the conductivity distribution does not change during the acquisition of each EIT data frame, and that frames can be reconstructed independently, without consideration of the correlation between images. A failure to account for these temporal effects will result in aliasing-related artefacts in images. Several methods have been proposed to compensate for these effects, including interpolation of raw data, and reconstruction algorithms using Kalman and temporal filtering. However, no systematic work has been performed to understand the severity of the temporal artefacts nor the extent to which algorithms can account for them. We seek to address this need by developing a temporal comparison framework and figures of merit to assess the ability of reconstruction algorithms to account for temporal effects. Using this approach, we compare combinations of three reconstruction algorithms using three EIT data frame types: perfect, realistic and interpolated. The results show that, without accounting for temporal effects, artefacts are present in images for dynamic conductivity contrasts at frequencies 10–20 times slower than the frame rate. The proposed methods show some improvements in reducing these artefacts. (paper)

Enhanced monitoring of hazardous waste site remediation: Electrical conductivity tomography and citizen monitoring of remediation through the EPA's community advisory group program

Science.gov (United States)

Hort, Ryan D.

In situ chemical oxidation using permanganate has become a common method for degrading trichloroethene (TCE) in contaminated aquifers. Its effectiveness, however, is dependent upon contact between the oxidant and contaminant. Monitoring permanganate movement after injection is often hampered by aquifer heterogeneity and insufficient well coverage. Time lapse electrical conductivity tomography increases the spatial extent of monitoring beyond well locations. This technique can create two- or three-dimensional images of the electrical conductivity within the aquifer to monitor aquifer chemistry changes caused by permanganate injection and oxidation reactions. In-phase and quadrature electrical conductivity were measured in homogeneous aqueous and porous media samples to determine the effects of TCE and humate oxidation by permanganate on both measures of conductivity. Further effects of clean sand, 10% kaolinite (v/v), and 10% smectite (v/v) on both types of conductivity were studied as well. Finally, in-phase electrical conductivity was measured over time after injecting permanganate solution into two-dimensional tanks containing artificial groundwater with and without TCE to observe the movement of the permanganate plume and its interaction with TCE and to examine the effectiveness of time-lapse conductivity tomography for monitoring the plume's movement. In-phase electrical conductivity after oxidation reactions involving permanganate, TCE, and humate could be accurately modeled in homogeneous batch samples. Use of forward modeling of in-phase conductivity from permanganate concentrations may be useful for improving recovery of conductivity values during survey inversion, but further work is needed combining the chemistry modeling with solute transport models. Small pH-related quadrature conductivity decreases were observed after TCE oxidation, and large quadrature conductivity increases were observed as a result of sodium ion addition; however, quadrature

Resistivity tomography-basic concepts and its application. Hiteiko tomography no kiso to oyo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shima, H

1990-12-31

In this paper, principles and characteristics of resistivity tomography are outlined, and its application examples are described. Resistivity tomography is a technology to measure electric potential of many electrodes placed on the earth {prime} s surface or in the well and to analyze the resistivity distribution in the objective area. Arrangement of electrodes (current electrodes and potential electrodes) is determined taking account of the sensitivity distribution. Also, measurements need to be done not only between the surface and a borehole and between boreholes, but also along the wall of a borehole. After the measured data are corrected according to the influence of topography, the initial model is revised repeatedly with the Alpha Center method, and then, resistivity distribution maps are obtained. As an example of field application of resistivity tomography, a geological survey using three boreholes at the scheduled construction site for a dam is described. In this survey, distribution conditions of surface soil, gravel, and andesite were confirmed, and the results almost agreed with the results of seismic tomography. Moreover, another survey with resistivity tomography was carried out at the test site of hot dry rock power generation in Yamagata Prefecture. There, conductive solution was injected from the borehole after hydraulic fracturing, and cracking conditions of rocks were investigated. 28 refs., 21 figs., 1 tab.

Computed tomography diagnosis of active bleeding into the thyroid gland.

Science.gov (United States)

Veverková, Lucia; Bakaj-Zbrožková, Lenka; Hallamová, Lucie; Heřman, Miroslav

2013-10-01

Fine-needle biopsy of the thyroid gland is the most common interventional procedure used to diagnose thyroid diseases. Serious complications are rare in this procedure. They comprise an infection with abscess formation and hemorrhage. To date, only a few case reports have described an ultrasound diagnosis of active bleeding into the thyroid gland. We established such a diagnosis using computed tomography (CT). A 74-year-old woman presented to the emergency department of our hospital with complications after fine-needle biopsy of the thyroid gland. Ultrasound revealed a large hematoma surrounding the gland. A subsequent CT scan confirmed the presence of hematoma and, moreover, showed active bleeding. This finding prompted rapid surgical intervention. CT has the capability to show active bleeding into the thyroid gland.

Non-invasive determination of absolute lung resistivity in adults using electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jie; Patterson, Robert

2010-01-01

Lung resistivity is a physiological parameter that describes the electrical characteristics of the lungs. Lung composition changes due to changes in the lung tissues, fluid and air volume. Various diseases that can cause a change in lung composition may be monitored by measuring lung resistivity. Currently, there is no accepted non-invasive method to measure lung resistivity. In this study, we presented a method and framework to non-invasively determine lung resistivity using electrical impedance tomography (EIT). By comparing actual measurements from subjects with data from a 3D human thorax model, an EIT image can be reconstructed to show a resistivity difference between the model and the subject. By adjusting the lung resistivity in the model, the resistivity difference in the lung regions can be reduced to near zero. This resistivity value then is the estimation of the lung resistivity of the subject. Using the proposed method, the lung resistivities of four normal adult males (43 ± 13 years, 78 ± 10 kg) in the supine position at air volumes starting at functional residual capacity (FRC—end expiration) and increasing in 0.5 l steps to 1.5 l were studied. The averaged lung resistivity changes 12.59%, from 1406 Ω cm to 1583 Ω cm, following the inspiration of 1.5 l air from FRC. The coefficients of variation (CV) of precision for the four subjects are less than 10%. The experiment was repeated five times at each air volume on a subject to test the reproducibility. The CVs are less than 3%. The results show that it is feasible to determine absolute lung resistivity using an EIT-based method

Non-invasive determination of absolute lung resistivity in adults using electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jie; Patterson, Robert

2010-08-01

Lung resistivity is a physiological parameter that describes the electrical characteristics of the lungs. Lung composition changes due to changes in the lung tissues, fluid and air volume. Various diseases that can cause a change in lung composition may be monitored by measuring lung resistivity. Currently, there is no accepted non-invasive method to measure lung resistivity. In this study, we presented a method and framework to non-invasively determine lung resistivity using electrical impedance tomography (EIT). By comparing actual measurements from subjects with data from a 3D human thorax model, an EIT image can be reconstructed to show a resistivity difference between the model and the subject. By adjusting the lung resistivity in the model, the resistivity difference in the lung regions can be reduced to near zero. This resistivity value then is the estimation of the lung resistivity of the subject. Using the proposed method, the lung resistivities of four normal adult males (43 +/- 13 years, 78 +/- 10 kg) in the supine position at air volumes starting at functional residual capacity (FRC--end expiration) and increasing in 0.5 l steps to 1.5 l were studied. The averaged lung resistivity changes 12.59%, from 1406 Omega cm to 1583 Omega cm, following the inspiration of 1.5 l air from FRC. The coefficients of variation (CV) of precision for the four subjects are less than 10%. The experiment was repeated five times at each air volume on a subject to test the reproducibility. The CVs are less than 3%. The results show that it is feasible to determine absolute lung resistivity using an EIT-based method.

Induced current magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography of brain tissues based on the J-substitution algorithm: a simulation study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yang; Zhu Shanan; He Bin

2009-01-01

We have investigated induced current magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography (IC-MREIT) by means of computer simulations. The J-substitution algorithm was implemented to solve the IC-MREIT reconstruction problem. By providing physical insight into the charge accumulating on the interfaces, the convergence characteristics of the reconstruction algorithm were analyzed. The simulation results conducted on different objects were well correlated with the proposed theoretical analysis. The feasibility of IC-MREIT to reconstruct the conductivity distribution of head-brain tissues was also examined in computer simulations using a multi-compartment realistic head model. The present simulation results suggest that IC-MREIT may have the potential to become a useful conductivity imaging technique.

Development of Image Reconstruction Algorithms in electrical Capacitance Tomography; Desarrollo de algoritmos de reconstruccion de imagenes en tomografia de capacitancia electrica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernandez Marron, J. L.; Alberdi Primicia, J.; Barcala Riveira, J. M.

2007-12-28

The Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) has not obtained a good development in order to be used at industrial level. That is due first to difficulties in the measurement of very little capacitances (in the range of femto farads) and second to the problem of reconstruction on- line of the images. This problem is due also to the small numbers of electrodes (maximum 16), that made the usual algorithms of reconstruction has many errors. In this work it is described a new purely geometrical method that could be used for this purpose. (Author) 4 refs.

Using electrical resistivity tomography to assess the effectiveness of managed aquifer recharge in a salinized coastal aquifer.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Menéndez, Olga; Ballesteros, Bruno J; Renau-Pruñonosa, Arianna; Morell, Ignacio; Mochales, Tania; Ibarra, Pedro I; Rubio, Félix M

2018-01-27

Over 40 years, the detrital aquifer of the Plana de Castellón (Spanish Mediterranean coast) has been subjected to seawater intrusion because of long dry periods combined with intensive groundwater exploitation. Against this backdrop, a managed artificial recharge (MAR) scheme was implemented to improve the groundwater quality. The large difference between the electrical conductivity (EC) of the ambient groundwater (brackish water due to marine intrusion) and the recharge water (freshwater) meant that there was a strong contrast between the resistivities of the brackish water saturated zone and the freshwater saturated zone. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) can be used for surveying similar settings to evaluate the effectiveness of artificial recharge schemes. By integrating geophysical data with lithological information, EC logs from boreholes, and hydrochemical data, we can interpret electrical resistivity (ER) with groundwater EC values and so identify freshwater saturated zones. Using this approach, ERT images provided a high-resolution spatial characterization and an accurate picture of the shape and extent of the recharge plume of the MAR site. After 5 months of injection, a freshwater plume with an EC of 400-600 μS/cm had formed that extended 400 m in the W-E direction, 250 m in the N-S direction, and to a depth of 40 m below piezometric level. This study also provides correlations between ER values with different lithologies and groundwater EC values that can be used to support other studies.

Adjoint-state inversion of electric resistivity tomography data of seawater intrusion at the Argentona coastal aquifer (Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-López, Sheila; Carrera, Jesús; Ledo, Juanjo; Queralt, Pilar; Luquot, Linda; Martínez, Laura; Bellmunt, Fabián

2016-04-01

Seawater intrusion in aquifers is a complex phenomenon that can be characterized with the help of electric resistivity tomography (ERT) because of the low resistivity of seawater, which underlies the freshwater floating on top. The problem is complex because of the need for joint inversion of electrical and hydraulic (density dependent flow) data. Here we present an adjoint-state algorithm to treat electrical data. This method is a common technique to obtain derivatives of an objective function, depending on potentials with respect to model parameters. The main advantages of it are its simplicity in stationary problems and the reduction of computational cost respect others methodologies. The relationship between the concentration of chlorides and the resistivity values of the field is well known. Also, these resistivities are related to the values of potentials measured using ERT. Taking this into account, it will be possible to define the different resistivities zones from the field data of potential distribution using the basis of inverse problem. In this case, the studied zone is situated in Argentona (Baix Maresme, Catalonia), where the values of chlorides obtained in some wells of the zone are too high. The adjoint-state method will be used to invert the measured data using a new finite element code in C ++ language developed in an open-source framework called Kratos. Finally, the information obtained numerically with our code will be checked with the information obtained with other codes.

Contribution of 3-D electrical resistivity tomography for landmines detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Metwaly

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Landmines are a type of inexpensive weapons widely used in the pre-conflicted areas in many countries worldwide. The two main types are the metallic and non-metallic (mostly plastic landmines. They are most commonly investigated by magnetic, ground penetrating radar (GPR, and metal detector (MD techniques. These geophysical techniques however have significant limitations in resolving the non-metallic landmines and wherever the host materials are conductive. In this work, the 3-D electric resistivity tomography (ERT technique is evaluated as an alternative and/or confirmation detection system for both landmine types, which are buried in different soil conditions and at different depths. This can be achieved using the capacitive resistivity imaging system, which does not need direct contact with the ground surface. Synthetic models for each case have been introduced using metallic and non-metallic bodies buried in wet and dry environments. The inversion results using the L₁ norm least-squares optimization method tend to produce robust blocky models of the landmine body. The dipole axial and the dipole equatorial arrays tend to have the most favorable geometry by applying dynamic capacitive electrode and they show significant signal strength for data sets with up to 5% noise. Increasing the burial depth relative to the electrode spacing as well as the noise percentage in the resistivity data is crucial in resolving the landmines at different environments. The landmine with dimension and burial depth of one electrode separation unit is over estimated while the spatial resolutions decrease as the burial depth and noise percentage increase.

Improvement of electrical resistivity tomography for leachate injection monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clement, R.; Descloitres, M.; Guenther, T.; Oxarango, L.; Morra, C.; Laurent, J.-P.; Gourc, J.-P.

2010-01-01

Leachate recirculation is a key process in the scope of operating municipal waste landfills as bioreactors, which aims to increase the moisture content to optimize the biodegradation in landfills. Given that liquid flows exhibit a complex behaviour in very heterogeneous porous media, in situ monitoring methods are required. Surface time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is usually proposed. Using numerical modelling with typical 2D and 3D injection plume patterns and 2D and 3D inversion codes, we show that wrong changes of resistivity can be calculated at depth if standard parameters are used for time-lapse ERT inversion. Major artefacts typically exhibit significant increases of resistivity (more than +30%) which can be misinterpreted as gas migration within the waste. In order to eliminate these artefacts, we tested an advanced time-lapse ERT procedure that includes (i) two advanced inversion tools and (ii) two alternative array geometries. The first advanced tool uses invariant regions in the model. The second advanced tool uses an inversion with a 'minimum length' constraint. The alternative arrays focus on (i) a pole-dipole array (2D case), and (ii) a star array (3D case). The results show that these two advanced inversion tools and the two alternative arrays remove almost completely the artefacts within +/-5% both for 2D and 3D situations. As a field application, time-lapse ERT is applied using the star array during a 3D leachate injection in a non-hazardous municipal waste landfill. To evaluate the robustness of the two advanced tools, a synthetic model including both true decrease and increase of resistivity is built. The advanced time-lapse ERT procedure eliminates unwanted artefacts, while keeping a satisfactory image of true resistivity variations. This study demonstrates that significant and robust improvements can be obtained for time-lapse ERT monitoring of leachate recirculation in waste landfills.

Intelligent Electric Power Systems with Active-Adaptive Electric Networks: Challenges for Simulation Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ufa Ruslan A.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The motivation of the presented research is based on the needs for development of new methods and tools for adequate simulation of intelligent electric power systems with active-adaptive electric networks (IES including Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System (FACTS devices. The key requirements for the simulation were formed. The presented analysis of simulation results of IES confirms the need to use a hybrid modelling approach.

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)

Comparison of radiation absorbed dose in target organs in maxillofacial imaging with panoramic, conventional linear tomography, cone beam computed tomography and computed tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Panjnoush M.

2009-12-01

Full Text Available "nBackground and Aim: The objective of this study was to measure and compare the tissue absorbed dose in thyroid gland, salivary glands, eye and skin in maxillofacial imaging with panoramic, conventional linear tomography, cone beam computed tomography (CBCT and computed tomography (CT."nMaterials and Methods: Thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD were implanted in 14 sites of RANDO phantom to measure average tissue absorbed dose in thyroid gland, parotid glands, submandibular glands, sublingual gland, lenses and buccal skin. The Promax (PLANMECA, Helsinki, Finland unit was selected for Panoramic, conventional linear tomography and cone beam computed tomography examinations and spiral Hispeed/Fxi (General Electric,USA was selected for CT examination. The average tissue absorbed doses were used for the calculation of the equivalent and effective doses in each organ."nResults: The average absorbed dose for Panoramic ranged from 0.038 mGY (Buccal skin to 0.308 mGY (submandibular gland, linear tomography ranged from 0.048 mGY (Lens to 0.510 mGY (submandibular gland,CBCT ranged from 0.322 mGY (thyroid glad to 1.144 mGY (Parotid gland and in CT ranged from 2.495 mGY (sublingual gland to 3.424 mGY (submandibular gland. Total effective dose in CBCT is 5 times greater than Panoramic and 4 times greater than linear tomography, and in CT, 30 and 22 times greater than Panoramic and linear tomography, respectively. Total effective dose in CT is 6 times greater than CBCT."nConclusion: For obtaining 3-dimensional (3D information in maxillofacial region, CBCT delivers the lower dose than CT, and should be preferred over a medical CT imaging. Furthermore, during maxillofacial imaging, salivary glands receive the highest dose of radiation.

Comparing spatial series of soil bulk electrical conductivity as obtained by Time Domain Reflectometry and Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Saeed, Ali; Dragonetti, Giovanna; Comegna, Allessandro; Garre, Sarah; Lamaddalena, Nicola; Coppola, Antonio

2016-04-01

Conventional ground survey of soil root zone salinity by direct soil sampling are time consuming, costly and destructive. Alternatively, soil salinity can be evaluated by measuring the bulk electrical conductivity, σb, in the field. This approach is faster and cheaper, and allows a more intensive surveying. Measurements of σb can be made either in situ or with remote devices. Time domain reflectometry (TDR) sensors allow simultaneous measurements of water content, θ, and σb. They may be calibrated for estimating the electrical conductivity of the soil solution (σw). However, they have a relatively small observation window and thus they are thought to only provide local-scale measurements. The spatial range of the sensors is limited to tens of centimeters and extension of the information to a large area can be problematic. Also, information on the vertical distribution of the σb soil profile may only be obtained by installing sensors at different depths. In this sense, the TDR may be considered as an invasive technique. Compared to the TDR, other geophysical methods based for example on the Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) techniques represent an alternative in respect to those traditional for soil salinity characterization. In order to deduce the actual distribution of the bulk electrical conductivity, σb, in the soil profile, one needs to invert the signal coming from ERT sensors. The latter, in turn, depends on the specific depth distribution of the σb, as well as on the electrical configuration of the sensor used. With these premises, the main aim of this study is to estimate the vertical σb distribution starting from resistivity data series measured using the ERT method under different salinity conditions and using TDR data as ground-truth data for calibration and validation of the ERT sensor. This way, limited measured TDR data may be used for translating extensive ERT apparent electrical conductivity, σa, measurements to estimate depth

Advanced Electric Propulsion NextSTEP BAA Activity

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The goal of the AES Advanced Electric Propulsion Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) activity is to...

Pyramidal resistor networks for electrical impedance tomography with partial boundary measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borcea, L; Mamonov, A V; Druskin, V; Vasquez, F Guevara

2010-01-01

We introduce an inversion algorithm for electrical impedance tomography (EIT) with partial boundary measurements in two dimensions. It gives stable and fast reconstructions using sparse parameterizations of the unknown conductivity on optimal grids that are computed as part of the inversion. We follow the approach in Borcea et al (2008 Inverse Problems 24 035013) and Vasquez (2006 PhD thesis Rice University, Houston, TX, USA) that connects inverse discrete problems for resistor networks to continuum EIT problems, using optimal grids. The algorithm in Borcea et al (2008 Inverse Problems 24 035013) and Vasquez (2006 PhD Thesis Rice University, Houston, TX, USA) is based on circular resistor networks, and solves the EIT problem with full boundary measurements. It is extended in Borcea et al (2010 Inverse Problems 26 045010) to EIT with partial boundary measurements, using extremal quasi-conformal mappings that transform the problem to one with full boundary measurements. Here we introduce a different class of optimal grids, based on resistor networks with pyramidal topology, that is better suited for the partial measurements setup. We prove the unique solvability of the discrete inverse problem for these networks and develop an algorithm for finding them from the measurements of the Dirichlet to Neumann map. Then, we show how to use the networks to define the optimal grids and to approximate the unknown conductivity. We assess the performance of our approach with numerical simulations and compare the results with those in Borcea et al (2010)

Data-driven classification of ventilated lung tissues using electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gómez-Laberge, Camille; Hogan, Matthew J; Elke, Gunnar; Weiler, Norbert; Frerichs, Inéz; Adler, Andy

2011-01-01

Current methods for identifying ventilated lung regions utilizing electrical impedance tomography images rely on dividing the image into arbitrary regions of interest (ROI), manually delineating ROI, or forming ROI with pixels whose signal properties surpass an arbitrary threshold. In this paper, we propose a novel application of a data-driven classification method to identify ventilated lung ROI based on forming k clusters from pixels with correlated signals. A standard first-order model for lung mechanics is then applied to determine which ROI correspond to ventilated lung tissue. We applied the method in an experimental study of 16 mechanically ventilated swine in the supine position, which underwent changes in positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and fraction of inspired oxygen (F I O 2 ). In each stage of the experimental protocol, the method performed best with k = 4 and consistently identified 3 lung tissue ROI and 1 boundary tissue ROI in 15 of the 16 subjects. When testing for changes from baseline in lung position, tidal volume, and respiratory system compliance, we found that PEEP displaced the ventilated lung region dorsally by 2 cm, decreased tidal volume by 1.3%, and increased the respiratory system compliance time constant by 0.3 s. F I O 2 decreased tidal volume by 0.7%. All effects were tested at p < 0.05 with n = 16. These findings suggest that the proposed ROI detection method is robust and sensitive to ventilation dynamics in the experimental setting

A two-layered forward model of tissue for electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkarni, Rujuta; Saulnier, Gary J; Kao, Tzu-Jen; Newell, Jonathan C; Boverman, Gregory; Isaacson, David

2009-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography is being explored as a technique to detect breast cancer, exploiting the differences in admittivity between normal tissue and tumors. In this paper, the geometry is modeled as an infinite half space under a hand-held probe. A forward solution and a reconstruction algorithm for this geometry were developed previously by Mueller et al (1999 IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 46 1379). In this paper, we present a different approach which uses the decomposition of the forward solution into its Fourier components to obtain the forward solution and the reconstructions. The two approaches are compared in terms of the forward solutions and the reconstructions of experimental tank data. We also introduce a two-layered model to incorporate the presence of the skin that surrounds the body area being imaged. We demonstrate an improvement in the reconstruction of a target in a layered medium using this layered model with finite difference simulated data. We then extend the application of our layered model to human subject data and estimate the skin and the tissue admittivities for data collected on the human abdomen using an ultrasound-like hand-held EIT probe. Lastly, we show that for this set of human subject data, the layered model yields an improvement in predicting the measured voltages of around 81% for the lowest temporal frequency (3 kHz) and around 61% for the highest temporal frequency (1 MHz) applied when compared to the homogeneous model

Circular resistor networks for electrical impedance tomography with partial boundary measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borcea, L; Mamonov, A V; Druskin, V

2010-01-01

We introduce an algorithm for the numerical solution of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) in two dimensions, with partial boundary measurements. The algorithm is an extension of the one in Borcea et al (2008 Inverse Problems 24 035013 (31pp)) and Vasquez (2006 PhD Thesis Rice University, Houston, TX, USA) for EIT with full boundary measurements. It is based on resistor networks that arise in finite volume discretizations of the elliptic partial differential equation for the potential on so-called optimal grids that are computed as part of the problem. The grids are adaptively refined near the boundary, where we measure and expect better resolution of the images. They can be used very efficiently in inversion, by defining a reconstruction mapping that is an approximate inverse of the forward map, and acts therefore as a preconditioner in any iterative scheme that solves the inverse problem via optimization. The main result in this paper is the construction of optimal grids for EIT with partial measurements by extremal quasiconformal (Teichmüller) transformations of the optimal grids for EIT with full boundary measurements. We present the algorithm for computing the reconstruction mapping on such grids, and we illustrate its performance with numerical simulations. The results show an interesting trade-off between the resolution of the reconstruction in the domain of the solution and distortions due to artificial anisotropy induced by the distribution of the measurement points on the accessible boundary

Is 2D impedance tomography a reliable technique for two-phase flow?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemonnier, H.; Peytraud, J.F.

1998-01-01

Impedance tomography consists in reconstructing the conductivity distribution from electrical data which characterize the electrical response of a medium to arbitrary excitations. Impedance tomography is an ill-conditioned problem and designing a tomograph therefore requires the quantitative knowledge of the sensitivity of the reconstruction to the measurements noise. The numerical conditioning of an original and accurate algorithm has been studied. This algorithm does not suffer from the shortcomings already identified in the literature. It is shown that for media encompassing inclusions which is a typical situation in two-phase flows, the necessary accuracy for the measurements if far beyond any technological reach. Moreover, within these high requirements for accuracy, some side effects must be carefully controlled or compensated and relevant procedures arc provided. Furthermore. reconstruction artifacts are shown and they are found to derive from the unavoidable tridimensional nature of the electric field. For all these reasons, it is concluded that impedance tomography has very low potentialities as an accurate phase fraction distribution measuring technique in any arbitrary two-phase flows. (author)

Electrical resistivity tomography applied to a complex lava dome: 2D and 3D models comparison

Science.gov (United States)

Portal, Angélie; Fargier, Yannick; Lénat, Jean-François; Labazuy, Philippe

2015-04-01

The study of volcanic domes growth (e.g. St. Helens, Unzen, Montserrat) shows that it is often characterized by a succession of extrusion phases, dome explosions and collapse events. Lava dome eruptive activity may last from days to decades. Therefore, their internal structure, at the end of the eruption, is complex and includes massive extrusions and lava lobes, talus and pyroclastic deposits as well as hydrothermal alteration. The electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) method, initially developed for environmental and engineering exploration, is now commonly used for volcano structure imaging. Because a large range of resistivity values is often observed in volcanic environments, the method is well suited to study the internal structure of volcanic edifices. We performed an ERT survey on an 11ka years old trachytic lava dome, the Puy de Dôme volcano (French Massif Central). The analysis of a recent high resolution DEM (LiDAR 0.5 m), as well as other geophysical data, strongly suggest that the Puy de Dôme is a composite dome. 11 ERT profiles have been carried out, both at the scale of the entire dome (base diameter of ~2 km and height of 400 m) on the one hand, and at a smaller scale on the summit part on the other hand. Each profile is composed of 64 electrodes. Three different electrode spacing have been used depending on the study area (35 m for the entire dome, 10 m and 5 m for its summit part). Some profiles were performed with half-length roll-along acquisitions, in order to keep a good trade-off between depth of investigation and resolution. Both Wenner-alpha and Wenner-Schlumberger protocols were used. 2-D models of the electrical resistivity distribution were computed using RES2DINV software. In order to constrain inversion models interpretation, the depth of investigation (DOI) method was applied to those results. It aims to compute a sensitivity index on inversion results, illustrating how the data influence the model and constraining models

Mathematical modeling of electrical activity of uterine muscle cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Rihana, Sandy; Terrien, Jeremy; Germain, Guy; Marque, Catherine

2009-06-01

The uterine electrical activity is an efficient parameter to study the uterine contractility. In order to understand the ionic mechanisms responsible for its generation, we aimed at building a mathematical model of the uterine cell electrical activity based upon the physiological mechanisms. First, based on the voltage clamp experiments found in the literature, we focus on the principal ionic channels and their cognate currents involved in the generation of this electrical activity. Second, we provide the methodology of formulations of uterine ionic currents derived from a wide range of electrophysiological data. The model is validated step by step by comparing simulated voltage-clamp results with the experimental ones. The model reproduces successfully the generation of single spikes or trains of action potentials that fit with the experimental data. It allows analyzing ionic channels implications. Likewise, the calcium-dependent conductance influences significantly the cellular oscillatory behavior.

Activity-based costing evaluation of a [F-18]-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krug, Bruno; Van Zanten, Annie; Pirson, Anne-Sophie; Crott, Ralph; Vander Borght, Thierry

2009-01-01

Objective: The aim of the study is to use the activity-based costing approach to give a better insight in the actual cost structure of a positron emission tomography procedure (FDG-PET) by defining the constituting components and by simulating the impact of possible resource or practice changes.

Single-Lung Transplant Results in Position Dependent Changes in Regional Ventilation: An Observational Case Series Using Electrical Impedance Tomography

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Kollengode Ramanathan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Lung transplantation is the optimal treatment for end stage lung disease. Donor shortage necessitates single-lung transplants (SLT, yet minimal data exists regarding regional ventilation in diseased versus transplanted lung measured by Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT. Method. We aimed to determine regional ventilation in six SLT outpatients using EIT. We assessed end expiratory volume and tidal volumes. End expiratory lung impedance (EELI and Global Tidal Variation of Impedance were assessed in supine, right lateral, left lateral, sitting, and standing positions in transplanted and diseased lungs. A mixed model with random intercept per subject was used for statistical analysis. Results. EELI was significantly altered between diseased and transplanted lungs whilst lying on right and left side. One patient demonstrated pendelluft between lungs and was therefore excluded for further comparison of tidal variation. Tidal variation was significantly higher in the transplanted lung for the remaining five patients in all positions, except when lying on the right side. Conclusion. Ventilation to transplanted lung is better than diseased lung, especially in lateral positions. Positioning in patients with active unilateral lung pathologies will be implicated. This is the first study demonstrating changes in regional ventilation, associated with changes of position between transplanted and diseased lung.

Development of Axial Tomography for Steam Explosion Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jae Young; Seo, Shi Won; Song, Jin Ho

2006-01-01

Visual understanding of complicated system leads us often to the intuitive enlightenment of the invisible causes of the effect. When it is formulated based on the rigorous mathematics, the produced formula or correlation will be very useful in design and analysis of the engineering system. In this point of view, the tomography technology can be a tool to meet such a purpose. However, the traditional hard ray tomography using high energy radiation cannot meet the case due to heavy shielding structure which obstructs access of the sensing unit to the very complicated and limited space. Therefore, the recent development of the electric tomography is noteworthy in the application to the industrial process monitoring. It has the merit not only of low cost but also of easier access to the limited space than the hard ray tomography

A feasibility study of magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography for prostate cancer detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Yang; Zhang, Yingchun

2014-01-01

Magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography (MREIT) is an imaging technique that reconstructs the conductivity distribution inside the subject using magnetic flux density or current density measurements acquired by a magnetic resonance imaging system. Since the primary prostate cancer diagnostic method, prostate biopsy, has limited accuracy in cancer diagnosis and malignant tissues have shown significantly different electrical properties from normal or benign tissues, MREIT has potential application in prostate cancer detection. The feasibility of utilizing MREIT in detecting prostate cancer was evaluated via a series of well-designed computer simulations in the present study. MREIT techniques with three different electrode configurations (external, trans-rectal, and trans-urethral electrode arrays) and two different reconstruction algorithms (J-substitution algorithm and harmonic B z  algorithm) were successfully developed. The performance of different MREIT techniques were evaluated and compared based on the imaging accuracy of the reconstructed conductivity distribution in the prostate. Without the presence of noise, the external MREIT achieves a better imaging accuracy than the two endo-MREIT (trans-rectal and trans-urethral) techniques, while the trans-urethral MREIT achieves the best imaging accuracy in noisy environments. We also found that the J-substitution reconstruction algorithm consistently offered better imaging accuracy than the harmonic B z  algorithm. When Gaussian distributed random noise with a standard deviation of 0.25 nT was added, the relative errors (RE) between the reconstructed and target conductivity distributions inside the prostate were observed to be 14.18% and 17.35% by the trans-urethral MREIT with the J-substitution and harmonic B z  algorithms respectively. The lower REs of 9.64% and 11.17% were achieved respectively when the standard deviation of noise was reduced to 0.05 nT. The simulation results demonstrate the

Electrical resistivity tomography for early vadose leak detection under single shell storage tanks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narbutovshih, S.M.

1996-01-01

This document describes planned testing with Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). It is prepared in support of TTP RL46WT51 Rev. 1, funded by the Tank Focus Area through the Office of Technology Integration. The primary goal of the testing for fiscal year 1996 (FY96) is to develop and demonstrate the ability to place vertical electrode arrays (VEA) with the cone penetrometer technology (CPT) to depths below existing single shell tanks (SST) at the DOE Hanford Site. It is desirable to have the capability to use CPT for this application for obvious reasons. First, current methods of emplacement, drilled boreholes, are expensive with respect to the rest of the ERT operation. Cone penetrometer VEA emplacements offer the opportunity to significantly reduce installation costs. Second, use of CPT will reduce emplacement time from weeks or months to just several days depending on the number of VEAs and the depth of placement. ERT is preferable to other monitoring methods since operation costs and turn around time are less than the current baselines of either groundwater sampling networks or borehole logging techniques. ERT cost savings can be substantial and will continue into the future. ERT can also provide complete coverage under a tank or other facility which is an important supplement to existing monitoring methods. Groundwater sampling provides one data point per well and borehole logging provides data along a line in the ground. Neither provide information from beneath a facility and thus, are not able to locate release points. These electrode arrays are used to acquire subsurface electrical resistance data in a manner appropriate for tomographic inversion. The resulting tomograms can then be used to detect, monitor and track contaminated moisture plumes leaking from underground storage tanks during waste retrieval operations

Electrical Resistance Tomography for Visualization of Moving Objects Using a Spatiotemporal Total Variation Regularization Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Chen

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Electrical resistance tomography (ERT has been considered as a data collection and image reconstruction method in many multi-phase flow application areas due to its advantages of high speed, low cost and being non-invasive. In order to improve the quality of the reconstructed images, the Total Variation algorithm attracts abundant attention due to its ability to solve large piecewise and discontinuous conductivity distributions. In industrial processing tomography (IPT, techniques such as ERT have been used to extract important flow measurement information. For a moving object inside a pipe, a velocity profile can be calculated from the cross correlation between signals generated from ERT sensors. Many previous studies have used two sets of 2D ERT measurements based on pixel-pixel cross correlation, which requires two ERT systems. In this paper, a method for carrying out flow velocity measurement using a single ERT system is proposed. A novel spatiotemporal total variation regularization approach is utilised to exploit sparsity both in space and time in 4D, and a voxel-voxel cross correlation method is adopted for measurement of flow profile. Result shows that the velocity profile can be calculated with a single ERT system and that the volume fraction and movement can be monitored using the proposed method. Both semi-dynamic experimental and static simulation studies verify the suitability of the proposed method. For in plane velocity profile, a 3D image based on temporal 2D images produces velocity profile with accuracy of less than 1% error and a 4D image for 3D velocity profiling shows an error of 4%.

Absolute electrical impedance tomography (aEIT) guided ventilation therapy in critical care patients: simulations and future trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Denaï, Mouloud A; Mahfouf, Mahdi; Mohamad-Samuri, Suzani; Panoutsos, George; Brown, Brian H; Mills, Gary H

2010-05-01

Thoracic electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive, radiation-free monitoring technique whose aim is to reconstruct a cross-sectional image of the internal spatial distribution of conductivity from electrical measurements made by injecting small alternating currents via an electrode array placed on the surface of the thorax. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the fundamentals of EIT and demonstrate the principles of mechanical ventilation, lung recruitment, and EIT imaging on a comprehensive physiological model, which combines a model of respiratory mechanics, a model of the human lung absolute resistivity as a function of air content, and a 2-D finite-element mesh of the thorax to simulate EIT image reconstruction during mechanical ventilation. The overall model gives a good understanding of respiratory physiology and EIT monitoring techniques in mechanically ventilated patients. The model proposed here was able to reproduce consistent images of ventilation distribution in simulated acutely injured and collapsed lung conditions. A new advisory system architecture integrating a previously developed data-driven physiological model for continuous and noninvasive predictions of blood gas parameters with the regional lung function data/information generated from absolute EIT (aEIT) is proposed for monitoring and ventilator therapy management of critical care patients.

Electrical resistivity tomography determines the spatial distribution of clay layer thickness and aquifer vulnerability, Kandal Province, Cambodia

Science.gov (United States)

Uhlemann, Sebastian; Kuras, Oliver; Richards, Laura A.; Naden, Emma; Polya, David A.

2017-10-01

Despite being rich in water resources, many areas of South East Asia face difficulties in securing clean water supply. This is particularly problematic in regions with a rapidly growing population. In this study, the spatial variability of the thickness of a clay layer, controlling surface - groundwater interactions that affect aquifer vulnerability, was investigated using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Data were acquired along two transects, showing significant differences in the imaged resistivities. Borehole samples were analyzed regarding particle density and composition, and linked to their resistivity. The obtained relationships were used to translate the field electrical resistivities into lithologies. Those revealed considerable variations in the thickness of the clay layer, ranging from 0 m up to 25 m. Geochemical data, highlighting zones of increased ingress of surface water into the groundwater, confirmed areas of discontinuities in the clay layer, which act as preferential flow paths. The results may guide urban planning of the Phnom Penh city expansion, in order to supply the growing population with safe water. The presented approach of using geophysics to estimate groundwater availability, accessibility, and vulnerability is not only applicable to Kandal Province, Cambodia, but also to many other areas of fast urbanization in South East Asia and beyond.

Characterisation of Fractures and Fracture Zones in a Carbonate Aquifer Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography and Pricking Probe Methodes

Science.gov (United States)

Szalai, Sandor; Kovacs, Attila; Kuslits, Lukács; Facsko, Gabor; Gribovszki, Katalin; Kalmar, Janos; Szarka, Laszlo

2018-04-01

Position, width and fragmentation level of fracture zones and position, significance and characteristic distance of fractures were aimed to determine in a carbonate aquifer. These are fundamental parameters, e.g. in hydrogeological modelling of aquifers, due to their role in subsurface water movements. The description of small scale fracture systems is however a challenging task. In the test area (Kádárta, Bakony Mts, Hungary), two methods proved to be applicable to get reasonable information about the fractures: Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Pricking-Probe (PriP). PriP is a simple mechanical tool which has been successfully applied in archaeological investigations. ERT results demonstrated its applicability in this small scale fracture study. PriP proved to be a good verification tool both for fracture zone mapping and detecting fractures, but in certain areas, it produced different results than the ERT. The applicability of this method has therefore to be tested yet, although its problems most probably origin from human activity which reorganises the near-surface debris distribution. In the test site, both methods displayed fracture zones including a very characteristic one and a number of individual fractures and determined their characteristic distance and significance. Both methods prove to be able to produce hydrogeologically important parameters even individually, but their simultaneous application is recommended to decrease the possible discrepancies.

Distribution-based fuzzy clustering of electrical resistivity tomography images for interface detection

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, W. O. C.; Wilkinson, P. B.; Chambers, J. E.; Oxby, L. S.; Bai, L.

2014-04-01

A novel method for the effective identification of bedrock subsurface elevation from electrical resistivity tomography images is described. Identifying subsurface boundaries in the topographic data can be difficult due to smoothness constraints used in inversion, so a statistical population-based approach is used that extends previous work in calculating isoresistivity surfaces. The analysis framework involves a procedure for guiding a clustering approach based on the fuzzy c-means algorithm. An approximation of resistivity distributions, found using kernel density estimation, was utilized as a means of guiding the cluster centroids used to classify data. A fuzzy method was chosen over hard clustering due to uncertainty in hard edges in the topography data, and a measure of clustering uncertainty was identified based on the reciprocal of cluster membership. The algorithm was validated using a direct comparison of known observed bedrock depths at two 3-D survey sites, using real-time GPS information of exposed bedrock by quarrying on one site, and borehole logs at the other. Results show similarly accurate detection as a leading isosurface estimation method, and the proposed algorithm requires significantly less user input and prior site knowledge. Furthermore, the method is effectively dimension-independent and will scale to data of increased spatial dimensions without a significant effect on the runtime. A discussion on the results by automated versus supervised analysis is also presented.

Imaging water velocity and volume fraction distributions in water continuous multiphase flows using inductive flow tomography and electrical resistance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng, Yiqing; Lucas, Gary P

2017-01-01

This paper presents the design and implementation of an inductive flow tomography (IFT) system, employing a multi-electrode electromagnetic flow meter (EMFM) and novel reconstruction techniques, for measuring the local water velocity distribution in water continuous single and multiphase flows. A series of experiments were carried out in vertical-upward and upward-inclined single phase water flows and ‘water continuous’ gas–water and oil–gas–water flows in which the velocity profiles ranged from axisymmetric (single phase and vertical-upward multiphase flows) to highly asymmetric (upward-inclined multiphase flows). Using potential difference measurements obtained from the electrode array of the EMFM, local axial velocity distributions of the continuous water phase were reconstructed using two different IFT reconstruction algorithms denoted RT#1, which assumes that the overall water velocity profile comprises the sum of a series of polynomial velocity components, and RT#2, which is similar to RT#1 but which assumes that the zero’th order velocity component may be replaced by an axisymmetric ‘power law’ velocity distribution. During each experiment, measurement of the local water volume fraction distribution was also made using the well-established technique of electrical resistance tomography (ERT). By integrating the product of the local axial water velocity and the local water volume fraction in the cross section an estimate of the water volumetric flow rate was made which was compared with a reference measurement of the water volumetric flow rate. In vertical upward flows RT#2 was found to give rise to water velocity profiles which are consistent with the previous literature although the profiles obtained in the multiphase flows had relatively higher central velocity peaks than was observed for the single phase profiles. This observation was almost certainly a result of the transfer of axial momentum from the less dense dispersed phases to the

Imaging water velocity and volume fraction distributions in water continuous multiphase flows using inductive flow tomography and electrical resistance tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Yiqing; Lucas, Gary P.

2017-05-01

This paper presents the design and implementation of an inductive flow tomography (IFT) system, employing a multi-electrode electromagnetic flow meter (EMFM) and novel reconstruction techniques, for measuring the local water velocity distribution in water continuous single and multiphase flows. A series of experiments were carried out in vertical-upward and upward-inclined single phase water flows and ‘water continuous’ gas-water and oil-gas-water flows in which the velocity profiles ranged from axisymmetric (single phase and vertical-upward multiphase flows) to highly asymmetric (upward-inclined multiphase flows). Using potential difference measurements obtained from the electrode array of the EMFM, local axial velocity distributions of the continuous water phase were reconstructed using two different IFT reconstruction algorithms denoted RT#1, which assumes that the overall water velocity profile comprises the sum of a series of polynomial velocity components, and RT#2, which is similar to RT#1 but which assumes that the zero’th order velocity component may be replaced by an axisymmetric ‘power law’ velocity distribution. During each experiment, measurement of the local water volume fraction distribution was also made using the well-established technique of electrical resistance tomography (ERT). By integrating the product of the local axial water velocity and the local water volume fraction in the cross section an estimate of the water volumetric flow rate was made which was compared with a reference measurement of the water volumetric flow rate. In vertical upward flows RT#2 was found to give rise to water velocity profiles which are consistent with the previous literature although the profiles obtained in the multiphase flows had relatively higher central velocity peaks than was observed for the single phase profiles. This observation was almost certainly a result of the transfer of axial momentum from the less dense dispersed phases to the water

Indirect measurement of lung density and air volume from electrical impedance tomography (EIT) data.

Science.gov (United States)

Nebuya, Satoru; Mills, Gary H; Milnes, Peter; Brown, Brian H

2011-12-01

This paper describes a method for estimating lung density, air volume and changes in fluid content from a non-invasive measurement of the electrical resistivity of the lungs. Resistivity in Ω m was found by fitting measured electrical impedance tomography (EIT) data to a finite difference model of the thorax. Lung density was determined by comparing the resistivity of the lungs, measured at a relatively high frequency, with values predicted from a published model of lung structure. Lung air volume can then be calculated if total lung weight is also known. Temporal changes in lung fluid content will produce proportional changes in lung density. The method was implemented on EIT data, collected using eight electrodes placed in a single plane around the thorax, from 46 adult male subjects and 36 adult female subjects. Mean lung densities (±SD) of 246 ± 67 and 239 ± 64 kg m(-3), respectively, were obtained. In seven adult male subjects estimates of 1.68 ± 0.30, 3.42 ± 0.49 and 4.40 ± 0.53 l in residual volume, functional residual capacity and vital capacity, respectively, were obtained. Sources of error are discussed. It is concluded that absolute differences in lung density of about 30% and changes over time of less than 30% should be detected using the current technology in normal subjects. These changes would result from approximately 300 ml increase in lung fluid. The method proposed could be used for non-invasive monitoring of total lung air and fluid content in normal subjects but needs to be assessed in patients with lung disease.

Electrical impedance tomography: A new monitoring of regional distribution of lung ventilation (principle of work and clinical application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vuković Rade

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Soon after it's discovery in the 1980s, the Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT, became the topic of interest, primarily regarding its applicability in different diagnostic procedures and monitoring. EIT is a non-invasive procedure, with no additional harmful radiation, which can be used continuously to monitor regional distribution of ventilation, in contrast to the computerized tomography and other diagnostic procedures that have a single image of the respiratory system and its function. Additionally, EIT allows continuous visualization of the lung function at the patient bedside, with an immediate assessment of the respiratory therapeutic maneuvers effects. The results obtained by EIT are complementary to other pulmonary diagnostic procedures, primarily from radiology. In general, EIT provides additional information to the conventional pulmonary monitoring. Crucial to the implementation of lung protective ventilation concept is to determine the ideal alveolar recruitment, which maintains open and functional alveoli during ventilation, meanwhile carrying a minimal risk for lung injury with excessive breathing volume ('over distension'. EIT may be considered as a good guide for optimal adjustment of respiratory support parameters and selection of the ventilation mode. Nowadays, the technical and technological development, hardware and software improvements and experimental validation of the results in animals and volunteers, have enabled practical clinical use of EIT, a useful monitor of regional distribution of lungs ventilation.

Why 1D electrical resistivity techniques can result in inaccurate siting of boreholes in hard rock aquifers and why electrical resistivity tomography must be preferred: the example of Benin, West Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Alle, Iboukoun Christian; Descloitres, Marc; Vouillamoz, Jean-Michel; Yalo, Nicaise; Lawson, Fabrice Messan Amen; Adihou, Akonfa Consolas

2018-03-01

Hard rock aquifers are of particular importance for supplying people with drinking water in Africa and in the world. Although the common use of one-dimensional (1D) electrical resistivity techniques to locate drilling site, the failure rate of boreholes is usually high. For instance, about 40% of boreholes drilled in hard rock aquifers in Benin are unsuccessful. This study investigates why the current use of 1D techniques (e.g. electrical profiling and electrical sounding) can result in inaccurate siting of boreholes, and checks the interest and the limitations of the use of two-dimensional (2D) Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). Geophysical numerical modeling and comprehensive 1D and 2D resistivity surveys were carried out in hard rock aquifers in Benin. The experiments carried out at 7 sites located in different hard rock groups confirmed the results of the numerical modeling: the current use of 1D techniques can frequently leads to inaccurate siting, and ERT better reveals hydrogeological targets such as thick weathered zone (e.g. stratiform fractured layer and preferential weathering associated with subvertical fractured zone). Moreover, a cost analysis demonstrates that the use of ERT can save money at the scale of a drilling programme if ERT improves the success rate by only 5% as compared to the success rate obtained with 1D techniques. Finally, this study demonstrates, using the example of Benin, that the use of electrical resistivity profiling and sounding for siting boreholes in weathered hard rocks of western Africa should be discarded and replaced by the use of ERT technique, more efficient.

Regional respiratory inflation and deflation pressure-volume curves determined by electrical impedance tomography.

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Frerichs, I; Dargaville, P A; Rimensberger, P C

2013-06-01

Measurement of regional lung volume changes during a quasi-static pressure-volume (PV) manoeuvre using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) could be used to assess regional respiratory system mechanics and to determine optimal ventilator settings in individual patients. Using this approach, we studied regional respiratory system mechanics in healthy and lung-injured animals, before and after surfactant administration during inflation and deflation PV manoeuvres. The comparison of the EIT-derived regional PV curves in ventral, middle and dorsal regions of the right and left lungs showed not only different amounts of hysteresis in these regions but also marked differences among different landmark pressures calculated on the inflation and deflation limbs of the curves. Regional pressures at maximum compliance as well as the lower and upper pressures of maximum compliance change differed between the inflation and deflation and increased from ventral to dorsal regions in all lung conditions. All these pressure values increased in the injured and decreased in the surfactant treated lungs. Examination of regional respiratory system mechanics using EIT enables the assessment of spatial and temporal heterogeneities in the ventilation distribution. Characteristic landmarks on the inflation and especially on the deflation limb of regional PV curves may become useful measures for guiding mechanical ventilation.

Regional respiratory inflation and deflation pressure–volume curves determined by electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frerichs, I; Dargaville, P A; Rimensberger, P C

2013-01-01

Measurement of regional lung volume changes during a quasi-static pressure–volume (PV) manoeuvre using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) could be used to assess regional respiratory system mechanics and to determine optimal ventilator settings in individual patients. Using this approach, we studied regional respiratory system mechanics in healthy and lung-injured animals, before and after surfactant administration during inflation and deflation PV manoeuvres. The comparison of the EIT-derived regional PV curves in ventral, middle and dorsal regions of the right and left lungs showed not only different amounts of hysteresis in these regions but also marked differences among different landmark pressures calculated on the inflation and deflation limbs of the curves. Regional pressures at maximum compliance as well as the lower and upper pressures of maximum compliance change differed between the inflation and deflation and increased from ventral to dorsal regions in all lung conditions. All these pressure values increased in the injured and decreased in the surfactant treated lungs. Examination of regional respiratory system mechanics using EIT enables the assessment of spatial and temporal heterogeneities in the ventilation distribution. Characteristic landmarks on the inflation and especially on the deflation limb of regional PV curves may become useful measures for guiding mechanical ventilation. (paper)

Real-time imaging and detection of intracranial haemorrhage by electrical impedance tomography in a piglet model.

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Xu, C H; Wang, L; Shi, X T; You, F S; Fu, F; Liu, R G; Dai, M; Zhao, Z W; Gao, G D; Dong, X Z

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to use electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to detect and image acute intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) in an animal model. Blood was infused into the frontal lobe of the brains of anaesthetized piglets and impedance was measured using 16 electrodes placed in a circle on the scalp. The EIT images were constructed using a filtered back-projection algorithm. The mean of all the pixel intensities within a region of interest--the mean resistivity value (MRV)--was used to evaluate the relative impedance changes in the target region. A symmetrical index (SI), reflecting the relative impedance on both sides of the brain, was also calculated. Changes in MRV and SI were associated with the injection of blood, demonstrating that EIT can successfully detect ICH in this animal model. The unique features of EIT may be beneficial for diagnosing ICH early in patients after cranial surgery, thereby reducing the risk of complications and mortality.

J-substitution algorithm in magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography (MREIT): phantom experiments for static resistivity images.

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Khang, Hyun Soo; Lee, Byung Il; Oh, Suk Hoon; Woo, Eung Je; Lee, Soo Yeol; Cho, Min Hyoung; Kwon, Ohin; Yoon, Jeong Rock; Seo, Jin Keun

2002-06-01

Recently, a new static resistivity image reconstruction algorithm is proposed utilizing internal current density data obtained by magnetic resonance current density imaging technique. This new imaging method is called magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography (MREIT). The derivation and performance of J-substitution algorithm in MREIT have been reported as a new accurate and high-resolution static impedance imaging technique via computer simulation methods. In this paper, we present experimental procedures, denoising techniques, and image reconstructions using a 0.3-tesla (T) experimental MREIT system and saline phantoms. MREIT using J-substitution algorithm effectively utilizes the internal current density information resolving the problem inherent in a conventional EIT, that is, the low sensitivity of boundary measurements to any changes of internal tissue resistivity values. Resistivity images of saline phantoms show an accuracy of 6.8%-47.2% and spatial resolution of 64 x 64. Both of them can be significantly improved by using an MRI system with a better signal-to-noise ratio.

Application of Electrical Resistivity Tomography Technique for Characterizing Leakage Problem in Abu Baara Earth Dam, Syria

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Walid Al-Fares

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT survey was carried out at Abu Baara earth dam in northwestern Syria, in order to delineate potential pathways of leakage occurring through the subsurface structure close to the dam body. The survey was performed along two straight measuring profiles of 715 and 430 m length in up- and downstream sides of the dam’s embankment. The analysis of the inverted ERT sections revealed the presence of fractured and karstified limestone rocks which constitute the shallow bedrock of the dam reservoir. Several subsurface structural anomalies were identified within the fractured bedrock, most of which are associated with probable karstic cavities, voids, and discontinuity features developed within the carbonates rocks. Moreover, results also showed the occurrence of a distinguished subsiding structure coinciding with main valley course. Accordingly, it is believed that the bedrock and the other detected features are the main potential causes of water leakage from the dam’s reservoir.

Improvement of electrical resistivity tomography for leachate injection monitoring.

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Clément, R; Descloitres, M; Günther, T; Oxarango, L; Morra, C; Laurent, J-P; Gourc, J-P

2010-03-01

Leachate recirculation is a key process in the scope of operating municipal waste landfills as bioreactors, which aims to increase the moisture content to optimize the biodegradation in landfills. Given that liquid flows exhibit a complex behaviour in very heterogeneous porous media, in situ monitoring methods are required. Surface time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is usually proposed. Using numerical modelling with typical 2D and 3D injection plume patterns and 2D and 3D inversion codes, we show that wrong changes of resistivity can be calculated at depth if standard parameters are used for time-lapse ERT inversion. Major artefacts typically exhibit significant increases of resistivity (more than +30%) which can be misinterpreted as gas migration within the waste. In order to eliminate these artefacts, we tested an advanced time-lapse ERT procedure that includes (i) two advanced inversion tools and (ii) two alternative array geometries. The first advanced tool uses invariant regions in the model. The second advanced tool uses an inversion with a "minimum length" constraint. The alternative arrays focus on (i) a pole-dipole array (2D case), and (ii) a star array (3D case). The results show that these two advanced inversion tools and the two alternative arrays remove almost completely the artefacts within +/-5% both for 2D and 3D situations. As a field application, time-lapse ERT is applied using the star array during a 3D leachate injection in a non-hazardous municipal waste landfill. To evaluate the robustness of the two advanced tools, a synthetic model including both true decrease and increase of resistivity is built. The advanced time-lapse ERT procedure eliminates unwanted artefacts, while keeping a satisfactory image of true resistivity variations. This study demonstrates that significant and robust improvements can be obtained for time-lapse ERT monitoring of leachate recirculation in waste landfills. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

External cardiac compression may be harmful in some scenarios of pulseless electrical activity.

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Hogan, T S

2012-10-01

Pulseless electrical activity occurs when organised or semi-organised electrical activity of the heart persists but the product of systemic vascular resistance and the increase in systemic arterial flow generated by the ejection of the left venticular stroke volume is not sufficient to produce a clinically detectable pulse. Pulseless electrical activity encompasses a very heterogeneous variety of severe circulatory shock states ranging in severity from pseudo-cardiac arrest to effective cardiac arrest. Outcomes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation for pulseless electrical activity are generally poor. Impairment of cardiac filling is the limiting factor to cardiac output in many scenarios of pulseless electrical activity, including extreme vasodilatory shock states. There is no evidence that external cardiac compression can increase cardiac output when impaired cardiac filling is the limiting factor to cardiac output. If impaired cardiac filling is the limiting factor to cardiac output and the heart is effectively ejecting all the blood returning to it, then external cardiac compression can only increase cardiac output if it increases venous return and cardiac filling. Repeated cardiac compression asynchronous with the patient's cardiac cycle and raised mean intrathoracic pressure due to chest compression can be expected to reduce rather than to increase cardiac filling and therefore to reduce rather than to increase cardiac output in such circumstances. The hypothesis is proposed that the performance of external cardiac compression will have zero or negative effect on cardiac output in pulseless electrical activity when impaired cardiac filling is the limiting factor to cardiac output. External cardiac compression may be both directly and indirectly harmful to significant sub-groups of patients with pulseless electrical activity. We have neither evidence nor theory to provide comfort that external cardiac compression is not harmful in many scenarios of pulseless

External cardiac compression may be harmful in some scenarios of pulseless electrical activity.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Hogan, T S

2012-10-01

Pulseless electrical activity occurs when organised or semi-organised electrical activity of the heart persists but the product of systemic vascular resistance and the increase in systemic arterial flow generated by the ejection of the left venticular stroke volume is not sufficient to produce a clinically detectable pulse. Pulseless electrical activity encompasses a very heterogeneous variety of severe circulatory shock states ranging in severity from pseudo-cardiac arrest to effective cardiac arrest. Outcomes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation for pulseless electrical activity are generally poor. Impairment of cardiac filling is the limiting factor to cardiac output in many scenarios of pulseless electrical activity, including extreme vasodilatory shock states. There is no evidence that external cardiac compression can increase cardiac output when impaired cardiac filling is the limiting factor to cardiac output. If impaired cardiac filling is the limiting factor to cardiac output and the heart is effectively ejecting all the blood returning to it, then external cardiac compression can only increase cardiac output if it increases venous return and cardiac filling. Repeated cardiac compression asynchronous with the patient\\'s cardiac cycle and raised mean intrathoracic pressure due to chest compression can be expected to reduce rather than to increase cardiac filling and therefore to reduce rather than to increase cardiac output in such circumstances. The hypothesis is proposed that the performance of external cardiac compression will have zero or negative effect on cardiac output in pulseless electrical activity when impaired cardiac filling is the limiting factor to cardiac output. External cardiac compression may be both directly and indirectly harmful to significant sub-groups of patients with pulseless electrical activity. We have neither evidence nor theory to provide comfort that external cardiac compression is not harmful in many scenarios of pulseless

Dynamic separation of pulmonary and cardiac changes in electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deibele, J M; Luepschen, H; Leonhardt, S

2008-01-01

In spontaneously breathing or ventilated subjects, it is difficult to image cardiac-related conductivity changes using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) due to the high amplitude of the ventilation component. Previous attempts to separate these components included either electrocardiogram-gated averaging, frequency domain filtering or holding the breath while performing the measurements. However, such methods are either not able to produce continuous real-time images or to fully separate cardiac and pulmonary changes. The aim of this work was to develop a new dynamic filtering method for the online separation of pulmonary and cardiac changes avoiding the drawbacks of the previous attempts. The approach is based on estimating template functions for the pulmonary and cardiac components by means of principal component analysis and frequency domain filtering. Then, these templates are fitted into the input signals. The new method enables an observer to examine the variation of the cardiac signal beat-by-beat after a one-time setup period of 20 s. Preliminary in vivo results of two healthy subjects are presented. The results are superior to frequency domain filtering and in good agreement with signals averaged over several cardiac cycles. The method does not depend on ECG or other a priori knowledge. The apparent validity of the method's ability to separate cardiac and pulmonary changes in EIT images was shown and has to be confirmed in future studies. The algorithm opens up new possibilities for future clinical trials on continuous monitoring by means of EIT and for the examination of the relation between the cardiac component and lung perfusion

Electrical impedance tomography as possible guidance for individual positioning of patients with multiple lung injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmann, Sylvia; Leonhardt, Steffen; Ngo, Chuong; Bergmann, Lukas; Schrading, Simone; Heimann, Konrad; Wagner, Norbert; Tenbrock, Klaus

2018-01-01

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is a tomographic, radiation-free technique based on the injection of a harmless alternating current. As electrical impedance strictly correlates with the variation of air content, EIT delivers highly dynamic information about global and regional ventilation. We want to demonstrate the potential of EIT individualizing ventilation by positioning. Gravity-dependent EIT findings were analyzed retrospectively in a critically ill mechanically ventilated pediatric patient with cystic fibrosis and coincident lung diseases. To further evaluate gravity-dependent changes in ventilation, six adult healthy and spontaneously breathing volunteers were investigated during simultaneous detection of EIT, breathing patterns, tidal volume (VT) and breathing frequency (BF). EIT findings in healthy lungs in five positions showed gravity-dependent effects of ventilation with overall ventilation of predominantly the right lung (except during left-side positioning) and with the ventral lung in supine, prone and upright position. These EIT-derived observations are in line with pathophysiological mechanisms and earlier EIT studies. Unexpectedly, the patient with cystic fibrosis and lobectomy of the right upper and middle lobe one year earlier, showed improvement of global and regional ventilation in the right position despite reduced lung volume and overinflation of this side. This resulted in individualized positioning and improvement of ventilation. Although therapeutic recommendations are available for gravitational influences of lung ventilation, they can be contradictory depending on the underlying lung disease. EIT has the potential to guide therapists in the positioning of patients according to their individual condition and disease, especially in case of multiple lung injury. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effects of CPAP-therapy on brain electrical activity in obstructive sleep apneic patients: a combined EEG study using LORETA and Omega complexity : reversible alterations of brain activity in OSAS.

Science.gov (United States)

Toth, Marton; Faludi, Bela; Kondakor, Istvan

2012-10-01

Effects of initiation of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy on EEG background activity were investigated in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS, N = 25) to test possible reversibility of alterations of brain electrical activity caused by chronic hypoxia. Normal control group (N = 14) was also examined. Two EEG examinations were done in each groups: at night and in the next morning. Global and regional (left vs. right, anterior vs. posterior) measures of spatial complexity (Omega complexity) were used to characterize the degree of spatial synchrony of EEG. Low resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) was used to localize generators of EEG activity in separate frequency bands. Before CPAP-treatment, a significantly lower Omega complexity was found globally and over the right hemisphere. Due to CPAP-treatment, these significant differences vanished. Significantly decreased Omega complexity was found in the anterior region after treatment. LORETA showed a decreased activity in all of the beta bands after therapy in the right hippocampus, premotor and temporo-parietal cortex, and bilaterally in the precuneus, paracentral and posterior cingulate cortex. No significant changes were seen in control group. Comparing controls and patients before sleep, an increased alpha2 band activity was seen bilaterally in the precuneus, paracentral and posterior cingulate cortex, while in the morning an increased beta3 band activity in the left precentral and bilateral premotor cortex and a decreased delta band activity in the right temporo-parietal cortex and insula were observed. These findings indicate that effect of sleep on EEG background activity is different in OSAS patients and normal controls. In OSAS patients, significant changes lead to a more normal EEG after a night under CPAP-treatment. Compensatory alterations of brain electrical activity in regions associated with influencing sympathetic outflow, visuospatial abilities, long

System Description and First Application of an FPGA-Based Simultaneous Multi-Frequency Electrical Impedance Tomography

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Susana Aguiar Santos

2016-07-01

Full Text Available A new prototype of a multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography system is presented. The system uses a field-programmable gate array as a main controller and is configured to measure at different frequencies simultaneously through a composite waveform. Both real and imaginary components of the data are computed for each frequency and sent to the personal computer over an ethernet connection, where both time-difference imaging and frequency-difference imaging are reconstructed and visualized. The system has been tested for both time-difference and frequency-difference imaging for diverse sets of frequency pairs in a resistive/capacitive test unit and in self-experiments. To our knowledge, this is the first work that shows preliminary frequency-difference images of in-vivo experiments. Results of time-difference imaging were compared with simulation results and shown that the new prototype performs well at all frequencies in the tested range of 60 kHz–960 kHz. For frequency-difference images, further development of algorithms and an improved normalization process is required to correctly reconstruct and interpreted the resulting images.

System Description and First Application of an FPGA-Based Simultaneous Multi-Frequency Electrical Impedance Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Aguiar Santos, Susana; Robens, Anne; Boehm, Anna; Leonhardt, Steffen; Teichmann, Daniel

2016-01-01

A new prototype of a multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography system is presented. The system uses a field-programmable gate array as a main controller and is configured to measure at different frequencies simultaneously through a composite waveform. Both real and imaginary components of the data are computed for each frequency and sent to the personal computer over an ethernet connection, where both time-difference imaging and frequency-difference imaging are reconstructed and visualized. The system has been tested for both time-difference and frequency-difference imaging for diverse sets of frequency pairs in a resistive/capacitive test unit and in self-experiments. To our knowledge, this is the first work that shows preliminary frequency-difference images of in-vivo experiments. Results of time-difference imaging were compared with simulation results and shown that the new prototype performs well at all frequencies in the tested range of 60 kHz–960 kHz. For frequency-difference images, further development of algorithms and an improved normalization process is required to correctly reconstruct and interpreted the resulting images. PMID:27463715

A comparison study of electrodes for neonate electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahal, Mohamad; Demosthenous, Andreas; Khor, Joo Moy; Tizzard, Andrew; Bayford, Richard

2009-01-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is an imaging technique that has the potential to be used for studying neonate lung function. The properties of the electrodes are very important in multi-frequency EIT (MFEIT) systems, particularly for neonates, as the skin cannot be abraded to reduce contact impedance. In this work, the impedance of various clinical electrodes as a function of frequency is investigated to identify the optimum electrode type for this application. Six different types of self-adhesive electrodes commonly used in general and neonatal cardiology have been investigated. These electrodes are Ag/AgCl electrodes from the Ambu® Cardiology Blue sensors range (BR, NF and BRS), Kendall (KittyCat(TM) and ARBO®) and Philips 13953D electrodes. In addition, a textile electrode without gel from Textronics was tested on two subjects to allow comparison with the hydrogel-based electrodes. Two- and four-electrode measurements were made to determine the electrode-interface and tissue impedances, respectively. The measurements were made on the back of the forearm of six healthy adult volunteers without skin preparation with 2.5 cm electrode spacing. Impedance measurements were carried out using a Solartron SI 1260 impedance/gain-phase analyser with a frequency range from 10 Hz to 1 MHz. For the electrode-interface impedance, the average magnitude decreased with frequency, with an average value of 5 kΩ at 10 kHz and 337 Ω at 1 MHz; for the tissue impedance, the respective values were 987 Ω and 29 Ω. Overall, the Ambu BRS, Kendall ARBO® and Textronics textile electrodes gave the lowest electrode contact impedance at 1 MHz. Based on the results of the two-electrode measurements, simple RC models for the Ambu BRS and Kendall-ARBO and Textronics textile electrodes have been derived for MFEIT applications

Identification of prefrontal cortex (BA10) activation while performing Stroop test using diffuse optical tomography

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Khadka, Sabin; Chityala, Srujan R.; Tian, Fenghua; Liu, Hanli

2011-03-01

Stroop test is commonly used as a behavior-testing tool for psychological examinations that are related to attention and cognitive control of the human brain. Studies have shown activations in Broadmann area 10 (BA10) of prefrontal cortex (PFC) during attention and cognitive process. The use of diffuse optical tomography (DOT) for human brain mapping is becoming more prevalent. In this study we expect to find neural correlates between the performed cognitive tasks and hemodynamic signals detected by a DOT system. Our initial observation showed activation of oxy-hemoglobin concentration in BA 10, which is consistent with some results seen by positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Our study demonstrates the possibility of combining DOT with Stroop test to quantitatively investigate cognitive functions of the human brain at the prefrontal cortex.

On micro to mesoscale homogenization of electrical properties for damaged laminated composites (and their potential applications in electrical tomography)

KAUST Repository

Selvakumaran, Lakshmi

2015-12-01

Efficient and optimal use of composites in structures requires tools to monitor and capture the complex degradation that can occur within the laminates over time. Structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques uses sensors/actuators on the structure to progressively monitor the health of the structure with minimal manual intervention. Electrical tomography (ET) is a SHM technique that uses voltage measurements from the surface of the laminate to reconstruct a conductivity map of the structure. Since damage has been shown to modify the conductivity of the laminate, the conductivity map can provide an indirect measure of the damage within the material. Studies have shown the capability of ET to identify macroscale damage due to impact. But, little has been done to quantitatively assess damage using ET. In this work, we present a theoretical framework to link degradation mechanisms occuring at the microscale to the conductivity at the mesoscale through damage indicators. The mesoscale damage indicators are then shown to be intrinsic to the ply. Next, we use the knowledge obtained through mesoscale homogenization to study the detectability of transverse cracks. Last, we show how the mesoscale homogenization participates in regularization of the inverse problem and in the quantitative assessment of the reconstructed conductivity map. This is as such the first step towards turning ET into a viable quantitative health monitoring technique.

A novel post-processing scheme for two-dimensional electrical impedance tomography based on artificial neural networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sébastien Martin

Full Text Available Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT is a powerful non-invasive technique for imaging applications. The goal is to estimate the electrical properties of living tissues by measuring the potential at the boundary of the domain. Being safe with respect to patient health, non-invasive, and having no known hazards, EIT is an attractive and promising technology. However, it suffers from a particular technical difficulty, which consists of solving a nonlinear inverse problem in real time. Several nonlinear approaches have been proposed as a replacement for the linear solver, but in practice very few are capable of stable, high-quality, and real-time EIT imaging because of their very low robustness to errors and inaccurate modeling, or because they require considerable computational effort.In this paper, a post-processing technique based on an artificial neural network (ANN is proposed to obtain a nonlinear solution to the inverse problem, starting from a linear solution. While common reconstruction methods based on ANNs estimate the solution directly from the measured data, the method proposed here enhances the solution obtained from a linear solver.Applying a linear reconstruction algorithm before applying an ANN reduces the effects of noise and modeling errors. Hence, this approach significantly reduces the error associated with solving 2D inverse problems using machine-learning-based algorithms.This work presents radical enhancements in the stability of nonlinear methods for biomedical EIT applications.

Multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography as a non-invasive tool to characterize and monitor crop root systems

Science.gov (United States)

Weigand, Maximilian; Kemna, Andreas

2017-02-01

A better understanding of root-soil interactions and associated processes is essential in achieving progress in crop breeding and management, prompting the need for high-resolution and non-destructive characterization methods. To date, such methods are still lacking or restricted by technical constraints, in particular the charactization and monitoring of root growth and function in the field. A promising technique in this respect is electrical impedance tomography (EIT), which utilizes low-frequency (response in alternating electric-current fields due to electrical double layers which form at cell membranes. This double layer is directly related to the electrical surface properties of the membrane, which in turn are influenced by nutrient dynamics (fluxes and concentrations on both sides of the membranes). Therefore, it can be assumed that the electrical polarization properties of roots are inherently related to ion uptake and translocation processes in the root systems. We hereby propose broadband (mHz to hundreds of Hz) multi-frequency EIT as a non-invasive methodological approach for the monitoring and physiological, i.e., functional, characterization of crop root systems. The approach combines the spatial-resolution capability of an imaging method with the diagnostic potential of electrical-impedance spectroscopy. The capability of multi-frequency EIT to characterize and monitor crop root systems was investigated in a rhizotron laboratory experiment, in which the root system of oilseed plants was monitored in a water-filled rhizotron, that is, in a nutrient-deprived environment. We found a low-frequency polarization response of the root system, which enabled the successful delineation of its spatial extension. The magnitude of the overall polarization response decreased along with the physiological decay of the root system due to the stress situation. Spectral polarization parameters, as derived from a pixel-based Debye decomposition analysis of the multi

Contribution of soil electric resistivity measurements to the studies on soil/grapevine water relations

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Etienne Goulet

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The classical techniques that allow to quantify the soil water status such as the gravimetric method or the use of neutrons probes do not give access to the volume of soil explored by the plant root system. On the contrary, electric tomography can be used to have a global vision on the water exchange area between soil and plant. The measurement of soil electric resistivity, as a non destructive, spatially integrative technique, has recently been introduced into viticulture. The use of performing equipment and adapted software allows for rapid data processing and gives the possibility to spatialize the variations of soil texture or humidity in two or three dimensions. Soil electric resistivity has been tested for the last three years at the Experimental Unit on Grapevine and Vine, INRA, Angers, France, to study the water supply to the vine in different “terroir” conditions. Resistivity measurements were carried out with the resistivity meter Syscal R1+ (Iris Instruments, France equipped with 21 electrodes. Those electrodes were lined up on the soil surface in a direction perpendiculary to 5 grapevine rows with an electrode spacing of 0.5 m. and a dipole-dipole arrangement. Resistivity measurements were performed on the same place at different times in order to study soil moisture variations. This experimental set up has permitted to visualise the soil stratification and individualize some positive electric anomalies corresponding to preferential drying ; this desiccation could be attributed to grapevine root activity. The soil bulk subject to the water up-take could be defined more precisely and in some types of soil, available water may even be quantified. Terroir effect on grapevine root activity has also been shown up on two different experimental parcels through electric tomography and first results indicate that it is possible to monitor the effects of soil management (inter-row grassing or different rootstocks on the water supply to the

Wearable sensors for patient-specific boundary shape estimation to improve the forward model for electrical impedance tomography (EIT) of neonatal lung function.

Science.gov (United States)

Khor, Joo Moy; Tizzard, Andrew; Demosthenous, Andreas; Bayford, Richard

2014-06-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) could be significantly advantageous to continuous monitoring of lung development in newborn and, in particular, preterm infants as it is non-invasive and safe to use within the intensive care unit. It has been demonstrated that accurate boundary form of the forward model is important to minimize artefacts in reconstructed electrical impedance images. This paper presents the outcomes of initial investigations for acquiring patient-specific thorax boundary information using a network of flexible sensors that imposes no restrictions on the patient's normal breathing and movements. The investigations include: (1) description of the basis of the reconstruction algorithms, (2) tests to determine a minimum number of bend sensors, (3) validation of two approaches to reconstruction and (4) an example of a commercially available bend sensor and its performance. Simulation results using ideal sensors show that, in the worst case, a total shape error of less than 6% with respect to its total perimeter can be achieved.

Effects of geomagnetic activity on the mesospheric electric fields

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A. M. Zadorozhny

1998-12-01

Full Text Available The results of three series of rocket measurements of mesospheric electric fields carried out under different geomagnetic conditions at polar and high middle latitudes are analysed. The measurements show a clear dependence of the vertical electric fields on geomagnetic activity at polar and high middle latitudes. The vertical electric fields in the lower mesosphere increase with the increase of geomagnetic indexes Kp and ∑Kp. The simultaneous increase of the vertical electric field strength and ion conductivity was observed in the mesosphere during geomagnetic disturbances. This striking phenomenon was displayed most clearly during the solar proton events of October, 1989 accompanied by very strong geomagnetic storm (Kp=8+. A possible mechanism of generation of the vertical electric fields in the mesosphere caused by gravitational sedimentation of charged aerosol particles is discussed. Simultaneous existence in the mesosphere of both the negative and positive multiply charged aerosol particles of different sizes is assumed for explanation of the observed V/m vertical electric fields and their behaviour under geomagnetically disturbed conditions.Keywords. Atmospheric composition and structure (aerosols and particles · Ionosphere (electric fields and currents · Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (atmospheric electricity

Disparity in regional cerebral blood flow during electrically induced seizure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sestoft, D; Meden, P; Hemmingsen, R

1993-01-01

This is a presentation of 2 cases in which the intraictal regional cerebral blood flow distribution was measured with the 99mTc-HMPAO single photon emission computerized tomography technique during an electrically induced seizure. Although the seizure was verified as generalized on electroencepha......This is a presentation of 2 cases in which the intraictal regional cerebral blood flow distribution was measured with the 99mTc-HMPAO single photon emission computerized tomography technique during an electrically induced seizure. Although the seizure was verified as generalized...... electroencephalography-verified generalized seizures....

Assessment of distribution of ventilation by electrical impedance tomography in standing horses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambrisko, T D; Schramel, J P; Moens, Y P S; Adler, A; Kutasi, O; Makra, Z

2016-01-01

The aim was to evaluate the feasibility of using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) in horses. Thoracic EIT was used in nine horses. Thoracic and abdominal circumference changes were also measured with respiratory ultrasound plethysmography (RUP). Data were recorded during baseline, rebreathing of CO_2 and sedation. Three breaths were selected for analysis from each recording. During baseline breathing, horses regularly took single large breaths (sighs), which were also analysed. Functional EIT images were created using standard deviations (SD) of pixel signals and correlation coefficients (R) of each pixel signal with a reference respiratory signal. Left-to-right ratio, centre-of-ventilation and global-inhomogeneity-index were calculated. RM-ANOVA and Bonferroni tests were used (P  <  0.05). Distribution of ventilation shifted towards right during sighs and towards dependent regions during sighs, rebreathing and sedation. Global-inhomogeneity-index did not change for SD but increased for R images during sedation. The sum of SDs for the respiratory EIT signals correlated well with thoracic (r "2  =  0.78) and abdominal (r "2  =  0.82) tidal circumferential changes. Inverse respiratory signals were identified on the images at sternal location and based on reviewing CT images, seemed to correspond to location of gas filled intestines. Application of EIT in standing non-sedated horses is feasible. EIT images may provide physiologically useful information even in situations, such as sighs, that cannot easily be tested by other methods. (paper)

Viewing Welds By Computer Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Pascua, Antonio G.; Roy, Jagatjit

1990-01-01

Computer tomography system used to inspect welds for root penetration. Source illuminates rotating welded part with fan-shaped beam of x rays or gamma rays. Detectors in circular array on opposite side of part intercept beam and convert it into electrical signals. Computer processes signals into image of cross section of weld. Image displayed on video monitor. System offers only nondestructive way to check penetration from outside when inner surfaces inaccessible.

Comparative Investigation of Guided Fuzzy Clustering and Mean Shift Clustering for Edge Detection in Electrical Resistivity Tomography Images of Mineral Deposits

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Wil; Wilkinson, Paul; Chambers, Jon; Bai, Li

2014-05-01

Geophysical surveying using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) can be used as a rapid non-intrusive method to investigate mineral deposits [1]. One of the key challenges with this approach is to find a robust automated method to assess and characterise deposits on the basis of an ERT image. Recent research applying edge detection techniques has yielded a framework that can successfully locate geological interfaces in ERT images using a minimal assumption data clustering technique, the guided fuzzy clustering method (gfcm) [2]. Non-parametric clustering techniques are statistically grounded methods of image segmentation that do not require any assumptions about the distribution of data under investigation. This study is a comparison of two such methods to assess geological structure based on the resistivity images. In addition to gfcm, a method called mean-shift clustering [3] is investigated with comparisons directed at accuracy, computational expense, and degree of user interaction. Neither approach requires the number of clusters as input (a common parameter and often impractical), rather they are based on a similar theory that data can be clustered based on peaks in the probability density function (pdf) of the data. Each local maximum in these functions represents the modal value of a particular population corresponding to a cluster and as such the data are assigned based on their relationships to these model values. The two methods differ in that gfcm approximates the pdf using kernel density estimation and identifies population means, assigning cluster membership probabilities to each resistivity value in the model based on its distance from the distribution averages. Whereas, in mean-shift clustering, the density function is not calculated, but a gradient ascent method creates a vector that leads each datum towards high density distributions iteratively using weighted kernels to calculate locally dense regions. The only parameter needed in both methods

Visualization of Two Phase Flow in a Horizontal Flow with Electrical Resistance Tomography based on Extended Kalman Filter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jeong Seong; Malik, Nauman Muhammad; Khambampati, Anil Kumar; Rashid, Ahmar; Kim, Sin; Kim, Kyung Youn

2008-01-01

For the visualization of the phase distribution in two phase flows, the electrical resistance tomography (ERT) technique is introduced. In ERT, the internal resistivity distribution is reconstructed based on the known sets of the injected currents and measured voltages on the surface of the object. The physical relationship between the internal resistivity and the surface voltages is governed by a partial differential equation with appropriate boundary conditions. This paper considers the estimation of the phase distribution with ERT in two phase flow in a horizontal flow using extended Kalman filter. To evaluate the reconstruction performance of the proposed algorithm, the experiments simulated two phase flows in a horizontal flow were carried out. The experiments with two phase flow phantom were done to suggest a practical implication of this research in detecting gas bubble in a feed water pipe of heat transfer systems

The role of (18)fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in resectable pancreatic cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Crippa, Stefano; Salgarello, Matteo; Laiti, Silvia; Partelli, Stefano; Castelli, Paola; Spinelli, Antonello E; Tamburrino, Domenico; Zamboni, Giuseppe; Falconi, Massimo

2014-08-01

The role of (18)fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is debated. We retrospectively assessed the value of (18)fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in addition to conventional imaging as a staging modality in pancreatic cancer. (18)Fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography was performed in 72 patients with resectable pancreatic carcinoma after multi-detector computed tomography positron emission tomography was considered positive for a maximum standardized uptake value >3. Overall, 21% of patients had a maximum standardized uptake value ≤ 3, and 60% of those had undergone neoadjuvant treatment (P=0.0001). Furthermore, 11% of patients were spared unwarranted surgery since positron emission tomography/computed tomography detected metastatic disease. All liver metastases were subsequently identified with contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Sensitivity and specificity of positron emission tomography/computed tomography for distant metastases were 78% and 100%. The median CA19.9 concentration was 48.8 U/mL for the entire cohort and 292 U/mL for metastatic patients (P=0.112). The widespread application of (18)fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in patients with resectable pancreatic carcinoma seems not justified. It should be considered in selected patients at higher risk of metastatic disease (i.e. CA19.9>200 U/mL) after undergoing other imaging tests. Neoadjuvant treatment is significantly associated with low metabolic activity, limiting the value of positron emission tomography in this setting. Copyright © 2014 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Possibilities of electrical impedance tomography in gynecology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trokhanova O V; Chijova Y A; Okhapkin M B; Korjenevsky A V; Tuykin T S

2013-01-01

The paper describes results of comprehensive EIT diagnostics of mammary glands and cervix. The data were obtained from examinations of 170 patients by EIT system MEM (multi-frequency electrical impedance mammograph) and EIT system GIT (gynecological impedance tomograph). Mutual dependence is discussed.

Development of Hardware Dual Modality Tomography System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. M. Zain

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The paper describes the hardware development and performance of the Dual Modality Tomography (DMT system. DMT consists of optical and capacitance sensors. The optical sensors consist of 16 LEDs and 16 photodiodes. The Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT electrode design use eight electrode plates as the detecting sensor. The digital timing and the control unit have been developing in order to control the light projection of optical emitters, switching the capacitance electrodes and to synchronize the operation of data acquisition. As a result, the developed system is able to provide a maximum 529 set data per second received from the signal conditioning circuit to the computer.

Spontaneous Electrical Activity in the Nervous System and its ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The present study was carried out to examine the effects of biogenic amines on the spontaneous electrical activity of the nervous system in the silkworm Bombyx mori. The activity recorded from different segments of the ventral nerve cord differed in the frequency and number of spike categories firing. The activity was highest ...

Development of axial tomography technique for the study of steam explosion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jae Young; Seo, S. W.; You, S. [Handong Golbal Univ., Pohang (Korea, Republic of)

2006-05-15

In this report, axial tomography applying to steam explosion is implemented. When steam explosion experiment is performed, we have seen the difficulty with physical modeling due to the complex phenomena of generated steam, propagation of shock wave and bubble breakup and coalescence. Hence, the uncertainty due to these phenomena is occurred. The fast and global measurement of the steam distribution is imperative to understand the complex phenomena performed during the steam explosion, KAERI have developed the fast and global measuring instrument to monitor such phenomena of axial steam distribution. Generally, X-ray is used as measuring method, but this method is very expensive and has limited measurement area. So we need new method that can substitute X-ray method and in this research, ECT method is replaced. The research is performed dividing within two parts: Software and Hardware. In the software part, the electric field analysis code and algorithm for inverse projection were developed. And, in the hardware part, capacitance measurement circuit is developed to measure up to fF level. Operable axial tomography was analyzed with concept design of axial tomography appropriate to steam explosion accident and analysis code for axial electric field analysis and inverse algorithm were developed, moreover, designing signal analysis system for axial tomography was performed.

A review of statistical modelling and inference for electrical capacitance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watzenig, D; Fox, C

2009-01-01

Bayesian inference applied to electrical capacitance tomography, or other inverse problems, provides a framework for quantified model fitting. Estimation of unknown quantities of interest is based on the posterior distribution over the unknown permittivity and unobserved data, conditioned on measured data. Key components in this framework are a prior model requiring a parametrization of the permittivity and a normalizable prior density, the likelihood function that follows from a decomposition of measurements into deterministic and random parts, and numerical simulation of noise-free measurements. Uncertainty in recovered permittivities arises from measurement noise, measurement sensitivities, model inaccuracy, discretization error and a priori uncertainty; each of these sources may be accounted for and in some cases taken advantage of. Estimates or properties of the permittivity can be calculated as summary statistics over the posterior distribution using Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. Several modified Metropolis–Hastings algorithms are available to speed up this computationally expensive step. The bias in estimates that is induced by the representation of unknowns may be avoided by design of a prior density. The differing purpose of applications means that there is no single 'Bayesian' analysis. Further, differing solutions will use different modelling choices, perhaps influenced by the need for computational efficiency. We solve a reference problem of recovering the unknown shape of a constant permittivity inclusion in an otherwise uniform background. Statistics calculated in the reference problem give accurate estimates of inclusion area, and other properties, when using measured data. The alternatives available for structuring inferential solutions in other applications are clarified by contrasting them against the choice we made in our reference solution. (topical review)

Spatial analysis of subsoil compaction on cultivated land by means of penetrometry, electrical resistence tomography and X-ray computed tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Zumr, David; Vláčilová, Markéta; Dostál, Tomáš; Jeřábek, Jakub; Sobotková, Martina; Sněhota, Michal

2015-04-01

Soil compaction is a well recognized phenomena in the agricultural land. Various effects can alter the degree of the compaction in the field. The topsoil is regularly loosened due to agrotechnical operations, but the subsoil remains usually compacted. Various studies show increasing bulk density and decreasing saturated hydraulic conductivity in the plough pan, even though some authors argue that it does not have to be always the case due to presence of bio-macropores. Hence the structural properties of the subsoil and the spatial distribution of the compacted layer depth within the cultivated fields are important factors influencing soil water regime, nutrients regime and runoff generation. The aim of the contribution is to present the results of the monitoring of the plough pan depth spatial distribution at the experimental catchment Nucice (Central Bohemia, Czech Republic). The soils are classified as Luvisols and Cambisols with a loamy Ap horizon (0.1 - 0.2 m deep) underlined by a silty and silty-clay B horizon. The content of clay particles in the topsoil is around 8%. The soil has low inner aggregate (soil matrix) hydraulic conductivity, with measured values of approximately 0.1 - 2 cm d-1. The bulk topsoil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is significantly higher and varies depending on the season. To observe the divide between topsoil and subsoil layers in detail and to be able to compare the soil structure and pore networks of both layers we inspected undisturbed soil samples with X-ray computed tomography. The divide between the conservatively tilled topsoil and the subsoil is clearly observable also on terrain. To identify its exact position we implemented a combination of penetrometry, soil sampling and electrical resistance tomography (ERT). The penetration tests accompanied by soil probing were done in an irregular network across the whole catchment based on the slopes and distance to the stream. Several 2D ERT measurements were done locally on a

Dynamical analysis of uterine cell electrical activity model.

Science.gov (United States)

Rihana, S; Santos, J; Mondie, S; Marque, C

2006-01-01

The uterus is a physiological system consisting of a large number of interacting smooth muscle cells. The uterine excitability changes remarkably with time, generally quiescent during pregnancy, the uterus exhibits forceful synchronized contractions at term leading to fetus expulsion. These changes characterize thus a dynamical system susceptible of being studied through formal mathematical tools. Multiple physiological factors are involved in the regulation process of this complex system. Our aim is to relate the physiological factors to the uterine cell dynamic behaviors. Taking into account a previous work presented, in which the electrical activity of a uterine cell is described by a set of ordinary differential equations, we analyze the impact of physiological parameters on the response of the model, and identify the main subsystems generating the complex uterine electrical activity, with respect to physiological data.

Quantification in emission tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buvat, Irene

2011-11-01

The objective of this lecture is to understand the possibilities and limitations of the quantitative analysis of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) images. It is also to identify the conditions to be fulfilled to obtain reliable quantitative measurements from images. Content: 1 - Introduction: Quantification in emission tomography - definition and challenges; quantification biasing phenomena 2 - Main problems impacting quantification in PET and SPECT: problems, consequences, correction methods, results (Attenuation, scattering, partial volume effect, movement, un-stationary spatial resolution in SPECT, fortuitous coincidences in PET, standardisation in PET); 3 - Synthesis: accessible efficiency, know-how, Precautions, beyond the activity measurement

Multi-phase flow monitoring with electrical impedance tomography using level set based method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Dong; Khambampati, Anil Kumar; Kim, Sin; Kim, Kyung Youn

2015-01-01

Highlights: • LSM has been used for shape reconstruction to monitor multi-phase flow using EIT. • Multi-phase level set model for conductivity is represented by two level set functions. • LSM handles topological merging and breaking naturally during evolution process. • To reduce the computational time, a narrowband technique was applied. • Use of narrowband and optimization approach results in efficient and fast method. - Abstract: In this paper, a level set-based reconstruction scheme is applied to multi-phase flow monitoring using electrical impedance tomography (EIT). The proposed scheme involves applying a narrowband level set method to solve the inverse problem of finding the interface between the regions having different conductivity values. The multi-phase level set model for the conductivity distribution inside the domain is represented by two level set functions. The key principle of the level set-based method is to implicitly represent the shape of interface as the zero level set of higher dimensional function and then solve a set of partial differential equations. The level set-based scheme handles topological merging and breaking naturally during the evolution process. It also offers several advantages compared to traditional pixel-based approach. Level set-based method for multi-phase flow is tested with numerical and experimental data. It is found that level set-based method has better reconstruction performance when compared to pixel-based method

Optical breast shape capture and finite-element mesh generation for electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsyth, J; Borsic, A; Halter, R J; Hartov, A; Paulsen, K D

2011-01-01

X-ray mammography is the standard for breast cancer screening. The development of alternative imaging modalities is desirable because mammograms expose patients to ionizing radiation. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) may be used to determine tissue conductivity, a property which is an indicator of cancer presence. EIT is also a low-cost imaging solution and does not involve ionizing radiation. In breast EIT, impedance measurements are made using electrodes placed on the surface of the patient's breast. The complex conductivity of the volume of the breast is estimated by a reconstruction algorithm. EIT reconstruction is a severely ill-posed inverse problem. As a result, noisy instrumentation and incorrect modelling of the electrodes and domain shape produce significant image artefacts. In this paper, we propose a method that has the potential to reduce these errors by accurately modelling the patient breast shape. A 3D hand-held optical scanner is used to acquire the breast geometry and electrode positions. We develop methods for processing the data from the scanner and producing volume meshes accurately matching the breast surface and electrode locations, which can be used for image reconstruction. We demonstrate this method for a plaster breast phantom and a human subject. Using this approach will allow patient-specific finite-element meshes to be generated which has the potential to improve the clinical value of EIT for breast cancer diagnosis

Optimum Electrode Configurations for Two-Probe, Four-Probe and Multi-Probe Schemes in Electrical Resistance Tomography for Delamination Identification in Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Waldo Escalona-Galvis

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Internal damage in Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP composites modifies the internal electrical conductivity of the composite material. Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT is a non-destructive evaluation (NDE technique that determines the extent of damage based on electrical conductivity changes. Implementation of ERT for damage identification in CFRP composites requires the optimal selection of the sensing sites for accurate results. This selection depends on the measuring scheme used. The present work uses an effective independence (EI measure for selecting the minimum set of measurements for ERT damage identification using three measuring schemes: two-probe, four-probe and multi-probe. The electrical potential field in two CFRP laminate layups with 14 electrodes is calculated using finite element analyses (FEA for a set of specified delamination damage cases. The measuring schemes consider the cases of 14 electrodes distributed on both sides and seven electrodes on only one side of the laminate for each layup. The effectiveness of EI reduction is demonstrated by comparing the inverse identification results of delamination cases for the full and the reduced sets using the measuring schemes and electrode sets. This work shows that the EI measure optimally reduces electrode and electrode combinations in ERT based damage identification for different measuring schemes.

Electric effects induced by artificial seismic sources at Somma-Vesuvius volcano

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Rosa Di Maio

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present a series of self-potential measurements at Somma-Vesuvius volcanic area acquired in conjunction with an active seismic tomography survey. The aim of our study is both to provide further confirmation to the occurrence of seismo-electric coupling and to identify sites suitable for self-potential signal monitoring at Somma-Vesuvius district. The data, which were collected along two perpendicular dipoles, show significant changes on the natural electric field pattern. These variations, attributable to electrokinetic processes triggered by the artificial seismic waves, were observed after explosions occurred at a distance less than 5 km from the SP dipole arrays. In particular, we found that the NW-SE component of the natural electric field was more sensible to the shots than the NE-SW one, and the major effects did not correspond to the nearest shots. Such evidences were interpreted considering the underground electrical properties as deduced by previous detailed resistivity and self-potential surveys performed in the study area.

Effects of geomagnetic activity on the mesospheric electric fields

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A. M. Zadorozhny

Full Text Available The results of three series of rocket measurements of mesospheric electric fields carried out under different geomagnetic conditions at polar and high middle latitudes are analysed. The measurements show a clear dependence of the vertical electric fields on geomagnetic activity at polar and high middle latitudes. The vertical electric fields in the lower mesosphere increase with the increase of geomagnetic indexes K_p and ∑K_p. The simultaneous increase of the vertical electric field strength and ion conductivity was observed in the mesosphere during geomagnetic disturbances. This striking phenomenon was displayed most clearly during the solar proton events of October, 1989 accompanied by very strong geomagnetic storm (K_p=8+. A possible mechanism of generation of the vertical electric fields in the mesosphere caused by gravitational sedimentation of charged aerosol particles is discussed. Simultaneous existence in the mesosphere of both the negative and positive multiply charged aerosol particles of different sizes is assumed for explanation of the observed V/m vertical electric fields and their behaviour under geomagnetically disturbed conditions.

Keywords. Atmospheric composition and structure (aerosols and particles · Ionosphere (electric fields and currents · Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (atmospheric electricity

Electrical resistivity tomography to quantify in situ liquid content in a full-scale dry anaerobic digestion reactor.

Science.gov (United States)

André, L; Lamy, E; Lutz, P; Pernier, M; Lespinard, O; Pauss, A; Ribeiro, T

2016-02-01

The electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) method is a non-intrusive method widely used in landfills to detect and locate liquid content. An experimental set-up was performed on a dry batch anaerobic digestion reactor to investigate liquid repartition in process and to map spatial distribution of inoculum. Two array electrodes were used: pole-dipole and gradient arrays. A technical adaptation of ERT method was necessary. Measured resistivity data were inverted and modeled by RES2DINV software to get resistivity sections. Continuous calibration along resistivity section was necessary to understand data involving sampling and physicochemical analysis. Samples were analyzed performing both biochemical methane potential and fiber quantification. Correlations were established between the protocol of reactor preparation, resistivity values, liquid content, methane potential and fiber content representing liquid repartition, high methane potential zones and degradations zones. ERT method showed a strong relevance to monitor and to optimize the dry batch anaerobic digestion process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Likelihood of Brine and CO₂ Leak Detection using Magnetotellurics and Electrical Resistivity Tomography Methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, X. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Buscheck, T. A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Mansoor, K. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Carroll, S. A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-09-11

The US DOE National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP), funded through the Office of Fossil Energy and NETL, is developing methods to evaluate the effectiveness of monitoring techniques to detect brine and CO₂ leakage from legacy wells into underground sources of drinking water (USDW) overlying a CO₂ storage reservoir. As part of the NRAP Strategic Monitoring group, we have generated 140 simulations of aquifer impact data based on the Kimberlina site in California’s southern San Joaquin Basin, Kimberlina Rev. 1.1. CO₂ buoyancy allows some of the stored CO₂ to reach shallower permeable zones and is detectable with surface geophysical sensors. We are using this simulated data set to evaluate effectiveness of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and magnetotellurics (MT) for leak detection. The evaluation of additional monitoring methods such as pressure, seismic and gravity is underway through a multi-lab collaboration.

Probabilistic electricity price forecasting with variational heteroscedastic Gaussian process and active learning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kou, Peng; Liang, Deliang; Gao, Lin; Lou, Jianyong

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A novel active learning model for the probabilistic electricity price forecasting. • Heteroscedastic Gaussian process that captures the local volatility of the electricity price. • Variational Bayesian learning that avoids over-fitting. • Active learning algorithm that reduces the computational efforts. - Abstract: Electricity price forecasting is essential for the market participants in their decision making. Nevertheless, the accuracy of such forecasting cannot be guaranteed due to the high variability of the price data. For this reason, in many cases, rather than merely point forecasting results, market participants are more interested in the probabilistic price forecasting results, i.e., the prediction intervals of the electricity price. Focusing on this issue, this paper proposes a new model for the probabilistic electricity price forecasting. This model is based on the active learning technique and the variational heteroscedastic Gaussian process (VHGP). It provides the heteroscedastic Gaussian prediction intervals, which effectively quantify the heteroscedastic uncertainties associated with the price data. Because the high computational effort of VHGP hinders its application to the large-scale electricity price forecasting tasks, we design an active learning algorithm to select a most informative training subset from the whole available training set. By constructing the forecasting model on this smaller subset, the computational efforts can be significantly reduced. In this way, the practical applicability of the proposed model is enhanced. The forecasting performance and the computational time of the proposed model are evaluated using the real-world electricity price data, which is obtained from the ANEM, PJM, and New England ISO

Geophysical monitoring of active hydrologic processes as part of the Dynamic Underground Stripping Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newmark, R.L.

1992-05-01

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in collaboration with University of California at Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, is conducting the Dynamic Underground Stripping Project (DUSP), an integrated project demonstrating the use of active thermal techniques to remove subsurface organic contamination. Complementary techniques address a number of environmental restoration problems: (1) steam flood strips organic contaminants from permeable zones, (2) electrical heating drives contaminants from less permeable zones into the more permeable zones from which they can be extracted, and (3) geophysical monitoring tracks and images the progress of the thermal fronts, providing feedback and control of the active processes. The first DUSP phase involved combined steam injection and vapor extraction in a ''clean'' site in the Livermore Valley consisting of unconsolidated alluvial interbeds of clays, sands and gravels. Steam passed rapidly through a high-permeability gravel unit, where in situ temperatures reached 117 degree C. An integrated program of geophysical monitoring was carried out at the Clean Site. We performed electrical resistance tomography (ERT), seismic tomography (crossborehole), induction tomography, passive seismic monitoring, a variety of different temperature measurement techniques and conventional geophysical well logging

DETERMINATION OF RESOLUTION LIMITS OF ELECTRICAL TOMOGRAPHY ON THE BLOCK MODEL IN A HOMOGENOUS ENVIRONMENT BY MEANS OF ELECTRICAL MODELLING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franjo Šumanovac

2007-12-01

Full Text Available The block model in a homogenous environment can generally serve for presentation of some geological models: changes of facies, changes of rock compactness-fragmentation, underground cavities, bauxite deposits, etc. Therefore, on the block model of increased resistivities in a homogenous environment of low resistivity, the potentials of the electrical tomography method were tested for the purpose of their detection. Regarding potentials of block detection, resolution methods depend on: depth of block location, ratio between block resistivity and the environment in which it is located as well as applied survey geometry, i.e. electrode array. Thus the analyses carried out for the most frequently used electrode arrays in the investigations are the following: the Wenner, Wenner-Schlumberger, dipole-dipole and pole-pole arrays. For each array, maximum depths at which a block can be detected relative to the ratio between block resistivity and parent rock environment were analyzed. The results are shown in the two-dimensional graphs, where the ratio between the block resistivity and the environment is shown on the X-axis, and the resolution depth on the Y-axis, after which the curves defining the resolution limits were drawn. These graphs have a practical use, since they enable a fast, simple determination of potentials of the method application on a specific geological model.

Electrical Capacitance Tomography Measurement of the Migration of Ice Frontal Surface in Freezing Soil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu J.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The tracking of the migration of ice frontal surface is crucial for the understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms in freezing soil. Owing to the distinct advantages, including non-invasive sensing, high safety, low cost and high data acquisition speed, the electrical capacitance tomography (ECT is considered to be a promising visualization measurement method. In this paper, the ECT method is used to visualize the migration of ice frontal surface in freezing soil. With the main motivation of the improvement of imaging quality, a loss function with multiple regularizers that incorporate the prior formation related to the imaging objects is proposed to cast the ECT image reconstruction task into an optimization problem. An iteration scheme that integrates the superiority of the split Bregman iteration (SBI method is developed for searching for the optimal solution of the proposed loss function. An unclosed electrodes sensor is designed for satisfying the requirements of practical measurements. An experimental system of one dimensional freezing in frozen soil is constructed, and the ice frontal surface migration in the freezing process of the wet soil sample containing five percent of moisture is measured. The visualization measurement results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the ECT visualization method

The effect of serial data collection on the accuracy of electrical impedance tomography images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yerworth, Rebecca; Bayford, Richard

2013-01-01

There has been a surge of interest in using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) for monitoring regional lung ventilation, however, EIT is an ill-conditioned problem, and errors/noise in the boundary voltages can have an undesirable effect on the quality of the final image. Most EIT systems in clinical usage use serial data collection hence data used to create a single image will have been collected at different times. This paper presents a study of the resulting image distortion, and proposes a method for correcting this lag in situations where the frame rate is insufficient to prevent significant image degradation. Significant correlation between the standard deviation of the time dependent reciprocity error and time delay dL e between the reciprocal electrode combinations was found for both adult and neonate data. This was reduced when the data was corrected for dL e . Original and corrected data was reconstructed with the GREIT algorithm and visible differences were found for the neonate data. Ideally EIT systems should be run at a frame rate of at least 50 times the frequency of the dominant and interesting physiological signals. Where this is not practical, the intra-frame system timings should be determined and lag corrected for. (paper)

A Local Region of Interest Imaging Method for Electrical Impedance Tomography with Internal Electrodes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyeuknam Kwon

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT is a very attractive functional imaging method despite the low sensitivity and resolution. The use of internal electrodes with the conventional reconstruction algorithms was not enough to enhance image resolution and accuracy in the region of interest (ROI. We propose a local ROI imaging method with internal electrodes developed from careful analysis of the sensitivity matrix that is designed to reduce the sensitivity of the voxels outside the local region and optimize the sensitivity of the voxel inside the local region. We perform numerical simulations and physical measurements to demonstrate the localized EIT imaging method. In preliminary results with multiple objects we show the benefits of using an internal electrode and the improved resolution due to the local ROI image reconstruction method. The sensitivity is further increased by allowing the surface electrodes to be unevenly spaced with a higher density of surface electrodes near the ROI. Also, we analyse how much the image quality is improved using several performance parameters for comparison. While these have not yet been studied in depth, it convincingly shows an improvement in local sensitivity in images obtained with an internal electrode in comparison to a standard reconstruction method.

Identifying the changes of geo-engineering properties of dunites due to weathering utilizing electrical resistivity tomography (ERT)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ündül, Ömer; Tuğrul, Atiye; Zarif, İ Halil; Özyalın, Şenol

2015-01-01

Weathering phenomena have an important role in many construction facilities with varying depths and grades. Due to the anisotropic and heterogeneous nature of weathering profiles of some rocks, uncertainities exist in determining the geo-engineering properties. Geo-electrical studies have been utilized to overcome such uncertainities for various subsurface conditions including the determination of boundaries between weathered and unweathered parts of different rock types.In this study, the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) results were correlated with conventional methods in determining the effects of weathering on the geo-engineering properties of dunites. During the research, weathering grades were determined by field studies including discontinuity spacings, aperture and properties of fill materials. The detailed petrographical studies, determination of petrophysical properties (e.g. water absorption and effective porosity) and mechanical properties (e.g. unconfined compressive strength (UCS)) constitute the laboratory studies. ERT studies were carried out in a row of sixty electrodes with electrode spacings of 0.5 m utilizing a Wenner–Schlumberger configuration. According to the comparison of the inversion model sections with the weathering profiles obtained by field and laboratory studies it is concluded that the use of ERT with a Wenner–Schlumberger configuration supplies comparable data for wider subsurface areas from the view of weathering and its effect on geo-engineering properties of dunites. In addition, ERT techniques are very useful where conventional techniques are inadequate in determining the full weathering profile. (paper)

Magnetogastrographic detection of gastric electrical response activity in humans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irimia, Andrei; Richards, William O; Bradshaw, L Alan

2006-01-01

The detection and characterization of gastric electrical activity has important clinical applications, including the early diagnosis of gastric diseases in humans. In mammals, this phenomenon has two important features: an electrical control activity (ECA) that manifests itself as an electric slow wave (with a frequency of 3 cycles per minute in humans) and an electrical response activity (ERA) that is characterized by spiking potentials during the plateau phase of the ECA. Whereas the ECA has been recorded in humans both invasively and non-invasively (magnetogastrography-MGG), the ERA has never been detected non-invasively in humans before. In this paper, we report on our progress towards the non-invasive detection of ERA from the human stomach using a procedure that involves the application of principal component analysis to MGG recordings, which were acquired in our case from ten normal human patients using a Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometer. Both pre- and post-prandial recordings were acquired for each patient and 20 min of recordings (10 min of pre-prandial and 10 min of post-prandial data) were analysed for each patient. The mean percentage of ECA slow waves that were found to exhibit spikes of suspected ERA origin was 41% and 61% for pre- and post-prandial recordings, respectively, implying a 47% ERA increase post-prandially (P < 0.0001 at a 95% confidence level). The detection of ERA in humans is highly encouraging and points to the possible use of non-invasive ERA recordings as a valuable tool for the study of human gastric disorders

Integration of piezo-capacitive and piezo-electric nanoweb based pressure sensors for imaging of static and dynamic pressure distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Y J; Oh, T I; Woo, E J; Kim, K J

2017-07-01

Recently, highly flexible and soft pressure distribution imaging sensor is in great demand for tactile sensing, gait analysis, ubiquitous life-care based on activity recognition, and therapeutics. In this study, we integrate the piezo-capacitive and piezo-electric nanowebs with the conductive fabric sheets for detecting static and dynamic pressure distributions on a large sensing area. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and electric source imaging are applied for reconstructing pressure distribution images from measured current-voltage data on the boundary of the hybrid fabric sensor. We evaluated the piezo-capacitive nanoweb sensor, piezo-electric nanoweb sensor, and hybrid fabric sensor. The results show the feasibility of static and dynamic pressure distribution imaging from the boundary measurements of the fabric sensors.

Microscopic tomography with ultra-HVEM and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takaoka, Akio; Hasegawa, Toshiaki; Yoshida, Kiyokazu; Mori, Hirotaro

2008-01-01

The ultra-HVEM with an accelerating voltage of 3 MV at Osaka University is capable of achieving excellent penetration and resolution for thick specimens. We obtained images of 5-μm-thick slices tilted at angles of up to 70 o for biological samples and observed stick-shaped samples of Si devices free from missing zone. These features make the ultra-HVEM an invaluable extension of 3D observation by electron tomography. In this paper, we introduce aspects of ultra-HVEM tomography; specifically, the magnification, the amount of image blurring for thick samples and the electron staining method. Finally, we give some typical applications in the fields of cell biology, pathology and electrical engineering

3D Electrical Resistivity Tomography and Mise-à-la-Masse Method as Tools for the Characterization of Vine Roots

Science.gov (United States)

Boaga, J.; Mary, B.; Peruzzo, L.; Schmutz, M.; Wu, Y.; Hubbard, S. S.; Cassiani, G.

2017-12-01

The interest on non-invasive geophysical monitoring of soil properties and root architecture is rapidly growing. Despite this, few case studies exist concerning vineyards, which are economically one of the leading sectors of agriculture. In this study, we integrate different geophysical methods in order to gain a better imaging of the vine root system, with the aim of quantifying root development, a key factor to understand roots-soil interaction and water balance. Our test site is a vineyard located in Bordeaux (France), where we adopted the Mise-a-la-Masse method (MALM) and micro-scale electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) on the same 3D electrode configuration. While ERT is a well-established technique to image changes in soil moisture content by root activity, MALM is a relatively new approach in this field of research. The idea is to inject current directly in the plant trunk and verify the resulting voltage distribution in the soil, as an effect of current distribution through the root system. In order to distinguish the root effect from other phenomena linked to the soil heterogeneities, we conducted and compared MALM measurements acquired through injecting current into the stem and into the soil near the stem. Moreover, the MALM data measured in the field were compared with numerical simulations to improve the confidence in the interpretation. Differences obtained between the stem and soil injection clearly validated the assumption that the whole root system is acting as a current pathway, thus highlighting the locations at depth where current is entering the soil from the fine roots. The simulation results indicated that the best fit is obtained through considering distributed sources with depth, reflecting a probable root zone area. The root location and volume estimated using this procedure are in agreement with vineyard experimental evidence. This work suggests the promising application of electrical methods to locate and monitor root systems. Further

The `L' Array, a method to model 3D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) data

Science.gov (United States)

Chavez Segura, R. E.; Chavez-Hernandez, G.; Delgado, C.; Tejero-Andrade, A.

2010-12-01

The electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is a method designed to calculate the distribution of apparent electrical resistivities in the subsoil by means of a great number of observations with the aim of determining an electrical image displaying the distribution of true resistivities in the subsoil. Such process can be carried out to define 2D or 3D models of the subsurface. For a 3D ERT, usually, the electrodes are placed in a squared grid keeping the distance between adjacent electrodes constant in the x and y directions. Another design employed, consists of a series of parallel lines whose space inter-lines must be smaller or equal to four times the electrode separation. The most common electrode arrays frequently employed for this type of studies are the pole-pole, pole-dipole and dipole-dipole. Unfortunately, ERT surface sampling schemes are limited by physical conditions or obstacles, like buildings, highly populated urban zones, and geologic/topographic features, where the lines of electrodes cannot be set. However, it is always necessary to characterize the subsoil beneath such anthropogenic or natural features. The ‘L’ shaped array has the main purpose to overcome such difficulties by surrounding the study area with a square of electrode lines. The measurements are obtained by switching automatically current and potential electrodes from one line to the other. Each observation adds a level of information, from one profile to the other. Once the total levels of data are completed, the opposite ‘L’ array can be measured following the same process. The complete square is computed after the parallel profiles are observed as well. At the end, the computed resistivities are combined to form a 3D matrix of observations. Such set of data can be inverted to obtain the true resistivity distribution at depth in the form of a working cube, which can be interpreted. The method was tested with theoretical models, which included a set of two resistive cubes

18F-FLT Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Imaging in Pancreatic Cancer: Determination of Tumor Proliferative Activity and Comparison with Glycolytic Activity as Measured by 18F-FDG Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Senait Aknaw Debebe

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: This phase-I imaging study examined the imaging characteristic of 3’-deoxy-3’-(18F-fluorothymidine (18F-FLT positron emission tomography (PET in patients with pancreatic cancer and comparisons were made with (18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG. The ultimate aim was to develop a molecular imaging tool that could better define the biologic characteristics of pancreas cancer, and to identify the patients who could potentially benefit from surgical resection who were deemed inoperable by conventional means of staging. Methods: Six patients with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer underwent a combined FLT and FDG computed tomography (CT PET/CT imaging protocol. The FLT PET/CT scan was performed within 1 week of FDG PET/CT imaging. Tumor uptake of a tracer was determined and compared using various techniques; statistical thresholding (z score=2.5, and fixed standardized uptake value (SUV thresholds of 1.4 and 2.5, and applying a threshold of 40% of maximum SUV (SUVmax and mean SUV (SUVmean. The correlation of functional tumor volumes (FTV between 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT was assessed using linear regression analysis. Results: It was found that there is a correlation in FTV due to metabolic and proliferation activity when using a threshold of SUV 2.5 for FDG and 1.4 for FLT (r=0.698, p=ns, but a better correlation was obtained when using SUV of 2.5 for both tracers (r=0.698, p=ns. The z score thresholding (z=2.5 method showed lower correlation between the FTVs (r=0.698, p=ns of FDG and FLT PET. Conclusion: Different tumor segmentation techniques yielded varying degrees of correlation in FTV between FLT and FDGPET images. FLT imaging may have a different meaning in determining tumor biology and prognosis.

Electrically and hybrid-induced muscle activations: effects of muscle size and fiber type

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly Stratton

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The effect of three electrical stimulation (ES frequencies (10, 35, and 50 Hz on two muscle groups with different proportions of fast and slow twitch fibers (abductor pollicis brevis (APB and vastus lateralis (VL was explored. We evaluated the acute muscles’ responses individually and during hybrid activations (ES superimposed by voluntary activations. Surface electromyography (sEMG and force measurements were evaluated as outcomes. Ten healthy adults (mean age: 24.4 ± 2.5 years participated after signing an informed consent form approved by the university Institutional Review Board. Protocols were developed to: 1 compare EMG activities during each frequency for each muscle when generating 25% Maximum Voluntary Contraction (MVC force, and 2 compare EMG activities during each frequency when additional voluntary activation was superimposed over ES-induced 25% MVC to reach 50% and 75% MVC. Empirical mode decomposition (EMD was utilized to separate ES artifacts from voluntary muscle activation. For both muscles, higher stimulation frequency (35 and 50Hz induced higher electrical output detected at 25% of MVC, suggesting more recruitment with higher frequencies. Hybrid activation generated proportionally less electrical activity than ES alone. ES and voluntary activations appear to generate two different modes of muscle recruitment. ES may provoke muscle strength by activating more fatiguing fast acting fibers, but voluntary activation elicits more muscle coordination. Therefore, during the hybrid activation, less electrical activity may be detected due to recruitment of more fatigue-resistant deeper muscle fibers, not reachable by surface EMG.

Electrically active sodium-related defect centres in silicon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahl, Espen; Madsbøll, J.; Søiland, A.-K.

2013-01-01

Electrically active defect centres related to sodium in silicon have been examined with deep level transient spectroscopy, and their recombination potential analysed with the microwave photoconductive decay technique. In order to investigate the entire silicon band gap for defect centres, both p-...

EEG, transmission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography with fluorodeoxyglucose 18F. Their use in adults with gliomas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newmark, M.E.; Theodore, W.H.; Sato, S.; De La Paz, R.; Patronas, N.; Brooks, R.; Jabbari, B.; Di Chiro, G.

1983-01-01

We evaluated the relationship between findings from EEG, transmission computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography in 23 adults with gliomas. The cortical metabolic rate was suppressed in patients with and without focal slowing. Focal delta activity was not related to involvement of gray or white matter. Rhythmic delta activity and focal attenuation of background amplitude on EEG, however, were correlated with involvement of the thalamus

Assessment of the Efficiency of Consolidation Treatment through Injections of Expanding Resins by Geotechnical Tests and 3D Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

The design and execution of consolidation treatment of settled foundations by means of injection of polyurethane expanding resins require a proper investigation of the state of the foundation soil, in order to better identify anomalies responsible for the instability. To monitor the injection process, a procedure has been developed, which involves, in combination with traditional geotechnical tests, the application of a noninvasive, geophysical technique based on the electrical resistivity, which is strongly sensitive to presence of water or voids. Three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography is a useful tool to produce effective 3D images of the foundation soils before, during, and after the injections. The achieved information allows designing the consolidation scheme and monitoring its effects on the treated volumes in real time. To better understand the complex processes induced by the treatment and to learn how variations of resistivity accompany increase of stiffness, an experiment was carried out in a full-scale test site. Injections of polyurethane expanding resin were performed as in real worksite conditions. Results confirm that the experimented approach by means of 3D resistivity imaging allows a reliable procedure of consolidation, and geotechnical tests demonstrate the increase of mechanical stiffness. PMID:26167521

Digital Signal Processor for Data Transfer and Processing in MR Tomography

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Smékal, Z.; Gescheidtová, E.; Bartušek, Karel; Dokoupil, Zdeněk

2005-01-01

Roč. 13, č. 1 (2005), s. 39-48 ISSN 1738-6438 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA2065201 Keywords : MR tomography * DSP96002 * preemphasis filter * communication interface Subject RIV: JA - Electronics ; Optoelectronics, Electrical Engineering

Association of time of occurrence of electrical heart storms with environmental physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoupel, Eliiyahu; Kusniec, Jairo; Golovchiner, Gregory; Abramson, Evgeny; Kadmon, Udi; Strasberg, Boris

2014-08-01

Many publications in recent decades have reported a temporal link between medical events and environmental physical activity. The aim of this study was to analyze the time of occurrence of electrical heart storms against levels of cosmological parameters. The sample included 82 patients (71 male) with ischemic cardiomyopathy treated with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator at a tertiary medical center in 1999-2012 (5,114 days). The time of occurrence of all electrical heart storms, defined as three or more events of ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation daily, was recorded from the defibrillator devices. Findings were analyzed against data on solar, geomagnetic, and cosmic ray (neutron) activity for the same time period obtained from space institutions in the United States and Russia. Electrical storms occurred in all months of the year, with a slight decrease in July, August, and September. Most events took place on days with lower-than-average levels of solar and geomagnetic activity and higher-than-average levels of cosmic ray (neutron) activity. There was a significant difference in mean daily cosmic ray activity between the whole observation period and the days of electrical storm activity (P = 0.0001). These data extend earlier findings on the association of the timing of cardiac events and space weather parameters to the most dangerous form of cardiac arrhythmia-electric storms. Further studies are needed to delineate the pathogenetic mechanism underlying this association. ©2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ambient seismic noise tomography for exploration seismology at Valhall

Science.gov (United States)

de Ridder, S. A.

2011-12-01

Permanent ocean-bottom cables installed at the Valhall field can repeatedly record high quality active seismic surveys. But in the absence of active seismic shooting, passive data can be recorded and streamed to the platform in real time. Here I studied 29 hours of data using seismic interferometry. I generate omni-directional Scholte-wave virtual-sources at frequencies considered very-low in the exploration seismology community (0.4-1.75 Hz). Scholte-wave group arrival times are inverted using both eikonal tomography and straight-ray tomography. The top 100 m near-surface at Valhall contains buried channels about 100 m wide that have been imaged with active seismic. Images obtained by ASNT using eikonal tomography or straight-ray tomography both contain anomalies that match these channels. When continuous recordings are made in real-time, tomography images of the shallow subsurface can be formed or updated on a daily basis, forming a very low cost near-surface monitoring system using seismic noise.

Effects of electric stimulation of the hunger center in the lateral hypothalamus on slow electric activity and spike activity of fundal and antral stomach muscles in rabbits under conditions of hunger and satiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kromin, A A; Zenina, O Yu

2013-09-01

In chronic experiments on rabbits, the effect of electric stimulation of the hunger center in the lateral hypothalamus on myoelectric activity of the fundal and antral parts of the stomach was studied under conditions of hunger and satiation in the absence of food. Stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus in rabbits subjected to 24-h food deprivation and in previously fed rabbits produced incessant seeking behavior, which was followed by reorganization of the structure of temporal organization of slow wave electric activity of muscles of the stomach body and antrum specific for hungry and satiated animals. Increased hunger motivation during electric stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus manifested in the structure of temporal organization of slow wave electric activity of the stomach body and antrum muscles in rabbits subjected to 24-h food deprivation in the replacement of bimodal distribution of slow wave periods to a trimodal type typical of 2-day deprivation, while transition from satiation to hunger caused by electric stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus was associated with a shift from monomodal distributions of slow wave periods to a bimodal type typical of 24-h deprivation. Reorganization of the structure of temporal organization of slow wave electric activity of the stomach body and antrum muscles during electric stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus was determined by descending inhibitory influences of food motivational excitation on activity of the myogenic pacemaker of the lesser curvature of the stomach.

Disease activity and 18F-FDG uptake in organising pneumonia: semi-quantitative evaluation using computed tomography and positron emission tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tateishi, Ukihide; Arai, Yasuaki; Hasegawa, Tadashi; Seki, Kunihiko; Terauchi, Takashi; Moriyama, Noriyuki

2006-01-01

Purpose: The present study was conducted to evaluate whether 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in combination with computed tomography (CT) reflects disease activity in patients with organising pneumonia.Methods: Eighty-eight subjects who were normal (n=66) or who had proven organising pneumonia (n=22) underwent FDG-PET and CT imaging. The subjects included 55 men and 33 women, ranging in age from 24 to 63 years (mean 47 years). PET and CT data sets were digitally fused using a conformational PET/CT fusion algorithm. All scans were evaluated independently by two chest radiologists who were unaware of other clinical data. The visual score, maximal and mean standardised uptake value (SUV), and maximal and mean lesion-to-normal tissue ratio (LNR) were calculated. The imaging results were compared with the laboratory and pulmonary function test results. The inflammatory cells in the lesions were quantified immunohistochemically. The visual score, maximal and mean SUV, and maximal and mean LNR of the patients with organising pneumonia were significantly higher than those of the normal subjects. The patients with air-space consolidation had a significantly higher SUV than those without air-space consolidation (mean±SD 3.08±0.39 vs 2.35±0.56; p + cells was positively correlated with the maximal SUV (r=0.632, p + T lymphocytes also showed positive correlations with the maximal SUV (r=0.540, p<0.01) and the maximal LNR (r=0.547, p<0.01). Patients with organising pneumonia have an enhanced FDG accumulation which reflects the degree of disease activity. (orig.)

Integrated electromagnetic (EM) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) geophysical studies of environmental impact of Awotan dumpsite in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Osinowo, Olawale Olakunle; Falufosi, Michael Oluseyi; Omiyale, Eniola Oluwatosin

2018-04-01

This study attempts to establish the level of contamination caused by the decomposition of wastes by defining the lateral distribution and the vertical limit of leachate induced zone of anomalous conductivity distribution within the subsurface through the analyses of Electromagnetic (EM) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) data, generated from the integrated geophysical survey over Awotan landfill dumpsite, in Ibadan, southwest Nigeria. Nine (9) EM and ERT profiles each were established within and around the Awotan landfill site. EM data were acquire at 5 m station interval using 10 m, 20 m and 40 m inter-coil spacings, while ERT stations were occupied at 2 m electrode spacing using dipole-dipole electrode configuration. The near perfect agreement between the two sets of data generated from the EM and ERT surveys over the Awotan landfill site as well as the subsurface imaging ability of these geophysical methods to delineate the region of elevated contamination presented in the form of anomalously high apparent ground conductivity and low subsurface resistivity distribution, suggest the importance of integrating electromagnetic and electrical resistivity investigation techniques for environmental studies and more importantly for selecting appropriate landfill dump site location such with ability to retain the generated contaminants and thus prevent environmental pollution.

Use of electrical tomography methods to determinate the extension and main migration routes of uncontrolled landfill leachates in fractured areas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casado, Ismael, E-mail: iscaferr@gmail.com [Department of Petrology, Geochemistry and Geological Prospectio, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès s/n, 08030 Barcelona (Spain); Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Miami University, 501 East High Street, 45056 Oxford, OH (United States); Mahjoub, Himi [Department of Petrology, Geochemistry and Geological Prospectio, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès s/n, 08030 Barcelona (Spain); Ecole Nationale des Sciences Appliquées d' Al Hoceima (ENSAH), University Mohammed Premier, Ajdir, Al Hoceima (Morocco); Lovera, Raul [Department of Petrology, Geochemistry and Geological Prospectio, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès s/n, 08030 Barcelona (Spain); Fernández, Jesús, E-mail: jfernandezc@aragon.es [Department of Agriculture, Ranching and Environment, Diputación General de Aragon (DGA), Plaza de San Pedro Nolasco, 7, 50071 Zaragoza (Spain); Casas, Albert [Department of Petrology, Geochemistry and Geological Prospectio, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès s/n, 08030 Barcelona (Spain)

2015-02-15

This study focuses on the uses of the electrical tomography and its relationship with hydrochemical data in order to characterize contaminated groundwater flows in fractured aquifers. The studied area is contaminated with different hazardous substances like lyndanes, organochlorinated compounds and benzenes coming from the old non-controlled Sardas landfill. The enormous volumes of wastes filling the landfill have generated a convoluted mixture of leachates. Due to the lack of a landfill liner, the leachates have migrated through the fractured Eocene marls towards the Gallego River. The striking correlation between high concentrations of polluted groundwater and low electrical resistivity of the subsurface (< 8 Ω·m) allows defining the principal contaminant migration route thanks to the distribution of these conductive anomalies. This mapping verifies that there is intense tectonical–structural control of the leachate migration, because the deep migration presents the same direction as the geological axis fold. - Highlights: • The outcrop topographic reconstruction is done using cores and aerial photographs. • Hydrochemical and geophysical data allow defining two leachate migration paths. • Conductive anomalies in ERT are linked to high contaminant concentration. • The distribution of conductive anomalies defines the fractured basement migration. • The plume direction reflects important tectonic control in the migration process.

An Lq–Lp optimization framework for image reconstruction of electrical resistance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Jia; Xu, Yanbin; Dong, Feng

2014-01-01

Image reconstruction in electrical resistance tomography (ERT) is an ill-posed and nonlinear problem, which is easily affected by measurement noise. The regularization method with L 2 constraint term or L 1 constraint term is often used to solve the inverse problem of ERT. It shows that the reconstruction method with L 2 regularization puts smoothness to obtain stability in the image reconstruction process, which is blurry at the interface of different conductivities. The regularization method with L 1 norm is powerful at dealing with the over-smoothing effects, which is beneficial in obtaining a sharp transaction in conductivity distribution. To find the reason for these effects, an L q –L p optimization framework (1 ⩽ q ⩽ 2, 1 ⩽ p ⩽ 2) for the image reconstruction of ERT is presented in this paper. The L q –L p optimization framework is solved based on an approximation handling with Gauss–Newton iteration algorithm. The optimization framework is tested for image reconstruction of ERT with different models and the effects of the L p regularization term on the quality of the reconstructed images are discussed with both simulation and experiment. By comparing the reconstructed results with different p in the regularization term, it is found that a large penalty is implemented on small data in the solution when p is small and a lesser penalty is implemented on small data in the solution when p is larger. It also makes the reconstructed images smoother and more easily affected by noise when p is larger. (paper)

Positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging and rheumatoid arthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shi-Cun; Xie, Qiang; Lv, Wei-Fu

2014-03-01

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a phenotypically heterogeneous, chronic, destructive inflammatory disease of the synovial joints. A number of imaging tools are currently available for evaluation of inflammatory conditions. By targeting the upgraded glucose uptake of infiltrating granulocytes and tissue macrophages, positron emission tomography/computed tomography with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose ((18) F-FDG PET/CT) is available to delineate inflammation with high sensitivity. Recently, several studies have indicated that FDG uptake in affected joints reflects the disease activity of RA. In addition, usage of FDG PET for the sensitive detection and monitoring of the response to treatment has been reported. Combined FDG PET/CT enables the detailed assessment of disease in large joints throughout the whole body. These unique capabilities of FDG PET/CT imaging are also able to detect RA-complicated diseases. Therefore, PET/CT has become an excellent ancillary tool to assess disease activity and prognosis in RA. © 2014 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Evaluation of planar 3D electrical capacitance tomography: from single-plane to dual-plane configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, Hsin-Yu; Qiu, Chang-Hua; Soleimani, Manuchehr

2015-01-01

Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that is sensitive to the dielectric permittivity property of an object. Conventional ECT systems have a circular/cylindrical or rectangular geometry, in which the electrode plates are usually spaced equally around the tank. It is the most common configuration as it can be easily applied to industrial pipelines. However, under some circumstances, the full access to the imaging geometry may not be applicable due to the limitation of the process area. In those cases, and with limited access, planar ECT sensors can fit the process structure if access to only one side is possible. A single-plane ECT configuration has been proposed for such applications. However, the planar array often suffers from a lack of sensitivity and difficulty with depth detection. To better understand these limitations we investigate the imaging performance from the single-plane ECT to dual-plane ECT structure. The limitations and constraints of the planar configuration will also be discussed. Several experiments were conducted using both single-plane and dual-plane configurations to evaluate the potential applications. The initial results are promising, and the quality of the reconstructed images are compared with the real condition for process validation. (paper)

Rotational electrical impedance tomography using electrodes with limited surface coverage provides window for multimodal sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Lehti-Polojärvi, Mari; Koskela, Olli; Seppänen, Aku; Figueiras, Edite; Hyttinen, Jari

2018-02-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is an imaging method that could become a valuable tool in multimodal applications. One challenge in simultaneous multimodal imaging is that typically the EIT electrodes cover a large portion of the object surface. This paper investigates the feasibility of rotational EIT (rEIT) in applications where electrodes cover only a limited angle of the surface of the object. In the studied rEIT, the object is rotated a full 360° during a set of measurements to increase the information content of the data. We call this approach limited angle full revolution rEIT (LAFR-rEIT). We test LAFR-rEIT setups in two-dimensional geometries with computational and experimental data. We use up to 256 rotational measurement positions, which requires a new way to solve the forward and inverse problem of rEIT. For this, we provide a modification, available for EIDORS, in the supplementary material. The computational results demonstrate that LAFR-rEIT with eight electrodes produce the same image quality as conventional 16-electrode rEIT, when data from an adequate number of rotational measurement positions are used. Both computational and experimental results indicate that the novel LAFR-rEIT provides good EIT with setups with limited surface coverage and a small number of electrodes.

Assessing the performance of a cold region evapotranspiration landfill cover using lysimetry and electrical resistivity tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Schnabel, William E; Munk, Jens; Abichou, Tarek; Barnes, David; Lee, William; Pape, Barbara

2012-01-01

In order to test the efficacy ofa cold-region evapotranspiration (ET) landfill cover against a conventional compacted clay (CCL) landfill cover, two pilot scale covers were constructed in side-by-side basin lysimeters (20m x 10m x 2m) at a site in Anchorage, Alaska. The primary basis of comparison between the two lysimeters was the percolation of moisture from the bottom of each lysimeter. Between 30 April 2005 and 16 May 2006, 51.5 mm of water percolated from the ET lysimeter, compared to 50.6 mm for the the CCL lysimeter. This difference was not found to be significant at the 95% confidence level. As part of the project, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was utilized to measure and map soil moisture in ET lysimeter cross sections. The ERT-generated cross sections were found to accurately predict the onset and duration of lysimeter percolation. Moreover, ERT-generated soil moisture values demonstrated a strong linear relationship to lysimeter percolation rates (R-Squared = 0.92). Consequently, ERT is proposed as a reliable tool for assessing the function of field scale ET covers in the absence of drainage measurement devices.

Hardware Design of Tuber Electrical Resistance Tomography System Based on the Soil Impedance Test and Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Shuyi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The hardware design of tuber electrical resistance tomography (TERT system is one of the key research problems of TERT data acquisition system. The TERT system can be applied to the tuber growth process monitoring in agriculture, i.e., the TERT data acquisition system can realize the real imaging of tuber plants in soil. In TERT system, the imaging tuber and soil multiphase medium is quite complexity. So, the impedance test and analysis of soil multiphase medium is very important to the design of sensitive array sensor subsystem and signals processing circuits. In the paper, the soil impedance test experimental is described and the results are analysed. The data acquisition hardware system is designed based on the result of soil medium impedance test and analysis. In the hardware design, the switch control chip ADG508, the instrumentation amplifier AD620 and programmable amplifier AD526 are employed. In the meantime, the phase locked loop technique for signal demodulation is introduced. The initial data collection is given and discussed under the conditions of existing plant tuber and no existing plant tuber. Conclusions of the hardware design of TERT system are presented.

Potential of electrical resistivity tomography and muon density imaging to study spatio-temporal variations in the sub-surface

Science.gov (United States)

Lesparre, Nolwenn; Cabrera, Justo; Courbet, Christelle

2015-04-01

We explore the capacity of electrical resistivity tomography and muon density imaging to detect spatio-temporal variations of the medium surrounding a regional fault crossing the underground platform of Tournemire (Aveyron, France). The studied Cernon fault is sub-vertical and intersects perpendicularly the tunnel of Tournemire and extends to surface. The fault separates clay and limestones layers of the Dogger from limestones layers of the Lias. The Cernon fault presents a thickness of a ten of meters and drives water from an aquifer circulating at the top of the Dogger clay layer to the tunnel. An experiment combining electrical resistivity imaging and muon density imaging was setup taking advantage of the tunnel presence. A specific array of electrodes were set up, adapted for the characterization of the fault. Electrodes were placed along the tunnel as well as at the surface above the tunnel on both sides of the fault in order to acquire data in transmission across the massif to better cover the sounded medium. Electrical resistivity is particularly sensitive to water presence in the medium and thus carry information on the main water flow paths and on the pore space saturation. At the same time a muon sensor was placed in the tunnel under the fault region to detect muons coming from the sky after their crossing of the rock medium. Since the muon flux is attenuated as function of the quantity of matter crossed, muons flux measurements supply information on the medium average density along muons paths. The sensor presents 961 angles of view so measurements performed from one station allows a comparison of the muon flux temporal variations along the fault as well as in the medium surrounding the fault. As the water saturation of the porous medium fluctuates through time the medium density might indeed present sensible variations as shown by gravimetric studies. During the experiment important rainfalls occurred leading variations of the medium properties

T & I--Electric Motors. Kit No. 621. Instructor's Manual and Student Learning Activity Guide.

Science.gov (United States)

Bomar, William

This instructor's manual and student learning activity guide comprise a kit for trade and industrial education (T & I) activities on electric motors. Purpose stated for the activities is to teach the student the four basic types of electric motors, the advantages and disadvantages of each, the types of jobs each can perform, and how to disassemble…

Estimation of Material Distribution at the Premixing Stage in the Steam Explosion Event using the Electric Tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jae Young; Seo, S. W.; Lee, C. H. [Handong Global Univ., Pohang (Korea, Republic of)

2008-02-15

Axixal tomography code which is developed in 2005-06, is improved through the present research. In the first year, the objects of project are the measurement of water level and measurement of bubble distribution that are significant measurement factor used in axial tomography. To improve the previous axial tomography code, we gave attention to inverse algorithm. Inverse algorithm is the method to solve a system of equations that has many unknowns than the number of equations. The system of equations is not solved exactly. To find a more exact approximated solution of the system of equations, it is proposed to the number of equations increasing. If the number of electrode is increased, image reconstruction results are better than the previous one, because of the number of equations corresponded to the number of independent measurement. Therefore, the axial tomography code was changed by increase in the number of electrode. And phase distribution was reconstructed by new axial tomography code. As the results, image reconstruction performance is improved. The water level and bubble distribution is measured more precisely than the previous study.

Application of internal electrodes to the oesophageal and tracheal tube in an animal trial: evaluation of its clinical and technical potentiality in electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Czaplik, Michael; Antink, Christoph Hoog; Rossaint, Rolf; Leonhardt, Steffen

2014-06-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is of potential medical interest e.g., to optimize ventilator settings during mechanical ventilation. Nevertheless there are still several challenges. Although electrode belts are commonly used and promoted, they are not necessarily adequate for the long-term monitoring of patients in intensive-care units (ICU). ICU patients are usually equipped with breathing tubes and feeding tubes, ideal surfaces to attach EIT electrodes to. The aim of our study was therefore to examine the potentiality of internal electrodes in a porcine animal trial. Following an animal trial protocol studying acute lung injury, additional EIT measurements were obtained both with conventional electrodes set upon a rubber belt and after having moved the electrodes internally in seven pigs. For this reason the two most dorsally located electrodes were selected. An adjacent stimulation and measurement pattern was used, and resulting voltages in the time and frequency domains as well as within reconstructed images were examined to compare perfusion and ventilation data qualitatively and quantitatively. Particularly, lung morphology as well as signal strength for both the mediastinal and lung region were studied. All animals were submitted to the additional protocol without any adverse events. Distinguishability of lungs was improved in reconstructed frames. The resulting sensitivity of measured electrical impedance was enhanced around the mediastinal region and even cardiac-related activity was significantly increased by a factor of up to 6. In conclusion the application of internal electrodes appears to be beneficial for diverse clinical purposes and should be addressed in further studies.

Multi-Electrode Resistivity Probe for Investigation of Local Temperature Inside Metal Shell Battery Cells via Resistivity: Experiments and Evaluation of Electrical Resistance Tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaobin Hong

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Direct Current (DC electrical resistivity is a material property that is sensitive to temperature changes. In this paper, the relationship between resistivity and local temperature inside steel shell battery cells (two commercial 10 Ah and 4.5 Ah lithium-ion cells is innovatively studied by Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT. The Schlumberger configuration in ERT is applied to divide the cell body into several blocks distributed in different levels, where the apparent resistivities are measured by multi-electrode surface probes. The investigated temperature ranges from −20 to 80 °C. Experimental results have shown that the resistivities mainly depend on temperature changes in each block of the two cells used and the function of the resistivity and temperature can be fitted to the ERT-measurement results in the logistical-plot. Subsequently, the dependence of resistivity on the state of charge (SOC is investigated, and the SOC range of 70%–100% has a remarkable impact on the resistivity at low temperatures. The proposed approach under a thermal cool down regime is demonstrated to monitor the local transient temperature.

Electricity generation from wetlands with activated carbon bioanode

Science.gov (United States)

Sudirjo, E.; Buisman, C. J. N.; Strik, D. P. B. T. B.

2018-03-01

Paddy fields are potential non-tidal wetlands to apply Plant Microbial Fuel Cell (PMFC) technology. World widely they cover about 160 million ha of which 13.3 million ha is located in Indonesia. With the PMFC, in-situ electricity is generated by a bioanode with electrochemically active bacteria which use primary the organic matter supplied by the plant (e.g. as rhizodeposits and plant residues). One of limitations when installing a PMFC in a non-tidal wetland is the usage of “expensive” large amounts of electrodes to overcome the poor conductivity of wet soils. However, in a cultivated wetland such as rice paddy field, it is possible to alter soil composition. Adding a conductive carbon material such as activated carbon is believed to improve soil conductivity with minimum impact on plant vitality. The objective of this research was to study the effect of activated carbon as an alternative bioanode material on the electricity output and plants vitality. Lab result shows that activated carbon can be a potential alternative for bioanode material. It can continuously deliver current on average 1.54 A/m3 anode (0.26 A/m2 PGA or 66 mW/m2 PGA) for 98 days. Based on this result the next step is to do a test of this technology in the real paddy fields.

Report of two cases of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography appearance of hibernoma: A rare benign tumor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agrawal, Archi; Kembhavi, Seema; Purandare, Nilendu; Shah, Sneha; Rangarajan, Venkatesh

2014-01-01

False-positive findings are commonly seen in positron emission tomography computed tomography imaging. One of the most common false positive finding is uptake of fluorodeoxyglucose in brown adipose tissue. Herein, we report two cases with incidentally detected hibernomas-a brown fat containing tumor with metabolic activity

Geophysical Investigation using Two Dimensional Electrical Resistivity Tomography method to delineate Subsurface Geological Structures at Dudhkoshi-II (230 MW) Hydroelectric Project, Solukhumbu District, Eastern Nepal

Science.gov (United States)

Ghimire, H.; Bhusal, U. C.; Khatiwada, B.; Pandey, D.

2017-12-01

Geophysical investigation using two dimensional electrical resistivity tomography (2D-ERT) method plays a significant role in determining the subsurface resistivity distribution by making measurement on the ground surface. This method was carried out at Dudhkoshi-II (230 MW) Hydroelectric Project, lies on Lesser Himalayan region of the Eastern Nepal to delineate the nature of the subsurface geology to assess its suitability for the construction of dam, desanding basin and powerhouse. The main objective of the proposed study consists of mapping vertical as well as horizontal variations of electrical resistivity to enable detection of the boundaries between unconsolidated materials and rocks of the different resistivity, possible geologic structures, such as possible presence of faults, fractures, and voids in intake and powerhouse area. For this purpose, the (WDJD-4 Multi-function Digital DC Resistivity/IP) equipment was used with Wenner array (60 electrodes). To fulfill these objectives of the study, the site area was mapped by Nine ERT profiles with different profile length and space between electrodes was 5 m. The depth of the investigation was 50 m. The acquired data were inverted to tomogram sections using tomographic inversion with RES2DINV commercial software. The Tomography sections show that the subsurface is classified into distinct geo-electric layers of dry unconsolidated overburden, saturated overburden, fractured rock and fresh bedrock of phyllites with quartzite and gneiss with different resistivity values. There were no voids and faults in the study area. Thickness of overburden at different region found to be different. Most of the survey area has bedrock of phyllites with quartzite; gneiss is also present in some location at intake area. Bedrock is found at the varies depth of 5-8 m at dam axis, 20-32 m at desanding basin and 3-10 m at powerhouse area. These results are confirmed and verified by using several boreholes data were drilled on the

Detection of thoracic vascular structures by electrical impedance tomography: a systematic assessment of prominence peak analysis of impedance changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wodack, K H; Buehler, S; Nishimoto, S A; Graessler, M F; Behem, C R; Waldmann, A D; Mueller, B; Böhm, S H; Kaniusas, E; Thürk, F; Maerz, A; Trepte, C J C; Reuter, D A

2018-02-28

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive and radiation-free bedside monitoring technology, primarily used to monitor lung function. First experimental data shows that the descending aorta can be detected at different thoracic heights and might allow the assessment of central hemodynamics, i.e. stroke volume and pulse transit time. First, the feasibility of localizing small non-conductive objects within a saline phantom model was evaluated. Second, this result was utilized for the detection of the aorta by EIT in ten anesthetized pigs with comparison to thoracic computer tomography (CT). Two EIT belts were placed at different thoracic positions and a bolus of hypertonic saline (10 ml, 20%) was administered into the ascending aorta while EIT data were recorded. EIT images were reconstructed using the GREIT model, based on the individual's thoracic contours. The resulting EIT images were analyzed pixel by pixel to identify the aortic pixel, in which the bolus caused the highest transient impedance peak in time. In the phantom, small objects could be located at each position with a maximal deviation of 0.71 cm. In vivo, no significant differences between the aorta position measured by EIT and the anatomical aorta location were obtained for both measurement planes if the search was restricted to the dorsal thoracic region of interest (ROIs). It is possible to detect the descending aorta at different thoracic levels by EIT using an intra-aortic bolus of hypertonic saline. No significant differences in the position of the descending aorta on EIT images compared to CT images were obtained for both EIT belts.

Hazard of electrostatic generation in a pneumatic conveying system: electrostatic effects on the accuracy of electrical capacitance tomography measurements and generation of spark

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Yan; Wang, Chi-Hwa; Liang, Yung Chii

2008-01-01

The study of the hazard of electrostatic generation in pneumatic conveying systems was attempted by examining the sensitivity of electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) and the phenomena of spark generation due to strong electrostatics. The influence on ECT measurement accuracy of an electrostatic charge was analysed with reference to a switch capacitor configuration model. Consequently, it was found that the electrostatic charge introduced at the bend with sharp angles influenced the ECT results most significantly in pneumatic conveying systems, especially for the cases where a spark was generated. The investigation of spark generation indicated that a strong electrostatic charge can cause major discharges inside or outside the pipeline to damage the experimental instrument in severe cases

Quantification of atherosclerotic plaque activity and vascular inflammation using [18-F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT).

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, Nehal N; Torigian, Drew A; Gelfand, Joel M; Saboury, Babak; Alavi, Abass

2012-05-02

Conventional non-invasive imaging modalities of atherosclerosis such as coronary artery calcium (CAC) and carotid intimal medial thickness (C-IMT) provide information about the burden of disease. However, despite multiple validation studies of CAC, and C-IMT, these modalities do not accurately assess plaque characteristics, and the composition and inflammatory state of the plaque determine its stability and, therefore, the risk of clinical events. [(18)F]-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) imaging using positron-emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) has been extensively studied in oncologic metabolism. Studies using animal models and immunohistochemistry in humans show that FDG-PET/CT is exquisitely sensitive for detecting macrophage activity, an important source of cellular inflammation in vessel walls. More recently, we and others have shown that FDG-PET/CT enables highly precise, novel measurements of inflammatory activity of activity of atherosclerotic plaques in large and medium-sized arteries. FDG-PET/CT studies have many advantages over other imaging modalities: 1) high contrast resolution; 2) quantification of plaque volume and metabolic activity allowing for multi-modal atherosclerotic plaque quantification; 3) dynamic, real-time, in vivo imaging; 4) minimal operator dependence. Finally, vascular inflammation detected by FDG-PET/CT has been shown to predict cardiovascular (CV) events independent of traditional risk factors and is also highly associated with overall burden of atherosclerosis. Plaque activity by FDG-PET/CT is modulated by known beneficial CV interventions such as short term (12 week) statin therapy as well as longer term therapeutic lifestyle changes (16 months). The current methodology for quantification of FDG uptake in atherosclerotic plaque involves measurement of the standardized uptake value (SUV) of an artery of interest and of the venous blood pool in order to calculate a target to background ratio (TBR), which is

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

Non-Invasive Electrical Impedance Tomography for Multi-Scale Detection of Liver Fat Content

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Yuan; Abiri, Parinaz; Zhang, Shell; Chang, Chih-Chiang; Kaboodrangi, Amir H.; Li, Rongsong; Sahib, Ashish K.; Bui, Alex; Kumar, Rajesh; Woo, Mary; Li, Zhaoping; Packard, René R. Sevag; Tai, Yu-Chong; Hsiai, Tzung K.

2018-01-01

Introduction: Obesity is associated with an increased risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). While Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive gold standard to detect fatty liver, we demonstrate a low-cost and portable electrical impedance tomography (EIT) approach with circumferential abdominal electrodes for liver conductivity measurements. Methods and Results: A finite element model (FEM) was established to simulate decremental liver conductivity in response to incremental liver lipid content. To validate the FEM simulation, we performed EIT imaging on an ex vivo porcine liver in a non-conductive tank with 32 circumferentially-embedded electrodes, demonstrating a high-resolution output given a priori information on location and geometry. To further examine EIT capacity in fatty liver detection, we performed EIT measurements in age- and gender-matched New Zealand White rabbits (3 on normal, 3 on high-fat diets). Liver conductivity values were significantly distinct following the high-fat diet (p = 0.003 vs. normal diet, n=3), accompanied by histopathological evidence of hepatic fat accumulation. We further assessed EIT imaging in human subjects with MRI quantification for fat volume fraction based on Dixon procedures, demonstrating average liver conductivity of 0.331 S/m for subjects with low Body-Mass Index (BMI 25 kg/m²). Conclusion: We provide both the theoretical and experimental framework for a multi-scale EIT strategy to detect liver lipid content. Our preliminary studies pave the way to enhance the spatial resolution of EIT as a marker for fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome. PMID:29556346

Unilateral empyema impacts the assessment of regional lung ventilation by electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bläser, D; Becher, T; Schädler, D; Elke, G; Weiler, N; Frerichs, I; Pulletz, S

2014-01-01

Several studies have shown the ability of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to assess regional ventilation distribution in human lungs. Fluid accumulation in the pleural space as in empyema, typically occurring on one chest side, may influence the distribution of ventilation and the corresponding EIT findings. The aim of our study was to examine this effect on the assessment of regional ventilation by EIT. Six patients suffering from unilateral empyema and intubated with a double-lumen endotracheal tube were studied. EIT data were acquired during volume-controlled ventilation with bilateral (tidal volume (V T ): 800 ml) and unilateral ventilation (V T : 400 ml) of the right and left lungs. Mean tidal amplitudes of the EIT signal were calculated in all image pixels. The sums of these values, expressed as relative impedance change (rel. ΔZ), were then determined in whole images and functionally defined regions-of-interest (ROI). The sums of rel. ΔZ calculated during the two cases of one-lung ventilation either on the affected or unaffected side were significantly smaller than during bilateral ventilation. However, in contrast to previous findings in patients with no pleural pathology, very low values of rel. ΔZ were found when the lung on the affected side was ventilated. ROI-based analysis rendered higher values than the whole-image analysis in this case, nonetheless, the values were significantly smaller than when the unaffected side was ventilated in spite of identical V T . In conclusion, our results indicate that the presence of empyema may affect the quantitative evaluation of regional lung ventilation by EIT. (paper)

Preterm labor--modeling the uterine electrical activity from cellular level to surface recording.

Science.gov (United States)

Rihana, S; Marque, C

2008-01-01

Uterine electrical activity is correlated to the appearance of uterine contractions. forceful contractions appear at the end of term. Therefore, understanding the genesis and the propagation of uterine electrical activity may provide an efficient tool to diagnose preterm labor. Moreover, the control of uterine excitability seems to have important consequences in the control of preterm labor. Modeling the electrical activity in uterine tissue is thus an important step in understanding physiological uterine contractile mechanisms and to permit uterine EMG simulation. Our model presented in this paper, incorporates ion channel models at the cell level, the reaction diffusion equations at the tissue level and the spatiotemporal integration at the uterine EMG reconstructed level. This model validates some key physiological observation hypotheses concerning uterine excitability and propagation.

PARTOS - Passive and Active Ray TOmography Software: description and preliminary analysis using TOMO-ETNA experiment’s dataset

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejandro Díaz-Moreno

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this manuscript we present the new friendly seismic tomography software based on joint inversion of active and passive seismic sources called PARTOS (Passive Active Ray TOmography Software. This code has been developed on the base of two well-known widely used tomographic algorithms (LOTOS and ATOM-3D, providing a robust set of algorithms. The dataset used to set and test the program has been provided by TOMO-ETNA experiment. TOMO-ETNA database is a large, high-quality dataset that includes active and passive seismic sources recorded during a period of 4 months in 2014. We performed a series of synthetic tests in order to estimate the resolution and robustness of the solutions. Real data inversion has been carried out using 3 different subsets: i active data; ii passive data; and iii joint dataset. Active database is composed by a total of 16,950 air-gun shots during 1 month and passive database includes 452 local and regional earthquakes recorded during 4 months. This large dataset provides a high ray density within the study region. The combination of active and passive seismic data, together with the high quality of the database, permits to obtain a new tomographic approach of the region under study never done before. An additional user-guide of PARTOS software is provided in order to facilitate the implementation for new users.

Chronic destructive pulmonary tuberculosis: assessment of disease activity by computed tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nam, Kyung Jin; Jeong, Yeon Joo [Dept. of Radiology, Pusan National Univ. Hospital, Pusan National Univ. School of Medicine and Medical Research Inst., Pusan (Korea, Republic of)], E-mail: jeongyj@pusan.ac.kr; Kim, Yeong Dae; I, Hoseok [Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Pusan National Univ. Hospital, Pusan National Univ. School of Medicine and Medical Research Inst., Pusan (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Kun-Il; Lee, Jun Woo [Dept. of Radiology, Pusan National Univ. Yangsan Hospital, Pusan National Univ. School of Medicine, Pusan (Korea, Republic of); Park, Hye Kyung [Internal Medicine, and Pusan National Univ. Hospital, Pusan National Univ. School of Medicine and Medical Research Inst., Pusan (Korea, Republic of)

2012-11-15

Background Determination of disease activity of chronic destructive pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) on imaging studies can be difficult because several imaging findings due to disease chronicity such as a residual cavity can be misinterpreted as an active disease. Purpose To evaluate computed tomography (CT) findings to predict active disease in patients with chronic destructive pulmonary TB. Material and Methods CT findings of 36 patients with chronic active destructive pulmonary TB and 78 patients with chronic inactive destructive pulmonary TB were reviewed and their patterns of lung lesions were compared. Statistical comparisons were performed using chi-square and Student's T tests for univariate analyses, and a stepwise logistic regression method was used for multivariate analysis. Results Based on univariate analyses, cavitary destruction (P = 0.015), non-branching centrilobular nodules (P < 0.001), tree-in-bud pattern (P < 0.001), airspace nodules (P < 0.001), and cavities in other lobes (P = 0.001) were more frequently seen in chronic active destructive pulmonary TB. A stepwise logistic regression analysis demonstrated that tree-in-bud pattern (odds ratio, 52.3; 95% confidence interval, 6.2-437.2; P < 0.001) were significant CT findings associated with active disease. Conclusion Tree-in-bud pattern were the most characteristic CT findings to predict active disease in patients with chronic destructive pulmonary TB.

Selective interference with pacemaker activity by electrical dental devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, C S; Leonelli, F M; Latham, E

1998-01-01

We sought to determine whether electromagnetic interference with cardiac pacemakers occurs during the operation of contemporary electrical dental equipment. Fourteen electrical dental devices were tested in vitro for their ability to interfere with the function of two Medtronics cardiac pacemakers (one a dual-chamber, bipolar Thera 7942 pacemaker, the other a single-chamber, unipolar Minix 8340 pacemaker). Atrial and ventricular pacemaker output and electrocardiographic activity were monitored by means of telemetry with the use of a Medtronics 9760/90 programmer. Atrial and ventricular pacing were inhibited by electromagnetic interference produced by the electrosurgical unit up to a distance of 10 cm, by the ultrasonic bath cleaner up to 30 cm, and by the magnetorestrictive ultrasonic scalers up to 37.5 cm. In contrast, operation of the amalgamator, electric pulp tester, composite curing light, dental handpieces, electric toothbrush, microwave oven, dental chair and light, ENAC ultrasonic instrument, radiography unit, and sonic scaler did not alter pacing rate or rhythm. These results suggest that certain electrosurgical and ultrasonic instruments may produce deleterious effects in medically fragile patients with cardiac pacemakers.

Actively Controlling the Topological Transition of Dispersion Based on Electrically Controllable Metamaterials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiwei Guo

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Topological transition of the iso-frequency contour (IFC from a closed ellipsoid to an open hyperboloid provides unique capabilities for controlling the propagation of light. However, the ability to actively tune these effects remains elusive, and the related experimental observations are highly desirable. Here, a tunable electric IFC in a periodic structure composed of graphene/dielectric multilayers is investigated by tuning the chemical potential of the graphene layer. Specially, we present the actively controlled transportation in two kinds of anisotropic zero-index media containing perfect electric conductor/perfect magnetic conductor impurities. Finally, by adding variable capacitance diodes into a two-dimensional transmission-line system, we present an experimental demonstration of the actively controlled magnetic topological transition of dispersion based on electrically controllable metamaterials. With the increase in voltage, we measure the different emission patterns from a point source inside the structure and observe the phase-transition process of IFCs. The realization of an actively tuned topological transition will open up a new avenue in the dynamical control of metamaterials.

Spatial and temporal variations of thaw layer thickness and its controlling factors identified using time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography and hydro-thermal modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Anh Phuong; Dafflon, Baptiste; Bisht, Gautam; Hubbard, Susan S.

2018-06-01

Quantitative understanding of controls on thaw layer thickness (TLT) dynamics in the Arctic peninsula is essential for predictive understanding of permafrost degradation feedbacks to global warming and hydrobiochemical processes. This study jointly interprets electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements and hydro-thermal numerical simulation results to assess spatiotemporal variations of TLT and to determine its controlling factors in Barrow, Alaska. Time-lapse ERT measurements along a 35-m transect were autonomously collected from 2013 to 2015 and inverted to obtain soil electrical resistivity. Based on several probe-based TLT measurements and co-located soil electrical resistivity, we estimated the electrical resistivity thresholds associated with the boundary between the thaw layer and permafrost using a grid search optimization algorithm. Then, we used the obtained thresholds to derive the TLT from all soil electrical resistivity images. The spatiotemporal analysis of the ERT-derived TLT shows that the TLT at high-centered polygons (HCPs) is smaller than that at low-centered polygons (LCPs), and that both thawing and freezing occur earlier at the HCPs compared to the LCPs. In order to provide a physical explanation for dynamics in the thaw layer, we performed 1-D hydro-thermal simulations using the community land model (CLM). Simulation results showed that air temperature and precipitation jointly govern the temporal variations of TLT, while the topsoil organic content (SOC) and polygon morphology are responsible for its spatial variations. When the topsoil SOC and its thickness increase, TLT decreases. Meanwhile, at LCPs, a thicker snow layer and saturated soil contribute to a thicker TLT and extend the time needed for TLT to freeze and thaw. This research highlights the importance of combination of measurements and numerical modeling to improve our understanding spatiotemporal variations and key controls of TLT in cold regions.

Pilot-Scale Field Validation Of The Long Electrode Electrical Resistivity Tomography Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glaser, D.R.; Rucker, D.F.; Crook, N.; Loke, M.H.

2011-01-01

Field validation for the long electrode electrical resistivity tomography (LE-ERT) method was attempted in order to demonstrate the performance of the technique in imaging a simple buried target. The experiment was an approximately 1/17 scale mock-up of a region encompassing a buried nuclear waste tank on the Hanford site. The target of focus was constructed by manually forming a simulated plume within the vadose zone using a tank waste simulant. The LE-ERT results were compared to ERT using conventional point electrodes on the surface and buried within the survey domain. Using a pole-pole array, both point and long electrode imaging techniques identified the lateral extents of the pre-formed plume with reasonable fidelity, but the LE-ERT was handicapped in reconstructing the vertical boundaries. The pole-dipole and dipole-dipole arrays were also tested with the LE-ERT method and were shown to have the least favorable target properties, including the position of the reconstructed plume relative to the known plume and the intensity of false positive targets. The poor performance of the pole-dipole and dipole-dipole arrays was attributed to an inexhaustive and non-optimal coverage of data at key electrodes, as well as an increased noise for electrode combinations with high geometric factors. However, when comparing the model resolution matrix among the different acquisition strategies, the pole-dipole and dipole-dipole arrays using long electrodes were shown to have significantly higher average and maximum values than any pole-pole array. The model resolution describes how well the inversion model resolves the subsurface. Given the model resolution performance of the pole-dipole and dipole-dipole arrays, it may be worth investing in tools to understand the optimum subset of randomly distributed electrode pairs to produce maximum performance from the inversion model.

PILOT-SCALE FIELD VALIDATION OF THE LONG ELECTRODE ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY TOMOGRAPHY METHOD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

GLASER DR; RUCKER DF; CROOK N; LOKE MH

2011-07-14

Field validation for the long electrode electrical resistivity tomography (LE-ERT) method was attempted in order to demonstrate the performance of the technique in imaging a simple buried target. The experiment was an approximately 1/17 scale mock-up of a region encompassing a buried nuclear waste tank on the Hanford site. The target of focus was constructed by manually forming a simulated plume within the vadose zone using a tank waste simulant. The LE-ERT results were compared to ERT using conventional point electrodes on the surface and buried within the survey domain. Using a pole-pole array, both point and long electrode imaging techniques identified the lateral extents of the pre-formed plume with reasonable fidelity, but the LE-ERT was handicapped in reconstructing the vertical boundaries. The pole-dipole and dipole-dipole arrays were also tested with the LE-ERT method and were shown to have the least favorable target properties, including the position of the reconstructed plume relative to the known plume and the intensity of false positive targets. The poor performance of the pole-dipole and dipole-dipole arrays was attributed to an inexhaustive and non-optimal coverage of data at key electrodes, as well as an increased noise for electrode combinations with high geometric factors. However, when comparing the model resolution matrix among the different acquisition strategies, the pole-dipole and dipole-dipole arrays using long electrodes were shown to have significantly higher average and maximum values than any pole-pole array. The model resolution describes how well the inversion model resolves the subsurface. Given the model resolution performance of the pole-dipole and dipole-dipole arrays, it may be worth investing in tools to understand the optimum subset of randomly distributed electrode pairs to produce maximum performance from the inversion model.

Pancreatic β-Cell Electrical Activity and Insulin Secretion: of Mice and Men

Science.gov (United States)

Rorsman, Patrik; Ashcroft, Frances M

2018-01-01

The pancreatic β-cell plays a key role in glucose homeostasis by secreting insulin, the only hormone capable of lowering the blood glucose concentration. Impaired insulin secretion results in the chronic hyperglycaemia that characterizes type 2 diabetes (T2DM), which currently afflicts >450 million people worldwide. The healthy β-cell acts as a glucose sensor matching its output to the circulating glucose concentration. It does so via metabolically induced changes in electrical activity, which culminate in an increase in the cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration and initiation of Ca2+-dependent exocytosis of insulin-containing secretory granules. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of the β-cell transcriptome, electrical activity and insulin exocytosis. We highlight salient differences between mouse and human β-cells, provide models of how the different ion channels contribute to their electrical activity and insulin secretion, and conclude by discussing how these processes become perturbed in T2DM. PMID:29212789

Identification of different geologic units using fuzzy constrained resistivity tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Anand; Sharma, S. P.

2018-01-01

Different geophysical inversion strategies are utilized as a component of an interpretation process that tries to separate geologic units based on the resistivity distribution. In the present study, we present the results of separating different geologic units using fuzzy constrained resistivity tomography. This was accomplished using fuzzy c means, a clustering procedure to improve the 2D resistivity image and geologic separation within the iterative minimization through inversion. First, we developed a Matlab-based inversion technique to obtain a reliable resistivity image using different geophysical data sets (electrical resistivity and electromagnetic data). Following this, the recovered resistivity model was converted into a fuzzy constrained resistivity model by assigning the highest probability value of each model cell to the cluster utilizing fuzzy c means clustering procedure during the iterative process. The efficacy of the algorithm is demonstrated using three synthetic plane wave electromagnetic data sets and one electrical resistivity field dataset. The presented approach shows improvement on the conventional inversion approach to differentiate between different geologic units if the correct number of geologic units will be identified. Further, fuzzy constrained resistivity tomography was performed to examine the augmentation of uranium mineralization in the Beldih open cast mine as a case study. We also compared geologic units identified by fuzzy constrained resistivity tomography with geologic units interpreted from the borehole information.

Detection of sinkholes using 2D electrical resistivity imaging

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Schoor, Abraham M

2002-07-01

Full Text Available Sinkholes in dolomitic areas are notoriously difficult geophysical targets, and selecting an appropriate geophysical solution is not straightforward. Electrical resistivity imaging or tomography (RESTOM) is well suited to mapping sinkholes because...

Optical coherence tomography angiography indicates associations of the retinal vascular network and disease activity in multiple sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Feucht, Nikolaus; Maier, Mathias; Lepennetier, Gildas; Pettenkofer, Moritz; Wetzlmair, Carmen; Daltrozzo, Tanja; Scherm, Pauline; Zimmer, Claus; Hoshi, Muna-Miriam; Hemmer, Bernhard; Korn, Thomas; Knier, Benjamin

2018-01-01

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) may show alterations of retinal layer architecture as measured by optical coherence tomography. Little is known about changes in the retinal vascular network during MS. To characterize retinal vessel structures in patients with MS and CIS and to test for associations with MS disease activity. In all, 42 patients with MS or CIS and 50 healthy controls underwent retinal optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) with analysis of the superficial and deep vascular plexuses and the choriocapillaries. We tested OCT-A parameters for associations with retinal layer volumes, history of optic neuritis (ON), and the retrospective disease activity. Inner retinal layer volumes correlated positively with the density of both the superficial and deep vascular plexuses. Eyes of MS/CIS patients with a history of ON revealed reduced vessel densities of the superficial and deep vascular plexuses as compared to healthy controls. Higher choriocapillary vessel densities were associated with ongoing inflammatory disease activity during 24 months prior to OCT-A examination in MS and CIS patients. Optic neuritis is associated with rarefaction of the superficial and deep retinal vessels. Alterations of the choriocapillaries might be linked to disease activity in MS.

Electrically active defects in solar grade multicrystalline silicon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahl, Espen

2013-01-01

Shortage in high purity silicon feedstock, as a result of the formidable increased demand for solar cell devices during the last two decades, can be mitigated by the introduction of cheaper feedstock of solar grade (So-G) quality. Silicon produced through the metallurgical process route has shown...... the potential to be such a feedstock. However, this feedstock has only few years of active commercial history and the detailed understanding of the nature of structural defects in this material still has fundamental shortcomings. In this thesis the electrical activity of structural defects, commonly associated...

Delineation of contaminant plume for an inorganic contaminated site using electrical resistivity tomography: comparison with direct-push technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Qing; Deng, Yaping; Shi, Xiaoqing; Sun, Yuanyuan; Duan, Weidong; Wu, Jichun

2018-03-03

Precise delineation of contaminant plume distribution is essential for effective remediation of contaminated sites. Traditional in situ investigation methods like direct-push (DP) sampling are accurate, but are usually intrusive and costly. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) method, as a non-invasive geophysical technique to map spatiotemporal changes in resistivity of the subsurface, is becoming increasingly popular in environmental science. However, the resolution of ERT for delineation of contaminant plumes still remains controversial. In this study, ERT and DP technique were both conducted at a real inorganic contaminated site. The reliability of the ERT method was validated by the direct comparisons of their investigation results that the resistivity acquired by ERT method is in accordance with the total dissolved solid concentration in groundwater and the overall variation of the total iron content in soil obtained by DP technique. After testifying the applicability of ERT method for contaminant identification, the extension of contaminant plume at the study site was revealed by supplementary ERT surveys conducted subsequently in the surrounding area of the contaminant source zone.

Correlation between conductivity and prognostic factors in invasive breast cancer using magnetic resonance electric properties tomography (MREPT)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Soo-Yeon; Kim, Min Jung; Kim, Eun-Kyung; Moon, Hee Jung; Yoon, Jung Hyun; Shin, Jaewook; Kim, Dong-Hyun

2016-01-01

To investigate the correlation between conductivity and prognostic factors of invasive breast cancer using magnetic resonance electric properties tomography (MREPT). This retrospective study was approved by the Institutional Review Board, and verbal informed consent was obtained prior to breast MRI. This study included 65 women with surgically confirmed invasive breast cancers measuring 1 cm or larger on T2-weighted fast spin echo (FSE). Phase-based MREPT and the coil combination technique were used to reconstruct conductivity. Simple and multiple linear regression analysis were used to find an independent factor associated with conductivity. In total tumours, tumours with HER-2 overexpression showed lower conductivity than those without, and HER-2 overexpression was independently associated with conductivity. In 37 tumours 2 cm or larger, tumours with high mitosis or PR positivity showed higher conductivity than those without, and high mitosis and PR positivity were independently associated with conductivity. In 28 tumours 1-2 cm in size, there were no differences in conductivity according to the prognostic factors. Conductivity values measured using MREPT are associated with the HER-2 overexpression status, and may provide information about mitosis and the PR status of invasive breast cancers 2 cm or larger. (orig.)

Investigation of gas–solids flow in a circulating fluidized bed using 3D electrical capacitance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao, Mingxu; Ye, Jiamin; Wang, Haigang; Yang, Wuqiang

2016-01-01

The hydrodynamics of gas–solids flow in the bottom of a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) are complicated. Three-dimensional (3D) electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) has been used to investigate the hydrodynamics in risers of different shapes. Four different ECT sensors with 12 electrodes each are designed according to the dimension of risers, including two circular ECT sensors, a square ECT sensor and a rectangular ECT sensor. The electrodes are evenly arranged in three planes to obtain capacitance in different heights and to reconstruct the 3D images by linear back projection (LBP) algorithm. Experiments were carried out on the four risers using sands as the solids material. The capacitance and differential pressure are measured under the gas superficial velocity from 0.6 m s −1 to 3.0 m s −1 with a step of 0.2 m s −1 . The flow regime is investigated according to the solids concentration and differential pressure. The dynamic property of bubbling flows is analyzed theoretically and the performance of the 3D ECT sensors is evaluated. The experimental results show that 3D ECT can be used in the CFB with different risers to predict the hydrodynamics of gas–solids bubbling flows. (paper)

Computed tomography in epidural abscess, subdural empyema, meningitis, and brain abscess

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schadel, A.; Boettcher, H.D.; Haverkamp, U.; Wagner, W.; Schmilowski, G.M.; Muenster Univ.

1983-01-01

Computerised tomography cannot be of great help in diagnosing meningitis. Examination of the cerebrospinal fluid remains essential. After the inflammation of the meninges has progressed to some stage of encephalitis, the formation of an abscess can be located via computed tomography. It is characterised by the ring-type abscess capsule. Computed tomography for diagnostic purposes is superior to cerebral scanning, which demonstrates enhanced activity, but does not show the formation of a membrane, so essential for differential diagnosis. Furthermore, computed tomography shows the adjacent anatomical structures and answers the questions of displacements and threatening invasion of the ventricle system. Epidural and subdural abscesses can also be located by computed tomography. Therapy can begin directly after computerised tomography, whereas in scintigraphy only a non-specific enhanced activity is present, which often does not allow differentiation between epidural and subdural location. (orig.) [de

Improved model of activation energy absorption for different electrical breakdowns in semi-crystalline insulating polymers

Science.gov (United States)

Sima, Wenxia; Jiang, Xiongwei; Peng, Qingjun; Sun, Potao

2018-05-01

Electrical breakdown is an important physical phenomenon in electrical equipment and electronic devices. Many related models and theories of electrical breakdown have been proposed. However, a widely recognized understanding on the following phenomenon is still lacking: impulse breakdown strength which varies with waveform parameters, decrease in the breakdown strength of AC voltage with increasing frequency, and higher impulse breakdown strength than that of AC. In this work, an improved model of activation energy absorption for different electrical breakdowns in semi-crystalline insulating polymers is proposed based on the Harmonic oscillator model. Simulation and experimental results show that, the energy of trapped charges obtained from AC stress is higher than that of impulse voltage, and the absorbed activation energy increases with the increase in the electric field frequency. Meanwhile, the frequency-dependent relative dielectric constant ε r and dielectric loss tanδ also affect the absorption of activation energy. The absorbed activation energy and modified trap level synergistically determine the breakdown strength. The mechanism analysis of breakdown strength under various voltage waveforms is consistent with the experimental results. Therefore, the proposed model of activation energy absorption in the present work may provide a new possible method for analyzing and explaining the breakdown phenomenon in semi-crystalline insulating polymers.

Inside-out electrical capacitance tomography for downhole multiphase flow evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærsgaard-Rasmussen, Jimmy

The management of a hydrocarbon reservoir is based on measurements made in and around the well. The available information is used as input into models of the reservoir, so as to operate the well in the most optimal way. A reservoir managers success thus depends on the quality and type...... and that the system is able to operate in temperatures of 120C. The image quality of the customized Landweber algorithm is superior to other reconstruction methods for the inside-out geometry. The system was tested in a well under surface conditions. Live tomography could be provided over the wireline...

Risk analysis and detection of thrombosis by measurement of electrical resistivity of blood.

Science.gov (United States)

Sapkota, Achyut; Asakura, Yuta; Maruyama, Osamu; Kosaka, Ryo; Yamane, Takashi; Takei, Masahiro

2013-01-01

Monitoring of thrombogenic process is very important in ventricular assistance devices (VADs) used as temporary or permanent measures in patients with advanced heart failure. Currently, there is a lack of a system which can perform a real-time monitoring of thrombogenic activity. Electrical signals vary according to the change in concentration of coagulation factors as well as the distribution of blood cells, and thus have potential to detect the thrombogenic process in an early stage. In the present work, we have made an assessment of an instrumentation system exploiting the electrical properties of blood. The experiments were conducted using bovine blood. Electrical resistance tomography with eight-electrode sensor was used to monitor the spatio-temporal change in electrical resistivity of blood in thrombogenic and non-thrombogenic condition. Under non-thrombogenic condition, the resistivity was uniform across the cross-section and average resistivity monotonically decreased with time before remaining almost flat. In contrary, under thrombogenic condition, there was non-uniform distribution across the cross-section, and average resistivity fluctuated with time.

Changes in intestinal electrical activity during ischaemia correlate to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

To study this, the electrical activity of the ileum in 14 adult male rabbits was recorded during ischaemia. At baseline, 60, 120 and 210 minutes of ischaemia, segments of bowel were resected for histopathologic evaluation. The BER frequency was determined using the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) spectral analysis.

The atmospheric electric global circuit. [thunderstorm activity

Science.gov (United States)

Kasemir, H. W.

1979-01-01

The hypothesis that world thunderstorm activity represents the generator for the atmospheric electric current flow in the earth atmosphere between ground and the ionosphere is based on a close correlation between the magnitude and the diurnal variation of the supply current (thunderstorm generator current) and the load current (fair weather air-earth current density integrated over the earth surface). The advantages of using lightning survey satellites to furnish a base for accepting or rejecting the thunderstorm generator hypothesis are discussed.

Effect of Voltage Measurement on the Quantitative Identification of Transverse Cracks by Electrical Measurements

KAUST Repository

Selvakumaran, Lakshmi

2016-03-24

Electrical tomography can be used as a structural health monitoring technique to identify different damage mechanisms in composite laminates. Previous work has established the link between transverse cracking density and mesoscale conductivity of the ply. Through the mesoscale relationship, the conductivity obtained from electrical tomography can be used as a measure of the transverse cracking density. Interpretation of this measure will be accurate provided the assumptions made during homogenization are valid. One main assumption of mesoscale homogenization is that the electric field is in the plane. Here, we test the validity of this assumption for laminates with varying anisotropy ratios and for different distances between the cracked ply and surface that is instrumented with electrodes. We also show the equivalence in electrical response between measurements from cracked laminates and their equivalent mesoscale counterparts. Finally, we propose some general guidelines on the measurement strategy for maximizing the accuracy of transverse cracks identification.

On the value of electrical resistivity tomography for monitoring leachate injection in solid state anaerobic digestion plants at farm scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Degueurce, Axelle; Clément, Rémi; Moreau, Sylvain; Peu, Pascal

2016-10-01

Agricultural waste is a valuable resource for solid state anaerobic digestion (SSAD) thanks to its high solid content (>15%). Batch mode SSAD with leachate recirculation is particularly appropriate for such substrates. However, for successful degradation, the leachate must be evenly distributed through the substrate to improve its moisture content. To study the distribution of leachate in agricultural waste, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was performed. First, laboratory-scale experiments were conducted to check the reliability of this method to monitor infiltration of the leachate throughout the solid. Two representative mixtures of agricultural wastes were prepared: a "winter" mixture, with cattle manure, and a "summer" mixture, with cattle manure, wheat straw and hay. The influence of density and water content on electrical resistivity variations was assessed in the two mixtures. An increase in density was found to lead to a decrease in electrical resistivity: at the initial water content, resistivity decreased from 109.7 to 19.5Ω·m in the summer mixture and from 9.8 to 2.7Ω·m in the "winter" mixture with a respective increased in density of 0.134-0.269, and 0.311-0.577. Similarly, resistivity decreased with an increase in water content: for low densities, resistivity dropped from 109.7 to 7.1Ω·m and 9.8 to 4.0Ω·m with an increase in water content from 64 to 90w% and 74 to 93w% for "summer" and "winter" mixtures respectively. Second, a time-lapse ERT was performed in a farm-scale SSAD plant to monitor leachate infiltration. Results revealed very heterogeneous distribution of the leachate in the waste, with two particularly moist areas around the leachate injection holes. However, ERT was successfully applied in the SSAD plant, and produced a reliable 3D map of leachate infiltration. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

AC Electric Field Activated Shape Memory Polymer Composite

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Jin Ho; Siochi, Emilie J.; Penner, Ronald K.; Turner, Travis L.

2011-01-01

Shape memory materials have drawn interest for applications like intelligent medical devices, deployable space structures and morphing structures. Compared to other shape memory materials like shape memory alloys (SMAs) or shape memory ceramics (SMCs), shape memory polymers (SMPs) have high elastic deformation that is amenable to tailored of mechanical properties, have lower density, and are easily processed. However, SMPs have low recovery stress and long response times. A new shape memory thermosetting polymer nanocomposite (LaRC-SMPC) was synthesized with conductive fillers to enhance its thermo-mechanical characteristics. A new composition of shape memory thermosetting polymer nanocomposite (LaRC-SMPC) was synthesized with conductive functionalized graphene sheets (FGS) to enhance its thermo-mechanical characteristics. The elastic modulus of LaRC-SMPC is approximately 2.7 GPa at room temperature and 4.3 MPa above its glass transition temperature. Conductive FGSs-doped LaRC-SMPC exhibited higher conductivity compared to pristine LaRC SMP. Applying an electric field at between 0.1 Hz and 1 kHz induced faster heating to activate the LaRC-SMPC s shape memory effect relative to applying DC electric field or AC electric field at frequencies exceeding1 kHz.

Electrical Activity in a Time-Delay Four-Variable Neuron Model under Electromagnetic Induction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keming Tang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available To investigate the effect of electromagnetic induction on the electrical activity of neuron, the variable for magnetic flow is used to improve Hindmarsh–Rose neuron model. Simultaneously, due to the existence of time-delay when signals are propagated between neurons or even in one neuron, it is important to study the role of time-delay in regulating the electrical activity of the neuron. For this end, a four-variable neuron model is proposed to investigate the effects of electromagnetic induction and time-delay. Simulation results suggest that the proposed neuron model can show multiple modes of electrical activity, which is dependent on the time-delay and external forcing current. It means that suitable discharge mode can be obtained by selecting the time-delay or external forcing current, which could be helpful for further investigation of electromagnetic radiation on biological neuronal system.

Determining the boundary of inclusions with known conductivities using a Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm by electrical resistance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, Chao; Xu, Yaoyuan; Dong, Feng

2011-01-01

Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) is a non-intrusive technique to image the electrical conductivity distribution of a closed vessel by injecting exciting current into the vessel and measuring the boundary voltages induced. ERT image reconstruction is characterized as a severely nonlinear and ill-posed inverse problem with many unknowns. In recent years, a growing number of papers have been published which aim to determine the locations and shapes of inclusions by assuming that their conductivities are piecewise constant and isotropic. In this work, the boundary of inclusions is reconstructed by ERT with a boundary element method. The Jacobian matrix of the forward problem is first calculated with a direct linearization method based on the boundary element, and validated through comparison with that determined by the finite element method and analytical method. A boundary reconstruction algorithm is later presented based on the Levenberg–Marquardt (L-M) method. Several numerical simulations and static experiments were conducted to study the reconstruction quality, where much importance was given to the smoothness of boundaries in the reconstruction; thus, a restriction of the curve radius is introduced to adjust the damping parameter for the L-M algorithm. Analytical results on the stability and precision of the boundary reconstruction demonstrate that stable reconstruction can be achieved when the conductivity of the objects differs much from that of the background medium, and convex boundaries can also be precisely reconstructed. Contrarily, the reconstructions for inclusions with similar conductivities to the background medium are not stable. The situation of an incorrect initial estimation of the inclusions' number is numerically studied and the results show that the boundary of inclusions could be correctly reconstructed with a splitting/merging function under the aforementioned proper operation condition of the present algorithm

The active electric sense of weakly electric fish: from electric organ discharge to sensory processing and behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krahe Rüdiger

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Sensory systems have been shaped by evolution to extract information that is relevant for decision making. In order to understand the mechanisms used by sensory systems for filtering the incoming stream of sensory input, it is important to have a quantitative understanding of the natural sensory scenes that are to be processed. Weakly electric fish lead a rather cryptic nocturnal life in often turbid tropical rainforest streams. They produce electric discharges and sense perturbations of their selfgenerated electric field for prey detection and navigation, and also use their active sense for communication in the context of courtship and aggression. The fact that they produce their electric signals throughout day and night permits the use of electrode arrays to track the movements of multiple individual fish and monitor their communication interactions, thus offering a window into their electrosensory world. This approach yields unprecedented access to information on the biology of these fishes and also on the statistical properties of the sensory scenes that are to be processed by their electrosensory system. The electrosensory system shares many organizational features with other sensory systems, in particular, the use of multiple topographic maps. In fact, the sensory surface (the skin is represented in three parallel maps in the hindbrain, with each map covering the receptor organ array with six different cell types that project to the next higher level of processing. Thus, the electroreceptive body surface is represented a total of 18 times in the hindbrain, with each representation having its specific filter properties and degree of response plasticity. Thus, the access to the sensory world of these fish as well as the manifold filtering of the sensory input makes these fish an excellent model system for exploring the cell-intrinsic and network characteristics underlying the extraction of behaviourally relevant sensory information.

Neuron matters: electric activation of neuronal tissue is dependent on the interaction between the neuron and the electric field.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Hui; Steiger, Amanda

2015-08-12

In laboratory research and clinical practice, externally-applied electric fields have been widely used to control neuronal activity. It is generally accepted that neuronal excitability is controlled by electric current that depolarizes or hyperpolarizes the excitable cell membrane. What determines the amount of polarization? Research on the mechanisms of electric stimulation focus on the optimal control of the field properties (frequency, amplitude, and direction of the electric currents) to improve stimulation outcomes. Emerging evidence from modeling and experimental studies support the existence of interactions between the targeted neurons and the externally-applied electric fields. With cell-field interaction, we suggest a two-way process. When a neuron is positioned inside an electric field, the electric field will induce a change in the resting membrane potential by superimposing an electrically-induced transmembrane potential (ITP). At the same time, the electric field can be perturbed and re-distributed by the cell. This cell-field interaction may play a significant role in the overall effects of stimulation. The redistributed field can cause secondary effects to neighboring cells by altering their geometrical pattern and amount of membrane polarization. Neurons excited by the externally-applied electric field can also affect neighboring cells by ephaptic interaction. Both aspects of the cell-field interaction depend on the biophysical properties of the neuronal tissue, including geometric (i.e., size, shape, orientation to the field) and electric (i.e., conductivity and dielectricity) attributes of the cells. The biophysical basis of the cell-field interaction can be explained by the electromagnetism theory. Further experimental and simulation studies on electric stimulation of neuronal tissue should consider the prospect of a cell-field interaction, and a better understanding of tissue inhomogeneity and anisotropy is needed to fully appreciate the neural

Electrical and mechanical characterization of nanoscale-layered cellulose-based electro-active paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Gyu-Young; Yun, Ki-Ju; Kim, Joo-Hyung; Kim, Jaehwan

2011-01-01

In order to understand the electro-mechanical behavior of piezoelectric electro active paper (EAPap), the converse and direct piezoelectric characterization of cellulose EAPap was studied and compared. A delay between the electrical field and the induced strain of EAPap was observed due to the inner nano-voids or the localized amorphous regions in layer-by-layered structure to capture or hold the electrical charges and remnant ions. The linear relation between electric field and induced strain is also observed. The electro-mechanical performance of EAPap is discussed in detail in this paper.

Low-voltage electricity-induced lung injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, Thai; Le, Thuong Vu; Smith, David L; Kantrow, Stephen P; Tran, Van Ngoc

2018-02-01

We report a case of bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and haemoptysis following low-voltage electricity exposure in an agricultural worker. A 58-year-old man standing in water reached for an electric watering machine and sustained an exposure to 220 V circuit for an uncertain duration. The electricity was turned off by another worker, and the patient was asymptomatic for the next 10 h until he developed haemoptysis. A chest radiograph demonstrated bilateral infiltrates, and chest computed tomography (CT) revealed ground-glass opacities with interstitial thickening. Evaluations, including electrocardiogram, serum troponin, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP), coagulation studies, and echocardiogram, found no abnormality. The patient was treated for suspected electricity-induced lung injury and bleeding with tranexamic acid and for rhabdomyolysis with volume resuscitation. He recovered with complete resolution of chest radiograph abnormalities by Day 7. This is the first reported case of bilateral lung oedema and/or injury after electricity exposure without cardiac arrest.

Computational method for estimating boundary of abdominal subcutaneous fat for absolute electrical impedance tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaguchi, Tohru F; Okamoto, Yoshiwo

2018-01-01

Abdominal fat accumulation is considered an essential indicator of human health. Electrical impedance tomography has considerable potential for abdominal fat imaging because of the low specific conductivity of human body fat. In this paper, we propose a robust reconstruction method for high-fidelity conductivity imaging by abstraction of the abdominal cross section using a relatively small number of parameters. Toward this end, we assume homogeneous conductivity in the abdominal subcutaneous fat area and characterize its geometrical shape by parameters defined as the ratio of the distance from the center to boundary of subcutaneous fat to the distance from the center to outer boundary in 64 equiangular directions. To estimate the shape parameters, the sensitivity of the noninvasively measured voltages with respect to the shape parameters is formulated for numerical optimization. Numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. A 3-dimensional finite element method is used to construct a computer model of the human abdomen. The inverse problems of shape parameters and conductivities are solved concurrently by iterative forward and inverse calculations. As a result, conductivity images are reconstructed with a small systemic error of less than 1% for the estimation of the subcutaneous fat area. A novel method is devised for estimating the boundary of the abdominal subcutaneous fat. The fidelity of the overall reconstructed image to the reference image is significantly improved. The results demonstrate the possibility of realization of an abdominal fat scanner as a low-cost, radiation-free medical device. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A new linear back projection algorithm to electrical tomography based on measuring data decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Benyuan; Yue, Shihong; Cui, Ziqiang; Wang, Huaxiang

2015-12-01

As an advanced measurement technique of non-radiant, non-intrusive, rapid response, and low cost, the electrical tomography (ET) technique has developed rapidly in recent decades. The ET imaging algorithm plays an important role in the ET imaging process. Linear back projection (LBP) is the most used ET algorithm due to its advantages of dynamic imaging process, real-time response, and easy realization. But the LBP algorithm is of low spatial resolution due to the natural ‘soft field’ effect and ‘ill-posed solution’ problems; thus its applicable ranges are greatly limited. In this paper, an original data decomposition method is proposed, and every ET measuring data are decomposed into two independent new data based on the positive and negative sensing areas of the measuring data. Consequently, the number of total measuring data is extended to twice as many as the number of the original data, thus effectively reducing the ‘ill-posed solution’. On the other hand, an index to measure the ‘soft field’ effect is proposed. The index shows that the decomposed data can distinguish between different contributions of various units (pixels) for any ET measuring data, and can efficiently reduce the ‘soft field’ effect of the ET imaging process. In light of the data decomposition method, a new linear back projection algorithm is proposed to improve the spatial resolution of the ET image. A series of simulations and experiments are applied to validate the proposed algorithm by the real-time performances and the progress of spatial resolutions.

A new linear back projection algorithm to electrical tomography based on measuring data decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Benyuan; Yue, Shihong; Cui, Ziqiang; Wang, Huaxiang

2015-01-01

As an advanced measurement technique of non-radiant, non-intrusive, rapid response, and low cost, the electrical tomography (ET) technique has developed rapidly in recent decades. The ET imaging algorithm plays an important role in the ET imaging process. Linear back projection (LBP) is the most used ET algorithm due to its advantages of dynamic imaging process, real-time response, and easy realization. But the LBP algorithm is of low spatial resolution due to the natural ‘soft field’ effect and ‘ill-posed solution’ problems; thus its applicable ranges are greatly limited. In this paper, an original data decomposition method is proposed, and every ET measuring data are decomposed into two independent new data based on the positive and negative sensing areas of the measuring data. Consequently, the number of total measuring data is extended to twice as many as the number of the original data, thus effectively reducing the ‘ill-posed solution’. On the other hand, an index to measure the ‘soft field’ effect is proposed. The index shows that the decomposed data can distinguish between different contributions of various units (pixels) for any ET measuring data, and can efficiently reduce the ‘soft field’ effect of the ET imaging process. In light of the data decomposition method, a new linear back projection algorithm is proposed to improve the spatial resolution of the ET image. A series of simulations and experiments are applied to validate the proposed algorithm by the real-time performances and the progress of spatial resolutions. (paper)

The impact of liberalisation on every day's activity of the electricity market participants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beran, H.

2004-01-01

This contribution is dedicated to the consequences of the liberalisation of the electricity market. Special attention is paid to activities of electricity suppliers and eligible customers connected with work with load profiles. The first part is dedicated to electricity suppliers and traders. It identifies the main changes brought by the liberalisation process and the activities of the suppliers connected with work with load profiles. Special software tools are mentioned, such as tools for balancing, prediction, optimisation of costs, pricing, and communication tools. The second part of this contribution is dedicated to eligible customers. It describes the main changes for eligible customers and the challenges of the open market. Special software tools for eligible customers are introduced, such as tools for balancing, load profile creation, price calculation and communication. At the end of this contribution, selected consequences of inadequate preparation for the electricity market are mentioned as well as the ways to minimize the negative effects. (author)

Geo-electric measurements – internal state of historic masonry

OpenAIRE

Schueremans, Luc

2009-01-01

A geophysical resistivity measuring device was modified to perform automatic monitoring of historical masonry structures before, during and after grout injection for consolidation purposes. The obtained image is called a geo-electrical tomography. The technique was used to evaluate the deteriorated masonry of the recently partly collapsed Maagdentoren in Zichem,(B). Geo-electric measuring techniques have been adapted from application in geology to be used as a non-destructive technique for t...

Detailed landfill leachate plume mapping using 2D and 3D Electrical Resistivity Tomography - with correlation to ionic strength measured in screens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maurya, P.K.; Rønde, Vinni; Fiandaca, G.

2017-01-01

Leaching of organic and inorganic contamination from landfills is a serious environmental problem as surface water and aquifers are affected. In order to assess these risks and investigate the migration of leachate from the landfill, 2D and large scale 3D electrical resistivity tomography were used...... at a heavily contaminated landfill in Grindsted, Denmark. The inverted 2D profiles describe both the variations along the groundwater flow as well as the plume extension across the flow directions. The 3D inversion model shows the variability in the low resistivity anomaly pattern corresponding to differences...... in the ionic strength of the landfill leachate. Chemical data from boreholes agree well with the observations indicating a leachate plume which gradually sinks and increases in size while migrating from the landfill in the groundwater flow direction. Overall results show that the resistivity method has been...

Unloaded shortening velocity of voluntarily and electrically activated human dorsiflexor muscles in vivo.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazushige Sasaki

Full Text Available We have previously shown that unloaded shortening velocity (V(0 of human plantar flexors can be determined in vivo, by applying the "slack test" to submaximal voluntary contractions (J Physiol 567:1047-1056, 2005. In the present study, to investigate the effect of motor unit recruitment pattern on V(0 of human muscle, we modified the slack test and applied this method to both voluntary and electrically elicited contractions of dorsiflexors. A series of quick releases (i.e., rapid ankle joint rotation driven by an electrical dynamometer was applied to voluntarily activated dorsiflexor muscles at three different contraction intensities (15, 50, and 85% of maximal voluntary contraction; MVC. The quick-release trials were also performed on electrically activated dorsiflexor muscles, in which three stimulus conditions were used: submaximal (equal to 15%MVC 50-Hz stimulation, supramaximal 50-Hz stimulation, and supramaximal 20-Hz stimulation. Modification of the slack test in vivo resulted in good reproducibility of V(0, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.87 (95% confidence interval: 0.68-0.95. Regression analysis showed that V(0 of voluntarily activated dorsiflexor muscles significantly increased with increasing contraction intensity (R(2 = 0.52, P<0.001. By contrast, V(0 of electrically activated dorsiflexor muscles remained unchanged (R(2<0.001, P = 0.98 among three different stimulus conditions showing a large variation of tetanic torque. These results suggest that the recruitment pattern of motor units, which is quite different between voluntary and electrically elicited contractions, plays an important role in determining shortening velocity of human skeletal muscle in vivo.

Re-Inversion of Surface Electrical Resistivity Tomography Data from the Hanford Site B-Complex

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, Timothy C.; Wellman, Dawn M.

2013-05-01

This report documents the three-dimensional (3D) inversion results of surface electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data collected over the Hanford Site B-Complex. The data were collected in order to image the subsurface distribution of electrically conductive vadose zone contamination resulting from both planned releases of contamination into subsurface infiltration galleries (cribs, trenches, and tile fields), as well as unplanned releases from the B, BX, and BY tank farms and/or associated facilities. Electrically conductive contaminants are those which increase the ionic strength of pore fluids compared to native conditions, which comprise most types of solutes released into the subsurface B-Complex. The ERT data were collected and originally inverted as described in detail in report RPP-34690 Rev 0., 2007, which readers should refer to for a detailed description of data collection and waste disposal history. Although the ERT imaging results presented in that report successfully delineated the footprint of vadose zone contamination in areas outside of the tank farms, imaging resolution was not optimized due to the inability of available inversion codes to optimally process the massive ERT data set collected at the site. Recognizing these limitations and the potential for enhanced ERT characterization and time-lapse imaging at contaminated sites, a joint effort was initiated in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Energy – Office of Science (DOE-SC), with later support by the Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), to develop a high-performance distributed memory parallel 3D ERT inversion code capable of optimally processing large ERT data sets. The culmination of this effort was the development of E4D (Johnson et al., 2010,2012) In 2012, under the Deep Vadose Zone Applied Field Research Initiative (DVZ-AFRI), the U.S. Department of Energy – Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) and CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation

Disease activity and {sup 18}F-FDG uptake in organising pneumonia: semi-quantitative evaluation using computed tomography and positron emission tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tateishi, Ukihide; Arai, Yasuaki [National Cancer Center Hospital, Division of Diagnostic Radiology, Tokyo (Japan); Hasegawa, Tadashi [Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Department of Clinical Pathology, Sapporo (Japan); Seki, Kunihiko [National Cancer Center Hospital, Pathology Division, Tokyo (Japan); Terauchi, Takashi; Moriyama, Noriyuki [Research Center for Cancer Prevention and Screening, National Cancer Center, Division of Radiology, Tokyo (Japan)

2006-08-15

Purpose: The present study was conducted to evaluate whether{sup 18}F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in combination with computed tomography (CT) reflects disease activity in patients with organising pneumonia.Methods: Eighty-eight subjects who were normal (n=66) or who had proven organising pneumonia (n=22) underwent FDG-PET and CT imaging. The subjects included 55 men and 33 women, ranging in age from 24 to 63 years (mean 47 years). PET and CT data sets were digitally fused using a conformational PET/CT fusion algorithm. All scans were evaluated independently by two chest radiologists who were unaware of other clinical data. The visual score, maximal and mean standardised uptake value (SUV), and maximal and mean lesion-to-normal tissue ratio (LNR) were calculated. The imaging results were compared with the laboratory and pulmonary function test results. The inflammatory cells in the lesions were quantified immunohistochemically. The visual score, maximal and mean SUV, and maximal and mean LNR of the patients with organising pneumonia were significantly higher than those of the normal subjects. The patients with air-space consolidation had a significantly higher SUV than those without air-space consolidation (mean{+-}SD 3.08{+-}0.39 vs 2.35{+-}0.56; p<0.05). The number of CD45{sup +} cells was positively correlated with the maximal SUV (r=0.632, p<0.01) and the maximal LNR (r=0.453, p<0.05). The number of CD8{sup +} T lymphocytes also showed positive correlations with the maximal SUV (r=0.540, p<0.01) and the maximal LNR (r=0.547, p<0.01). Patients with organising pneumonia have an enhanced FDG accumulation which reflects the degree of disease activity. (orig.)

Fluctuation-driven directional flow of energy in biochemical cycle: Electric activation of Na,K ATPase

Science.gov (United States)

Yow Tsong, Tian

1998-03-01

Na,K ATPase is an ion pump which uses chemical bond energy of ATP to pump Na ion out of, and K ion into living cell thus maintaining ionic and osmotic balances of the cell. Both are uphill transport reactions. Surprisingly we have found that electric energy can also substitute chemical energy to fuel the pump activity. However, in this case only electric fields of certain waveforms, amplitudes, and frequencies are effective. Waveform, amplitude and frequency are three elements of signal. In other words, Na,K ATPase can recognize, process, and harvest energy from an oscillating or a fluctuating electric field to drive an endergonic reaction. The enzyme is a molecular transducer of electric signal. This report will describe electric activation experiment to define electric signal. Electric signal will then mixed with electric noise of broad power spectrum for experiment. Effect of white noise (WN) on the efficiency of Na,K ATPase will be investigated. It will be shown that WN of appropriate power level can improve the pump efficiency when a sub-optimal electric field is used. WN can also carry a sub-threshold signal to cross over the threshold. Stochastic resonance will be discussed in reference to these observations.

MR Measurement Technique of Rapidly Switched Gradient Magnetic Fields in MR Tomography

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bartušek, Karel; Gescheidtová, E.

2005-01-01

Roč. 29, č. 4 (2005), s. 675-686 ISSN 0937-9347 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20650511 Keywords : MR tomography * gradiernt magnet ic field * IF method * IFSE method * IFSES method * spin echo Subject RIV: JA - Electronics ; Optoelectronics, Electrical Engineering Impact factor: 0.743, year: 2005

Subthalamic nucleus electrical stimulation modulates calcium activity of nigral astrocytes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elodie Barat

Full Text Available The substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr is a major output nucleus of the basal ganglia, delivering inhibitory efferents to the relay nuclei of the thalamus. Pathological hyperactivity of SNr neurons is known to be responsible for some motor disorders e.g. in Parkinson's disease. One way to restore this pathological activity is to electrically stimulate one of the SNr input, the excitatory subthalamic nucleus (STN, which has emerged as an effective treatment for parkinsonian patients. The neuronal network and signal processing of the basal ganglia are well known but, paradoxically, the role of astrocytes in the regulation of SNr activity has never been studied.In this work, we developed a rat brain slice model to study the influence of spontaneous and induced excitability of afferent nuclei on SNr astrocytes calcium activity. Astrocytes represent the main cellular population in the SNr and display spontaneous calcium activities in basal conditions. Half of this activity is autonomous (i.e. independent of synaptic activity while the other half is dependent on spontaneous glutamate and GABA release, probably controlled by the pace-maker activity of the pallido-nigral and subthalamo-nigral loops. Modification of the activity of the loops by STN electrical stimulation disrupted this astrocytic calcium excitability through an increase of glutamate and GABA releases. Astrocytic AMPA, mGlu and GABA(A receptors were involved in this effect.Astrocytes are now viewed as active components of neural networks but their role depends on the brain structure concerned. In the SNr, evoked activity prevails and autonomous calcium activity is lower than in the cortex or hippocampus. Our data therefore reflect a specific role of SNr astrocytes in sensing the STN-GPe-SNr loops activity and suggest that SNr astrocytes could potentially feedback on SNr neuronal activity. These findings have major implications given the position of SNr in the basal ganglia network.

Subthalamic nucleus electrical stimulation modulates calcium activity of nigral astrocytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Barat, Elodie; Boisseau, Sylvie; Bouyssières, Céline; Appaix, Florence; Savasta, Marc; Albrieux, Mireille

2012-01-01

The substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) is a major output nucleus of the basal ganglia, delivering inhibitory efferents to the relay nuclei of the thalamus. Pathological hyperactivity of SNr neurons is known to be responsible for some motor disorders e.g. in Parkinson's disease. One way to restore this pathological activity is to electrically stimulate one of the SNr input, the excitatory subthalamic nucleus (STN), which has emerged as an effective treatment for parkinsonian patients. The neuronal network and signal processing of the basal ganglia are well known but, paradoxically, the role of astrocytes in the regulation of SNr activity has never been studied. In this work, we developed a rat brain slice model to study the influence of spontaneous and induced excitability of afferent nuclei on SNr astrocytes calcium activity. Astrocytes represent the main cellular population in the SNr and display spontaneous calcium activities in basal conditions. Half of this activity is autonomous (i.e. independent of synaptic activity) while the other half is dependent on spontaneous glutamate and GABA release, probably controlled by the pace-maker activity of the pallido-nigral and subthalamo-nigral loops. Modification of the activity of the loops by STN electrical stimulation disrupted this astrocytic calcium excitability through an increase of glutamate and GABA releases. Astrocytic AMPA, mGlu and GABA(A) receptors were involved in this effect. Astrocytes are now viewed as active components of neural networks but their role depends on the brain structure concerned. In the SNr, evoked activity prevails and autonomous calcium activity is lower than in the cortex or hippocampus. Our data therefore reflect a specific role of SNr astrocytes in sensing the STN-GPe-SNr loops activity and suggest that SNr astrocytes could potentially feedback on SNr neuronal activity. These findings have major implications given the position of SNr in the basal ganglia network.

Monitoring a pilot CO2 injection experiment in a shallow aquifer using 3D cross-well electrical resistance tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, X.; Lassen, R. N.; Looms, M. C.; Jensen, K. H.

2014-12-01

Three dimensional electrical resistance tomography (ERT) was used to monitor a pilot CO2 injection experiment at Vrøgum, Denmark. The purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of the ERT method for monitoring the two opposing effects from gas-phase and dissolved CO2 in a shallow unconfined siliciclastic aquifer. Dissolved CO2 increases water electrical conductivity (EC) while gas phase CO2 reduce EC. We injected 45kg of CO2 into a shallow aquifer for 48 hours. ERT data were collected for 50 hours following CO2 injection. Four ERT monitoring boreholes were installed on a 5m by 5m square grid and each borehole had 24 electrodes at 0.5 m electrode spacing at depths from 1.5 m to 13 m. ERT data were inverted using a difference inversion algorithm for bulk EC. 3D ERT successfully detected the CO2 plume distribution and growth in the shallow aquifer. We found that the changes of bulk EC were dominantly positive following CO2 injection, indicating that the effect of dissolved CO2 overwhelmed that of gas phase CO2. The pre-injection baseline resistivity model clearly showed a three-layer structure of the site. The electrically more conductive glacial sand layer in the northeast region are likely more permeable than the overburden and underburden and CO2 plumes were actually confined in this layer. Temporal bulk EC increase from ERT agreed well with water EC and cross-borehole ground penetrating radar data. ERT monitoring offers a competitive advantage over water sampling and GPR methods because it provides 3D high-resolution temporal tomographic images of CO2 distribution and it can also be automated for unattended operation. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC. LLNL IM release#: LLNL-PROC-657944.

Sensory flow shaped by active sensing: sensorimotor strategies in electric fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmann, Volker; Sanguinetti-Scheck, Juan I; Künzel, Silke; Geurten, Bart; Gómez-Sena, Leonel; Engelmann, Jacob

2013-07-01

Goal-directed behavior in most cases is composed of a sequential order of elementary motor patterns shaped by sensorimotor contingencies. The sensory information acquired thus is structured in both space and time. Here we review the role of motion during the generation of sensory flow focusing on how animals actively shape information by behavioral strategies. We use the well-studied examples of vision in insects and echolocation in bats to describe commonalities of sensory-related behavioral strategies across sensory systems, and evaluate what is currently known about comparable active sensing strategies in electroreception of electric fish. In this sensory system the sensors are dispersed across the animal's body and the carrier source emitting energy used for sensing, the electric organ, is moved while the animal moves. Thus ego-motions strongly influence sensory dynamics. We present, for the first time, data of electric flow during natural probing behavior in Gnathonemus petersii (Mormyridae), which provide evidence for this influence. These data reveal a complex interdependency between the physical input to the receptors and the animal's movements, posture and objects in its environment. Although research on spatiotemporal dynamics in electrolocation is still in its infancy, the emerging field of dynamical sensory systems analysis in electric fish is a promising approach to the study of the link between movement and acquisition of sensory information.

Electrical resistivity tomography survey for delineating uncharted mine galleries in West Bengal, India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maillol, J.M.; Sen, N.

1999-01-01

The history of subsidence, fires, flooding and other kinds of environmental hazards related to shallow coal workings in India goes back to colonial times some 300 years ago. As coal production accelerated in modern times, so did the environmental and socio-economic drawbacks related to exploitation. In the mid-1980s, a hydropneumatic sand-stowing method was developed to fill in abandoned galleries but their exact location had to be known. Unfortunately, most of these old workings are uncharted and consequently large tracts of land cannot be stabilized. A research program making use of integrated surface, borehole and cross-hole geophysical methods was undertaken over a five-year span to try to solve this problem. Surface geophysical methods, being cheaper and faster than their cross- and downhole counterparts, were used to cover larger areas on an exploratory basis, while cross-hole methods were employed to locate more accurately one or a network of galleries to be perforated by drillhole(s) and used as a conduit for sand stowing. The authors report the results of one of the cross-hole geophysical methods: electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). A pole-dipole configuration is used and both cross-hole and surface-borehole methodologies are tested. Forward modelling and inversion of synthetic data making use of downhole and surface physical and geometrical parameters are presented first. This phase is followed by the inversion of real data. It is concluded that ERT is not applicable for the detection of dry voids, but is effective in a waterlogged environment which is estimated to represent 85--90% of the cases. In waterlogged galleries, ERT is applicable in both cross-hole and surface-downhole modes, the latter allowing a larger surface coverage at low cost. ERT is thus a reliable geophysical tool to image water-filled voids and an adequate technique to address environmental and geotechnical problems

Flow-volume loops measured with electrical impedance tomography in pediatric patients with asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Ngo, Chuong; Dippel, Falk; Tenbrock, Klaus; Leonhardt, Steffen; Lehmann, Sylvia

2018-05-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) provides information on global and regional ventilation during tidal breathing and mechanical ventilation. During forced expiration maneuvers, the linearity of EIT and spirometric data has been documented in healthy persons. The present study investigates the potential diagnostic use of EIT in pediatric patients with asthma. EIT and spirometry were performed in 58 children with asthma (average age ± SD: 11.86 ± 3.13 years), and 58 healthy controls (average age ± SD: 12.12 ± 2.9 years). The correlation between EIT data and simultaneously acquired spirometric data were tested for FEV 1 , FEV 0.5 , MEF 75 , MEF 50 , and MEF 25 . Binary classification tests were performed for the EIT-derived Tiffeneau index FEV 1 /FVC and the bronchodilator test index ΔFEV 1 . Average flow-volume (FV) loops were generated for patients with pathologic spirometry to demonstrate the feasibility of EIT for graphic diagnosis of asthma. Spirometry and global EIT-based FV loops showed a strong correlation (P  0.9 in FEV 1 and FEV 0.5 ). In all criteria, the binary classification tests yielded high specificity (>93%), a high positive predictive value (≥75%) and a high negative predictive value (>80%), while sensitivity was higher in ΔFEV 1 (86.67%) and lower in FEV 1 /FVC (25% and 35.29%). A typical concave shape of the EIT-derived average FV loops was observed for asthmatic children with improvement after bronchospasmolysis. Global FV loops derived from EIT correlate well with spirometry. Positive bronchospasmolysis can be observed in EIT-derived FV loops. Flow-volume loops originated from EIT have a potential to visualize pulmonary function. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Optimizing PEEP by Electrical Impedance Tomography in a Porcine Animal Model of ARDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Hochhausen, Nadine; Biener, Ingeborg; Rossaint, Rolf; Follmann, Andreas; Bleilevens, Christian; Braunschweig, Till; Leonhardt, Steffen; Czaplik, Michael

2017-03-01

Mechanical ventilation is necessary in diverse clinical circumstances. Especially in the context of ARDS, so-called protective ventilation strategies must be followed. It is already known that PEEP might enhance oxygenation in ARDS. However, determining the optimal PEEP settings in clinical routines is challenging. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a promising technique with which to adjust ventilator settings. We investigated whether the combination of different EIT parameters, namely the global inhomogeneity and hyperdistension indices, may lead to a feasible and safe PEEP setting. ARDS was induced by a double-hit approach in 18 pigs weighing, on average, 34.8 ± 3.97 kg. First, a surfactant washout was conducted; second, the tidal volume was increased to 20 mL/kg body weight, triggering a ventilator-induced lung injury. Subsequently, pigs were randomized to either the EIT or control groups, followed by an observation time of 24 h. In the control group, PEEP was set according to the ARDS network table. In the EIT group, a PEEP trial was conducted to determine an appropriate PEEP. At defined time points, hemodynamic measures, ventilation parameters, and EIT recordings, as well as blood samples, were taken. After euthanization, lungs were removed for subsequent histopathological and cytological examination. The combination of PEEP and F IO 2 differed between groups, although respiratory compliance, gas exchange, and histopathological examinations, as well as hemodynamics, did not show any statistical differences between the EIT and control groups. However, in the control group, the PEEP/F IO 2 settings followed the given coupling; in the EIT group, divergent individual combinations of PEEP and F IO 2 ranges occurred. PEEP setting by EIT facilitates a more individual ventilation therapy. However, in our relatively short ARDS observation period of 24 h, no significant differences appeared in common clinical parameters compared with a control group. Copyright �

Improved characterisation and modelling of measurement errors in electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Tso, Chak-Hau Michael; Kuras, Oliver; Wilkinson, Paul B.; Uhlemann, Sebastian; Chambers, Jonathan E.; Meldrum, Philip I.; Graham, James; Sherlock, Emma F.; Binley, Andrew

2017-11-01

Measurement errors can play a pivotal role in geophysical inversion. Most inverse models require users to prescribe or assume a statistical model of data errors before inversion. Wrongly prescribed errors can lead to over- or under-fitting of data; however, the derivation of models of data errors is often neglected. With the heightening interest in uncertainty estimation within hydrogeophysics, better characterisation and treatment of measurement errors is needed to provide improved image appraisal. Here we focus on the role of measurement errors in electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). We have analysed two time-lapse ERT datasets: one contains 96 sets of direct and reciprocal data collected from a surface ERT line within a 24 h timeframe; the other is a two-year-long cross-borehole survey at a UK nuclear site with 246 sets of over 50,000 measurements. Our study includes the characterisation of the spatial and temporal behaviour of measurement errors using autocorrelation and correlation coefficient analysis. We find that, in addition to well-known proportionality effects, ERT measurements can also be sensitive to the combination of electrodes used, i.e. errors may not be uncorrelated as often assumed. Based on these findings, we develop a new error model that allows grouping based on electrode number in addition to fitting a linear model to transfer resistance. The new model explains the observed measurement errors better and shows superior inversion results and uncertainty estimates in synthetic examples. It is robust, because it groups errors together based on the electrodes used to make the measurements. The new model can be readily applied to the diagonal data weighting matrix widely used in common inversion methods, as well as to the data covariance matrix in a Bayesian inversion framework. We demonstrate its application using extensive ERT monitoring datasets from the two aforementioned sites.

Correlation between alveolar ventilation and electrical properties of lung parenchyma

OpenAIRE

Roth, J. C., Ehrl, A., Becher, T., Frerichs, I., Schittny, J., Weller, N., Wall W. A.

2016-01-01

One key problem in modern medical imaging is linking measured data and actual physiological quantities. In this article we derive such a link between the electrical bioimpedance of lung parenchyma, which can be measured by electrical impedance tomography (EIT), and the magnitude of regional ventilation, a key towards understanding lung mechanics and developing novel protective ventilation strategies. Two rat-derived three-dimensional alveolar microstructures obtained from synchrotron-ba...

Lévy noise improves the electrical activity in a neuron under electromagnetic radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Juan; Xu, Yong; Ma, Jun

2017-01-01

As the fluctuations of the internal bioelectricity of nervous system is various and complex, the external electromagnetic radiation induced by magnet flux on membrane can be described by the non-Gaussian type distribution of Lévy noise. Thus, the electrical activities in an improved Hindmarsh-Rose model excited by the external electromagnetic radiation of Lévy noise are investigated and some interesting modes of the electrical activities are exhibited. The external electromagnetic radiation of Lévy noise leads to the mode transition of the electrical activities and spatial phase, such as from the rest state to the firing state, from the spiking state to the spiking state with more spikes, and from the spiking state to the bursting state. Then the time points of the firing state versus Lévy noise intensity are depicted. The increasing of Lévy noise intensity heightens the neuron firing. Also the stationary probability distribution functions of the membrane potential of the neuron induced by the external electromagnetic radiation of Lévy noise with different intensity, stability index and skewness papremeters are analyzed. Moreover, through the positive largest Lyapunov exponent, the parameter regions of chaotic electrical mode of the neuron induced by the external electromagnetic radiation of Lévy noise distribution are detected.

Lévy noise improves the electrical activity in a neuron under electromagnetic radiation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Wu

Full Text Available As the fluctuations of the internal bioelectricity of nervous system is various and complex, the external electromagnetic radiation induced by magnet flux on membrane can be described by the non-Gaussian type distribution of Lévy noise. Thus, the electrical activities in an improved Hindmarsh-Rose model excited by the external electromagnetic radiation of Lévy noise are investigated and some interesting modes of the electrical activities are exhibited. The external electromagnetic radiation of Lévy noise leads to the mode transition of the electrical activities and spatial phase, such as from the rest state to the firing state, from the spiking state to the spiking state with more spikes, and from the spiking state to the bursting state. Then the time points of the firing state versus Lévy noise intensity are depicted. The increasing of Lévy noise intensity heightens the neuron firing. Also the stationary probability distribution functions of the membrane potential of the neuron induced by the external electromagnetic radiation of Lévy noise with different intensity, stability index and skewness papremeters are analyzed. Moreover, through the positive largest Lyapunov exponent, the parameter regions of chaotic electrical mode of the neuron induced by the external electromagnetic radiation of Lévy noise distribution are detected.

NMF on positron emission tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bödvarsson, Bjarni; Hansen, Lars Kai; Svarer, Claus

2007-01-01

In positron emission tomography, kinetic modelling of brain tracer uptake, metabolism or binding requires knowledge of the cerebral input function. Traditionally, this is achieved with arterial blood sampling in the arm or as shown in (Liptrot, M, et al., 2004) by non-invasive K-means clustering....... We propose another method to estimate time-activity curves (TAC) extracted directly from dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) scans by non-negative matrix factorization (NMF). Since the scaling of the basis curves is lost in the NMF the estimated TAC is scaled by a vector alpha which...

Can Neural Activity Propagate by Endogenous Electrical Field?

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Chen; Shivacharan, Rajat S.; Zhang, Mingming

2015-01-01

It is widely accepted that synaptic transmissions and gap junctions are the major governing mechanisms for signal traveling in the neural system. Yet, a group of neural waves, either physiological or pathological, share the same speed of ∼0.1 m/s without synaptic transmission or gap junctions, and this speed is not consistent with axonal conduction or ionic diffusion. The only explanation left is an electrical field effect. We tested the hypothesis that endogenous electric fields are sufficient to explain the propagation with in silico and in vitro experiments. Simulation results show that field effects alone can indeed mediate propagation across layers of neurons with speeds of 0.12 ± 0.09 m/s with pathological kinetics, and 0.11 ± 0.03 m/s with physiologic kinetics, both generating weak field amplitudes of ∼2–6 mV/mm. Further, the model predicted that propagation speed values are inversely proportional to the cell-to-cell distances, but do not significantly change with extracellular resistivity, membrane capacitance, or membrane resistance. In vitro recordings in mice hippocampi produced similar speeds (0.10 ± 0.03 m/s) and field amplitudes (2.5–5 mV/mm), and by applying a blocking field, the propagation speed was greatly reduced. Finally, osmolarity experiments confirmed the model's prediction that cell-to-cell distance inversely affects propagation speed. Together, these results show that despite their weak amplitude, electric fields can be solely responsible for spike propagation at ∼0.1 m/s. This phenomenon could be important to explain the slow propagation of epileptic activity and other normal propagations at similar speeds. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Neural activity (waves or spikes) can propagate using well documented mechanisms such as synaptic transmission, gap junctions, or diffusion. However, the purpose of this paper is to provide an explanation for experimental data showing that neural signals can propagate by means other than synaptic

Algorithmic fundamentals of computerized tomography and of transverse analogue tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heckmann, K.

1981-01-01

Computerized tomography and transverse analogue tomography are two different approaches to the same goal, namely, transverse tomography. The algorithm is discussed and compared. Transverse tomography appears capable of further development, judging by this comparison. (orig.) [de

A model for the scattering of high-frequency electromagnetic fields from dielectrics exhibiting thermally-activated electrical losses

Science.gov (United States)

Hann, Raiford E.

1991-01-01

An equivalent circuit model (ECM) approach is used to predict the scattering behavior of temperature-activated, electrically lossy dielectric layers. The total electrical response of the dielectric (relaxation + conductive) is given by the ECM and used in combination with transmission line theory to compute reflectance spectra for a Dallenbach layer configuration. The effects of thermally-activated relaxation processes on the scattering properties is discussed. Also, the effect of relaxation and conduction activation energy on the electrical properties of the dielectric is described.

Design of a microscopic electrical impedance tomography system using two current injections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Qin; Oh, Tong In; Wi, Hun; Woo, Eung Je; Lee, Eun Jung; Seo, Jin Keun

2011-01-01

We describe a novel design of a microscopic electrical impedance tomography (micro-EIT) system for long-term noninvasive monitoring of cell or tissue cultures. The core of the micro-EIT system is a sample container including two pairs of current-injection electrodes and 360 voltage-sensing electrodes. In designing the container, we took advantage of a hexagonal structure with fixed dimensions and electrode configuration. This eliminated technical difficulties related to the unknown irregular boundary geometry of an imaging object in conventional medical EIT. Attaching a pair of large current-injection electrodes fully covering the left and right sides of the hexagonal container, we generated uniform parallel current density inside the container filled with saline. The 360 voltage-sensing electrodes were placed on the front, bottom and back sides of the hexagonal container in three sets of 8 × 15 arrays with equal gaps between them. We measured voltage differences between all neighboring pairs along the direction of the parallel current pathway. For the homogeneous container, all measured voltages must be the same since the voltage changes linearly along that direction. Any anomaly in the container perturbed the current pathways and therefore equipotential lines to produce different differential voltage data. For conductivity image reconstructions, we adopted a lately developed image reconstruction algorithm for this electrode configuration to first produce projected conductivity images on the front, bottom and back sides. Using a backprojection method, we reconstructed three-dimensional conductivity images from those projection images. To improve the image quality and also to meet the mathematical requirement on the uniqueness of a reconstructed image, we used a second pair of thin and long current-injection electrodes located at the middle of the front and back sides. This paper describes the design and construction of such a micro-EIT system with experimental

Improvements in the image quality of ventilatory tomograms by electrical impedance tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahn, G; Dittmar, J; Just, A; Hellige, G

2008-01-01

We present an improved approach to image ventilation in functional electrical impedance tomography (f-EIT). It combines the advantages of the two established procedures of calculating standard deviation as a functional parameter of ventilation (SD method) and the so-called filling capacity (FC method). The SD method quantifies the local impedance variation over a series of tomograms for each pixel; the FC method is based on the slope of a linear fit of regional versus the global impedance change. Tidal volume V T is displayed linearly by the SD method in f-EIT; it is, however, sensitive to noisy data. The FC method is much more robust with respect to noise but does not display the tidal volume V T . We combined the advantages of both techniques in a new VT method which is based on raw data. It saves computing time and is suitable for both f-EIT and absolute EIT (a-EIT). We separated the raw data into two representative sets: end expiratory and end inspiratory. This was accomplished by calculating the global time course of the relative impedance changes from the raw data. In this time course, we determined all frame numbers (indices) of end expiration and end inspiration. These frame numbers were used to calculate one mean expiratory and one mean inspiratory raw data frame. Reconstruction by difference imaging directly reflects the mean tidal volume V T during the acquired frame series. The effect of the improvement by the VT method was investigated at different noise levels by adding artificial noise from 0 to 100 µV rms to a real raw dataset. The robustness with regard to noise of the VT method was similar to that of the FC method. The practical value of suppression of non-ventilatory impedance changes, artefacts and noise was tested by studying ten healthy subjects (four females, six males) during normal breathing. We found a highly significant improvement in the image quality (p < 0.001) of ventilation for this group of volunteers

Ventilation distribution in rats: Part I - The effect of gas composition as measured with electrical impedance tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dunster Kimble R

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract The measurement of ventilation distribution is currently performed using inhaled tracer gases for multiple breath inhalation studies or imaging techniques to quantify spatial gas distribution. Most tracer gases used for these studies have properties different from that of air. The effect of gas density on regional ventilation distribution has not been studied. This study aimed to measure the effect of gas density on regional ventilation distribution. Methods Ventilation distribution was measured in seven rats using electrical impedance tomography (EIT in supine, prone, left and right lateral positions while being mechanically ventilated with either air, heliox (30% oxygen, 70% helium or sulfur hexafluoride (20% SF6, 20% oxygen, 60% air. The effect of gas density on regional ventilation distribution was assessed. Results Gas density did not impact on regional ventilation distribution. The non-dependent lung was better ventilated in all four body positions. Gas density had no further impact on regional filling characteristics. The filling characteristics followed an anatomical pattern with the anterior and left lung showing a greater impedance change during the initial phase of the inspiration. Conclusion It was shown that gas density did not impact on convection dependent ventilation distribution in rats measured with EIT.

Electrical Vehicles Activities Around the World

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schauer, Gerd; Garcia-Valle, Rodrigo

2013-01-01

engine. In the 1990s research and demonstrations intensified and built a good basis for actual development of electrical vehicles. Discussion of the results achieved and lessons learned from millions of kilometers of road testing is worthwhile but in addition to technological developments such as light...... which have jointly changed how mobility is viewed in recent years. We describe key points concerning such field testing and the renaissance in electric vehicles that occurred around 2010. We discuss progress in lithium battery technology for high power and high energy density, improvement in integrated...... business models, and the availability of high-performance electric vehicles have become key enablers of this new technology. In this regard, it is promising that electric vehicles will soon be a part of a green transport solution (green mobility) powered by renewable energy and a new smart electricity...

Vasoactive intestinal peptide and electrical activity influence neuronal survival

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenneman, D.E.; Eiden, L.E.

1986-01-01

Blockage of electrical activity in dissociated spinal cord cultures results in a significant loss of neurons during a critical period in development. Decreases in neuronal cell numbers and 125 I-labeled tetanus toxin fixation produced by electrical blockage with tetrodotoxin (TTX) were prevented by addition of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) to the nutrient medium. The most effective concentration of VIP was 0.1 nM. At higher concentrations, the survival-enhancing effect of VIP on TTX-treated cultures was attenuated. Addition of the peptide alone had no significant effect on neuronal cell counts or tetanus toxin fixation. With the same experimental conditions, two closely related peptides, PHI-27 (peptide, histidyl-isoleucine amide) and secretin, were found not to increase the number of neurons in TTX-treated cultures. Interference with VIP action by VIP antiserum resulted in neuronal losses that were not significantly different from those observed after TTX treatment. These data indicate that under conditions of electrical blockade a neurotrophic action of VIP on neuronal survival can be demonstrated

Microstructural and electrical changes in nickel manganite powder induced by mechanical activation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savic, S.M.; Mancic, L.; Vojisavljevic, K.; Stojanovic, G.; Brankovic, Z.; Aleksic, O.S.; Brankovic, G.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → The influence of mechanical activation on microstructure evolution in the nickel manganite powder was investigated as well as electrical properties of the sintered samples. → Structural refinement obtained by Topas-Academic software based on Rietveld analysis showed that the milling process remarkably changed the powder morphology and microstructure. → SEM studies of sintered samples also revealed the strong influence of milling time on ceramics density (increases with milling time). → The electrical properties of ceramic samples are clearly conditioned by terms of synthesis, in our case the time of mechanical activation. → The highest density and higher values of dielectric constant were achieved at the sample activated for 45 min. -- Abstract: Nickel manganite powder synthesized by calcination of a stoichiometric mixture of manganese and nickel oxide was additionally mechanically activated in a high energy planetary ball mill for 5-60 min in order to obtain a pure NiMn 2 O 4 phase. The as-prepared powders were uniaxially pressed into disc shape pellets and then sintered for 60 min at 1200 o C. Changes in the particle morphology induced by mechanical activation were monitored using scanning electron microscopy, while changes in powder structural characteristics were followed using X-ray powder diffraction. The ac impedance spectroscopy was performed on sintered nickel manganite samples at 25 o C, 50 o C and 80 o C. It was shown that mechanical activation intensifies transport processes causing a decrease in the average crystallites size, while longer activation times can lead to the formation of aggregates, defects and increase of lattice microstrains. The observed changes in microstructures were correlated with measured electrical properties in order to define optimal processing conditions.

Validation of Micro-Meso Electrical Relations for Laminates with Varying Anisotropy

KAUST Repository

Selvakumaran, Lakshmi; Lubineau, Gilles

2015-01-01

For electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to be useful in monitoring transverse cracks in composites, it is imperative to establish the relation between conductivity and cracking density. Micro to meso scale homogenization has been developed

Electrically aligned cellulose film for electro-active paper and its piezoelectricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yun, Sungryul; Jang, Sangdong; Yun, Gyu-Young; Kim, Jaehwan

2009-01-01

Electrically aligned regenerated cellulose films were fabricated and the effect of applied electric field was investigated for the piezoelectricity of electro-active paper (EAPap). The EAPap was fabricated by coating gold electrodes on both sides of regenerated cellulose film. The cellulose film was prepared by dissolving cotton pulp in LiCl/N,N-dimethylacetamide solution followed by a cellulose chain regeneration process. During the regeneration process an external electric field was applied in the direction of mechanical stretching. Alignment of cellulose fiber chains was investigated as a function of applied electric field. The material characteristics of the cellulose films were analyzed by using an x-ray diffractometer, a field emission scanning electron microscope and a high voltage electron microscope. The application of external electric fields was found to induce formation of nanofibers in the cellulose, resulting in an increase in the crystallinity index (CI) values. It was also found that samples with higher CI values showed higher in-plane piezoelectric constant, d 31 , values. The piezoelectricity of the current EAPap films was measured to be equivalent or better than that of ordinary PVDF films. Therefore, an external electric field applied to a cellulose film along with a mechanical stretching during the regeneration process can enhance the piezoelectricity. (technical note)

Neural electrical activity and neural network growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Gafarov, F M

2018-05-01

The development of central and peripheral neural system depends in part on the emergence of the correct functional connectivity in its input and output pathways. Now it is generally accepted that molecular factors guide neurons to establish a primary scaffold that undergoes activity-dependent refinement for building a fully functional circuit. However, a number of experimental results obtained recently shows that the neuronal electrical activity plays an important role in the establishing of initial interneuronal connections. Nevertheless, these processes are rather difficult to study experimentally, due to the absence of theoretical description and quantitative parameters for estimation of the neuronal activity influence on growth in neural networks. In this work we propose a general framework for a theoretical description of the activity-dependent neural network growth. The theoretical description incorporates a closed-loop growth model in which the neural activity can affect neurite outgrowth, which in turn can affect neural activity. We carried out the detailed quantitative analysis of spatiotemporal activity patterns and studied the relationship between individual cells and the network as a whole to explore the relationship between developing connectivity and activity patterns. The model, developed in this work will allow us to develop new experimental techniques for studying and quantifying the influence of the neuronal activity on growth processes in neural networks and may lead to a novel techniques for constructing large-scale neural networks by self-organization. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diagnosis of dementia with single photon emission computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jagust, W.J.; Budinger, T.F.; Reed, B.R.

1987-01-01

Single photon emission computed tomography is a practical modality for the study of physiologic cerebral activity in vivo. We utilized single photon emission computed tomography and N-isopropyl-p-iodoamphetamine iodine 123 to evaluate regional cerebral blood flow in nine patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), five healthy elderly control subjects, and two patients with multi-infarct dementia. We found that all subjects with AD demonstrated flow deficits in temporoparietal cortex bilaterally, and that the ratio of activity in bilateral temporoparietal cortex to activity in the whole slice allowed the differentiation of all patients with AD from both the controls and from the patients with multi-infarct dementia. Furthermore, this ratio showed a strong correlation with disease severity in the AD group. Single photon emission computed tomography appears to be useful in the differential diagnosis of dementia and reflects clinical features of the disease

Illustrated computer tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, S.

1983-01-01

This book provides the following information: basic aspects of computed tomography; atlas of computed tomography of the normal adult; clinical application of computed tomography; and radiotherapy planning and computed tomography

The Challenge Posed by Geomagnetic Activity to Electric Power Reliability: Evidence From England and Wales

Science.gov (United States)

Forbes, Kevin F.; St. Cyr, O. C.

2017-10-01

This paper addresses whether geomagnetic activity challenged the reliability of the electric power system during part of the declining phase of solar cycle 23. Operations by National Grid in England and Wales are examined over the period of 11 March 2003 through 31 March 2005. This paper examines the relationship between measures of geomagnetic activity and a metric of challenged electric power reliability known as the net imbalance volume (NIV). Measured in megawatt hours, NIV represents the sum of all energy deployments initiated by the system operator to balance the electric power system. The relationship between geomagnetic activity and NIV is assessed using a multivariate econometric model. The model was estimated using half-hour settlement data over the period of 11 March 2003 through 31 December 2004. The results indicate that geomagnetic activity had a demonstrable effect on NIV over the sample period. Based on the parameter estimates, out-of-sample predictions of NIV were generated for each half hour over the period of 1 January to 31 March 2005. Consistent with the existence of a causal relationship between geomagnetic activity and the electricity market imbalance, the root-mean-square error of the out-of-sample predictions of NIV is smaller; that is, the predictions are more accurate, when the statistically significant estimated effects of geomagnetic activity are included as drivers in the predictions.

Electrical activity during the 2006 Mount St. Augustine volcanic eruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Ronald J.; Krehbiel, Paul R.; Rison, William; Edens, H. E.; Aulich, G. D.; McNutt, S.R.; Tytgat, Guy; Clark, E.

2007-01-01

By using a combination of radio frequency time-of-arrival and interferometer measurements, we observed a sequence of lightning and electrical activity during one of Mount St. Augustine's eruptions. The observations indicate that the electrical activity had two modes or phases. First, there was an explosive phase in which the ejecta from the explosion appeared to be highly charged upon exiting the volcano, resulting in numerous apparently disorganized discharges and some simple lightning. The net charge exiting the volcano appears to have been positive. The second phase, which followed the most energetic explosion, produced conventional-type discharges that occurred within plume. Although the plume cloud was undoubtedly charged as a result of the explosion itself, the fact that the lightning onset was delayed and continued after and well downwind of the eruption indicates that in situ charging of some kind was occurring, presumably similar in some respects to that which occurs in normal thunderstorms.

Radio Emissions from Electrical Activity in Martian Dust Storms

Science.gov (United States)

Majid, W.; Arabshahi, S.; Kocz, J.; Schulter, T.; White, L.

2017-12-01

Dust storms on Mars are predicted to be capable of producing electrostatic fields and discharges, even larger than those in dust storms on Earth. There are three key elements in the characterization of Martian electrostatic discharges: dependence on Martian environmental conditions, event rate, and the strength of the generated electric fields. The detection and characterization of electric activity in Martian dust storms has important implications for habitability, and preparations for human exploration of the red planet. Furthermore, electrostatic discharges may be linked to local chemistry and plays an important role in the predicted global electrical circuit. Because of the continuous Mars telecommunication needs of NASA's Mars-based assets, the Deep Space Network (DSN) is the only facility in the world that combines long term, high cadence, observing opportunities with large sensitive telescopes, making it a unique asset worldwide in searching for and characterizing electrostatic activity from large scale convective dust storms at Mars. We will describe a newly inaugurated program at NASA's Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex to carry out a long-term monitoring campaign to search for and characterize the entire Mars hemisphere for powerful discharges during routine tracking of spacecraft at Mars on an entirely non-interfering basis. The ground-based detections will also have important implications for the design of a future instrument that could make similar in-situ measurements from orbit or from the surface of Mars, with far greater sensitivity and duty cycle, opening up a new window in our understanding of the Martian environment.

Possibilities for Estimating Horizontal Electrical Currents in Active Regions on the Sun

Science.gov (United States)

Fursyak, Yu. A.; Abramenko, V. I.

2017-12-01

Part of the "free" magnetic energy associated with electrical current systems in the active region (AR) is released during solar flares. This proposition is widely accepted and it has stimulated interest in detecting electrical currents in active regions. The vertical component of an electric current in the photosphere can be found by observing the transverse magnetic field. At present, however, there are no direct methods for calculating transverse electric currents based on these observations. These calculations require information on the field vector measured simultaneously at several levels in the photosphere, which has not yet been done with solar instrumentation. In this paper we examine an approach to calculating the structure of the square of the density of a transverse electrical current based on a magnetogram of the vertical component of the magnetic field in the AR. Data obtained with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) for the AR of NOAA AR 11283 are used. It is shown that (1) the observed variations in the magnetic field of a sunspot and the proposed estimate of the density of an annular horizontal current around the spot are consistent with Faraday's law and (2) the resulting estimates of the magnitude of the square of the density of the horizontal current {j}_{\\perp}^2 = (0.002- 0.004) A2/m4 are consistent with previously obtained values of the density of a vertical current in the photosphere. Thus, the proposed estimate is physically significant and this method can be used to estimate the density and structure of transverse electrical currents in the photosphere.

Numerical implementation of magneto-acousto-electrical tomography (MAET) using a linear phased array transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Soner Gözü, Mehmet; Zengin, Reyhan; Güneri Gençer, Nevzat

2018-02-01

In this study, the performance and implementation of magneto-acousto-electrical tomography (MAET) is investigated using a linear phased array (LPA) transducer. The goal of MAET is to image the conductivity distribution in biological bodies. It uses the interaction between ultrasound and a static magnetic field to generate velocity current density distribution inside the body. The resultant voltage due to velocity current density is sensed by surface electrodes attached on the body. In this study, the theory of MAET is reviewed. A 16-element LPA transducer with 1 MHz excitation frequency is used to provide beam directivity and steerability of acoustic waves. Different two-dimensional numerical models of breast and tumour are formed to analyze the multiphysics problem coupled with acoustics and electromagnetic fields. In these models, velocity current density distributions are obtained for pulse type ultrasound excitations. The static magnetic field is assumed as 1 T. To sense the resultant voltage caused by the velocity current density, it is assumed that two electrodes are attached on the surface of the body. The performance of MAET is shown through sensitivity matrix analysis. The sensitivity matrix is obtained for two transducer positions with 13 steering angles between -30\\circ to 30\\circ with 5\\circ angular intervals. For the reconstruction of the images, truncated singular value decomposition method is used with different signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values (20 dB, 40 dB, 60 dB and 80 dB). The resultant images show that the perturbation (5 mm  ×  5 mm) placed 35 mm depth can be detected even if the SNR is 20 dB.

Use of electrical impedance tomography to monitor regional cerebral edema during clinical dehydration treatment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng Fu

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Variations of conductive fluid content in brain tissue (e.g. cerebral edema change tissue impedance and can potentially be measured by Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT, an emerging medical imaging technique. The objective of this work is to establish the feasibility of using EIT as an imaging tool for monitoring brain fluid content. DESIGN: a prospective study. SETTING: In this study EIT was used, for the first time, to monitor variations in cerebral fluid content in a clinical model with patients undergoing clinical dehydration treatment. The EIT system was developed in house and its imaging sensitivity and spatial resolution were evaluated on a saline-filled tank. PATIENTS: 23 patients with brain edema. INTERVENTIONS: The patients were continuously imaged by EIT for two hours after initiation of dehydration treatment using 0.5 g/kg intravenous infusion of mannitol for 20 minutes. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: Overall impedance across the brain increased significantly before and after mannitol dehydration treatment (p = 0.0027. Of the all 23 patients, 14 showed high-level impedance increase and maintained this around 4 hours after the dehydration treatment whereas the other 9 also showed great impedance gain during the treatment but it gradually decreased after the treatment. Further analysis of the regions of interest in the EIT images revealed that diseased regions, identified on corresponding CT images, showed significantly less impedance changes than normal regions during the monitoring period, indicating variations in different patients' responses to such treatment. CONCLUSIONS: EIT shows potential promise as an imaging tool for real-time and non-invasive monitoring of brain edema patients.

Positron emission tomography/computed tomography surveillance in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma in first remission has a low positive predictive value and high costs.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Galaly, Tarec Christoffer; Mylam, Karen Juul; Brown, Peter; Specht, Lena; Christiansen, Ilse; Munksgaard, Lars; Johnsen, Hans Erik; Loft, Annika; Bukh, Anne; Iyer, Victor; Nielsen, Anne Lerberg; Hutchings, Martin

2012-06-01

The value of performing post-therapy routine surveillance imaging in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma is controversial. This study evaluates the utility of positron emission tomography/computed tomography using 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose for this purpose and in situations with suspected lymphoma relapse. We conducted a multicenter retrospective study. Patients with newly diagnosed Hodgkin lymphoma achieving at least a partial remission on first-line therapy were eligible if they received positron emission tomography/computed tomography surveillance during follow-up. Two types of imaging surveillance were analyzed: "routine" when patients showed no signs of relapse at referral to positron emission tomography/computed tomography, and "clinically indicated" when recurrence was suspected. A total of 211 routine and 88 clinically indicated positron emission tomography/computed tomography studies were performed in 161 patients. In ten of 22 patients with recurrence of Hodgkin lymphoma, routine imaging surveillance was the primary tool for the diagnosis of the relapse. Extranodal disease, interim positron emission tomography-positive lesions and positron emission tomography activity at response evaluation were all associated with a positron emission tomography/computed tomography-diagnosed preclinical relapse. The true positive rates of routine and clinically indicated imaging were 5% and 13%, respectively (P = 0.02). The overall positive predictive value and negative predictive value of positron emission tomography/computed tomography were 28% and 100%, respectively. The estimated cost per routine imaging diagnosed relapse was US$ 50,778. Negative positron emission tomography/computed tomography reliably rules out a relapse. The high false positive rate is, however, an important limitation and a confirmatory biopsy is mandatory for the diagnosis of a relapse. With no proven survival benefit for patients with a pre-clinically diagnosed relapse, the high costs and low

Initial Assessment of β3-Adrenoceptor-Activated Brown Adipose Tissue in Streptozotocin-Induced Type 1 Diabetes Rodent Model Using [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aparna Baranwal

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Metabolic activity of brown adipose tissue (BAT is activated by β3-adrenoceptor agonists and norepinephrine transporter (NET blockers and is measurable using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT in rats. Using the streptozotocin (STZ-treated rat model of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM, we investigated BAT activity in this rat model under fasting and nonfasting conditions using [18F]FDG PET/CT. Drugs that enhance BAT activity may have a potential for therapeutic development in lowering blood sugar in insulin-resistant diabetes. Rats were rendered diabetic by administration of STZand confirmed by glucose measures. [18F]FDG was injected in the rats (fasted or nonfasted pretreated with either saline or β3-adrenoceptor agonist CL316,243 or the NET blocker atomoxetine for PET/CT scans. [18F]FDG metabolic activity was computed as standard uptake values (SUVs in interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT and compared across the different drug treatment conditions. Blood glucose levels > 500 mg/dL were established for the STZ-treated diabetic rats. Under fasting conditions, average uptake of [18F]FDG in the IBAT of STZ-treated diabetic rats was approximately 70% lower compared to that of normal rats. Both CL316,243 and atomoxetine activated IBAT in normal rats had an SUV > 5, whereas activation in STZ-treated rats was significantly lower. The agonist CL316,243 activated IBAT up to threefold compared to saline in the fasted STZ-treated rat. In the nonfasted rat, the IBAT activation was up by twofold by CL316243. Atomoxetine had a greater effect on lowering blood sugar levels compared to CL316,243 in the nonfasted rats. A significant reduction in metabolic activity was observed in the STZ-treated diabetic rodent model. Increased IBAT activity in the STZ-treated diabetic rat under nonfasted conditions using the β3-adrenoceptor agonist CL316,243 suggests a potential role of BAT in modulating blood sugar

Nondestructive assay of TRU waste using gamma-ray active and passive computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberson, G.P.; Decman, D.; Martz, H.; Keto, E.R.; Johansson, E.M.

1995-01-01

The authors have developed an active and passive computed tomography (A and PCT) scanner for assaying radioactive waste drums. Here they describe the hardware components of their system and the software used for data acquisition, gamma-ray spectroscopy analysis, and image reconstruction. They have measured the performance of the system using ''mock'' waste drums and calibrated radioactive sources. They also describe the results of measurements using this system to assay a real TRU waste drum with relatively low Pu content. The results are compared with X-ray NDE studies of the same TRU waste drum as well as assay results from segmented gamma scanner (SGS) measurements

Equiripple Digital Filter in Quadrature Mirror Filter Banks for Nuclear Magnetic Tomography