EAU standardised medical terminology for urologic imaging: a taxonomic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Loch, Tillmann; Carey, Brendan; Walz, Jochen; Fulgham, Pat Fox

2015-05-01

The terminology and abbreviations used in urologic imaging have generally been adopted on an ad hoc basis by different speciality groups; however, there is a need for shared nomenclature to facilitate clinical communication and collaborative research. This work reviews the current nomenclature for urologic imaging used in clinical practice and proposes a taxonomy and terminology for urologic imaging studies. A list of terms used in urologic imaging were compiled from guidelines published by the European Association of Urology and the American Urological Association and from the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria. Terms searched were grouped into broad categories based on technology, and imaging terms were further stratified based on the anatomic extent, contrast or phases, technique or modifiers, and combinations or fusions. Terms that had a high degree of utilisation were classified as accepted. We propose a new taxonomy to define a more useful and acceptable nomenclature model acceptable to all health professionals involved in urology. The major advantage of a taxonomic approach to the classification of urologic imaging studies is that it provides a flexible framework for classifying the modifications of current imaging modalities and allows the incorporation of new imaging modalities. The adoption of this hierarchical classification model ranging from the most general to the most detailed descriptions should facilitate hierarchical searches of the medical literature using both general and specific terms. This work is limited in its scope, as it is not currently all-inclusive. This will hopefully be addressed by future modification as others embrace the concept and work towards uniformity in nomenclature. This paper provides a noncomprehensive list of the most widely used terms across different specialties. This list can be used as the basis for further discussion, development, and enhancement. In this paper we describe a classification system

Ghost image in enhanced self-heterodyne synthetic aperture imaging ladar

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guo; Sun, Jianfeng; Zhou, Yu; Lu, Zhiyong; Li, Guangyuan; Xu, Mengmeng; Zhang, Bo; Lao, Chenzhe; He, Hongyu

2018-03-01

The enhanced self-heterodyne synthetic aperture imaging ladar (SAIL) self-heterodynes two polarization-orthogonal echo signals to eliminate the phase disturbance caused by atmospheric turbulence and mechanical trembling, uses heterodyne receiver instead of self-heterodyne receiver to improve signal-to-noise ratio. The principle and structure of the enhanced self-heterodyne SAIL are presented. The imaging process of enhanced self-heterodyne SAIL for distributed target is also analyzed. In enhanced self-heterodyne SAIL, the phases of two orthogonal-polarization beams are modulated by four cylindrical lenses in transmitter to improve resolutions in orthogonal direction and travel direction, which will generate ghost image. The generation process of ghost image in enhanced self-heterodyne SAIL is mathematically detailed, and a method of eliminating ghost image is also presented, which is significant for far-distance imaging. A number of experiments of enhanced self-heterodyne SAIL for distributed target are presented, these experimental results verify the theoretical analysis of enhanced self-heterodyne SAIL. The enhanced self-heterodyne SAIL has the capability to eliminate the influence from the atmospheric turbulence and mechanical trembling, has high advantage in detecting weak signals, and has promising application for far-distance ladar imaging.

Quantifying the effects of iodine contrast media on standardised uptake values of FDG PET/CT images: an anthropomorphic phantom study.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdul Razak, Hairil Rashmizal; Nordin, Abdul Jalil; Ackerly, Trevor; Van Every, Bruce; Martin, Ruth; Geso, Moshi

2011-09-01

This study aimed to quantify the amount of change in Standardised Uptake Values (SUVs) of PET/CT images by simulating the set-up as closely as possible to the actual patient scanning. The experiments were conducted using an anthropomorphic phantom, which contained an amount of radioactivity in the form of Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in a primary plastic test tube and one litre saline bags, including the insertion of bony structures and another two test tubes containing different concentrations of iodine contrast media. Standard scanning protocols were employed for the PET/CT image acquisition. The highest absolute differences in the SUVmax and SUVmean values of the saline bags were found to be about 0.2 and 0.4, respectively. The primary test tube showed the largest change of 1.5 in both SUVs; SUV max and SUVmean. However, none of these changes were found to be statistically significant. The clinical literature also contains no evidence to suggest that the changes of this magnitude would change the final diagnosis. Based on these preliminary data, we propose that iodine contrast media can be used during the CT scan of PET/CT imaging, without significantly affecting the diagnostic quality of this integrated imaging modality.

Periorbital biometric measurements using ImageJ software: Standardisation of technique and assessment of intra- and interobserver variability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R Rajyalakshmi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To assess the reliability and repeatability of periorbital biometric measurements using ImageJ software and to assess if the horizontal visible iris diameter (HVID serves as a reliable scale for facial measurements. Methods: This study was a prospective, single-blind, comparative study. Two clinicians performed 12 periorbital measurements on 100 standardised face photographs. Each individual’s HVID was determined by Orbscan IIz and used as a scale for measurements using ImageJ software. All measurements were repeated using the ‘average’ HVID of the study population as a measurement scale. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC and Pearson product-moment coefficient were used as statistical tests to analyse the data. Results: The range of ICC for intra- and interobserver variability was 0.79–0.99 and 0.86–0.99, respectively. Test-retest reliability ranged from 0.66–1.0 to 0.77–0.98, respectively. When average HVID of the study population was used as scale, ICC ranged from 0.83 to 0.99, and the test-retest reliability ranged from 0.83 to 0.96 and the measurements correlated well with recordings done with individual Orbscan HVID measurements. Conclusion: Periorbital biometric measurements using ImageJ software are reproducible and repeatable. Average HVID of the population as measured by Orbscan is a reliable scale for facial measurements.

An enhanced fractal image denoising algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Jian; Ye Zhongxing; Zou Yuru; Ye Ruisong

2008-01-01

In recent years, there has been a significant development in image denoising using fractal-based method. This paper presents an enhanced fractal predictive denoising algorithm for denoising the images corrupted by an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) by using quadratic gray-level function. Meanwhile, a quantization method for the fractal gray-level coefficients of the quadratic function is proposed to strictly guarantee the contractivity requirement of the enhanced fractal coding, and in terms of the quality of the fractal representation measured by PSNR, the enhanced fractal image coding using quadratic gray-level function generally performs better than the standard fractal coding using linear gray-level function. Based on this enhanced fractal coding, the enhanced fractal image denoising is implemented by estimating the fractal gray-level coefficients of the quadratic function of the noiseless image from its noisy observation. Experimental results show that, compared with other standard fractal-based image denoising schemes using linear gray-level function, the enhanced fractal denoising algorithm can improve the quality of the restored image efficiently

Terminology standardisation in the nuclear engineering field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraut, A.

1987-01-01

Terminological standardisation is made for the purpose of unambiguous understanding, at least among experts in a given field of knowledge. The author explains a number of criteria and aspects to be taken into account in the process of standardisation by referring to the work of the Terminology Committee on Nuclear Engineering. He discusses the word formation in a technical language and the features of standardised terminology. Accepted terminology is a main factor in all procedures concerning design, testing, and approval and licensing of nuclear facilities, and also is of importance in terms of economics. (HP) [de

Comparative analysis of different methods for image enhancement

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

吴笑峰; 胡仕刚; 赵瑾; 李志明; 李劲; 唐志军; 席在芳

2014-01-01

Image enhancement technology plays a very important role to improve image quality in image processing. By enhancing some information and restraining other information selectively, it can improve image visual effect. The objective of this work is to implement the image enhancement to gray scale images using different techniques. After the fundamental methods of image enhancement processing are demonstrated, image enhancement algorithms based on space and frequency domains are systematically investigated and compared. The advantage and defect of the above-mentioned algorithms are analyzed. The algorithms of wavelet based image enhancement are also deduced and generalized. Wavelet transform modulus maxima (WTMM) is a method for detecting the fractal dimension of a signal, it is well used for image enhancement. The image techniques are compared by using the mean (μ), standard deviation (s), mean square error (MSE) and PSNR (peak signal to noise ratio). A group of experimental results demonstrate that the image enhancement algorithm based on wavelet transform is effective for image de-noising and enhancement. Wavelet transform modulus maxima method is one of the best methods for image enhancement.

Gabor filter based fingerprint image enhancement

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jin-Xiang

2013-03-01

Fingerprint recognition technology has become the most reliable biometric technology due to its uniqueness and invariance, which has been most convenient and most reliable technique for personal authentication. The development of Automated Fingerprint Identification System is an urgent need for modern information security. Meanwhile, fingerprint preprocessing algorithm of fingerprint recognition technology has played an important part in Automatic Fingerprint Identification System. This article introduces the general steps in the fingerprint recognition technology, namely the image input, preprocessing, feature recognition, and fingerprint image enhancement. As the key to fingerprint identification technology, fingerprint image enhancement affects the accuracy of the system. It focuses on the characteristics of the fingerprint image, Gabor filters algorithm for fingerprint image enhancement, the theoretical basis of Gabor filters, and demonstration of the filter. The enhancement algorithm for fingerprint image is in the windows XP platform with matlab.65 as a development tool for the demonstration. The result shows that the Gabor filter is effective in fingerprint image enhancement technology.

Neutron Activation Analysis with k0-standardisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pomme, S.

2001-01-01

SCK-CEN's programme on Neutron Activation Analysis with k 0 -standardisation concentrates on the improvement of the standardisation method and the characterisation of the neutron field as well as on the improvement of the statistical control on neutron activation analysis. Main achievements in 2000 are reported

Retinex enhancement of infrared images.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ying; He, Renjie; Xu, Guizhi; Hou, Changzhi; Sun, Yunyan; Guo, Lei; Rao, Liyun; Yan, Weili

2008-01-01

With the ability of imaging the temperature distribution of body, infrared imaging is promising in diagnostication and prognostication of diseases. However the poor quality of the raw original infrared images prevented applications and one of the essential problems is the low contrast appearance of the imagined object. In this paper, the image enhancement technique based on the Retinex theory is studied, which is a process that automatically retrieve the visual realism to images. The algorithms, including Frackle-McCann algorithm, McCann99 algorithm, single-scale Retinex algorithm, multi-scale Retinex algorithm and multi-scale Retinex algorithm with color restoration, are experienced to the enhancement of infrared images. The entropy measurements along with the visual inspection were compared and results shown the algorithms based on Retinex theory have the ability in enhancing the infrared image. Out of the algorithms compared, MSRCR demonstrated the best performance.

Detectability of hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison of Gd-DTPA-enhanced and SPIO-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwak, Hyo Sung; Lee, Jeong Min; Kim In Hwan; Kim, Chong Soo; Han, Hyeun Young; Yoon, Kwon ha; Shin, Kyung Sook

2000-01-01

To compare the detectability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced T2-weighted turbo spin echo (TSE), SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted FISP, and dynamic Gd-DTPA-enhanced fast low-angle shot (FLASH) MR images. In order to assess their hepatic lesions, 25 patients (20 men and 5 women) with HCC were enrolled in an MR study in which both gadolinium and Spiro were used. Since the lesions were most conspicuous during the phase of dynamic arterial dominant phase of dynamic gadolinium-enhanced imaging, this was the phase used for analysis. Images were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, and to compare the diagnostic value of gadolinium-enhanced imaging with that of SPIO-enhanced imaging for the detection of HCCs, a receiver-operated characteristic curve was obtained. Qualitative analysis revealed a significantly higher percentage of signal loss and a higher liver-lesion contrast-to-noise ratio on SPIO-enhanced FISP imaging than on SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted TSE imaging (p less than 0.05). It also showed that the lesions were most clearly visible on SPIO-enhanced FISP imaging (and significantly so), followed by SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted TSE imaging, and dynamic gadolinium-enhanced imaging. Imaging artifacts were more prominent on SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted TSE than on SPIO-enhanced PISF imaging or dynamic gadolinium-enhanced imaging (p less than 0.05). According to ROC analysis, SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted turbo spin echo (TSE) or SPIO-enhanced FISP imaging achieved higher accuracy than did dynamic gadolinium-enhanced FLASH imaging (p less than 0.05). For the detection of hepatocellular carcinomas, SPIO-enhanced MR imaging is better than gadolinium-enhanced FLASH imaging

Overhauser-enhanced MR imaging (OMRI)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golman, K.; Leunbach, I.; Ardenkjaer-Larsen, J.H.; Wistrand, L.G.; Petersson, J.S.; Ehnholm, G.J.; Jaervi, A.; Vahasalo, S.

1998-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate a new single-electron contrast agent for Overhauser-enhanced MR imaging. The contrast agents that are currently available give enhancement factors that are too low to make the technique a valid option for routine clinical use. Material and Methods: MR images were generated directly following the injection of the substance into rats. The MR scanner was operated at a main magnetic field of 0.01 T and equipped with a separate rf-transmitter tuned to the electron paramagnetic resonance frequency of the contrast agent. Results: As expected, the images generated show a high level of enhancement in areas where the contrast agent was present, and a maximum enhancement of 60 times the normal proton signal was obtained in the vascular area. The signal-to-noise ratios in the images were superior to those previously attained. Conclusion: The new contrast agent makes it possible to generate MR images with both morphological and functional information at 0.01 T. The signal-to-noise ratios found in the generated images were of the same order as, or better than, those obtained with the standard clinical routine. (orig.)

Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging in meningitis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, M.H.; Chang, K.H.; Roh, J.K.; Kim, I.O.; Han, M.C.; Kim, C.W.

1988-01-01

Gd-DPTA-enhanced MR imaging was performed in 16 patients with meningitis (seven tuberculous, four bacterial, three fungal, and two viral) on a 2.0-T unit. Hemorrhagic infarcts of basal ganglia and localized enhancement of thickened dura adjacent were demonstrated on T1-weighted images in three patients with tuberculous meningitis and four with bacterial meningitis, respectively, that were not seen on CT. Enhanced T1-weighted images readily differentiated leptomeningeal enhancement from vessels in two cases with CT of equivocal meningeal enhancement. Nonenhanced T2-weighted images were most sensitive for demonstrating ischemia/infarct and edema. Otherwise, MR images generally matched CT scans

Overhauser-enhanced MR imaging (OMRI)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Golman, K; Leunbach, I; Ardenkjaer-Larsen, JH

1998-01-01

Purpose. To evaluate a new single-electron contrast agent for Overhauser-enhanced MR imaging. The contrast agents that are currently available give enhancement factors that are too low to make the technique a valid option for routine clinical use. Material and Methods. MR images were generated di...

Gd-enhanced MR imaging of the herniated lumbar disc: patterns of enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwag, Hyon Joo; Choi, Hye Young; Kim, Hyae Young; Kim, Yoo Kyung; Kim, Ah Young; Chung, Eun Chul

1995-01-01

The purpose of this study is to describe the patterns of enhancement of the herniated lumbar disc with Gd-DTPA enhanced MR imaging. Out of 65 patients, 103 lumbar discs diagnosed to be herniated by MR image were retrospectively analyzed. The MR imaging was performed with 1.5 T MR unit, using T1-and T2-weighted sagittal and axial spin echo techniques. Contrast-enhanced T1 weighted sagittal and axial images were performed after intravenous injection of Gadopentetate-dimeglumine(Magnevist, Shering) (0.1 mmol/kg). Contrast enhancement was seen in 66 cases(64%). Thirteen cases of bulging disc were not enhanced. Twenty-eight cases of protruded disc showed intraannular enchantment in 23 cases, peripheral linear and irregular enhancement in each of one case, and nonenhancement in three cases. Fifty-seven cases of extruded disc showed irregular enhancement in 14 cases, peripheral linear enhancement in 12 cases, peripheral ring enhancement in five cases and intraannular enhancement in five cases. All five cases of sequestered disc showed peripheral ring enhancement. Protruded discs show intraannular enhancement frequently and sequestered discs usually show peripheral ring enhancement. Enhanced MR imaging may be helpful to evaluate the type of herniated lumbar disc and relationship among disc material, nerve root and thecal sac

Hepatocellular carcinoma on MR diffusion weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong Aisheng; Zuo Changjing; Tian Jianming; Lu Jianping; Wang Jian; Wang Li; Wang Fei

2009-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the findings of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on DWI and dynamic Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging. Methods: Eighty one patients with chronic hepatitis or liver cirrhosis underwent both DWI and dynamic Gd-DTPA-enhanced MRI studies of the liver for HCC detection. MR data of were retrospectively analyzed. Two observers determined in consensus the location and the number of focal lesions. The signal manifestation of the lesions on DWI and dynamic Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging were analyzed. Results: DWI and Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR images detected 122 HCCs and 14 benign lesions. One hundred and sixteen HCCs (95.1%) showed hyperintensity on DWI and 6 HCCs in patients with severe cirrhosis showed isointensity. One hundred and five HCCs (86.1%) revealed hypointensity, 11 HCCs (9.0%) showed isointensity and 6 HCCs (4.9%) exhibited hyperintensity on T 1 weighted images. On Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR images, 101 HCCs(82.8%) were significantly enhanced on arterial phase and 99 HCCs showed hypointensity on portal and equilibrium phases. Twenty HCCs (16.4%), 18 of 20 less than 20 mm in diameter, showed isointensity on arterial phase and hyperintensity on DWI. Eight of 14 benign lesions showed hyperintensity and 6 isointensity on DWI. Five benign lesions with hypointensity on T 1 weighted images without contrast and hyperintensity on DWI showed no enhancement on Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR images; 6 benign lesions with isointensity on both T 1 weighted imaging without contrast and DWI exhibited avid enhancement on arterial phase and isointensty on portal and equilibrium phases; one of the two benign lesions, with isointensity before and after contrast images and hyperintentiy on DWI, was a regenerative nodule; another regenerative nodule with hyperintensity on both T 1 weighted images without contrast and DWI was greatly enhanced on arterial phase and showed isointensity on portal and equilibrium phases. Conclusions: Most of the HCCs were greatly enhanced on arterial phase on Gd-DTPA-enhanced

Stochastic Capsule Endoscopy Image Enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Mohammed

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Capsule endoscopy, which uses a wireless camera to take images of the digestive tract, is emerging as an alternative to traditional colonoscopy. The diagnostic values of these images depend on the quality of revealed underlying tissue surfaces. In this paper, we consider the problem of enhancing the visibility of detail and shadowed tissue surfaces for capsule endoscopy images. Using concentric circles at each pixel for random walks combined with stochastic sampling, the proposed method enhances the details of vessel and tissue surfaces. The framework decomposes the image into two detailed layers that contain shadowed tissue surfaces and detail features. The target pixel value is recalculated for the smooth layer using similarity of the target pixel to neighboring pixels by weighting against the total gradient variation and intensity differences. In order to evaluate the diagnostic image quality of the proposed method, we used clinical subjective evaluation with a rank order on selected KID image database and compared it to state-of-the-art enhancement methods. The result showed that the proposed method provides a better result in terms of diagnostic image quality and objective quality contrast metrics and structural similarity index.

Standardised approach to optimisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warren-Forward, Helen M.; Beckhaus, Ronald

2004-01-01

Optimisation of radiographic images is said to have been obtained if the patient has achieved an acceptable level of dose and the image is of diagnostic value. In the near future, it will probably be recommended that radiographers measure patient doses and compare them to reference levels. The aim of this paper is to describe a standardised approach to optimisation of radiographic examinations in a diagnostic imaging department. A three-step approach is outlined with specific examples for some common examinations (chest, abdomen, pelvis and lumbar spine series). Step One: Patient doses are calculated. Step Two: Doses are compared to existing reference levels and the technique used compared to image quality criteria. Step Three: Appropriate action is taken if doses are above the reference level. Results: Average entrance surface doses for two rooms were as follows AP Abdomen (6.3mGy and 3.4mGy); AP Lumbar Spine (6.4mGy and 4.1mGy) for AP Pelvis (4.8mGy and 2.6mGy) and PA chest (0.19mGy and 0.20mGy). Comparison with the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) recommended techniques identified large differences in the applied potential. The kVp values in this study were significantly lower (by up to lOkVp) than the CEC recommendations. The results of this study have indicated that there is a need to monitor radiation doses received by patients undergoing diagnostic radiography examinations. Not only has the assessment allowed valuable comparison with International Diagnostic Reference Levels and Radiography Good Practice but has demonstrated large variations in mean doses being delivered from different rooms of the same radiology department. Following the simple 3-step approach advocated in this paper should either provide evidence that department are practising the ALARA principle or assist in making suitable changes to current practice. Copyright (2004) Australian Institute of Radiography

China and Global ICT standardisation and innovation

OpenAIRE

Williams, Robin; Graham, Ian; Jakobs, Kai; Lyytinen, Kalle

2011-01-01

The People's Republic of China has become remarkably active in the development of interoperability standards across many areas of information and communications technology (ICT). Such standards are crucial for the creation of newindustries and markets for novel ICT products and services. This engagement in standardisation is linked to the Chinese government's strategy to develop indigenous technologies and, in some cases through involvement in international standardisation bodies, to put Chin...

Natural Image Enhancement Using a Biogeography Based Optimization Enhanced with Blended Migration Operator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Jasper

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses a novel and efficient algorithm for solving optimization problem in image processing applications. Image enhancement (IE is one of the complex optimization problems in image processing. The main goal of this paper is to enhance color images such that the eminence of the image is more suitable than the original image from the perceptual viewpoint of human. Traditional methods require prior knowledge of the image to be enhanced, whereas the aim of the proposed biogeography based optimization (BBO enhanced with blended migration operator (BMO algorithm is to maximize the objective function in order to enhance the image contrast by maximizing the parameters like edge intensity, edge information, and entropy. Experimental results are compared with the current state-of-the-art approaches and indicate the superiority of the proposed technique in terms of subjective and objective evaluation.

The need for standardisation of cardiac FDG PET imaging in the evaluation of myocardial viability in patients with chronic ischaemic left ventricular dysfunction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuuti, J.; Schelbert, H.R.; Bax, J.J.

2002-01-01

The evaluation of myocardial glucose utilisation with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and positron emission tomography is currently considered the most reliable tool for the identification of myocardial viability. However, the investigations using FDG imaging to predict improvement in left ventricular (LV) function after revascularisation have reported wide ranges for sensitivity (71%-100%) and, in particular, for specificity (33%-91%). The variable results may be related to differences in study populations but also to differences in the imaging protocols employed. Detailed analysis of the published studies has revealed differences in study populations, patient selection criteria, the methods for assessing changes in LV function post revascularisation and the timing of these assessments. Even more importantly, protocols have varied substantially with regard to imaging equipment, perfusion tracers, metabolic conditions, data analysis and interpretation of results. In addition, evaluation of patients with insulin resistance appears to represent a specific challenge. This review examines the different study protocols and methodologies used for myocardial FDG imaging in order to draw conclusions concerning optimal imaging protocols. It appears that the optimisation and standardisation of study protocols and analysis of FDG images for the assessment of myocardial viability are critical. In addition, multi-centre trials seem warranted on prediction of long-term function, congestive heart failure symptoms, survival and quality of life

Enhancement of dental x-ray images by two channel image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitra, S.; Yu, T.H.

1991-01-01

In this paper, the authors develop a new algorithm for the enhancement of low-contrast details of dental X-ray images using a two channel structure. The algorithm first decomposes an input image in the frequency domain into two parts by filtering: one containing the low frequency components and the other containing the high frequency components. Then these parts are enhanced separately using a transform magnitude modifier. Finally a contrast enhanced image is formed by combining these two processed pats. The performance of the proposed algorithm is illustrated through enhancement of dental X-ray images. The algorithm can be easily implemented on a personal computer

Detail Enhancement for Infrared Images Based on Propagated Image Filter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yishu Peng

2016-01-01

Full Text Available For displaying high-dynamic-range images acquired by thermal camera systems, 14-bit raw infrared data should map into 8-bit gray values. This paper presents a new method for detail enhancement of infrared images to display the image with a relatively satisfied contrast and brightness, rich detail information, and no artifacts caused by the image processing. We first adopt a propagated image filter to smooth the input image and separate the image into the base layer and the detail layer. Then, we refine the base layer by using modified histogram projection for compressing. Meanwhile, the adaptive weights derived from the layer decomposition processing are used as the strict gain control for the detail layer. The final display result is obtained by recombining the two modified layers. Experimental results on both cooled and uncooled infrared data verify that the proposed method outperforms the method based on log-power histogram modification and bilateral filter-based detail enhancement in both detail enhancement and visual effect.

Minority Language Standardisation and the Role of Users

Science.gov (United States)

Lane, Pia

2015-01-01

Developing a standard for a minority language is not a neutral process; this has consequences for the status of the language and how the language users relate to the new standard. A potential inherent problem with standardisation is whether the language users themselves will accept and identify with the standard. When standardising minority…

Estimating the 'consumer surplus' for branded versus standardised tobacco packaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Gendall, Philip; Eckert, Christine; Hoek, Janet; Farley, Tessa; Louviere, Jordan; Wilson, Nick; Edwards, Richard

2016-11-01

Tobacco companies question whether standardised (or 'plain') packaging will change smokers' behaviour. We addressed this question by estimating how standardised packaging compared to a proven tobacco control intervention, price increases through excise taxes, thus providing a quantitative measure of standardised packaging's likely effect. We conducted an online study of 311 New Zealand smokers aged 18 years and above that comprised a willingness-to-pay task comparing a branded and a standardised pack at four different price levels, and a choice experiment. The latter used an alternative-specific design, where the alternatives were a branded pack or a standardised pack, with warning theme and price varied for each pack. Respondents had higher purchase likelihoods for the branded pack (with a 30% warning) than the standardised pack (with a 75% warning) at each price level tested, and, on average, were willing to pay approximately 5% more for a branded pack. The choice experiment produced a very similar estimate of 'consumer surplus' for a branded pack. However, the size of the 'consumer surplus' varied between warning themes and by respondents' demographic characteristics. These two experiments suggest standardised packaging and larger warning labels could have a similar overall effect on adult New Zealand smokers as a 5% tobacco price increase. The findings provide further evidence for the efficacy of standardised packaging, which focuses primarily on reducing youth initiation, and suggest this measure will also bring notable benefits to adult smokers. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Variations in 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) late heart mediastinal ratios in chronic heart failure: a need for standardisation and validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verberne, Hein J.; Habraken, Jan B.A.; Eck-Smit, Berthe L.F. van; Agostini, Denis; Jacobson, Arnold F.

2008-01-01

There is lack of validation and standardisation of acquisition parameters for myocardial 123 I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG). This lack of standardisation hampers large scale implementation of 123 I-MIBG parameters in the evaluation of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). In a retrospective multi-centre study 123 I-MIBG planar scintigrams obtained on 290 CHF patients (82% male; 58% dilated cardiomyopathy; New York Heart Association [NYHA classification] > I) were reanalysed to determine the late heart-to-mediastinum ratio (H/M). There was a large variation in acquisition parameters. Multivariate forward stepwise regression showed that a significant proportion (31%, p 123 I-MIBG uptake. Improved standardisation of cardiac 123 I-MIBG imaging parameters would contribute to increased clinical applicability for this procedure. (orig.)

Protocol-based care: the standardisation of decision-making?

Science.gov (United States)

Rycroft-Malone, Jo; Fontenla, Marina; Seers, Kate; Bick, Debra

2009-05-01

To explore how protocol-based care affects clinical decision-making. In the context of evidence-based practice, protocol-based care is a mechanism for facilitating the standardisation of care and streamlining decision-making through rationalising the information with which to make judgements and ultimately decisions. However, whether protocol-based care does, in the reality of practice, standardise decision-making is unknown. This paper reports on a study that explored the impact of protocol-based care on nurses' decision-making. Theoretically informed by realistic evaluation and the promoting action on research implementation in health services framework, a case study design using ethnographic methods was used. Two sites were purposively sampled; a diabetic and endocrine unit and a cardiac medical unit. Within each site, data collection included observation, postobservation semi-structured interviews with staff and patients, field notes, feedback sessions and document review. Data were inductively and thematically analysed. Decisions made by nurses in both sites were varied according to many different and interacting factors. While several standardised care approaches were available for use, in reality, a variety of information sources informed decision-making. The primary approach to knowledge exchange and acquisition was person-to-person; decision-making was a social activity. Rarely were standardised care approaches obviously referred to; nurses described following a mental flowchart, not necessarily linked to a particular guideline or protocol. When standardised care approaches were used, it was reported that they were used flexibly and particularised. While the logic of protocol-based care is algorithmic, in the reality of clinical practice, other sources of information supported nurses' decision-making process. This has significant implications for the political goal of standardisation. The successful implementation and judicious use of tools such as

Managing IT infrastructure standardisation in the networked manufacturing firm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Akkermans, H.A.; Horst, van der H.

2002-01-01

This paper discusses managerial aspects of information technology (IT) infrastructure standardisation in networked manufacturing firms. It shows that in these firms, where local initiative is very important and strict central hierarchical control is lacking, standardisation of IT infrastructure is

Gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging in evaluation of cholesteatoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugihara, M.; Sugimura, K.; Ishida, T.; Fujino, A.; Miyakuni, Y.

1990-01-01

It was sometimes difficult to differentiate cholesteatoma from accompanied granuloma, cholesterol granuloma, or mastoiditis on high-resolution CT. This study was designed to assess the reliability with which cholesteatoma can be differentiated from those accompanied lesions by gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging. Eight patients suspected to have cholesteatoma were evaluated with GD-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging with a 1.5-T MR imaging GE Signa unit. axial pre- and postcontrast T1-weighted (TR/TE, 600/20) and T2-weighted (TR/TE, 2,000/70) images were studied. MR imaging findings were compared with histologic findings (13 lesions), which included cholesteatoma (n = 6), granuloma (n = 4), cholesterol granuloma (n = 2), and mastoiditis (n = 1). Cholesteatoma had an intermediate to high signal intensity (SI) similar to that of granuloma on both T1- and T2-weighted images. Cholesterol granulomas showed high SI on both T1- and T2-weighted images. Mastoiditis demonstrated marked high SI on T2-weighted images. Cholesterol granuloma and mastoiditis can be distinguished from cholesteatoma or granuloma on both T1- and T2-weighted images. On Gd-DTPA-enhanced images, there was marked enhancement of all granulomas. However, no cholesteatoma enhancement was seen in all six lesions. Gd-DTPA-enhanced images were able to distinguish cholesteatoma from granuloma and to estimate the exact extent of cholesteatoma. Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging is valuable in the evaluation and management of cholesteatoma

Scottish young people's perceptions of standardised packs - a qualitative study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andy Macgregor

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background Standardised cigarette packs were introduced into the UK in May 2016. Retailers could sell old stock until May 2017 after which only the sale of cigarettes and tobacco in standardised packs was allowed. As in Australia, pack shape, colour, opening mechanism and font are regulated, together with the size and position of health warnings and number of cigarettes in a pack. This paper explores Scottish young people's awareness of and views about standardised packs in Spring 2017. Methods The DISPLAY study is a five year study established to evaluate the national tobacco point-of sale (POS promotions ban in four communities in Scotland. This paper is based on the qualitative component, annual focus groups carried out with Secondary 2 (13 year olds and Secondary 4 (15 year olds students in four secondary schools. 16 groups (82 students convened in February - March 2017 explored students' perceptions of standardised packaging. Results There was a high level of awareness of standardised packs prior to their full implementation. Smokers had bought them, and they and other participants had seen them in possession of friends and family members, and in litter. Participants' views of the new packaging were generally negative, described as unappealing and depressing, particularly the pictorial health warnings. Packs were compared unfavourably with previous non-standardised versions. However, there was no consensus on their likely impact. Some participants argued that their impact would be widespread, while others thought that any impact would be confined to young non/occasional smokers and that established smokers would be unaffected. Conclusions In early 2017 young people in Scotland had high awareness and knowledge of standardised tobacco packs before their full implementation. Despite differing views about their likely impact on youth smoking, participants irrespective of smoking status overwhelmingly regarded them as unattractive and less

Standardised patient-simulated practice learning

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Teaching strategies must link theory to practice, foster critical thinking, be relevant and stimulate ... Standardised patient-simulated practice learning: A rich pedagogical .... relationship for them to grow and develop from novice to expert. They.

Hepatic enhancement on Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MR imaging: comparison between cirrhotic and normal livers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Sang Soo; Jeong, Yong Yeon; Kang, Heoung Keun; Lim, Hyo Soon; Yoon, Woong; Seo, Jeong Jin; Park, Jin Gyoon

2004-01-01

To compare the enhancement features of hepatic parenchyma between cirrhotic and normal liver, using Gd-BOPTA-enhanced delayed MR imaging. The 60 patients (35 with cirrhotic and 25 with normal liver) included in our study underwent Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MR imaging using a 1.5T system with a phase-array multicoil. In all cases, T1-weighted in-phase and opposed-phase gradient-echo MR imaging was performed before and 60 minutes after intravenous administration of a bolus of Gd-BOPTA. All images were quantitatively analysed by comparing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and signal enhancement (SE) of cirrhotic and normal liver before and after contrast enhancement, and in cirrhotic patients, SNR and SE were also compared in terms of the Child-Pugh classification. For qualitative analysis, the hepatic enhancement patterns of cirrhotic and normal liver were classified as homogeneous or heterogeneous according to the consensual findings of two radiologists. At contrast-enhanced imaging, both cirrhotic (p<0.001) and normal liver (p<0.001) showed substantially increased SNR relative to unenhanced images, and the SNR of cirrhotic liver was significantly lower than that of normal livers at both in-phase (p<0.001) and opposed-phase (p<0.001) imaging. The SE of cirrhotic liver was significantly lower than that of normal liver (in-phase:p=0.002; opposed phase:p=0.011). Both Child-Pugh class A (p<0.001) and B (p<0.001) cirrhotic liver showed a substantial increase in SNR at contrast-enhanced imaging relative to unenhanced imaging and the SNR of Child-Pugh class A was significantly higher than that of Child-Pugh class B at both in-phase (p<0.001) and opposed-phase (p=0.022) imaging. In addition, the SE of class A was significantly higher than that of class B at in-phase imaging (p=0.004). Cirrhotic liver showed heterogeneous enhancement in 20 of 35 patients (57%), whereas normal liver showed homogeneous enhancement in all patients. At Gd-BOPTA-enhanced delayed MR imaging, cirrhotic liver

Image enhancement by using IDL for a mammographic x-ray image in Medical Physics Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asmaliza Hashim; Md Saion Salikin; Wan Hazlinda Ismail; Norriza Mohd Isa; Azuhar Ripin

2004-01-01

Digital image enhancement technique can have a significant impact on the diagnostic quality of a radiographic image. The main aim of image enhancement is to process the image so that the enhanced image is clearer and more useful for specific application. There are three types of image enhancement namely noise reduction, edge enhancement and contrast enhancement. The objective of this project is to enhance the mammographic image by using Interactive Data Language (IDL) software in spatial and frequency domain by using various methods. In spatial domain method, direct manipulation of pixel in an image is used whereas, in frequency domain method, modifying the spectral component or Fourier Transform of an image is used In order to obtain the good quality mammographic image, breast phantom Model 12A with 4.0 cm compressed thickness and Bennett Model DMF- 150 Mammography Machine with various kV and mA are employed. The results of enhanced image with selected technique by using IDL are presented in this paper. (Author)

Multispectral image enhancement processing for microsat-borne imager

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jianying; Tan, Zheng; Lv, Qunbo; Pei, Linlin

2017-10-01

With the rapid development of remote sensing imaging technology, the micro satellite, one kind of tiny spacecraft, appears during the past few years. A good many studies contribute to dwarfing satellites for imaging purpose. Generally speaking, micro satellites weigh less than 100 kilograms, even less than 50 kilograms, which are slightly larger or smaller than the common miniature refrigerators. However, the optical system design is hard to be perfect due to the satellite room and weight limitation. In most cases, the unprocessed data captured by the imager on the microsatellite cannot meet the application need. Spatial resolution is the key problem. As for remote sensing applications, the higher spatial resolution of images we gain, the wider fields we can apply them. Consequently, how to utilize super resolution (SR) and image fusion to enhance the quality of imagery deserves studying. Our team, the Key Laboratory of Computational Optical Imaging Technology, Academy Opto-Electronics, is devoted to designing high-performance microsat-borne imagers and high-efficiency image processing algorithms. This paper addresses a multispectral image enhancement framework for space-borne imagery, jointing the pan-sharpening and super resolution techniques to deal with the spatial resolution shortcoming of microsatellites. We test the remote sensing images acquired by CX6-02 satellite and give the SR performance. The experiments illustrate the proposed approach provides high-quality images.

HDR Pathological Image Enhancement Based on Improved Bias Field Correction and Guided Image Filter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingjiao Sun

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Pathological image enhancement is a significant topic in the field of pathological image processing. This paper proposes a high dynamic range (HDR pathological image enhancement method based on improved bias field correction and guided image filter (GIF. Firstly, a preprocessing including stain normalization and wavelet denoising is performed for Haematoxylin and Eosin (H and E stained pathological image. Then, an improved bias field correction model is developed to enhance the influence of light for high-frequency part in image and correct the intensity inhomogeneity and detail discontinuity of image. Next, HDR pathological image is generated based on least square method using low dynamic range (LDR image, H and E channel images. Finally, the fine enhanced image is acquired after the detail enhancement process. Experiments with 140 pathological images demonstrate the performance advantages of our proposed method as compared with related work.

Enhancement of colposcopic image by sulphosalicylic acid.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khilnani P

1993-01-01

Full Text Available Acetic acid is used conventionally for enhancement of the colposcopic image. We used sulphosalicylic acid instead of acetic acid in 50 normal cases. The normal appearance was enhanced in all cases. The image was also enhanced in 70% cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and 90% cases of cervical condyloma accuminata. The image was not inferior to that with acetic acid in any of the cases.

Image Enhancement In HSI Space Using Wavelet Transform

Science.gov (United States)

Bansal, Sonia; Malhotra, Deepti

2010-11-01

Image processing modifies images to improve them (enhancement, restoration), extract information (analysis, recognition), and change their structure (composition, image editing). Image Enhancement is simple and most appealing area among all the digital image processing techniques. The main purpose of image enhancement is to bring out detail that is hidden in an image or to increase contrast in a low contrast image [1]. The color restoration functions of some real color image enhancement algorithms are greatly at random and not proved , and the real color images enhanced which are based on illumination-reflectance model have the loss of details and the `halos', we proposed a new algorithm to overcome these disadvantages. Firstly, we transform the real color image from RGB space to HSI space which is approximately orthonormal system. Secondly, the illumination and the reflectance of value are separated by homomorphic filtering based on illumination-reflectance model. We have discovered that the high dynamic range of image including high bright lights is mainly caused by the reflectance. Thirdly, the details of reflectance are preserved by wavelet transform. Fourthly, the dynamic range of reflectance is compressed by Butterworth filtering. Lastly, the energy of the saturation of real color image in HSI space is attenuated according to the spectral sensitivity of most human vision.

Efficient OCT Image Enhancement Based on Collaborative Shock Filtering.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Guohua; Wang, Ziyu; Mu, Guoying; Li, Peijin

2018-01-01

Efficient enhancement of noisy optical coherence tomography (OCT) images is a key task for interpreting them correctly. In this paper, to better enhance details and layered structures of a human retina image, we propose a collaborative shock filtering for OCT image denoising and enhancement. Noisy OCT image is first denoised by a collaborative filtering method with new similarity measure, and then the denoised image is sharpened by a shock-type filtering for edge and detail enhancement. For dim OCT images, in order to improve image contrast for the detection of tiny lesions, a gamma transformation is first used to enhance the images within proper gray levels. The proposed method integrating image smoothing and sharpening simultaneously obtains better visual results in experiments.

Recommendations for using standardised phenotypes in genetic association studies

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Naylor Melissa G

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Genetic association studies of complex traits often rely on standardised quantitative phenotypes, such as percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume and body mass index to measure an underlying trait of interest (eg lung function, obesity. These phenotypes are appealing because they provide an easy mechanism for comparing subjects, although such standardisations may not be the best way to control for confounders and other covariates. We recommend adjusting raw or standardised phenotypes within the study population via regression. We illustrate through simulation that optimal power in both population- and family-based association tests is attained by using the residuals from within-study adjustment as the complex trait phenotype. An application of family-based association analysis of forced expiratory volume in one second, and obesity in the Childhood Asthma Management Program data, illustrates that power is maintained or increased when adjusted phenotype residuals are used instead of typical standardised quantitative phenotypes.

Standardisation of neonatal clinical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhutta, Z A; Giuliani, F; Haroon, A; Knight, H E; Albernaz, E; Batra, M; Bhat, B; Bertino, E; McCormick, K; Ochieng, R; Rajan, V; Ruyan, P; Cheikh Ismail, L; Paul, V

2013-09-01

The International Fetal and Newborn Growth Consortium for the 21(st) Century (INTERGROWTH-21(st) ) is a large-scale, population-based, multicentre project involving health institutions from eight geographically diverse countries, which aims to assess fetal, newborn and preterm growth under optimal conditions. Given the multicentre nature of the project and the expected number of preterm births, it is vital that all centres follow the same standardised clinical care protocols to assess and manage preterm infants, so as to ensure maximum validity of the resulting standards as indicators of growth and nutrition with minimal confounding. Moreover, it is well known that evidence-based clinical practice guidelines can reduce the delivery of inappropriate care and support the introduction of new knowledge into clinical practice. The INTERGROWTH-21(st) Neonatal Group produced an operations manual, which reflects the consensus reached by members of the group regarding standardised definitions of neonatal morbidities and the minimum standards of care to be provided by all centres taking part in the project. The operational definitions and summary management protocols were developed by consensus through a Delphi process based on systematic reviews of relevant guidelines and management protocols by authoritative bodies. This paper describes the process of developing the Basic Neonatal Care Manual, as well as the morbidity definitions and standardised neonatal care protocols applied across all the INTERGROWTH-21(st) participating centres. Finally, thoughts about implementation strategies are presented. © 2013 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Color enhancement in multispectral image of human skin

Science.gov (United States)

Mitsui, Masanori; Murakami, Yuri; Obi, Takashi; Yamaguchi, Masahiro; Ohyama, Nagaaki

2003-07-01

Multispectral imaging is receiving attention in medical color imaging, as high-fidelity color information can be acquired by the multispectral image capturing. On the other hand, as color enhancement in medical color image is effective for distinguishing lesion from normal part, we apply a new technique for color enhancement using multispectral image to enhance the features contained in a certain spectral band, without changing the average color distribution of original image. In this method, to keep the average color distribution, KL transform is applied to spectral data, and only high-order KL coefficients are amplified in the enhancement. Multispectral images of human skin of bruised arm are captured by 16-band multispectral camera, and the proposed color enhancement is applied. The resultant images are compared with the color images reproduced assuming CIE D65 illuminant (obtained by natural color reproduction technique). As a result, the proposed technique successfully visualizes unclear bruised lesions, which are almost invisible in natural color images. The proposed technique will provide support tool for the diagnosis in dermatology, visual examination in internal medicine, nursing care for preventing bedsore, and so on.

FRACTAL ANALYSIS OF TRABECULAR BONE: A STANDARDISED METHODOLOGY

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Ian Parkinson

2011-05-01

Full Text Available A standardised methodology for the fractal analysis of histological sections of trabecular bone has been established. A modified box counting method has been developed for use on a PC based image analyser (Quantimet 500MC, Leica Cambridge. The effect of image analyser settings, magnification, image orientation and threshold levels, was determined. Also, the range of scale over which trabecular bone is effectively fractal was determined and a method formulated to objectively calculate more than one fractal dimension from the modified Richardson plot. The results show that magnification, image orientation and threshold settings have little effect on the estimate of fractal dimension. Trabecular bone has a lower limit below which it is not fractal (λ<25 μm and the upper limit is 4250 μm. There are three distinct fractal dimensions for trabecular bone (sectional fractals, with magnitudes greater than 1.0 and less than 2.0. It has been shown that trabecular bone is effectively fractal over a defined range of scale. Also, within this range, there is more than 1 fractal dimension, describing spatial structural entities. Fractal analysis is a model independent method for describing a complex multifaceted structure, which can be adapted for the study of other biological systems. This may be at the cell, tissue or organ level and compliments conventional histomorphometric and stereological techniques.

Flemish Sign Language Standardisation

Science.gov (United States)

Van Herreweghe, Mieke; Vermeerbergen, Myriam

2009-01-01

In 1997, the Flemish Deaf community officially rejected standardisation of Flemish Sign Language. It was a bold choice, which at the time was not in line with some of the decisions taken in the neighbouring countries. In this article, we shall discuss the choices the Flemish Deaf community has made in this respect and explore why the Flemish Deaf…

Sequential contrast-enhanced MR imaging of the penis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneko, K; De Mouy, E H; Lee, B E

1994-04-01

To determine the enhancement patterns of the penis at magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Sequential contrast material-enhanced MR images of the penis in a flaccid state were obtained in 16 volunteers (12 with normal penile function and four with erectile dysfunction). Subjects with normal erectile function showed gradual and centrifugal enhancement of the corpora cavernosa, while those with erectile dysfunction showed poor enhancement with abnormal progression. Sequential contrast-enhanced MR imaging provides additional morphologic information for the evaluation of erectile dysfunction.

Contrast-enhanced turbo spin-echo(TSE) T1-weighted imaging: improved contrast of enhancing lesions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Sung Wook; Lee, Ghi Jai; Shim, Jae Chan; Lee, Young Ju; Jeong, Se Hyung; Kim, Ho kyun

1997-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of contrast improvement of enhancing brain lesions by inherent magnetization transfer effect in turbo spin-echo(TSE)T1-weighted MR imaging. Twenty-six enhancing lesions of 19 patients were included in this study. Using a 1.0T superconductive MR unit, contrast-enhanced SE T1-weighted images(TR=3D600 msec, TE=3D12 msec, NEX=3D2, acquistition time=3D4min 27sec) and contrast-enhanced TSE T1-weighted images(TR=3D600 msec, TE=3D12, acquistition time=3D1min 44sec) were obtained. Signal intensities at enhancing lesions and adjacent white matter were measured in the same regions of both images. Signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) of enhancing lesions and adjacent white matter, and con-trast-to-noise ratio(CNR) and lesion-to-background contrast (LBC) of enhancing lesions were calculated and statistically analysed using the paired t-test. On contrast-enhanced TSE T1-weighted images, SNR of enhancing lesions and adjacent white matter decreased by 18%(p<0.01) and 32%(p<0.01), respectively, compared to contrast-enhanced SE T1-weighted images. CNR and LBC of enhancing lesions increased by 16%(p<0.05) and 66%(p<0.01), respectively. Due to the proposed inherent magnetization transfer effects in TSE imaging, con-trast-enhanced T1-weighted TSE images demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in CNR and LBC, compared to conventional contrast-enhanced T1-weighted SE images, and scan time was much shorter

Oxygen-enhanced magnetic resonance ventilation imaging of lung

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohno, Yoshiharu; Chen Qun; Hatabu, Hiroto

2001-01-01

The oxygen-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) ventilation imaging is a new technique, and the full extent of its physiological significance has not been elucidated. This review article includes background on (1) respiratory physiology; (2) mechanism and optimization of oxygen-enhanced MR imaging technique; (3) recent applications in animal and human models; and (4) merits and demerits of the technique in comparison with hyperpolarized noble gas MR ventilation imaging. Application of oxygen-enhanced MR ventilation imaging to patients with pulmonary diseases has been very limited. However, we believe that further basic studies, as well as clinical applications of this new technique will define the real significance of oxygen-enhanced MR ventilation imaging in the future of pulmonary functional imaging and its usefulness for diagnostic radiology

Fingerprint Image Enhancement Based on Second Directional Derivative of the Digital Image

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Onnia Vesa

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel approach of fingerprint image enhancement that relies on detecting the fingerprint ridges as image regions where the second directional derivative of the digital image is positive. A facet model is used in order to approximate the derivatives at each image pixel based on the intensity values of pixels located in a certain neighborhood. We note that the size of this neighborhood has a critical role in achieving accurate enhancement results. Using neighborhoods of various sizes, the proposed algorithm determines several candidate binary representations of the input fingerprint pattern. Subsequently, an output binary ridge-map image is created by selecting image zones, from the available binary image candidates, according to a MAP selection rule. Two public domain collections of fingerprint images are used in order to objectively assess the performance of the proposed fingerprint image enhancement approach.

Achieving best practices in national standardisation. A benchmarking study of the national standardisation systems of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Italy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonner, P.; Potter, D.

2000-01-01

The national standardisation systems of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Italy have been benchmarked in a study that has sought to identify best practices for improving the performance of all participating bodies. This study has been funded by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Finland with some assistance from the European Commission. It has involved a series of 27 interviews of some 120 participants at different levels in the standardisation and wider stakeholder communities. This report details the features of each national system and describes more than 50 best practices identified during the course of the study, together with more than 25 recommendations for further improvements that are drawn from best practices in other organisations. The report starts by identifying best practices in the national standardisation systems and their structures and processes before moving onto the participation in European and international standardisation, with their challenges of influence, management and delivery. The relationship with government, at national level and within European programmes, is then addressed before moving onto the financing of standardisation activities within each of the national systems. The focus then starts moving more towards the national standards bodies (SFS,SIS,DS,UNI/CEI) by looking into issues relating to publications and onto customer services, sales and marketing. Management issues and the benefits of a long term strategic approach are then covered before moving on to the issues associated with communications and outreach, not only to those outside of the standards community but also those within it and on its edges. Moreover, trends during the last five years and those expected within the next two are dealt with briefly. A number of recommendations are common to all of the participating bodies. More detailed recommendations and suggested priorities have been made privately in a further set of reports delivered to the participating bodies

Image Enhancer: A Graphic Editor to Apply Numerous Effects in Digital Image

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abhisek Hazra

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Image Enhancer is an open source, portable graphic editor developed for Windows platform. It is equipped with an enriched set of digital imaging filters with advanced computer vision techniques embedded within, like Interest Point Detection (Susan Corner Detector, Linear Edge Detection (Simple, Sobel, Canny, Histogram Equalization, Dithering (Bayer, Burkes, Sierra, Jarvis Judis Ninke, Transforming to Polar images and vice versa etc.  Image Enhancer was released under GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL and the software was made available from the Microsoft’s open source project hosting repository Codeplex (http://imageenhancer.codeplex.com. Image Enhancer was tested and hosted by several popular software archives like SoftPedia, CNET, Freeware Files, ZDNet, Soft Tango and others. A stable Release Candidate (RC version has been made available in which some major modifications were done which were not present in the earlier Beta version. The download link for the Image Enhancer (both Release Candidate & Beta Version from CodePlex repository is (http://imageenhancer.codeplex.com/releases.

The model of illumination-transillumination for image enhancement of X-ray images

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lyu, Kwang Yeul [Shingu College, Sungnam (Korea, Republic of); Rhee, Sang Min [Kangwon National Univ., Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of)

2001-06-01

In digital image processing, the homomorphic filtering approach is derived from an illumination - reflectance model of the image. It can also be used with an illumination-transillumination model X-ray film. Several X-ray images were applied to enhancement with histogram equalization and homomorphic filter based on an illumination-transillumination model. The homomorphic filter has proven theoretical claim of image density range compression and balanced contrast enhancement, and also was found a valuable tool to process analog X-ray images to digital images.

Contrast enhanced MR imaging of postoperative medulloblastoma in childhood: emphasis on meningeal enhancement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Choong Gon; Kim, In One; Kim, Woo Sun; Kim, Ho Chul; Yeon, Kyung Mo [College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1993-03-15

To differentiate the postoperative changes from the recurrence of tumor and to evaluate MR imaging of early postoperative leptomeningeal seeding in medulloblastoma, We have retrospectively analysed 34 cases of MR images of 17 patients who were confirmed as medulloblastoma by histopathology. Noncontrast and postcontrast T1 weighted MR images were obtained in all patients. In 11 patients follow-up MR was done more than once (average: 1.5 times) and average interval of MR imaging was 6 months. The timing of 34 MR images was as follow: 6 case within 2 months, 9 cases between 2 months and 1 year, 19 cases more than 1 year after surgery respectively. MR images within 2 month after surgery revealed contrast enhancement at operation site and adjacent meninges, hemorrhage, residual tumor. In patients who had no evidence of tumor recurrence, these early postoperative changes were markedly decreased within 6 month after surgery. MR images obtained more than 1 year after surgery showed no abnormal contrast enhancement or mild focal dural enhancement at operation site. Diffuse moderate dural enhancement was noted in one patient who had the history of post-surgical subdural hemorrhage. In six patients with tumor recurrences which were detected from as early as 9 months to 6 years after surgery, the findings of recurrence included leptomeningeal enhancement of brain stem and cerebellar surface at early stage, variable sized enhancing leptomeningeal nodules, linear or irregular sulcus obliterating enhancing lesions, enhancing mass at primary or metastatic site. We have concluded that leptomeningeal enhancement detected after 6 months of surgery is an important MR finding suggesting the possibility of tumor recurrence. Small nodular and linear enhancement of leptomeninges at brainstem or cerebellar surface is considered as the early manifestation of intracranial tumor seeding.

Contrast enhanced MR imaging of postoperative medulloblastoma in childhood: emphasis on meningeal enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Choong Gon; Kim, In One; Kim, Woo Sun; Kim, Ho Chul; Yeon, Kyung Mo

1993-01-01

To differentiate the postoperative changes from the recurrence of tumor and to evaluate MR imaging of early postoperative leptomeningeal seeding in medulloblastoma, We have retrospectively analysed 34 cases of MR images of 17 patients who were confirmed as medulloblastoma by histopathology. Noncontrast and postcontrast T1 weighted MR images were obtained in all patients. In 11 patients follow-up MR was done more than once (average: 1.5 times) and average interval of MR imaging was 6 months. The timing of 34 MR images was as follow: 6 case within 2 months, 9 cases between 2 months and 1 year, 19 cases more than 1 year after surgery respectively. MR images within 2 month after surgery revealed contrast enhancement at operation site and adjacent meninges, hemorrhage, residual tumor. In patients who had no evidence of tumor recurrence, these early postoperative changes were markedly decreased within 6 month after surgery. MR images obtained more than 1 year after surgery showed no abnormal contrast enhancement or mild focal dural enhancement at operation site. Diffuse moderate dural enhancement was noted in one patient who had the history of post-surgical subdural hemorrhage. In six patients with tumor recurrences which were detected from as early as 9 months to 6 years after surgery, the findings of recurrence included leptomeningeal enhancement of brain stem and cerebellar surface at early stage, variable sized enhancing leptomeningeal nodules, linear or irregular sulcus obliterating enhancing lesions, enhancing mass at primary or metastatic site. We have concluded that leptomeningeal enhancement detected after 6 months of surgery is an important MR finding suggesting the possibility of tumor recurrence. Small nodular and linear enhancement of leptomeninges at brainstem or cerebellar surface is considered as the early manifestation of intracranial tumor seeding

A semantically rich and standardised approach enhancing discovery of sensor data and metadata

Science.gov (United States)

Kokkinaki, Alexandra; Buck, Justin; Darroch, Louise

2016-04-01

The marine environment plays an essential role in the earth's climate. To enhance the ability to monitor the health of this important system, innovative sensors are being produced and combined with state of the art sensor technology. As the number of sensors deployed is continually increasing,, it is a challenge for data users to find the data that meet their specific needs. Furthermore, users need to integrate diverse ocean datasets originating from the same or even different systems. Standards provide a solution to the above mentioned challenges. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has created Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) standards that enable different sensor networks to establish syntactic interoperability. When combined with widely accepted controlled vocabularies, they become semantically rich and semantic interoperability is achievable. In addition, Linked Data is the recommended best practice for exposing, sharing and connecting information on the Semantic Web using Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), Resource Description Framework (RDF) and RDF Query Language (SPARQL). As part of the EU-funded SenseOCEAN project, the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) is working on the standardisation of sensor metadata enabling 'plug and play' sensor integration. Our approach combines standards, controlled vocabularies and persistent URIs to publish sensor descriptions, their data and associated metadata as 5 star Linked Data and OGC SWE (SensorML, Observations & Measurements) standard. Thus sensors become readily discoverable, accessible and useable via the web. Content and context based searching is also enabled since sensors descriptions are understood by machines. Additionally, sensor data can be combined with other sensor or Linked Data datasets to form knowledge. This presentation will describe the work done in BODC to achieve syntactic and semantic interoperability in the sensor domain. It will illustrate the reuse and extension of the Semantic Sensor

Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frank, J.A.; Choyke, P.L.; Carvlin, M.; Inscoe, S.; Austin, H.; Dwyer, A.J.; Girton, M.; Black, J.

1988-01-01

This paper describes dynamic enhanced renal MR imaging, a new method of identifying specific derangements in renal function. Various diuretics were employed in 45 animal experiments to demonstrate the effects on the normal renal enhancement pattern (EP) after Gd-DTPA. Since different diuretics, osmotic (O), carbonic anhydrase (CA), and loop (L), are active at different sites, specific EP alterations are observed. Imaging was performed with 32 5.1-second sequential gradient recalled acquisition in a steady state images following a bolus of Gd-DTPA

Oxygen tolerance test : A standardised protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D K Ghosh

2015-01-01

Conclusion: By following a standardised protocol for Oxygen Tolerance Test, an objective assessment and recordkeeping is possible. This shall entail a more effective screening during the initial diving medical examination.

Diffraction enhanced x-ray imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomlinson, W.; Zhong, Z.; Johnston, R.E.; Sayers, D.

1997-09-01

Diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) is a new x-ray radiographic imaging modality using synchrotron x-rays which produces images of thick absorbing objects that are almost completely free of scatter. They show dramatically improved contrast over standard imaging applied to the same phantoms. The contrast is based not only on attenuation but also the refraction and diffraction properties of the sample. The diffraction component and the apparent absorption component (absorption plus extinction contrast) can each be determined independently. This imaging method may improve the image quality for medical applications such as mammography

Standardisation of the USGS Volcano Alert Level System (VALS): analysis and ramifications

Science.gov (United States)

Fearnley, C. J.; McGuire, W. J.; Davies, G.; Twigg, J.

2012-11-01

The standardisation of volcano early warning systems (VEWS) and volcano alert level systems (VALS) is becoming increasingly common at both the national and international level, most notably following UN endorsement of the development of globally comprehensive early warning systems. Yet, the impact on its effectiveness, of standardising an early warning system (EWS), in particular for volcanic hazards, remains largely unknown and little studied. This paper examines this and related issues through evaluation of the emergence and implementation, in 2006, of a standardised United States Geological Survey (USGS) VALS. Under this upper-management directive, all locally developed alert level systems or practices at individual volcano observatories were replaced with a common standard. Research conducted at five USGS-managed volcano observatories in Alaska, Cascades, Hawaii, Long Valley and Yellowstone explores the benefits and limitations this standardisation has brought to each observatory. The study concludes (1) that the process of standardisation was predominantly triggered and shaped by social, political, and economic factors, rather than in response to scientific needs specific to each volcanic region; and (2) that standardisation is difficult to implement for three main reasons: first, the diversity and uncertain nature of volcanic hazards at different temporal and spatial scales require specific VEWS to be developed to address this and to accommodate associated stakeholder needs. Second, the plural social contexts within which each VALS is embedded present challenges in relation to its applicability and responsiveness to local knowledge and context. Third, the contingencies of local institutional dynamics may hamper the ability of a standardised VALS to effectively communicate a warning. Notwithstanding these caveats, the concept of VALS standardisation clearly has continuing support. As a consequence, rather than advocating further commonality of a standardised

Basics concepts and clinical applications of oxygen-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohno, Yoshiharu; Hatabu, Hiroto

2007-01-01

Oxygen-enhanced MR imaging is a new technique, and its physiological significance has not yet been fully elucidated. This review article covers (1) the theory of oxygen enhancement and its relationship with respiratory physiology; (2) design for oxygen-enhanced MR imaging sequencing; (3) a basic study of oxygen-enhanced MR imaging in animal models and humans; (4) a clinical study of oxygen-enhanced MR imaging; and (5) a comparison of advantages and disadvantages of this technique with those of hyperpolarized noble gas MR ventilation imaging. Oxygen-enhanced MR imaging provides not only the ventilation-related, but also respiration-related information. Oxygen-enhanced MR imaging has the potential to replace nuclear medicine studies for the identification of regional pulmonary function, and many investigators are now attempting to adapt this technique for routine clinical studies. We believe that further basic studies as well as clinical applications of this new technique will define the real significance of oxygen-enhanced MR imaging for the future of pulmonary functional imaging and its usefulness for diagnostic radiology and pulmonary medicine

Appropriate Contrast Enhancement Measures for Brain and Breast Cancer Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suneet Gupta

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Medical imaging systems often produce images that require enhancement, such as improving the image contrast as they are poor in contrast. Therefore, they must be enhanced before they are examined by medical professionals. This is necessary for proper diagnosis and subsequent treatment. We do have various enhancement algorithms which enhance the medical images to different extents. We also have various quantitative metrics or measures which evaluate the quality of an image. This paper suggests the most appropriate measures for two of the medical images, namely, brain cancer images and breast cancer images.

Governance of electrotechnical standardisation in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.J. de Vries (Henk)

2015-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ This report provides recommendations about the governance of electrotechnical standardisation in Europe to seven independent National Committees: DKE (Germany), Electrosuisse (Switzerland), OVE (Austria), NEC (the Netherlands), NEK (Norway), SEK (Sweden), and SESKO

Contrast enhancement of mail piece images

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Yong-Chul; Sridhar, Ramalingam; Demjanenko, Victor; Palumbo, Paul W.; Hull, Jonathan J.

1992-08-01

A New approach to contrast enhancement of mail piece images is presented. The contrast enhancement is used as a preprocessing step in the real-time address block location (RT-ABL) system. The RT-ABL system processes a stream of mail piece images and locates destination address blocks. Most of the mail pieces (classified into letters) show high contrast between background and foreground. As an extreme case, however, the seasonal greeting cards usually use colored envelopes which results in reduced contrast osured by an error rate by using a linear distributed associative memory (DAM). The DAM is trained to recognize the spectra of three classes of images: with high, medium, and low OCR error rates. The DAM is not forced to make a classification every time. It is allowed to reject as unknown a spectrum presented that does not closely resemble any that has been stored in the DAM. The DAM was fairly accurate with noisy images but conservative (i.e., rejected several text images as unknowns) when there was little ground and foreground degradations without affecting the nondegraded images. This approach provides local enhancement which adapts to local features. In order to simplify the computation of A and (sigma) , dynamic programming technique is used. Implementation details, performance, and the results on test images are presented in this paper.

Standardised uptake values from PET/CT images: comparison with conventional attenuation-corrected PET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souvatzoglou, M.; Ziegler, S.I.; Martinez, M.J.; Dzewas, G.; Schwaiger, M.; Bengel, F.; Busch, R.

2007-01-01

In PET/CT, CT-derived attenuation factors may influence standardised uptake values (SUVs) in tumour lesions and organs when compared with stand-alone PET. Therefore, we compared PET/CT-derived SUVs intra-individually in various organs and tumour lesions with stand-alone PET-derived SUVs. Thirty-five patients with known or suspected cancer were prospectively included. Sixteen patients underwent FDG PET using an ECAT HR+scanner, and subsequently a second scan using a Biograph Sensation 16PET/CT scanner. Nineteen patients were scanned in the reverse order. All images were reconstructed with an iterative algorithm (OSEM). Suspected lesions were grouped as paradiaphragmatic versus distant from the diaphragm. Mean and maximum SUVs were also calculated for brain, lung, liver, spleen and vertebral bone. The attenuation coefficients (μ values) used for correction of emission data (bone, soft tissue, lung) in the two data sets were determined. A body phantom containing six hot spheres and one cold cylinder was measured using the same protocol as in patients. Forty-six lesions were identified. There was a significant correlation of maximum and mean SUVs derived from PET and PET/CT for 14 paradiaphragmatic lesions (r=0.97 respectively; p<0.001 respectively) and for 32 lesions located distant from the diaphragm (r=0.87 and r=0.89 respectively; p<0.001 respectively). No significant differences were observed in the SUVs calculated with PET and PET/CT in the lesions or in the organs. In the phantom, radioactivity concentration in spheres calculated from PET and from PET/CT correlated significantly (r=0.99; p<0.001). SUVs of cancer lesions and normal organs were comparable between PET and PET/CT, supporting the usefulness of PET/CT-derived SUVs for quantification of tumour metabolism. (orig.)

Algorithms for contrast enhancement of electronic portal images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Díez, S.; Sánchez, S.

2015-01-01

An implementation of two new automatized image processing algorithms for contrast enhancement of portal images is presented as suitable tools which facilitate the setup verification and visualization of patients during radiotherapy treatments. In the first algorithm, called Automatic Segmentation and Histogram Stretching (ASHS), the portal image is automatically segmented in two sub-images delimited by the conformed treatment beam: one image consisting of the imaged patient obtained directly from the radiation treatment field, and the second one is composed of the imaged patient outside it. By segmenting the original image, a histogram stretching can be independently performed and improved in both regions. The second algorithm involves a two-step process. In the first step, a Normalization to Local Mean (NLM), an inverse restoration filter is applied by dividing pixel by pixel a portal image by its blurred version. In the second step, named Lineally Combined Local Histogram Equalization (LCLHE), the contrast of the original image is strongly improved by a Local Contrast Enhancement (LCE) algorithm, revealing the anatomical structures of patients. The output image is lineally combined with a portal image of the patient. Finally the output images of the previous algorithms (NLM and LCLHE) are lineally combined, once again, in order to obtain a contrast enhanced image. These two algorithms have been tested on several portal images with great results. - Highlights: • Two Algorithms are implemented to improve the contrast of Electronic Portal Images. • The multi-leaf and conformed beam are automatically segmented into Portal Images. • Hidden anatomical and bony structures in portal images are revealed. • The task related to the patient setup verification is facilitated by the contrast enhancement then achieved.

Standardisation roadmap for electromobility; Normungs-Fahrplan fuer die Elektromobilitaet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heusinger, Stefan [DKE Deutsche Kommission Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik im DIN und VDE, Frankfurt/Main (Germany). Bereich Standardisierung

2011-03-15

All internal combustion engines - even the most efficient ones - consume fossil fuels which are getting increasingly scarce. The future of power supply, also in the mobile sector, is in renewables and electromobility. In Germany, the NPE (National Platform for Electromobility) was founded in order to achieve standardisation in this field as early as possible. A standardisation roadmap was established which is to facilitate implementation of electromobility during the next few years.

Standardised (plain) cigarette packaging increases attention to both text-based and graphical health warnings: experimental evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Shankleman, M; Sykes, C; Mandeville, K L; Di Costa, S; Yarrow, K

2015-01-01

To investigate whether standardised cigarette packaging increases the time spent looking at health warnings, regardless of the format of those warnings. A factorial (two pack styles x three warning types) within-subject experiment, with participants randomised to different orders of conditions, completed at a university in London, UK. Mock-ups of cigarette packets were presented to participants with their branded portion in either standardised (plain) or manufacturer-designed (branded) format. Health warnings were present on all packets, representing all three types currently in use in the UK: black & white text, colour text, or colour images with accompanying text. Gaze position was recorded using a specialised eye tracker, providing the main outcome measure, which was the mean proportion of a five-second viewing period spent gazing at the warning-label region of the packet. An opportunity sample of 30 (six male, mean age = 23) young adults met the following inclusion criteria: 1) not currently a smoker; 2) 50% viewing time. These participants spent a greater proportion of the available time gazing at the warning-label region when the branded section of the pack was standardised (following current Australian guidelines) rather than containing the manufacturer's preferred design (mean difference in proportions = 0.078, 95% confidence interval 0.049 to 0.106, p interaction p = 0.295). During incidental viewing of cigarette packets, young adult never-smokers are likely to spend more time looking at health warnings if manufacturers are compelled to use standardised packaging, regardless of the warning design. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Direct risk standardisation: a new method for comparing casemix adjusted event rates using complex models.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholl, Jon; Jacques, Richard M; Campbell, Michael J

2013-10-29

Comparison of outcomes between populations or centres may be confounded by any casemix differences and standardisation is carried out to avoid this. However, when the casemix adjustment models are large and complex, direct standardisation has been described as "practically impossible", and indirect standardisation may lead to unfair comparisons. We propose a new method of directly standardising for risk rather than standardising for casemix which overcomes these problems. Using a casemix model which is the same model as would be used in indirect standardisation, the risk in individuals is estimated. Risk categories are defined, and event rates in each category for each centre to be compared are calculated. A weighted sum of the risk category specific event rates is then calculated. We have illustrated this method using data on 6 million admissions to 146 hospitals in England in 2007/8 and an existing model with over 5000 casemix combinations, and a second dataset of 18,668 adult emergency admissions to 9 centres in the UK and overseas and a published model with over 20,000 casemix combinations and a continuous covariate. Substantial differences between conventional directly casemix standardised rates and rates from direct risk standardisation (DRS) were found. Results based on DRS were very similar to Standardised Mortality Ratios (SMRs) obtained from indirect standardisation, with similar standard errors. Direct risk standardisation using our proposed method is as straightforward as using conventional direct or indirect standardisation, always enables fair comparisons of performance to be made, can use continuous casemix covariates, and was found in our examples to have similar standard errors to the SMR. It should be preferred when there is a risk that conventional direct or indirect standardisation will lead to unfair comparisons.

A Novel Contrast Enhancement Technique on Palm Bone Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yung-Tsang Chang

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Contrast enhancement plays a fundamental role in image processing. Many histogram-based techniques are widely used for contrast enhancement of given images, due to their simple function and effectiveness. However, the conventional histogram equalization (HE methods result in excessive contrast enhancement, which causes natural looking and satisfactory results for a variety of low contrast images. To solve such problems, a novel multi-histogram equalization technique is proposed to enhance the contrast of the palm bone X-ray radiographs in this paper. For images, the mean-variance analysis method is employed to partition the histogram of the original grey scale image into multiple sub-histograms. These histograms are independently equalized. By using this mean-variance partition method, a proposed multi-histogram equalization technique is employed to achieve the contrast enhancement of the palm bone X-ray radiographs. Experimental results show that the multi-histogram equalization technique achieves a lower average absolute mean brightness error (AMBE value. The multi-histogram equalization technique simultaneously preserved the mean brightness and enhanced the local contrast of the original image.

Field application of feature-enhanced imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mucciardi, A.N.

1988-01-01

One of the more challenging ultrasonic inspection problems is bimetallic weld inspection or, in general, dissimilar metal welds. These types of welds involve complicated geometries and various mixtures of materials. Attempts to address this problem with imaging alone have fallen short of desired goals. The probable reason for this is the lack of information supplied by imaging systems, which are limited to amplitude and time displays. Having RF information available for analysis greatly enhances the information obtainable from dissimilar metal welds and, coupled with the spatial map generated by an imaging system, can significantly improve the reliability of dissimilar metal weld inspections. Ultra Image and TestPro are, respectively, an imaging system and a feature-based signal analysis system. The purpose of this project is to integrate these two systems to produce a feature-enhanced imaging system. This means that a software link is established between Ultra Image and the PC-based TestPro system so that the user of the combined system can perform all the usual imaging functions and also have available a wide variety of RF signal analysis functions. The analysis functions include waveform feature-based pattern recognition as well as artificial intelligence/expert system techniques

Contrast-enhanced flair imaging in the evaluation of infectious leptomeningeal diseases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parmar, Hemant; Sitoh, Y.-Y.; Anand, Pooja; Chua, Violet; Hui, Francis

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to compare contrast-enhanced fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images with contrast-enhanced T1 weighted images for infectious leptomeningitis. Materials and methods: We studied twenty-four patients with a clinical suspicion of infectious meningitis with unenhanced FLAIR, contrast-enhanced T1 weighted and contrast-enhanced FLAIR MR sequences. Twelve patients had cytologic and biochemical diagnosis of meningitis on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination obtained 48 h before or after the MR study. Sequences were considered positive if abnormal signal was seen in the subarachnoid space (cistern or sulci) or along pial surface. Results: Twenty-seven examinations in 24 patients were performed. Of the 12 patients (thirteen studies) in whom cytology was positive, unenhanced FLAIR images were positive in six cases (sensitivity 46%), contrast-enhanced FLAIR images were positive in 11 (sensitivity 85%), and contrast-enhanced T1 weighted MR images were positive in 11 patients (sensitivity 85%). Of the 12 patients (14 studies) in whom cerebrospinal fluid study was negative, unenhanced FLAIR images were negative in 13, contrast-enhanced FLAIR images were negative in 11, and contrast-enhanced T1 weighted MR images were negative in eight. Thus, the specificity of unenhanced FLAIR, contrast-enhanced FLAIR and contrast-enhanced T1 weighted images was 93, 79 and 57%, respectively. Conclusion: Our results suggest that post-contrast FLAIR images have similar sensitivity but a higher specificity compared to contrast-enhanced T1 weighted images for detection of leptomeningeal enhancement. It can be a useful adjunct to post-contrast T1 weighted images in evaluation of infectious leptomeningitis

Contrast-enhanced flair imaging in the evaluation of infectious leptomeningeal diseases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parmar, Hemant [Department of Neuroradiology, National Neuroscience Institute, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433 (Singapore) and Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto (Canada)]. E-mail: parurad@hotmail.com; Sitoh, Y.-Y. [Department of Neuroradiology, National Neuroscience Institute, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433 (Singapore); Anand, Pooja [Department of Neurology, National Neuroscience Institute, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng (Singapore); Chua, Violet [Department of Neuroradiology, National Neuroscience Institute, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433 (Singapore); Hui, Francis [Department of Neuroradiology, National Neuroscience Institute, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433 (Singapore)

2006-04-15

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to compare contrast-enhanced fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images with contrast-enhanced T1 weighted images for infectious leptomeningitis. Materials and methods: We studied twenty-four patients with a clinical suspicion of infectious meningitis with unenhanced FLAIR, contrast-enhanced T1 weighted and contrast-enhanced FLAIR MR sequences. Twelve patients had cytologic and biochemical diagnosis of meningitis on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination obtained 48 h before or after the MR study. Sequences were considered positive if abnormal signal was seen in the subarachnoid space (cistern or sulci) or along pial surface. Results: Twenty-seven examinations in 24 patients were performed. Of the 12 patients (thirteen studies) in whom cytology was positive, unenhanced FLAIR images were positive in six cases (sensitivity 46%), contrast-enhanced FLAIR images were positive in 11 (sensitivity 85%), and contrast-enhanced T1 weighted MR images were positive in 11 patients (sensitivity 85%). Of the 12 patients (14 studies) in whom cerebrospinal fluid study was negative, unenhanced FLAIR images were negative in 13, contrast-enhanced FLAIR images were negative in 11, and contrast-enhanced T1 weighted MR images were negative in eight. Thus, the specificity of unenhanced FLAIR, contrast-enhanced FLAIR and contrast-enhanced T1 weighted images was 93, 79 and 57%, respectively. Conclusion: Our results suggest that post-contrast FLAIR images have similar sensitivity but a higher specificity compared to contrast-enhanced T1 weighted images for detection of leptomeningeal enhancement. It can be a useful adjunct to post-contrast T1 weighted images in evaluation of infectious leptomeningitis.

Nurse's use of power to standardise nursing terminology in electronic health records.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Samira; Sieloff, Christina L

2017-07-01

To describe nurses' use of power to influence the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records. Little is known about nurses' potential use of power to influence the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records. The theory of group power within organisations informed the design of the descriptive, cross-sectional study used a survey method to assess nurses' use of power to influence the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records. The Sieloff-King Assessment of Group Power within Organizations © and Nursing Power Scale was used. A total of 232 nurses responded to the survey. The mean power capability score was moderately high at 134.22 (SD 18.49), suggesting that nurses could use power to achieve the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records. The nurses' power capacity was significantly correlated with their power capability (r = 0.96, P power to achieve their goals, such as the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records. Nurse administrators may use their power to influence the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records. If nurses lack power, this could decrease nurses' ability to achieve their goals and contribute to the achievement of effective patient outcomes. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Mammographic image enhancement using wavelet transform and homomorphic filter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F Majidi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Mammography is the most effective method for the early diagnosis of breast cancer diseases. As mammographic images contain low signal to noise ratio and low contrast, it becomes too difficult for radiologists to analyze mammogram. To deal with the above stated problems, it is very important to enhance the mammographic images using image processing methods. This paper introduces a new image enhancement approach for mammographic images which uses the modified mathematical morphology, wavelet transform and homomorphic filter to suppress the noise of images. For performance evaluation of the proposed method, contrast improvement index (CII and edge preservation index (EPI are adopted. Experimental results on mammographic images from Pejvak Digital Imaging Center (PDIC show that the proposed algorithm improves the two indexes, thereby achieving the goal of enhancing mammographic images.

Image enhancement of optical images for binary system of melanocytes and keratinocytes

Science.gov (United States)

Takanezawa, S.; Baba, A.; Sako, Y.; Ozaki, Y.; Date, A.; Toyama, K.; Morita, S.

2013-05-01

Automatic determination of the cell shapes of large numbers of melanocytes based on optical images of human skin models have been largely unsuccessful (the complexities introduced by dendrites and the melanin pigmentation over the keratinocytes to give unclear outlines). Here, we present an image enhancement procedure for enhancing the contrast of images with removing the non-uniformity of background. The brightness is normalized also for the non-uniform population density of melanocytes.

MR imaging of gestational trophoblastic tumor: role of gadolinium enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Si Young; Byun, Jae Young; Kim, Bum Su; Yun, Young Hyun; Mun, Kyung Mi; Park, Kyung Sin; Kim, Byung Kee; Bae, Seog Nyeon; Shinn, Kyung Sub.

1997-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of gadolinium enhanced MR imaging in the evaluation of gestational trophoblastic tumors (invasive mole and choriocarcinoma). Pre-enhanced T1-and T2-weighted images and gadolinium enhanced T1-weighted images of 34 gestational trophoblastic tumors (15 choriocarcinomas, 19 invasive moles) were retrospectively evaluated and enhancement patterns were analyzed. Morphologica differences and structural characteristics were analyzed by the evaluation of tumor margin, patterns of hemorrhagic necroses, the development of intratumoral vascularity, and molar villi. Graded scores of MR findings between pre- and gadolinium enhanced images were based on the following criteria : 1) visualization of tumor margin 2) distinction between tumor necrosis and zone of trophoblastic proliferation ; and 3) molar villi. Statistical differences between graded scores of pre- and post-enhanced images were analyzed. Gadolinium enhanced MR imaging was helpful for the visualization of tumor characteristics in gestational trophoblastic tumors and in differential diagnosis between invasive mole and choriocarcinoma. (author). 16 refs., 4 tabs., 4 figs

Visibility enhancement of color images using Type-II fuzzy membership function

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Harmandeep; Khehra, Baljit Singh

2018-04-01

Images taken in poor environmental conditions decrease the visibility and hidden information of digital images. Therefore, image enhancement techniques are necessary for improving the significant details of these images. An extensive review has shown that histogram-based enhancement techniques greatly suffer from over/under enhancement issues. Fuzzy-based enhancement techniques suffer from over/under saturated pixels problems. In this paper, a novel Type-II fuzzy-based image enhancement technique has been proposed for improving the visibility of images. The Type-II fuzzy logic can automatically extract the local atmospheric light and roughly eliminate the atmospheric veil in local detail enhancement. The proposed technique has been evaluated on 10 well-known weather degraded color images and is also compared with four well-known existing image enhancement techniques. The experimental results reveal that the proposed technique outperforms others regarding visible edge ratio, color gradients and number of saturated pixels.

Compositional images from the Diffraction Enhanced Imaging technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasnah, M.O.; Zhong, Z.; Parham, C.; Zhang, H.; Chapman, D.

2007-01-01

Diffraction Enhanced Imaging (DEI) derives X-ray contrast from absorption, refraction, and extinction. While the refraction angle image of DEI represents the gradient of the projected mass density of the object, the absorption image measures the projected attenuation (μt)-bar of an object. Using a simple integral method it has been shown that a mass density image (ρt)-bar can be obtained from the refraction angle image. It then is a simple matter to develop a combinational image by dividing these two images to create a μ/ρ image. The μ/ρ is a fundamental property of a material and is therefore useful for identifying the composition of an object. In projection X-ray imaging the μ/ρ image identifies the integrated composition of the elements along the beam path. When applied to DEI computed tomography (CT), the image identifies the composition in each voxel. This method presents a new type of spectroscopy based in radiography. We present the method of obtaining the compositional image, the results of experiments in which we verify the method with known standards and an application of the method to breast cancer imaging

Remote Sensing Image Enhancement Based on Non-subsampled Shearlet Transform and Parameterized Logarithmic Image Processing Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

TAO Feixiang

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Aiming at parts of remote sensing images with dark brightness and low contrast, a remote sensing image enhancement method based on non-subsampled Shearlet transform and parameterized logarithmic image processing model is proposed in this paper to improve the visual effects and interpretability of remote sensing images. Firstly, a remote sensing image is decomposed into a low-frequency component and high frequency components by non-subsampled Shearlet transform.Then the low frequency component is enhanced according to PLIP (parameterized logarithmic image processing model, which can improve the contrast of image, while the improved fuzzy enhancement method is used to enhance the high frequency components in order to highlight the information of edges and details. A large number of experimental results show that, compared with five kinds of image enhancement methods such as bidirectional histogram equalization method, the method based on stationary wavelet transform and the method based on non-subsampled contourlet transform, the proposed method has advantages in both subjective visual effects and objective quantitative evaluation indexes such as contrast and definition, which can more effectively improve the contrast of remote sensing image and enhance edges and texture details with better visual effects.

Safeguards and Physics Measurements: Neutron Activation Analysis with k0-standardisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pomme, S.

2000-01-01

SCK-CEN's programme on Neutron Activation Analysis with k 0 -standardisation concentrates on the improvement of the standardisation method and the characterisation of the neutron field as well as on the improvement of the statistical control on neutron activation analysis. Main achievements in 2000 are reported

A Fuzzy Homomorphic Algorithm for Image Enhancement | Nnolim ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The implementation and analysis of a novel Fuzzy Homomorphic image enhancement technique is presented. The technique combines the logarithmic transform with fuzzy membership functions to deliver an intuitive method of image enhancement. This algorithm reduces the computational complexity by eliminating the ...

Effect of zooming on texture features of ultrasonic images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyriacou Efthyvoulos

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Unstable carotid plaques on subjective, visual, assessment using B-mode ultrasound scanning appear as echolucent and heterogeneous. Although previous studies on computer assisted plaque characterisation have standardised B-mode images for brightness, improving the objective assessment of echolucency, little progress has been made towards standardisation of texture analysis methods, which assess plaque heterogeneity. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of image zooming during ultrasound scanning on textural features and to test whether or not resolution standardisation decreases the variability introduced. Methods Eighteen still B-mode images of carotid plaques were zoomed during carotid scanning (zoom factor 1.3 and both images were transferred to a PC and normalised. Using bilinear and bicubic interpolation, the original images were interpolated in a process of simulating off-line zoom using the same interpolation factor. With the aid of the colour-coded image, carotid plaques of the original, zoomed and two resampled images for each case were outlined and histogram, first order and second order statistics were subsequently calculated. Results Most second order statistics (21/25, 84% were significantly (p Conclusion Texture analysis of ultrasonic plaques should be performed under standardised resolution settings; otherwise a resolution normalisation algorithm should be applied.

Facial nerve palsy: Evaluation by contrast-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kinoshita, T.; Ishii, K.; Okitsu, T.; Okudera, T.; Ogawa, T.

2001-01-01

AIM: The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in patients with peripheral facial nerve palsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MR imaging was performed in 147 patients with facial nerve palsy, using a 1.0 T unit. All of 147 patients were evaluated by contrast-enhanced MR imaging and the pattern of enhancement was compared with that in 300 control subjects evaluated for suspected acoustic neurinoma. RESULTS: The intrameatal and labyrinthine segments of the normal facial nerve did not show enhancement, whereas enhancement of the distal intrameatal segment and the labyrinthine segment was respectively found in 67% and 43% of patients with Bell's palsy. The geniculate ganglion or the tympanic-mastoid segment was enhanced in 21% of normal controls versus 91% of patients with Bell's palsy. Abnormal enhancement of the non-paralyzed facial nerve was found in a patient with bilateral temporal bone fracture. CONCLUSION: Enhancement of the distal intrameatal and labyrinthine segments is specific for facial nerve palsy. Contrast-enhanced MR imaging can reveal inflammatory facial nerve lesions and traumatic nerve injury, including clinically silent damage in trauma. Kinoshita T. et al. (2001)

Facial nerve palsy: Evaluation by contrast-enhanced MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kinoshita, T.; Ishii, K.; Okitsu, T.; Okudera, T.; Ogawa, T

2001-11-01

AIM: The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in patients with peripheral facial nerve palsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MR imaging was performed in 147 patients with facial nerve palsy, using a 1.0 T unit. All of 147 patients were evaluated by contrast-enhanced MR imaging and the pattern of enhancement was compared with that in 300 control subjects evaluated for suspected acoustic neurinoma. RESULTS: The intrameatal and labyrinthine segments of the normal facial nerve did not show enhancement, whereas enhancement of the distal intrameatal segment and the labyrinthine segment was respectively found in 67% and 43% of patients with Bell's palsy. The geniculate ganglion or the tympanic-mastoid segment was enhanced in 21% of normal controls versus 91% of patients with Bell's palsy. Abnormal enhancement of the non-paralyzed facial nerve was found in a patient with bilateral temporal bone fracture. CONCLUSION: Enhancement of the distal intrameatal and labyrinthine segments is specific for facial nerve palsy. Contrast-enhanced MR imaging can reveal inflammatory facial nerve lesions and traumatic nerve injury, including clinically silent damage in trauma. Kinoshita T. et al. (2001)

Resolution enhancement in medical ultrasound imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Ploquin, Marie; Basarab, Adrian; Kouamé, Denis

2015-01-01

Image resolution enhancement is a problem of considerable interest in all medical imaging modalities. Unlike general purpose imaging or video processing, for a very long time, medical image resolution enhancement has been based on optimization of the imaging devices. Although some recent works purport to deal with image postprocessing, much remains to be done regarding medical image enhancement via postprocessing, especially in ultrasound imaging. We face a resolution improvement issue in the case of medical ultrasound imaging. We propose to investigate this problem using multidimensional autoregressive (AR) models. Noting that the estimation of the envelope of an ultrasound radio frequency (RF) signal is very similar to the estimation of classical Fourier-based power spectrum estimation, we theoretically show that a domain change and a multidimensional AR model can be used to achieve super-resolution in ultrasound imaging provided the order is estimated correctly. Here, this is done by means of a technique that simultaneously estimates the order and the parameters of a multidimensional model using relevant regression matrix factorization. Doing so, the proposed method specifically fits ultrasound imaging and provides an estimated envelope. Moreover, an expression that links the theoretical image resolution to both the image acquisition features (such as the point spread function) and a postprocessing feature (the AR model) order is derived. The overall contribution of this work is threefold. First, it allows for automatic resolution improvement. Through a simple model and without any specific manual algorithmic parameter tuning, as is used in common methods, the proposed technique simply and exclusively uses the ultrasound RF signal as input and provides the improved B-mode as output. Second, it allows for the a priori prediction of the improvement in resolution via the knowledge of the parametric model order before actual processing. Finally, to achieve the

Usefulness of a three-dimensional stereotaxic ROI template on anatomically standardised {sup 99m}Tc-ECD SPET

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takeuchi, Ryo [Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Nishi-Kobe Medical Center, Kobe (Japan); Yonekura, Yoshiharu [Biomedical Imaging Research Center, Fukui Medical University, Fukui (Japan); Matsuda, Hiroshi [Department of Radiology, National Center Hospital for Mental, Tokyo (Japan); Konishi, Junji [Department of Nuclear Medicine and Diagnostic Imaging, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan)

2002-03-01

We have constructed a three-dimensional stereotaxic ROI template (3DSRT) on anatomically standardised cerebral blood flow (CBF) single-photon emission tomography (SPET) images to objectively estimate regional CBF (rCBF). The 3DSRT is composed of 259 regions of interest (ROIs) in 11 segments (1, superior frontal; 2, middle and inferior frontal; 3, primary sensorimotor; 4, parietal; 5, angular; 6, temporal; 7, occipital; 8, pericallosal; 9, lenticular nucleus; 10, thalamus; 11, hippocampus) on each side. We measured the rCBF values of the 518 ROIs and calculated the area-weighted average (segmental CBF; sCBF) of the 22 segments based on the rCBF in each ROI. We compared vascular reserve before and after revascularisation surgery using sCBF on anatomically standardised resting and acetazolamide (Acz)-challenged CBF SPET images, which were obtained using an equal-volume-split dual-injection single-day protocol [resting and vascular reserve (RVR) method] in 13 patients who had not suffered any major stroke but did have significant cerebrovascular stenosis. Prior to the evaluation, we examined the sCBF values of 16 subjects with various cerebrovascular conditions (8, normal; 3, lacunar infarction; 2, chronic infarction; 2, meningioma; 1, aneurysm) using physiological saline instead of Acz (placebo study) in order to confirm the reproducibility of the RVR method. In the placebo study we observed excellent linearity (y=1.444+0.964x) between the 352 pairs of baseline (x) and post-placebo (y) sCBF values in the 16 subjects, irrespective of the segment location. In all of the 13 patients, estimation of sCBF demonstrated impaired vascular reserve pre-operatively and improved vascular reserve postoperatively. We conclude that the 3DSRT, which could be identically set on the anatomically standardised images obtained at baseline and after Acz injection, allowed objective assessment of the pre- and postoperative vascular reserve, which was not easy with conventional ROI settings

Contrast-enhanced CISS imaging of cerebellopontine angle tumors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tozaki, Mitsuhiro; Toyoda, Keiko; Hata, Yuichi; Fukuda, Yasushi; Fukuda, Kunihiko [Jikei Univ., Tokyo (Japan). School of Medicine; Katano, Shuichi

1999-10-01

Our purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of contrast-enhanced CISS-3DFT MR imaging for the diagnosis of CP angle tumors. CISS-3DFT MR imaging is expected for screening procedure of acoustic schwannoma because of excellent spatial resolution. Recently, we discovered contrast enhancement effect on CISS sequence in spite of heavily T{sub 2}-weighted images. Fourteen patients with CP angle tumors were performed on a 1.0 T MR unit. Transaxial CISS-3DFT MRI was obtained both before and after intravenous injections of Gd-DTPA. Multiplanar reconstructions (MPRs) were performed in all cases. Contrast enhancement effect of CP angle tumors, and the relationship between tumors and the adjacent cranial nerves were evaluated. Contrast enhancement effect of the tumors was present in all cases in spite of heavily T{sub 2}-weighted images of CISS sequences. In the internal auditory canal, relationship between the tumors and the cranial nerves was demonstrated in 6 cases (6/9). In the cerebellopontine cistern, all cases were demonstrated (11/11). Contrast-enhanced CISS-3DFT MR imaging with a good contrast resolution and an excellent spatial resolution is useful for the diagnosis of CP angle tumors. (author)

Sonar Image Enhancements for Improved Detection of Sea Mines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jespersen, Karl; Sørensen, Helge Bjarup Dissing; Zerr, Benoit

1999-01-01

In this paper, five methods for enhancing sonar images prior to automatic detection of sea mines are investigated. Two of the methods have previously been published in connection with detection systems and serve as reference. The three new enhancement approaches are variance stabilizing log...... transform, nonlinear filtering, and pixel averaging for speckle reduction. The effect of the enhancement step is tested by using the full prcessing chain i.e. enhancement, detection and thresholding to determine the number of detections and false alarms. Substituting different enhancement algorithms...... in the processing chain gives a precise measure of the performance of the enhancement stage. The test is performed using a sonar image database with images ranging from very simple to very complex. The result of the comparison indicates that the new enhancement approaches improve the detection performance....

Detection of brain metastasis. Comparison of Turbo-FLAIR imaging, T2-weighted imaging and double-dose gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okubo, Toshiyuki; Hayashi, Naoto; Shirouzu, Ichiro; Abe, Osamu; Ohtomo, Kuni; Sasaki, Yasuhito; Aoki, Shigeki; Wada, Akihiko

1998-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare Turbo-FLAIR imaging, T 2 -weighted imaging, and double-dose gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging in the detection of brain metastasis. Using the three sequences, 20 consecutive patients with brain metastases were prospectively studied with a 1.5-Tesla system. Three independent, blinded readers assessed the images for the presence, size, number, and location of metastatic lesions. In the detection of large lesions (>0.5 cm), Turbo-FLAIR imaging (38/48, 79%) was not significantly different from gadolinium-enhanced imaging (42/48, 88%) (p=0.273). T 2 -weighted imaging (31/48, 65%), however, was inferior to gadolinium-enhanced imaging (p<0.05). There was no difference between Turbo-FLAIR imaging and gadolinium-enhanced imaging in the accuracy of detecting solitary brain metastasis (4/4, 100%). In conclusion, Turbo-FLAIR imaging is a useful, noninvasive screening modality for brain metastasis. Its use may lead to cost savings in the diagnosis of brain metastases and may impact positively the cost-effectiveness of treatment. (author)

Image Processing for Binarization Enhancement via Fuzzy Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Dominguez, Jesus A. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

A technique for enhancing a gray-scale image to improve conversions of the image to binary employs fuzzy reasoning. In the technique, pixels in the image are analyzed by comparing the pixel's gray scale value, which is indicative of its relative brightness, to the values of pixels immediately surrounding the selected pixel. The degree to which each pixel in the image differs in value from the values of surrounding pixels is employed as the variable in a fuzzy reasoning-based analysis that determines an appropriate amount by which the selected pixel's value should be adjusted to reduce vagueness and ambiguity in the image and improve retention of information during binarization of the enhanced gray-scale image.

Avascular necrosis of femoral head: findings of contrast-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Yong Moon; Kang, Heung Sik; Kim, Chu Wan; Kim, Hee Joong; Kim, Young Min

1995-01-01

To evaluate the findings and the role of contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in avascular necrosis of femoral head. Sixteen patients with avascular necorsis of femoral head were examined with MRI. T1-weighted and T2-weighted image and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images were obtained. Enhancing characteristics of the necrotic area and synovium were determined. Also a change of the disease extent after enhancement was assessed. Twenty seven avascular necrosis of the femoral head including 11 cases of bilateral lesion were detected. Fifteen cases revealed collapse of the femoral head. The portions of the lesion with low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and high signal intensity on T2-weighted images showed contrast enhancement in 15 cases. However, the potions with low signal intensities both on T1 and T2-weighted images showed enhancement in one case. There was no significant change of the disease extent after enhancement. Synovium showed enhancement in 18 cases, and joint effusion was detected in 23 cases. Contrast enhanced MR images may be helpful in predicting histopathologic findings of avascular necrosis of the femoral head, but not useful for evaluating the extent of disease

Avascular necrosis of femoral head: findings of contrast-enhanced MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, Yong Moon; Kang, Heung Sik; Kim, Chu Wan; Kim, Hee Joong; Kim, Young Min [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1995-06-15

To evaluate the findings and the role of contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in avascular necrosis of femoral head. Sixteen patients with avascular necorsis of femoral head were examined with MRI. T1-weighted and T2-weighted image and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images were obtained. Enhancing characteristics of the necrotic area and synovium were determined. Also a change of the disease extent after enhancement was assessed. Twenty seven avascular necrosis of the femoral head including 11 cases of bilateral lesion were detected. Fifteen cases revealed collapse of the femoral head. The portions of the lesion with low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and high signal intensity on T2-weighted images showed contrast enhancement in 15 cases. However, the potions with low signal intensities both on T1 and T2-weighted images showed enhancement in one case. There was no significant change of the disease extent after enhancement. Synovium showed enhancement in 18 cases, and joint effusion was detected in 23 cases. Contrast enhanced MR images may be helpful in predicting histopathologic findings of avascular necrosis of the femoral head, but not useful for evaluating the extent of disease.

De determination for young samples using the standardised OSL response of coarse-grain quartz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burbidge, C.I.; Duller, G.A.T.; Roberts, H.M.

2006-01-01

It has recently been shown that it is possible to construct standardised curves of the sensitivity corrected growth in optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) with exposure to ionising radiation, and that they may be used in the dating of quartz and polymineral samples. Standardised growth curves are particularly advantageous where measurement time is limited, as once they have been defined, only the natural signal and the response to a subsequent test dose are required in order to determine the equivalent dose of a sub-sample. The present study is concerned with the application of the standardised growth curve approach to OSL dating of Holocene age samples. Systematic changes in the shape of the standardised growth curve of coarse-grain quartz are identified as the size of the test dose is varied, because of non-proportionality between the test dose and the luminescence test response. The effect is characterised by fitting the change in gradient of the standardised growth curve as test dose is varied. An equation is defined to describe standardised growth as a function of regenerative dose and test dose. Regenerative dose responses of other samples in this study are treated as unknowns and recovered through different growth curves to compare precision and accuracy of various methods of D e determination. The standardised growth curve is found to yield similar precision to conventional fits of single aliquot regenerative data, but slightly poorer accuracy. The standardised growth curve approach was refined by incorporating the measurement of one regenerative response for each aliquot as well as its natural signal. Measurements of this additional data point for aliquots of 22 samples were used to adjust the standardised growth equation, improving its accuracy. The incorporation of this additional data point also indicated a systematic uncertainty of 2.4% in the estimates of D e

Hybrid Image Fusion for Sharpness Enhancement of Multi-Spectral Lunar Images

Science.gov (United States)

Awumah, Anna; Mahanti, Prasun; Robinson, Mark

2016-10-01

Image fusion enhances the sharpness of a multi-spectral (MS) image by incorporating spatial details from a higher-resolution panchromatic (Pan) image [1,2]. Known applications of image fusion for planetary images are rare, although image fusion is well-known for its applications to Earth-based remote sensing. In a recent work [3], six different image fusion algorithms were implemented and their performances were verified with images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Camera. The image fusion procedure obtained a high-resolution multi-spectral (HRMS) product from the LRO Narrow Angle Camera (used as Pan) and LRO Wide Angle Camera (used as MS) images. The results showed that the Intensity-Hue-Saturation (IHS) algorithm results in a high-spatial quality product while the Wavelet-based image fusion algorithm best preserves spectral quality among all the algorithms. In this work we show the results of a hybrid IHS-Wavelet image fusion algorithm when applied to LROC MS images. The hybrid method provides the best HRMS product - both in terms of spatial resolution and preservation of spectral details. Results from hybrid image fusion can enable new science and increase the science return from existing LROC images.[1] Pohl, Cle, and John L. Van Genderen. "Review article multisensor image fusion in remote sensing: concepts, methods and applications." International journal of remote sensing 19.5 (1998): 823-854.[2] Zhang, Yun. "Understanding image fusion." Photogramm. Eng. Remote Sens 70.6 (2004): 657-661.[3] Mahanti, Prasun et al. "Enhancement of spatial resolution of the LROC Wide Angle Camera images." Archives, XXIII ISPRS Congress Archives (2016).

The relationship between standardised test performance and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The English language proficiency of South African learners is integral to ... in standardised reading/writing tests in English Second Language (ESL) and (2) the use of ... and their relationship with the ESL learner's language learning strategies.

Human body region enhancement method based on Kinect infrared imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Lei; Fan, Yubo; Song, Xiaowei; Cai, Wenjing

2016-10-01

To effectively improve the low contrast of human body region in the infrared images, a combing method of several enhancement methods is utilized to enhance the human body region. Firstly, for the infrared images acquired by Kinect, in order to improve the overall contrast of the infrared images, an Optimal Contrast-Tone Mapping (OCTM) method with multi-iterations is applied to balance the contrast of low-luminosity infrared images. Secondly, to enhance the human body region better, a Level Set algorithm is employed to improve the contour edges of human body region. Finally, to further improve the human body region in infrared images, Laplacian Pyramid decomposition is adopted to enhance the contour-improved human body region. Meanwhile, the background area without human body region is processed by bilateral filtering to improve the overall effect. With theoretical analysis and experimental verification, the results show that the proposed method could effectively enhance the human body region of such infrared images.

Acetabular labral tears: contrast-enhanced MR imaging under continuous leg traction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nishii, T. [Div. of Functional Diagnostic Imaging, Biomedical Research Center, Osaka Univ. Medical School, Suita (Japan); Nakanishi, K. [Dept. of Radiology, Osaka Univ. Medical School, Suita (Japan); Sugano, N. [Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka Univ. Medical School, Suita (Japan); Naito, H. [Div. of Functional Diagnostic Imaging, Biomedical Research Center, Osaka Univ. Medical School, Suita (Japan); Tamura, S. [Div. of Functional Diagnostic Imaging, Biomedical Research Center, Osaka Univ. Medical School, Suita (Japan); Ochi, T. [Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka Univ. Medical School, Suita (Japan)

1996-05-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of continuous leg traction on contrast-enhanced MR imaging of the hip joint and to determine whether MR imaging under these conditions is useful for demonstrating acetabular labral tears. Nineteen hips underwent MR imaging with a T1-weighted spin-echo sequence, followed by MR imaging under continuous leg traction after intravenous injection of gadolinium-DTPA. Joint fluid enhancement and labral contour detection were evaluated. Eleven hips had labral tears shown by conventional arthrography, arthroscopy and macroscopic surgical findings. Assessment of labral tears by MR imaging was correlated with the diagnosis based on these standard techniques. Joint fluid enhancement was obtained in all hips at 30 min after injection. Superior and inferior labral surfaces were completely delineated in 1 hip on the unenhanced MR images, and in 7 and 13 hips, respectively, on the enhanced images under traction. The enhanced images under traction depicted 9 of the 11 labral tears. Comparison between the unenhanced image and the enhanced image under traction avoided mistaking undercutting of the labrum for a tear in 4 hips. Contrast-enhanced MR imaging under traction was valuable for detecting labral tears non-invasively and without radiation. Follow-up examinations using this method in patients with acetabular dysplasia can help to clarify the natural course of labral disorders and enable better treatment planning. (orig./MG)

The "diamond port configuration": A standardised laparoscopic technique for adolescent intestinal resection and anastomosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Hill

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Familiarity with technique and repetition enhance efficiency during laparoscopic surgery. This is particularly important when undertaking complex bowel resections. We report a standardised protocol that includes theatre layout, patient position and port insertion, which we believe facilitates excellent abdominal access and ergonomics and has the potential to shorten the duration of the team-learning curve. Materials and Methods: A strategic unit development plan led to the commencement of a laparoscopic service for adolescents with bowel disorders. A standardised protocol for intestinal resections was agreed upon at a monthly Paediatric Minimal Access Group meeting. This covered patient position, port insertion, technical aspects of intestinal resection and perioperative management. In particular, a diamond configuration for ports was agreed upon. Data were prospectively collected, and included patient demographics, operative times, conversion rates and postoperative outcomes. Unless otherwise indicated, data are presented as medians with ranges. Results: Seven procedures were carried out in six patients (three female aged 14 (11-14 years. Access to the entire abdominal cavity, vision and ergonomics were excellent in all. There were no conversions to open surgery. In all procedures, the technique was considered safe and effective. The length of hospital stay was 6.5 (5.8-14 days. Conclusion: A standardised protocol including the use of the diamond port configuration has several putative advantages for laparoscopic bowel resections and anastomoses. These include efficiency, reproducibility, predictability, good visibility and excellent ergonomics. We recommend this approach as a means to shorten the procedure-specific learning curve of the laparoscopic team.

A job-related self-image enhancement programme

OpenAIRE

2012-01-01

D.Litt. et Phil. This research focuses on self-concept improvement for adults. A self-image enhancement programme has been developed and its impact tested with regard to shortand medium term developments. Various training approaches have been compared to establish whether massed or spaced sessions training is more effective, and whether individual follow-up after the programme is of advantage. Self-image enhancement is seen as central to a person's functioning and psychological well-being....

Swarm Intelligence for Optimizing Hybridized Smoothing Filter in Image Edge Enhancement

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, B. Tirumala; Dehuri, S.; Dileep, M.; Vindhya, A.

In this modern era, image transmission and processing plays a major role. It would be impossible to retrieve information from satellite and medical images without the help of image processing techniques. Edge enhancement is an image processing step that enhances the edge contrast of an image or video in an attempt to improve its acutance. Edges are the representations of the discontinuities of image intensity functions. For processing these discontinuities in an image, a good edge enhancement technique is essential. The proposed work uses a new idea for edge enhancement using hybridized smoothening filters and we introduce a promising technique of obtaining best hybrid filter using swarm algorithms (Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO)) to search for an optimal sequence of filters from among a set of rather simple, representative image processing filters. This paper deals with the analysis of the swarm intelligence techniques through the combination of hybrid filters generated by these algorithms for image edge enhancement.

Evaluation of carotid vessel wall enhancement with image subtraction after gadobenate dimeglumine-enhanced MR angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sardanelli, Francesco; Di Leo, Giovanni; Aliprandi, Alberto; Flor, Nicola; Papini, Giacomo D.E.; Roccatagliata, Luca; Cotticelli, Biagio; Nano, Giovanni; Cornalba, Gianpaolo

2009-01-01

Objectives: This study was aimed at testing the value of image subtraction for evaluating carotid vessel wall enhancement in contrast-enhanced MR angiography (MRA). Materials and methods: IRB approval was obtained. The scans of 81 consecutive patients who underwent carotid MRA with 0.1 mmol/kg of gadobenate dimeglumine were reviewed. Axial carotid 3D T1-weighted fast low-angle shot sequence before and 3 min after contrast injection were acquired and subtracted (enhanced minus unenhanced). Vessel wall enhancement was assigned a four-point score using native or subtracted images from 0 (no enhancement) to 3 (strong enhancement). Stenosis degree was graded according to NASCET. Results: With native images, vessel wall enhancement was detected in 20/81 patients (25%) and in 20/161 carotids (12%), and scored 2.0 ± 0.6 (mean ± standard deviation); with subtracted images, in 21/81 (26%) and 22/161 (14%), and scored 2.5 ± 0.6, respectively (P < 0.001, Sign test). The overall stenosis degree distribution was: mild, 41/161 (25%); moderate, 77/161 (48%); severe, 43/161 (27%). Carotids with moderate stenosis showed vessel wall enhancement with a frequency (17/77, 22%) significantly higher than that observed in carotids with mild stenosis (1/41, 2%) (P = 0.005, Fisher exact test) and higher, even though with borderline significance (P = 0.078, Fisher exact test), than that observed in carotids with severe stenosis (4/43, 9%). Conclusion: Roughly a quarter of patients undergoing carotid MRA showed vessel wall enhancement. Image subtraction improved vessel wall enhancement conspicuity. Vessel wall enhancement seems to be an event relatively independent from the degree of stenosis. Further studies are warranted to define the relation between vessel wall enhancement and histopathology, inflammatory status, and instability.

Multiple Image Radiography With Diffraction Enhanced Imaging For Breast Specimen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oltulu, Oral; Zhong Zhong; Hasnah, Moumen; Chapman, Dean

2007-01-01

Biological samples are of great interest for many imaging techniques. The samples usually contain small structures and weak absorption properties. The combinations of weak signals with overlying structures make feature recognition difficult in many cases. In the x-ray regime, a relatively new imaging technique Diffraction Enhanced Imaging (DEI) has superior tissue contrast over conventional radiography and is proven to be very sensitive method. Multiple images taken by DEI are called Multiple Image Radiography (MIR). The purpose of this study is to validate the potential application of the method and to show that MIR-DEI method may give more information about the sample

Noninvasive enhanced mid-IR imaging of breast cancer development in vivo

Science.gov (United States)

Case, Jason R.; Young, Madison A.; Dréau, D.; Trammell, Susan R.

2015-11-01

Lumpectomy coupled with radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy is commonly used to treat breast cancer patients. We are developing an enhanced thermal IR imaging technique that has the potential to provide real-time imaging to guide tissue excision during a lumpectomy by delineating tumor margins. This enhanced thermal imaging method is a combination of IR imaging (8 to 10 μm) and selective heating of blood (˜0.5°C) relative to surrounding water-rich tissue using LED sources at low powers. Postacquisition processing of these images highlights temporal changes in temperature and the presence of vascular structures. In this study, fluorescent, standard thermal, and enhanced thermal imaging modalities, as well as physical caliper measurements, were used to monitor breast cancer tumor volumes over a 30-day study period in 19 mice implanted with 4T1-RFP tumor cells. Tumor volumes calculated from fluorescent imaging follow an exponential growth curve for the first 22 days of the study. Cell necrosis affected the tumor volume estimates based on the fluorescent images after day 22. The tumor volumes estimated from enhanced thermal imaging, standard thermal imaging, and caliper measurements all show exponential growth over the entire study period. A strong correlation was found between tumor volumes estimated using fluorescent imaging, standard IR imaging, and caliper measurements with enhanced thermal imaging, indicating that enhanced thermal imaging monitors tumor growth. Further, the enhanced IR images reveal a corona of bright emission along the edges of the tumor masses associated with the tumor margin. In the future, this IR technique might be used to estimate tumor margins in real time during surgical procedures.

Image enhancement of digital periapical radiographs according to diagnostic tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Jin Woo; Han, Won Jeong; Kim, Eun Kyung

2014-01-01

his study was performed to investigate the effect of image enhancement of periapical radiographs according to the diagnostic task. Eighty digital intraoral radiographs were obtained from patients and classified into four groups according to the diagnostic tasks of dental caries, periodontal diseases, periapical lesions, and endodontic files. All images were enhanced differently by using five processing techniques. Three radiologists blindly compared the subjective image quality of the original images and the processed images using a 5-point scale. There were significant differences between the image quality of the processed images and that of the original images (P<0.01) in all the diagnostic task groups. Processing techniques showed significantly different efficacy according to the diagnostic task (P<0.01). Image enhancement affects the image quality differently depending on the diagnostic task. And the use of optimal parameters is important for each diagnostic task.

Image enhancement of digital periapical radiographs according to diagnostic tasks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Jin Woo; Han, Won Jeong; Kim, Eun Kyung [Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Dankook University College of Dentistry, Cheonan (Korea, Republic of)

2014-03-15

his study was performed to investigate the effect of image enhancement of periapical radiographs according to the diagnostic task. Eighty digital intraoral radiographs were obtained from patients and classified into four groups according to the diagnostic tasks of dental caries, periodontal diseases, periapical lesions, and endodontic files. All images were enhanced differently by using five processing techniques. Three radiologists blindly compared the subjective image quality of the original images and the processed images using a 5-point scale. There were significant differences between the image quality of the processed images and that of the original images (P<0.01) in all the diagnostic task groups. Processing techniques showed significantly different efficacy according to the diagnostic task (P<0.01). Image enhancement affects the image quality differently depending on the diagnostic task. And the use of optimal parameters is important for each diagnostic task.

Contrast enhancement pattern in MR imaging of acute cerebral infarction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong Deok; Cho, Mee Young; Lee, Chae Guk; Song, Dong Hoon

1994-01-01

To present the enhancement pattern of acute cerebral or cerebellar cortical infarctions aged 1-3 days on MR. Contrast-enhanced MR images of 26 patients with acute cerebral or cerebellar ischemic events were retrospectively reviewed. MR was performed within 3 days after ictus. Contrast enhancement in the area of infarction was observed in 61.5% (16/26) on MR. Of these 50% (13/26) showed non-parenchymal enhancement (NPE) representing either vascular or leptomeningeal enhancement, 7.7% (2/26) showed parenchymal enhancement (PE), and 2.8% (1/26) showed both NPE and PE. The earliest enhancement was seen in images obtained 12 hours after the onset of symptoms and appeared as NPE. One patient showed NPE without apparent high signal intensity at the corresponding area on T2-weighted images. In 38.5% (10/26), there was no enhancement. Contrast-enhanced MR imaging may be needed in acute ischemic infarction, because NPE may be seen as the earliest MR finding of acute cortical infraction aged 1-3 days

Contrast enhancement pattern in MR imaging of acute cerebral infarction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jong Deok; Cho, Mee Young; Lee, Chae Guk; Song, Dong Hoon [Inje University College of Medicine, Pusan (Korea, Republic of)

1994-08-15

To present the enhancement pattern of acute cerebral or cerebellar cortical infarctions aged 1-3 days on MR. Contrast-enhanced MR images of 26 patients with acute cerebral or cerebellar ischemic events were retrospectively reviewed. MR was performed within 3 days after ictus. Contrast enhancement in the area of infarction was observed in 61.5% (16/26) on MR. Of these 50% (13/26) showed non-parenchymal enhancement (NPE) representing either vascular or leptomeningeal enhancement, 7.7% (2/26) showed parenchymal enhancement (PE), and 2.8% (1/26) showed both NPE and PE. The earliest enhancement was seen in images obtained 12 hours after the onset of symptoms and appeared as NPE. One patient showed NPE without apparent high signal intensity at the corresponding area on T2-weighted images. In 38.5% (10/26), there was no enhancement. Contrast-enhanced MR imaging may be needed in acute ischemic infarction, because NPE may be seen as the earliest MR finding of acute cortical infraction aged 1-3 days.

Image enhancement of x-ray microscope using frequency spectrum analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Wenjie; Chen Jie; Tian Jinping; Zhang Xiaobo; Liu Gang; Tian Yangchao; Liu Yijin; Wu Ziyu

2009-01-01

We demonstrate a new method for x-ray microscope image enhancement using frequency spectrum analysis. Fine sample characteristics are well enhanced with homogeneous visibility and better contrast from single image. This method is easy to implement and really helps to improve the quality of image taken by our imaging system.

Image enhancement of x-ray microscope using frequency spectrum analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Wenjie; Chen Jie; Tian Jinping; Zhang Xiaobo; Liu Gang; Tian Yangchao [National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230029 (China); Liu Yijin; Wu Ziyu, E-mail: wuzy@ihep.ac.c, E-mail: ychtian@ustc.edu.c [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049 (China)

2009-09-01

We demonstrate a new method for x-ray microscope image enhancement using frequency spectrum analysis. Fine sample characteristics are well enhanced with homogeneous visibility and better contrast from single image. This method is easy to implement and really helps to improve the quality of image taken by our imaging system.

Hepatocellular carcinoma. Comparison between gadolinium and ironoxide enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castoldi, M.C.; Fauda, V.; Scaramuzza, D.; Vergnaghi, D.

2000-01-01

Purpose of this work is to compare prospectively dynamic gadolinium (Gd)-enhanced with superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced MRI for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Twenty-five patients with histologically proven HCC and liver cirrhosis (28% of them in B or C Child class) underwent dynamic Gd-enhanced MRI and, a few days later, (mean interval: three days) SPIO-enhanced MRI. Only patients with availability of clinical and imaging follow-up for at least seven months were enrolled in this prospective study. MR images were reviewed by two independent radiologists. The readers scored each lesion for the presence of HCC and assigned confidence levels based on a five-grade scale: 1, definitely or almost definitely absent; 2, possibly present; 3, probably present; 4, definitely present; 5, definitely present with optimal liver/lesion contrast or good liver/lesion contrast and morphological signs (intact capsule, intranodular septa, extracapsular infiltration), useful for locoregional treatment planning. A positive diagnostic value was assessed for scores of 3 or higher. Gd-enhanced and SPIO-enhanced MRI found 44 lesions. Eight of twelve lesions visible with a single contrast agent measured less than 1 cm in diameter. HCC detectability was 75% with Gd-enhanced MRI and 97.7% with SPIO-enhanced MRI. SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted TSE images showed significantly higher diagnostic value than SPIO-enhanced T1-T2*GRE images only in three cases, while nodule morphological characteristics (capsule, septa, different cell differentiation components) were better depicted by TSE images. In thi study the combined use of SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted TSE and T1-T2*-weighted GRE sequences showed higher sensitivity than gadolinium-enhanced GRE dynamic imaging (97.7% versus 75%). These results are at least partly related to our study conditions, that is: 1)MRI was performed with a 1T system, 2) both axial and sagittal SPIO-enhanced imaging were performed with respiratory

RGB Color Cube-Based Histogram Specification for Hue-Preserving Color Image Enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kohei Inoue

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A large number of color image enhancement methods are based on the methods for grayscale image enhancement in which the main interest is contrast enhancement. However, since colors usually have three attributes, including hue, saturation and intensity of more than only one attribute of grayscale values, the naive application of the methods for grayscale images to color images often results in unsatisfactory consequences. Conventional hue-preserving color image enhancement methods utilize histogram equalization (HE for enhancing the contrast. However, they cannot always enhance the saturation simultaneously. In this paper, we propose a histogram specification (HS method for enhancing the saturation in hue-preserving color image enhancement. The proposed method computes the target histogram for HS on the basis of the geometry of RGB (rad, green and blue color space, whose shape is a cube with a unit side length. Therefore, the proposed method includes no parameters to be set by users. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves higher color saturation than recent parameter-free methods for hue-preserving color image enhancement. As a result, the proposed method can be used for an alternative method of HE in hue-preserving color image enhancement.

Automated image enhancement using power law transformations

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

We propose a scheme for automating power law transformations which are used for image enhancement. The scheme we propose does not require the user to choose the exponent in the power law transformation. This method works well for images having poor contrast, especially to those images in which the peaks ...

Enhancing SDO/HMI images using deep learning

Science.gov (United States)

Baso, C. J. Díaz; Ramos, A. Asensio

2018-06-01

Context. The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) provides continuum images and magnetograms with a cadence better than one per minute. It has been continuously observing the Sun 24 h a day for the past 7 yr. The trade-off between full disk observations and spatial resolution means that HMI is not adequate for analyzing the smallest-scale events in the solar atmosphere. Aims: Our aim is to develop a new method to enhance HMI data, simultaneously deconvolving and super-resolving images and magnetograms. The resulting images will mimic observations with a diffraction-limited telescope twice the diameter of HMI. Methods: Our method, which we call Enhance, is based on two deep, fully convolutional neural networks that input patches of HMI observations and output deconvolved and super-resolved data. The neural networks are trained on synthetic data obtained from simulations of the emergence of solar active regions. Results: We have obtained deconvolved and super-resolved HMI images. To solve this ill-defined problem with infinite solutions we have used a neural network approach to add prior information from the simulations. We test Enhance against Hinode data that has been degraded to a 28 cm diameter telescope showing very good consistency. The code is open source.

Standardised metrics for global surgical surveillance.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiser, Thomas G; Makary, Martin A; Haynes, Alex B; Dziekan, Gerald; Berry, William R; Gawande, Atul A

2009-09-26

Public health surveillance relies on standardised metrics to evaluate disease burden and health system performance. Such metrics have not been developed for surgical services despite increasing volume, substantial cost, and high rates of death and disability associated with surgery. The Safe Surgery Saves Lives initiative of WHO's Patient Safety Programme has developed standardised public health metrics for surgical care that are applicable worldwide. We assembled an international panel of experts to develop and define metrics for measuring the magnitude and effect of surgical care in a population, while taking into account economic feasibility and practicability. This panel recommended six measures for assessing surgical services at a national level: number of operating rooms, number of operations, number of accredited surgeons, number of accredited anaesthesia professionals, day-of-surgery death ratio, and postoperative in-hospital death ratio. We assessed the feasibility of gathering such statistics at eight diverse hospitals in eight countries and incorporated them into the WHO Guidelines for Safe Surgery, in which methods for data collection, analysis, and reporting are outlined.

Diffraction enhanced imaging: a simple model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Peiping; Yuan Qingxi; Huang Wanxia; Wang Junyue; Shu Hang; Chen Bo; Liu Yijin; Li Enrong; Wu Ziyu

2006-01-01

Based on pinhole imaging and conventional x-ray projection imaging, a more general DEI (diffraction enhanced imaging) equation is derived using simple concepts in this paper. Not only can the new DEI equation explain all the same problems as with the DEI equation proposed by Chapman, but also some problems that cannot be explained with the old DEI equation, such as the noise background caused by small angle scattering diffracted by the analyser

Diffraction enhanced imaging: a simple model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu Peiping; Yuan Qingxi; Huang Wanxia; Wang Junyue; Shu Hang; Chen Bo; Liu Yijin; Li Enrong; Wu Ziyu [Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China)

2006-10-07

Based on pinhole imaging and conventional x-ray projection imaging, a more general DEI (diffraction enhanced imaging) equation is derived using simple concepts in this paper. Not only can the new DEI equation explain all the same problems as with the DEI equation proposed by Chapman, but also some problems that cannot be explained with the old DEI equation, such as the noise background caused by small angle scattering diffracted by the analyser.

Image enhancement using MCNP5 code and MATLAB in neutron radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tharwat, Montaser; Mohamed, Nader; Mongy, T.

2014-01-01

This work presents a method that can be used to enhance the neutron radiography (NR) image for objects with high scattering materials like hydrogen, carbon and other light materials. This method used Monte Carlo code, MCNP5, to simulate the NR process and get the flux distribution for each pixel of the image and determines the scattered neutron distribution that caused image blur, and then uses MATLAB to subtract this scattered neutron distribution from the initial image to improve its quality. This work was performed before the commissioning of digital NR system in Jan. 2013. The MATLAB enhancement method is quite a good technique in the case of static based film neutron radiography, while in neutron imaging (NI) technique, image enhancement and quantitative measurement were efficient by using ImageJ software. The enhanced image quality and quantitative measurements were presented in this work. - Highlights: • This work is applicable for static based film neutron radiography and digital neutron imaging. • MATLAB is a useful tool for imaging enhancement in radiographic film. • Advanced imaging processing is available in the ETRR-2 for imaging processing and data extraction. • The digital imaging system is suitable for complex shapes and sizes, while MATLAB technique is suitable for simple shapes and sizes. • Quantitative measurements are available

Gd-DTPA MR imaging enhancement of spinal cord tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dillon, W.P.; Bolla, K.; Mark, A.S.; Tsudura, J.S.; Norman, D.; Newton, T.H.

1987-01-01

Nineteen patients with suspected spinal cord tumors were imaged with T1- and T2-weighted sequences before and after the administration of Gd-DTPA (0.1 mmol/kg). Eleven of the 19 patients had spinal cord tumors (three unproven). Eight of 11 patients had intramedullary tumors (four astrocytomas, two ependymomas) and two had extra-medullary tumors (one meningioma, one metastatic melanoma). Other lesions studied include idiopathic syringomyelia (two), spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM) (one), posttraumatic arachnoiditis (one), and cord infarct (one). All of the tumors enhanced after the administration of Gd-DTPA. Spinal cord enhancement was also noted in association with a spinal cord AVM, a suspected cord infarct, and in the patient with severe arachnoiditis. No enhancement was present in patients with idiopathic or posttraumatic syringomyelia or in the three normal patients. In six of the patients, enhancement was critical in confirming disease that was questionable on the precontrast MR images. Gadolinium enhancement allowed differentiation of tumor from postoperative changes in two patients with spinal cord tumors. Enhanced images localized the lesion more accurately than precontrast MR images in eight patients. In four patients a lesion could only be detected after the administration of contrast. The postcontrast images better defined the margin of tumor from surrounding edema, operative scarring, and cord cavitation. The AVM case had enhancement of slowly flowing veins with Gd-DTPA posterior to an ischemic cord segment. Gd-DTPA enhancement is extremely useful in the detection and therapeutic assessment of spinal cord tumors; however, enhancement is not specific for tumors and should be interpreted in light of the clinical setting

Evaluation of bone marrow by opposed phase T1-weighted images and enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amano, Yasuo; Tanabe, Yoshihiro; Miyashita, Tsuguhiro; Hayashi, Hiromitsu; Horiuchi, Junichi; Nomura, Takeo; Kumazaki, Tatsuo

1994-01-01

We investigated bone marrow in a control group, cases of aplastic anemia and post-irradiation patients by examining T1-weighted (T1W1), short T1 inversion recovery (STIR), opposed phase T1W1 (op-T1W1) and Gd-DTPA enhanced op-T1W1 images obtained by 0.5 T MRI. Bone marrow was classified into four types based on MR findings. Normal marrow showed low intensity on op-T1W1 and STIR images without enhancement (I). Fatty marrow, which showed high intensity on T1W1 and op-T1W1 images was observed in aplastic anemia and post-irradiation patients (II). Hematopoietic marrow (III) showed low intensity on op-T1W1 and enhanced, while active hematopoietic marrow (IV) revealed high intensity on both STIR and op-T1W1 images and was enhanced following Gd-DTPA infusion. Aplastic anemia of moderate grade included types II, III and IV. Enhanced MR was needed to differentiate between types I and III since both types showed low intensity on op-T1W1 images. Furthermore, type IV was considered as hyperplastic compared with type III. Enhanced MR and op-T1W1 images were useful in evaluating hematopoiesis of bone marrow. (author)

Evaluation of bone marrow by opposed phase T1-weighted images and enhanced MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amano, Yasuo; Tanabe, Yoshihiro; Miyashita, Tsuguhiro; Hayashi, Hiromitsu; Horiuchi, Junichi; Nomura, Takeo; Kumazaki, Tatsuo (Nippon Medical School, Tokyo (Japan))

1994-09-01

We investigated bone marrow in a control group, cases of aplastic anemia and post-irradiation patients by examining T1-weighted (T1W1), short T1 inversion recovery (STIR), opposed phase T1W1 (op-T1W1) and Gd-DTPA enhanced op-T1W1 images obtained by 0.5 T MRI. Bone marrow was classified into four types based on MR findings. Normal marrow showed low intensity on op-T1W1 and STIR images without enhancement (I). Fatty marrow, which showed high intensity on T1W1 and op-T1W1 images was observed in aplastic anemia and post-irradiation patients (II). Hematopoietic marrow (III) showed low intensity on op-T1W1 and enhanced, while active hematopoietic marrow (IV) revealed high intensity on both STIR and op-T1W1 images and was enhanced following Gd-DTPA infusion. Aplastic anemia of moderate grade included types II, III and IV. Enhanced MR was needed to differentiate between types I and III since both types showed low intensity on op-T1W1 images. Furthermore, type IV was considered as hyperplastic compared with type III. Enhanced MR and op-T1W1 images were useful in evaluating hematopoiesis of bone marrow. (author).

Enhancement of the facial nerve at MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gebarski, S.S.; Telian, S.; Niparko, J.

1990-01-01

In the few cases studied, normal facial nerves are reported to show no MR enhancement. Because this did not fit clinical experience, the authors designed a retrospective imaging review with anatomic correlation. Between June 1989 and June 1990, 175 patients underwent focused temporal bone MR imaging before and after administration of intravenous gadopentetate dimeglumine (0.1 mmol/kg). Exclusion criteria for the study included facial nerve dysfunction (subjective or objective); facial nerve mass; central nervous system infection, inflammation, or trauma; neurofibromatosis; or previous cranial surgery of any type. The following sequences were reviewed: GE 1.5-T axial spin-echo TR 567 msec, TE 20 msec, 256 x 192, 2.0 excitations, 20-cm field of view, 3-mm section thickness. Imaging analysis was a side-by side comparison of the images and region-of-interest quantified signal intensity. Anatomic correlation included a comparison with dissection and axial histologic sections. Ninety-three patients (aged 15-75 years) were available for imaging analysis after the exclusionary criteria were applied. With 46 patients (92 facial nerves) analyzed, they found that 76 nerves (83%) showed easily visible gadopentetate dimeglumine enhancement, especially about the geniculate ganglia. Sixteen (17%) of the 92 nerves did not show visible enhancement, but region-of-interest analysis showed increased intensity after gadopentetate dimeglumine administration. Sixteen patients (42%) showed right-to-left asymmetry in facial nerve enhancement. The facial nerves showed enhancement in the geniculate, tympanic, and fallopian portions; the facial nerve within the IAC showed no enhancement. This corresponded exactly with the topographic features of a circummeural arterial/venous plexus seen on the anatomic preparations

Drought characterisation based on an agriculture-oriented standardised precipitation index

Science.gov (United States)

Tigkas, Dimitris; Vangelis, Harris; Tsakiris, George

2018-03-01

Drought is a major natural hazard with significant effects in the agricultural sector, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The accurate and timely characterisation of agricultural drought is crucial for devising contingency plans, including the necessary mitigation measures. Many drought indices have been developed during the last decades for drought characterisation and analysis. One of the most widely used indices worldwide is the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI). Although other comprehensive indices have been introduced over the years, SPI remains the most broadly accepted index due to a number of reasons, the most important of which are its simple structure and the fact that it uses only precipitation data. In this paper, a modified version of SPI is proposed, namely the Agricultural Standardised Precipitation Index (aSPI), based on the substitution of the total precipitation by the effective precipitation, which describes more accurately the amount of water that can be used productively by the plants. Further, the selection of the most suitable reference periods and time steps for agricultural drought identification using aSPI is discussed. This conceptual enhancement of SPI aims at improving the suitability of the index for agricultural drought characterisation, while retaining the advantages of the original index, including its dependence only on precipitation data. The evaluation of the performance of both SPI and aSPI in terms of correlating drought magnitude with crop yield response in four regions of Greece under Mediterranean conditions indicated that aSPI is more robust than the original index in identifying agricultural drought.

Content-adaptive Image Enhancement, Based on Sky and Grass Segmentation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zafarifar, B.; With, de P.H.N.

2009-01-01

Current TV image enhancement functions employ globally controlled settings. A more flexible system can be achieved if the global control is extended to incorporate semantic-level image content information. In this paper, we present a system that extends existing TV image enhancement functions with

Delayed enhancement of peripheral zone of neurofibromas at magnetic resonance imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurosaki, Y. [Dept. of Radiology, Inst. of Clinical Medicine, Univ. of Tsukuba (Japan); Kuramoto, K. [Dept. of Radiology, Inst. of Clinical Medicine, Univ. of Tsukuba (Japan); Itai, Y. [Dept. of Radiology, Inst. of Clinical Medicine, Univ. of Tsukuba (Japan)

1996-02-01

It is well known that bizonal histologic appearance characteristic of neurofibromas are reflected on magnetic resonance (MR) images. We report a case in which a delayed enhanced MR image showed that the entire mass enhanced homogeneously resulting in loss of zonal distinction on early enhanced MR image. (orig.)

A Novel Retinex Algorithm and its Application to Fog-degraded Image Enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xueyou Hu

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Fog-degraded images enhancement is an important problem in the field of image enhancement and computer vision. To overcome the halo artifact, enhance the contrast and better preserve the color of original image, a novel Multi-Scale Retinex color image enhancement method is proposed in this paper. An adaptive anisotropic Gaussian filtering method and its principle are described. The orientation of the Gaussian filter long axes is determined according to the gradient orientation in the position. The procedure of algorithm is given in this paper and applied in the fog- degraded images enhancement. Finally, by comparison with histogram equalization and Multi-Scale Retinex method, the experimental results show that the proposed method can offer better performance in fog-degraded image enhancement.

Nanoparticles as image enhancing agents for ultrasonography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu Jun [Biomedical Engineering Department, Ohio State University, 270 Bevis Hall, 1080 Carmack Rd, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Levine, Andrea L [Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Ohio State University, 1925 Coffey Rd, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Mattoon, John S [Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Ohio State University, 1151 Veterinary Hospital, 601 Vernon Tharp St., Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Yamaguchi, Mamoru [Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Ohio State University, 1925 Coffey Rd, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Lee, Robert J [Division of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center, and NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, Ohio State University, 500 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Pan Xueliang [Department of Statistics, Ohio State University, 1958 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Rosol, Thomas J [Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Ohio State University, 1925 Coffey Rd, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)

2006-05-07

Nanoparticles have drawn great attention as targeted imaging and/or therapeutic agents. The small size of the nanoparticles allows them to target cells that are beyond capillary vasculature, such as cancer cells. We investigated the effect of solid nanoparticles for enhancing ultrasonic grey scale images in tissue phantoms and mouse livers in vivo. Silica nanospheres (100 nm) were dispersed in agarose at 1-2.5% mass concentration and imaged by a high-resolution ultrasound imaging system (transducer centre frequency: 30 MHz). Polystyrene particles of different sizes (500-3000 nm) and concentrations (0.13-0.75% mass) were similarly dispersed in agarose and imaged. Mice were injected intravenously with nanoparticle suspensions in saline. B-mode images of the livers were acquired at different time points after particle injection. An automated computer program was used to quantify the grey scale changes. Ultrasonic reflections were observed from nanoparticle suspensions in agarose gels. The image brightness, i.e., mean grey scale level, increased with particle size and concentration. The mean grey scale of mouse livers also increased following particle administration. These results indicated that it is feasible to use solid nanoparticles as contrast enhancing agents for ultrasonic imagin000.

Evaluation of Underwater Image Enhancement Algorithms under Different Environmental Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marino Mangeruga

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Underwater images usually suffer from poor visibility, lack of contrast and colour casting, mainly due to light absorption and scattering. In literature, there are many algorithms aimed to enhance the quality of underwater images through different approaches. Our purpose was to identify an algorithm that performs well in different environmental conditions. We have selected some algorithms from the state of the art and we have employed them to enhance a dataset of images produced in various underwater sites, representing different environmental and illumination conditions. These enhanced images have been evaluated through some quantitative metrics. By analysing the results of these metrics, we tried to understand which of the selected algorithms performed better than the others. Another purpose of our research was to establish if a quantitative metric was enough to judge the behaviour of an underwater image enhancement algorithm. We aim to demonstrate that, even if the metrics can provide an indicative estimation of image quality, they could lead to inconsistent or erroneous evaluations.

Gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging in evaluation of Bell palsy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, A.M.; Wesolowski, D.P.; Bojrab, D.I.; Ernstoff, R.M.; Farah, J.

1989-01-01

Eight patients with Bell palsy were evaluated with Gd-DTPA (Magnevist)-enhanced MR imaging in a 1.0-T Siemen's Magnetom unit. Axial pre-and postcontrast and coronal postcontrast T1-weighted MR images of facial nerves were studied. Significant unilateral enhancement of the facial nerve within the internal auditory canal, with or without involvement of the geniculate ganglia, was found in six patients. Three of these patients without satisfactory response to medical treatment underwent surgical decompression, with excellent recovery of facial nerve function. The authors believe that gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging is valuable in the evaluation and management of Bell palsy

Image analysis enhancement and interpretation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glauert, A.M.

1978-01-01

The necessary practical and mathematical background are provided for the analysis of an electron microscope image in order to extract the maximum amount of structural information. Instrumental methods of image enhancement are described, including the use of the energy-selecting electron microscope and the scanning transmission electron microscope. The problems of image interpretation are considered with particular reference to the limitations imposed by radiation damage and specimen thickness. A brief survey is given of the methods for producing a three-dimensional structure from a series of two-dimensional projections, although emphasis is really given on the analysis, processing and interpretation of the two-dimensional projection of a structure. (Auth.)

Oriented Edge-Based Feature Descriptor for Multi-Sensor Image Alignment and Enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Myung-Ho Ju

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present an efficient image alignment and enhancement method for multi-sensor images. The shape of the object captured in a multi-sensor images can be determined by comparing variability of contrast using corresponding edges across multi-sensor image. Using this cue, we construct a robust feature descriptor based on the magnitudes of the oriented edges. Our proposed method enables fast image alignment by identifying matching features in multi-sensor images. We enhance the aligned multi-sensor images through the fusion of the salient regions from each image. The results of stitching the multi-sensor images and their enhancement demonstrate that our proposed method can align and enhance multi-sensor images more efficiently than previous methods.

Half-unit weighted bilinear algorithm for image contrast enhancement in capsule endoscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Rukundo, Olivier

2018-04-01

This paper proposes a novel enhancement method based exclusively on the bilinear interpolation algorithm for capsule endoscopy images. The proposed method does not convert the original RBG image components to HSV or any other color space or model; instead, it processes directly RGB components. In each component, a group of four adjacent pixels and half-unit weight in the bilinear weighting function are used to calculate the average pixel value, identical for each pixel in that particular group. After calculations, groups of identical pixels are overlapped successively in horizontal and vertical directions to achieve a preliminary-enhanced image. The final-enhanced image is achieved by halving the sum of the original and preliminary-enhanced image pixels. Quantitative and qualitative experiments were conducted focusing on pairwise comparisons between original and enhanced images. Final-enhanced images have generally the best diagnostic quality and gave more details about the visibility of vessels and structures in capsule endoscopy images.

“Caint na ndaoine”. The Irish Language as a Precedent for Standardisation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlo James Waskowski Ritchie

2016-12-01

Full Text Available “Caint na ndaoine”. The Irish Language as a Precedent for Standardisation Critics of the standardisation of the Irish language argue that the “modernisation” of the Irish orthography has been detrimental to the preservation of the various dialects that form native spoken Irish. The effects of standardisation on Irish consequently form an important precedent for language standardisation. The potential alienation of a language’s native speakers is an outcome of standardisation that is obviously destructive for a language community that exists in a minority. The issues that surround the movement for a standardised Plattdeutsch are similar to those faced in the standardisation of Modern Irish. Since the recognition by the European Union of Low German (Plattdeutsch as a regional language in 1998, there has been newfound momentum in the movement for its reestablishment as a unified language of Northern Germany. One of the great difficulties of this movement however is the lack of any universal orthography due to the separate nature of the language’s dialects. Given the sociolinguistic similarities of these two (albeit unrelated languages, a study of the effects of the standardisation of Irish is useful for an assessment of the possibility of a standardised Plattdeutsch.   “Caint na ndaoine”. Język irlandzki jako precedens standaryzacji Krytycy procesu standaryzacji języka irlandzkiego uważają, że „modernizacja” irlandzkiej ortografii zaszkodziła ochronie wielu dialektów składających się na oralny język natywnych Irlandczyków. Skutki standaryzacji irlandzkiego stanowią więc ważny precedens standaryzacji języków. Możliwe wyobcowanie natywnych użytkowników języka jest w oczywisty sposób destrukcyjnym dla trwania wspólnoty mniejszościowej rezultatem procesu standaryzacji. Zagadnienia towarzyszące ruchowi na rzecz standaryzacji języka dolnoniemieckiego są podobne do problemów standaryzacji, wobec kt

Image enhancement using MCNP5 code and MATLAB in neutron radiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Tharwat, Montaser; Mohamed, Nader; Mongy, T

2014-07-01

This work presents a method that can be used to enhance the neutron radiography (NR) image for objects with high scattering materials like hydrogen, carbon and other light materials. This method used Monte Carlo code, MCNP5, to simulate the NR process and get the flux distribution for each pixel of the image and determines the scattered neutron distribution that caused image blur, and then uses MATLAB to subtract this scattered neutron distribution from the initial image to improve its quality. This work was performed before the commissioning of digital NR system in Jan. 2013. The MATLAB enhancement method is quite a good technique in the case of static based film neutron radiography, while in neutron imaging (NI) technique, image enhancement and quantitative measurement were efficient by using ImageJ software. The enhanced image quality and quantitative measurements were presented in this work. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contrast-enhanced MR imaging monitoring of acute tumor response to chemotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ranney, D.F.; Cohen, J.M.; Antich, P.P.; Endman, W.A.; Kulkarni, P.; Weinreb, J.C.; Giovanella, B.

1987-01-01

Treatment responses of human malignant melanomas were monitored at millimeter resolution in athymic mice by injecting a new polymeric contrast agent, Gd-DTPA-dextran (0.1 mmol Gd/kg, intravenously). Proton MR imaging (0.35 T, spin-echo, repetition time = 0.5 second, echo time = 50 msec) was performed 30 hours after administering diphtheria toxin. Pre-contrast medium images revealed only homogeneous intermediate-intensity tumor masses. Post-contrast medium images of untreated (viable) tumors demonstrated 32% enhancement throughout the entire mass. Post-contrast medium images of toxin-treated tumors revealed marked enhancement (65%) of the histologically viable outer rims, lesser enhancement (38%) of heavily damaged subregions, and no enhancement of dead tumor. These acute, contrast medium-enhanced MR images accurately identified tumor subregions that survived for longer than one week

Standardisation of haemoglobinometry : History and new challenges

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zijlstra, WG

1997-01-01

During the 1950s several attempts were made to standardise the measurement of the haemoglobin concentration in human blood, for which numerous different methods were in use giving widely different results. In 1966, a consensus was reached on the general use of a photometric determination after

Repeatability, Reproducibility and Standardisation of a Laser Doppler Imaging Technique for the Evaluation of Normal Mouse Hindlimb Perfusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arturo Brunetti

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Background. Preclinical perfusion studies are useful for the improvement of diagnosis and therapy in dermatologic, cardiovascular and rheumatic human diseases. The Laser Doppler Perfusion Imaging (LDPI technique has been used to evaluate superficial alterations of the skin microcirculation in surgically induced murine hindlimb ischemia. We assessed the reproducibility and the accuracy of LDPI acquisitions and identified several critical factors that could affect LDPI measurements in mice. Methods. Twenty mice were analysed. Statistical standardisation and a repeatability and reproducibility analysis were performed on mouse perfusion signals with respect to differences in body temperature, the presence or absence of hair, the type of anaesthesia used for LDPI measurements and the position of the mouse body. Results. We found excellent correlations among measurements made by the same operator (i.e., repeatability under the same experimental conditions and by two different operators (i.e., reproducibility. A Bland-Altman analysis showed the absence of bias in repeatability (p = 0.29 or reproducibility (p = 0.89. The limits of agreement for repeatability were –0.357 and –0.033, and for reproducibility, they were –0.270 and 0.238. Significant differences in perfusion values were observed in different experimental groups. Conclusions. Different experimental conditions must be considered as a starting point for the evaluation of new drugs and strategic therapies.

Research on Wavelet-Based Algorithm for Image Contrast Enhancement

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wu Ying-qian; Du Pei-jun; Shi Peng-fei

2004-01-01

A novel wavelet-based algorithm for image enhancement is proposed in the paper. On the basis of multiscale analysis, the proposed algorithm solves efficiently the problem of noise over-enhancement, which commonly occurs in the traditional methods for contrast enhancement. The decomposed coefficients at same scales are processed by a nonlinear method, and the coefficients at different scales are enhanced in different degree. During the procedure, the method takes full advantage of the properties of Human visual system so as to achieve better performance. The simulations demonstrate that these characters of the proposed approach enable it to fully enhance the content in images, to efficiently alleviate the enhancement of noise and to achieve much better enhancement effect than the traditional approaches.

An enhanced narrow-band imaging method for the microvessel detection

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Feng; Song, Enmin; Liu, Hong; Wan, Youming; Zhu, Jun; Hung, Chih-Cheng

2018-02-01

A medical endoscope system combined with the narrow-band imaging (NBI), has been shown to be a superior diagnostic tool for early cancer detection. The NBI can reveal the morphologic changes of microvessels in the superficial cancer. In order to improve the conspicuousness of microvessel texture, we propose an enhanced NBI method to improve the conspicuousness of endoscopic images. To obtain the more conspicuous narrow-band images, we use the edge operator to extract the edge information of the narrow-band blue and green images, and give a weight to the extracted edges. Then, the weighted edges are fused with the narrow-band blue and green images. Finally, the displayed endoscopic images are reconstructed with the enhanced narrow-band images. In addition, we evaluate the performance of enhanced narrow-band images with different edge operators. Experimental results indicate that the Sobel and Canny operators achieve the best performance of all. Compared with traditional NBI method of Olympus company, our proposed method has more conspicuous texture of microvessel.

Usefulness of fat-suppressed Gd-enhanced MR imaging of tongue cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakami, Shumei; Fuchihata, Hajime; Yoon, Sukja; Furukawa, Souhei; Kawai, Tadahiko; Kishino, Mitsunobu

1999-01-01

To evaluate the usefulness of the fat suppression technique for magnetic resonance imaging of oral tongue cancer. One hundred and fourteen patients underwent both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). All patients were clinically diagnosed as having oral tongue cancer shown to be squamous cell carcinoma histopathologically. We used two types of CT and six types of MRI scanning: plain CT, contrast enhanced CT, conventional T1w, conventional PDw, conventional T2w, fat-suppressed (FATS) T1w, Gd-enhanced conventional T1w, and Gd-enhanced FATS T1w images. The focus of our study was Gd-enhanced FATS T1w imaging. Tumor detection rates were as follows: Gd-enhanced FATS T1w MRI, 86.8%; conventional T2w MRI, 71.9%; conventional PDw MRI, 65.8%; Gd-enhanced conventional T1w MRI, 47.4%; contrast enhanced CT, 36.8%; T1w MRI, 20.2%; CT, 10.5%. There were 59 cases in which tumors were detected by Gd-enhanced FATS T1w MRI but not detected by contrast enhanced CT. Gd-enhanced FATS T1w MRI was the best for the tumor detection and Gd-enhanced conventional T1w MRI was not useful in the diagnosis of the tongue cancer. CT imaging must not be the first choice for tumor detection in tongue cancer patients. (author)

Assessment framework for standardisation activities ResiStand

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stolk, D.J.; Lee, M.D.E. van der; Petiet, P.J.; Liedtke, C.; Lindner, R.; Zetten, J. van; Karppinen, A.; Anson, S.; Kroener, I.

2017-01-01

Standardisation is a powerful tool to achieve better interoperability. However, it needs to overcome a lack of interest and modest participation from stakeholders. Also, promising research results are not always used as the basis for new standards. The overall goal of ResiStand is to find new ways

Enhancing forensic science with spectroscopic imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Ricci, Camilla; Kazarian, Sergei G.

2006-09-01

This presentation outlines the research we are developing in the area of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic imaging with the focus on materials of forensic interest. FTIR spectroscopic imaging has recently emerged as a powerful tool for characterisation of heterogeneous materials. FTIR imaging relies on the ability of the military-developed infrared array detector to simultaneously measure spectra from thousands of different locations in a sample. Recently developed application of FTIR imaging using an ATR (Attenuated Total Reflection) mode has demonstrated the ability of this method to achieve spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit of infrared light in air. Chemical visualisation with enhanced spatial resolution in micro-ATR mode broadens the range of materials studied with FTIR imaging with applications to pharmaceutical formulations or biological samples. Macro-ATR imaging has also been developed for chemical imaging analysis of large surface area samples and was applied to analyse the surface of human skin (e.g. finger), counterfeit tablets, textile materials (clothing), etc. This approach demonstrated the ability of this imaging method to detect trace materials attached to the surface of the skin. This may also prove as a valuable tool in detection of traces of explosives left or trapped on the surfaces of different materials. This FTIR imaging method is substantially superior to many of the other imaging methods due to inherent chemical specificity of infrared spectroscopy and fast acquisition times of this technique. Our preliminary data demonstrated that this methodology will provide the means to non-destructive detection method that could relate evidence to its source. This will be important in a wider crime prevention programme. In summary, intrinsic chemical specificity and enhanced visualising capability of FTIR spectroscopic imaging open a window of opportunities for counter-terrorism and crime-fighting, with applications ranging

Polycystic ovary syndrome: dynamic contrast-enhanced ovary MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Erdem, C. Zuhal E-mail: sunarerdem@yahoo.com; Bayar, Ulku; Erdem, L. Oktay; Barut, Aykut; Gundogdu, Sadi; Kaya, Erdal

2004-07-01

Objective: to determine the enhancement behaviour of the ovaries in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (DCE-MR) imaging and to compare these data with those of normal ovulating controls. Method: 24 women with PCOS and 12 controls underwent DCE-MR imaging. Dynamic images were acquired before and after injection of a contrast bolus at 30 s and the min of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. On postprocessing examination: (i) the ovarian volumes; (ii) the signal intensity value of each ovary per dynamic study; (iii) early-phase enhancement rate; (iv) time to peak enhancement (T{sub p}); and (v) percentage of washout of 5th min were determined. Data of the ovaries of the women with PCOS and controls were compared with Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: the mean values of T{sub p} were found to be significantly lower in women with PCOS than in controls (p<0.05). On the other hand, the mean values of ovarian volume, the early-phase enhancement rate, and percentage of washout of 5th min of ovaries were significantly higher in PCOS patients (p<0.05). Examination of the mean signal intensity-time curve revealed the ovaries in women with PCOS showed a faster and greater enhancement and wash-out. Conclusion: the enhancement behaviour of ovaries of women with PCOS may be significantly different from those of control subjects on DCE-MR imaging examination. In our experience, it is a valuable modality to highlight the vascularization changes in ovarian stroma with PCOS. We believe that improved DCE-MR imaging techniques may also provide us additional parameters in the diagnosis and treatment strategies of PCOS.

Polycystic ovary syndrome: dynamic contrast-enhanced ovary MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erdem, C. Zuhal; Bayar, Ulku; Erdem, L. Oktay; Barut, Aykut; Gundogdu, Sadi; Kaya, Erdal

2004-01-01

Objective: to determine the enhancement behaviour of the ovaries in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (DCE-MR) imaging and to compare these data with those of normal ovulating controls. Method: 24 women with PCOS and 12 controls underwent DCE-MR imaging. Dynamic images were acquired before and after injection of a contrast bolus at 30 s and the min of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. On postprocessing examination: (i) the ovarian volumes; (ii) the signal intensity value of each ovary per dynamic study; (iii) early-phase enhancement rate; (iv) time to peak enhancement (T p ); and (v) percentage of washout of 5th min were determined. Data of the ovaries of the women with PCOS and controls were compared with Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: the mean values of T p were found to be significantly lower in women with PCOS than in controls (p<0.05). On the other hand, the mean values of ovarian volume, the early-phase enhancement rate, and percentage of washout of 5th min of ovaries were significantly higher in PCOS patients (p<0.05). Examination of the mean signal intensity-time curve revealed the ovaries in women with PCOS showed a faster and greater enhancement and wash-out. Conclusion: the enhancement behaviour of ovaries of women with PCOS may be significantly different from those of control subjects on DCE-MR imaging examination. In our experience, it is a valuable modality to highlight the vascularization changes in ovarian stroma with PCOS. We believe that improved DCE-MR imaging techniques may also provide us additional parameters in the diagnosis and treatment strategies of PCOS

Detection of hepatic metastasis: Manganese- and ferucarbotran-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Jin-Young; Kim, Myeong-Jin; Kim, Joo Hee; Kim, Seung Hyoung; Ko, Heung-Kyu; Lim, Joon Seok; Oh, Young Taik; Chung, Jae-Joon; Yoo, Hyung Sik; Lee, Jong Tae; Kim, Ki Whang

2006-01-01

Purpose: To compare the mangafodipir trisodium (MnDPDP)-enhanced and ferucarbotran-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the detection of hepatic metastases. Material and methods: Twenty patients with known hepatic metastasis underwent MR imaging using mangafodipir trisodium and ferucarbotran in at least 1-day intervals. Thirty-eight metastases were confirmed either histologically or clinically. Two radiologists independently reviewed the MnDPDP-enhanced and ferucarbotran-enhanced sets in a random order. The sensitivity and accuracy of lesion detection and the ability to distinguish a benign lesion from a malignant lesion were compared by the areas (Az) under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The lesion-liver contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were compared by paired t-test. Results: The overall accuracy for detecting metastases was not significantly different between the MnDPDP set (Az = 0.912 and 0.913 for reader 1 and 2, respectively) and the SPIO set (Az = 0.920 and 0.950). The CNR at the MnDPDP-enhanced images and the SPIO-enhanced images were not significantly different (P = 0.146). Conclusion: Both MnDPDP- and ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI have a comparable accuracy in detecting hepatic metastasis

Subendometrial enhancement and peritumoral enhancement for assessing endometrial cancer on dynamic contrast enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujii, Shinya; Kido, Aki; Baba, Tsukasa; Fujimoto, Koji; Daido, Sayaka; Matsumura, Noriomi; Konishi, Ikuo; Togashi, Kaori

2015-01-01

Highlights: •We have assessed the peritumoral enhancement (PTE), which mimics SEE on DCE. •We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of SEE for the myometrial invasion and the frequency of PTE. •We assessed the relationship between these enhancements and important pathologic factors. •PTE Type 1 is the main factor causing the overestimation of myometrial invasion using SEE on DCE. •PTE Type 2 correlates the myometrial invasion and may play an important role in the diagnosis of LVSI. -- Abstract: Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of subendometrial enhancement (SEE) in assessing the myometrial invasion in endometrial cancer, the frequency and clinical significance of peritumoral enhancement (PTE) on dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) imaging. Materials and methods: MR images of 147 patients with endometrial cancer were retrospectively analyzed for intact SEE and PTEs: Type 1, a focal early enhancement peritumorally, and Type 2, an irregular thin-layered early intense enhancement peritumorally. Two radiologists independently assessed intact SEE and PTEs on DCE imaging and compared the lesions by the presence and depth of myometrial invasion, grade, lymphovascular space involvement (LVSI), and lymph node metastasis. The relationship between SEE, PTEs, and each factor was analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and diagnostic accuracy were calculated for SEE. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and diagnostic accuracy for myometrial invasion based on SEE disruption on DCE were 96.6%, 32.1–46.4%, 85.8–88.5%, 69.2–76.5%, and 84.4–87.1%. According to multivariate analysis, SEE significantly predicted myometrial invasion (p < 0.0001). PTE Type 2 significantly predicted myometrial invasion presence (p < 0.05) and depth (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Diagnosis of myometrial invasion only by using SEE might be difficult on DCE-MRI due to the

Subendometrial enhancement and peritumoral enhancement for assessing endometrial cancer on dynamic contrast enhanced MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujii, Shinya [Division of Radiology, Department of Pathophysiological and Therapeutic Science, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago (Japan); Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan); Kido, Aki, E-mail: akikido@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan); Baba, Tsukasa [Departments of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan); Fujimoto, Koji; Daido, Sayaka [Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan); Matsumura, Noriomi; Konishi, Ikuo [Departments of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan); Togashi, Kaori [Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan)

2015-04-15

Highlights: •We have assessed the peritumoral enhancement (PTE), which mimics SEE on DCE. •We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of SEE for the myometrial invasion and the frequency of PTE. •We assessed the relationship between these enhancements and important pathologic factors. •PTE Type 1 is the main factor causing the overestimation of myometrial invasion using SEE on DCE. •PTE Type 2 correlates the myometrial invasion and may play an important role in the diagnosis of LVSI. -- Abstract: Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of subendometrial enhancement (SEE) in assessing the myometrial invasion in endometrial cancer, the frequency and clinical significance of peritumoral enhancement (PTE) on dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) imaging. Materials and methods: MR images of 147 patients with endometrial cancer were retrospectively analyzed for intact SEE and PTEs: Type 1, a focal early enhancement peritumorally, and Type 2, an irregular thin-layered early intense enhancement peritumorally. Two radiologists independently assessed intact SEE and PTEs on DCE imaging and compared the lesions by the presence and depth of myometrial invasion, grade, lymphovascular space involvement (LVSI), and lymph node metastasis. The relationship between SEE, PTEs, and each factor was analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and diagnostic accuracy were calculated for SEE. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and diagnostic accuracy for myometrial invasion based on SEE disruption on DCE were 96.6%, 32.1–46.4%, 85.8–88.5%, 69.2–76.5%, and 84.4–87.1%. According to multivariate analysis, SEE significantly predicted myometrial invasion (p < 0.0001). PTE Type 2 significantly predicted myometrial invasion presence (p < 0.05) and depth (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Diagnosis of myometrial invasion only by using SEE might be difficult on DCE-MRI due to the

A review on brightness preserving contrast enhancement methods for digital image

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Md Arifur; Liu, Shilong; Li, Ruowei; Wu, Hongkun; Liu, San Chi; Jahan, Mahmuda Rawnak; Kwok, Ngaiming

2018-04-01

Image enhancement is an imperative step for many vision based applications. For image contrast enhancement, popular methods adopt the principle of spreading the captured intensities throughout the allowed dynamic range according to predefined distributions. However, these algorithms take little or no consideration into account of maintaining the mean brightness of the original scene, which is of paramount importance to carry the true scene illumination characteristics to the viewer. Though there have been significant amount of reviews on contrast enhancement methods published, updated review on overall brightness preserving image enhancement methods is still scarce. In this paper, a detailed survey is performed on those particular methods that specifically aims to maintain the overall scene illumination characteristics while enhancing the digital image.

Low-Light Image Enhancement Using Adaptive Digital Pixel Binning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoonjong Yoo

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an image enhancement algorithm for low-light scenes in an environment with insufficient illumination. Simple amplification of intensity exhibits various undesired artifacts: noise amplification, intensity saturation, and loss of resolution. In order to enhance low-light images without undesired artifacts, a novel digital binning algorithm is proposed that considers brightness, context, noise level, and anti-saturation of a local region in the image. The proposed algorithm does not require any modification of the image sensor or additional frame-memory; it needs only two line-memories in the image signal processor (ISP. Since the proposed algorithm does not use an iterative computation, it can be easily embedded in an existing digital camera ISP pipeline containing a high-resolution image sensor.

Standardised patient-simulated practice learning: A rich ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigates the use of standardised patients (SPs) in a simulated patient interview as a learning strategy to bridge the theory-practice gap. Simulation helps students to develop skills such as communication, higher cognitive thinking, decision-making and problem-solving. There is evidence to support the use of ...

Variations in {sup 123}I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) late heart mediastinal ratios in chronic heart failure: a need for standardisation and validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verberne, Hein J. [University of Amsterdam, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Academic Medical Center, F2-238, Department of Nuclear Medicine, P.O.Box 22700, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Habraken, Jan B.A.; Eck-Smit, Berthe L.F. van [University of Amsterdam, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Agostini, Denis [CHU Cote de Nacre, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Caen (France); Jacobson, Arnold F. [GE Healthcare, Princeton, NJ (United States)

2008-03-15

There is lack of validation and standardisation of acquisition parameters for myocardial {sup 123}I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG). This lack of standardisation hampers large scale implementation of {sup 123}I-MIBG parameters in the evaluation of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). In a retrospective multi-centre study {sup 123}I-MIBG planar scintigrams obtained on 290 CHF patients (82% male; 58% dilated cardiomyopathy; New York Heart Association [NYHA classification] > I) were reanalysed to determine the late heart-to-mediastinum ratio (H/M). There was a large variation in acquisition parameters. Multivariate forward stepwise regression showed that a significant proportion (31%, p < 0.001) of the variation in late H/M could be explained by a model containing patient-related variables and acquisition parameters. Left ventricular ejection fraction (p < 0.001), type of collimation (p < 0.001), acquisition duration (p = 0.001), NYHA class (p = 0.028) and age (p = 0.034) were independent predictors of late H/M. Acquisitions parameters are independent contributors to the variation of semi-quantitative measurements of cardiac {sup 123}I-MIBG uptake. Improved standardisation of cardiac {sup 123}I-MIBG imaging parameters would contribute to increased clinical applicability for this procedure. (orig.)

Contrast-enhanced fat- suppression MR imaging of avascular necrosis of femoral head

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oh, Tae Kyoung; Shim, Jae Chan; Lee, Ghi Jai; Jeon, Jeong Dong; Bang, Sun Woo; Kim, Ho Kyun [College of Medicine, Inje University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2000-02-01

To evaluate the findings and role of contrast-enhanced fat suppression MR imaging in avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head. In 15 patients with AVN of the femoral head, MR T1-weighted and T2-weighted images and contrast-enhanced fat-suppression T1-weighted images were obtained, and the findings were reviewed. Early and advanced groups were classified on the basis of clinical findings and imaging, and the enhancement pattern was classified as either type I, rim enhancement; type II, surrounding diffuse enhancement; type III, intralesional enhancement; or type IV, II + III. Twenty-four cases of AVN of the femoral head were detected; in nine patients, lesions were bilateral. Eight cases occurred in the early group and 16 in the advanced. All eight in the early group showed the 'double line sign' on T2-weighted images, with a type-I enhancement pattern. In the advanced group, type II (8/16) and type IV (8/16) enhancement patterns were seen. Among the cases showing the type-IV pattern, the intralesional enhancing area showed low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and isosignal intensity on T2-weighted in one case, and low signal intensity on T2-weighted in one case, and low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and high signal intensity on T2-weighted in the other cases. There was no difference in the extent of the disease before and after enhancement. Contrast-enhanced fat-suppression MR images may be helpful in evaluating the extent of AVN of the femoral head and predicting the histopathologic findings of the disease. (author)

Contrast-enhanced fat- suppression MR imaging of avascular necrosis of femoral head

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, Tae Kyoung; Shim, Jae Chan; Lee, Ghi Jai; Jeon, Jeong Dong; Bang, Sun Woo; Kim, Ho Kyun

2000-01-01

To evaluate the findings and role of contrast-enhanced fat suppression MR imaging in avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head. In 15 patients with AVN of the femoral head, MR T1-weighted and T2-weighted images and contrast-enhanced fat-suppression T1-weighted images were obtained, and the findings were reviewed. Early and advanced groups were classified on the basis of clinical findings and imaging, and the enhancement pattern was classified as either type I, rim enhancement; type II, surrounding diffuse enhancement; type III, intralesional enhancement; or type IV, II + III. Twenty-four cases of AVN of the femoral head were detected; in nine patients, lesions were bilateral. Eight cases occurred in the early group and 16 in the advanced. All eight in the early group showed the 'double line sign' on T2-weighted images, with a type-I enhancement pattern. In the advanced group, type II (8/16) and type IV (8/16) enhancement patterns were seen. Among the cases showing the type-IV pattern, the intralesional enhancing area showed low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and isosignal intensity on T2-weighted in one case, and low signal intensity on T2-weighted in one case, and low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and high signal intensity on T2-weighted in the other cases. There was no difference in the extent of the disease before and after enhancement. Contrast-enhanced fat-suppression MR images may be helpful in evaluating the extent of AVN of the femoral head and predicting the histopathologic findings of the disease. (author)

Neutron activation analysis with k0-standardisation : general formalism and procedure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pomme, S.; Hardeman, F.; Robouch, P.; Etxebarria, N.; Arana, G.

1997-09-01

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) with k 0 -standardisation is a powerful tool for multi-element analysis at a broad range of trace element concentrations. An overview is given of the basic principles, fundamental equations, and general procedure of this method. Different aspects of the description of the neutron activation reaction rate are discussed, applying the Hogdahl convention. A general activation-decay formula is derived and its application to INAA is demonstrated. Relevant k 0 -definitions for different activation decay schemes are summarised and upgraded to cases of extremely high fluxes. The main standardisation techniques for INAA are discussed, emphasizing the k 0 -standardisation. Some general aspects of the basic equipment and its calibration are discussed, such as the characterisation of the neutron field and the tuning of the spectrometry part. A method for the prediction and optimisation of the analytical performance of INAA is presented

Parallel imaging enhanced MR colonography using a phantom model.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Morrin, Martina M

2008-09-01

To compare various Array Spatial and Sensitivity Encoding Technique (ASSET)-enhanced T2W SSFSE (single shot fast spin echo) and T1-weighted (T1W) 3D SPGR (spoiled gradient recalled echo) sequences for polyp detection and image quality at MR colonography (MRC) in a phantom model. Limitations of MRC using standard 3D SPGR T1W imaging include the long breath-hold required to cover the entire colon within one acquisition and the relatively low spatial resolution due to the long acquisition time. Parallel imaging using ASSET-enhanced T2W SSFSE and 3D T1W SPGR imaging results in much shorter imaging times, which allows for increased spatial resolution.

Effects of image enhancement on reliability of landmark identification in digital cephalometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Oshagh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Although digital cephalometric radiography is gaining popularity in orthodontic practice, the most important source of error in its tracing is uncertainty in landmark identification. Therefore, efforts to improve accuracy in landmark identification were directed primarily toward the improvement in image quality. One of the more useful techniques of this process involves digital image enhancement which can increase overall visual quality of image, but this does not necessarily mean a better identification of landmarks. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of digital image enhancements on reliability of landmark identification. Materials and Methods: Fifteen common landmarks including 10 skeletal and 5 soft tissues were selected on the cephalograms of 20 randomly selected patients, prepared in Natural Head Position (NHP. Two observers (orthodontists identified landmarks on the 20 original photostimulable phosphor (PSP digital cephalogram images and 20 enhanced digital images twice with an intervening time interval of at least 4 weeks. The x and y coordinates were further analyzed to evaluate the pattern of recording differences in horizontal and vertical directions. Reliability of landmarks identification was analyzed by paired t test. Results: There was a significant difference between original and enhanced digital images in terms of reliability of points Ar and N in vertical and horizontal dimensions, and enhanced images were significantly more reliable than original images. Identification of A point, Pogonion and Pronasal points, in vertical dimension of enhanced images was significantly more reliable than original ones. Reliability of Menton point identification in horizontal dimension was significantly more in enhanced images than original ones. Conclusion: Direct digital image enhancement by altering brightness and contrast can increase reliability of some landmark identification and this may lead to more

Basivertebral plexus enhancement at MR imaging after Gd-DTPA administration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bronstein, A.D.; Cohen, W.A.; Maravilla, K.R.

1989-01-01

This paper presents a study to identify noncontrast versus post-Gd-DTPA MR images of the spine, we analyzed the basivertebral plexus. The authors postulate that there are consistent patterns of enhancement specific with Gd-DTPA. This is a retrospective examination of the normal appearance and enhancement patterns of the basivertebral plexus in 805 vertebrae of 30 patients who underwent pre- and post-Gd-DTPA T1-weighted sagittal MR imaging of the spine. All patients show enhancement of the basivertebral plexus in a significant number of vertebrae when pre-and postcontrast images are compared

Contrast-enhanced fast fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MR imaging in patients with brain tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Chan Kyo; Na, Dong Gyu; Ryoo, Wook Jae; Byun Hong Sik; Yoon, Hye Kyung; Kim, Jong hyun

2000-01-01

To assess the feasibility of contrast-enhanced fast fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (fast FLAIR) MR imaging in patients with brain tumors. This study involved 31 patients with pathologically proven brain tumors and nine with clinically diagnosed metastases. In all patients, T2-weighted, fast FLAIR, images were visual contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MR images were obtained. Contrast-enhanced fast FLAIR images were visually compared with other MR sequences in terms of tumor conspicuity. In order to distinguish tumor and surrounding edema, contrast-enhanced fast FLAIR images were compared with fast FLAIR and T2-weighted images. The tumor-to- white matter contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs), as demonstrated by T2-weighted, fast FLAIR, contrast-enhanced fast FLAIR and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging, were quantitatively assessed and compared. For the visual assessment of tumor conspicuity, contrast-enhanced fast FLAIR image imaging superior to fast FLAIR in 60% of cases (24/40), and superior to T2-weighted in 70% (28/40). Contrast-enhanced fast FLAIR imaging was inferior to contrast-enhanced T1-weighted in 58% of cases (23/40). For distinguishing between tumor and surrounding edema, contrast-enhanced fast FLAIR imaging was superior to fast FLAIR or T2-weighted in 22 of 27 tumors with peritumoral edema (81%). Quantitatively, CNR was the highest on contrast-enhanced fast FLAIR image and the lowest on fast FLAIR. For the detection of leptomeningeal metastases, contrast-enhanced fast FLAIR was partially superior to contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging in two of three high-grade gliomas. Although contrast-enhanced fast FLAIR imaging should not be seen as a replacement for conventional modalities, it provides additional informaton for assessment of the extent of glial cell tumors and leptomeningeal metastases in patients with brain tumors. (author)

THE EFFECT OF IMAGE ENHANCEMENT METHODS DURING FEATURE DETECTION AND MATCHING OF THERMAL IMAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Akcay

2017-05-01

Full Text Available A successful image matching is essential to provide an automatic photogrammetric process accurately. Feature detection, extraction and matching algorithms have performed on the high resolution images perfectly. However, images of cameras, which are equipped with low-resolution thermal sensors are problematic with the current algorithms. In this paper, some digital image processing techniques were applied to the low-resolution images taken with Optris PI 450 382 x 288 pixel optical resolution lightweight thermal camera to increase extraction and matching performance. Image enhancement methods that adjust low quality digital thermal images, were used to produce more suitable images for detection and extraction. Three main digital image process techniques: histogram equalization, high pass and low pass filters were considered to increase the signal-to-noise ratio, sharpen image, remove noise, respectively. Later on, the pre-processed images were evaluated using current image detection and feature extraction methods Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER and Speeded Up Robust Features (SURF algorithms. Obtained results showed that some enhancement methods increased number of extracted features and decreased blunder errors during image matching. Consequently, the effects of different pre-process techniques were compared in the paper.

FDG PET/CT: EANM procedure guidelines for tumour imaging: version 2.0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boellaard, Ronald; Hoekstra, Otto S.; Delgado-Bolton, Roberto; Oyen, Wim J.G.; Visser, Eric; Giammarile, Francesco; Tatsch, Klaus; Eschner, Wolfgang; Verzijlbergen, Fred J.; Barrington, Sally F.; Pike, Lucy C.; Weber, Wolfgang A.; Stroobants, Sigrid; Delbeke, Dominique; Donohoe, Kevin J.; Holbrook, Scott; Graham, Michael M.; Testanera, Giorgio; Chiti, Arturo; Zijlstra, Josee; Hoekstra, Corneline J.; Pruim, Jan; Willemsen, Antoon; Arends, Bertjan; Kotzerke, Joerg; Bockisch, Andreas; Beyer, Thomas; Krause, Bernd J.

2015-01-01

The purpose of these guidelines is to assist physicians in recommending, performing, interpreting and reporting the results of FDG PET/CT for oncological imaging of adult patients. PET is a quantitative imaging technique and therefore requires a common quality control (QC)/quality assurance (QA) procedure to maintain the accuracy and precision of quantitation. Repeatability and reproducibility are two essential requirements for any quantitative measurement and/or imaging biomarker. Repeatability relates to the uncertainty in obtaining the same result in the same patient when he or she is examined more than once on the same system. However, imaging biomarkers should also have adequate reproducibility, i.e. the ability to yield the same result in the same patient when that patient is examined on different systems and at different imaging sites. Adequate repeatability and reproducibility are essential for the clinical management of patients and the use of FDG PET/CT within multicentre trials. A common standardised imaging procedure will help promote the appropriate use of FDG PET/CT imaging and increase the value of publications and, therefore, their contribution to evidence-based medicine. Moreover, consistency in numerical values between platforms and institutes that acquire the data will potentially enhance the role of semiquantitative and quantitative image interpretation. Precision and accuracy are additionally important as FDG PET/CT is used to evaluate tumour response as well as for diagnosis, prognosis and staging. Therefore both the previous and these new guidelines specifically aim to achieve standardised uptake value harmonisation in multicentre settings. (orig.)

FDG PET/CT: EANM procedure guidelines for tumour imaging: version 2.0

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boellaard, Ronald; Hoekstra, Otto S. [VU University Medical Centre, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Delgado-Bolton, Roberto [University of La Rioja, Department of Diagnostic Imaging (Radiology) and Nuclear Medicine, San Pedro Hospital and Centre for Biomedical Research of La Rioja (CIBIR), Logrono, La Rioja (Spain); Oyen, Wim J.G.; Visser, Eric [Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Giammarile, Francesco [Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lyon, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Lyon (France); Tatsch, Klaus [Municipal Hospital Karlsruhe Inc., Department of Nuclear Medicine, Karlsruhe (Germany); Eschner, Wolfgang [University of Cologne, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Cologne (Germany); Verzijlbergen, Fred J. [Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Barrington, Sally F.; Pike, Lucy C. [King' s College London, King' s Health Partners, PET Imaging Centre, St Thomas' Hospital, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, London (United Kingdom); Weber, Wolfgang A. [Memorial Sloan Kettering Center, Department of Radiology, New York, NY (United States); Stroobants, Sigrid [Antwerp University Hospital, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Antwerp (Belgium); Delbeke, Dominique [Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Nashville, TN (United States); Donohoe, Kevin J. [Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA (United States); Holbrook, Scott [Invivo Molecular Imaging LLC, Gray, TN (United States); Graham, Michael M. [University of Iowa, Department of Radiology, Iowa City, IA (United States); Testanera, Giorgio; Chiti, Arturo [Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Rozzano, MI (Italy); Zijlstra, Josee [VU University Medical Centre, Department of Hematology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Hoekstra, Corneline J. [Jeroen Bosch Hospital, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Den Bosch (Netherlands); Pruim, Jan; Willemsen, Antoon [University Medical Centre Groningen, Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Groningen (Netherlands); Arends, Bertjan [Catharina Hospital, Department of Clinical Physics, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Kotzerke, Joerg [University Hospital Dresden, Clinic and Outpatient Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, Dresden (Germany); Bockisch, Andreas [University Hospital Essen, Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, Essen (Germany); Beyer, Thomas [Medical University of Vienna, Centre for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Vienna (Austria); Krause, Bernd J. [University Hospital Rostock, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Rostock (Germany)

2014-12-02

The purpose of these guidelines is to assist physicians in recommending, performing, interpreting and reporting the results of FDG PET/CT for oncological imaging of adult patients. PET is a quantitative imaging technique and therefore requires a common quality control (QC)/quality assurance (QA) procedure to maintain the accuracy and precision of quantitation. Repeatability and reproducibility are two essential requirements for any quantitative measurement and/or imaging biomarker. Repeatability relates to the uncertainty in obtaining the same result in the same patient when he or she is examined more than once on the same system. However, imaging biomarkers should also have adequate reproducibility, i.e. the ability to yield the same result in the same patient when that patient is examined on different systems and at different imaging sites. Adequate repeatability and reproducibility are essential for the clinical management of patients and the use of FDG PET/CT within multicentre trials. A common standardised imaging procedure will help promote the appropriate use of FDG PET/CT imaging and increase the value of publications and, therefore, their contribution to evidence-based medicine. Moreover, consistency in numerical values between platforms and institutes that acquire the data will potentially enhance the role of semiquantitative and quantitative image interpretation. Precision and accuracy are additionally important as FDG PET/CT is used to evaluate tumour response as well as for diagnosis, prognosis and staging. Therefore both the previous and these new guidelines specifically aim to achieve standardised uptake value harmonisation in multicentre settings. (orig.)

Edge enhancement algorithm for low-dose X-ray fluoroscopic imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Min Seok; Park, Chul Hee; Kang, Moon Gi

2017-12-01

Low-dose X-ray fluoroscopy has continually evolved to reduce radiation risk to patients during clinical diagnosis and surgery. However, the reduction in dose exposure causes quality degradation of the acquired images. In general, an X-ray device has a time-average pre-processor to remove the generated quantum noise. However, this pre-processor causes blurring and artifacts within the moving edge regions, and noise remains in the image. During high-pass filtering (HPF) to enhance edge detail, this noise in the image is amplified. In this study, a 2D edge enhancement algorithm comprising region adaptive HPF with the transient improvement (TI) method, as well as artifacts and noise reduction (ANR), was developed for degraded X-ray fluoroscopic images. The proposed method was applied in a static scene pre-processed by a low-dose X-ray fluoroscopy device. First, the sharpness of the X-ray image was improved using region adaptive HPF with the TI method, which facilitates sharpening of edge details without overshoot problems. Then, an ANR filter that uses an edge directional kernel was developed to remove the artifacts and noise that can occur during sharpening, while preserving edge details. The quantitative and qualitative results obtained by applying the developed method to low-dose X-ray fluoroscopic images and visually and numerically comparing the final images with images improved using conventional edge enhancement techniques indicate that the proposed method outperforms existing edge enhancement methods in terms of objective criteria and subjective visual perception of the actual X-ray fluoroscopic image. The developed edge enhancement algorithm performed well when applied to actual low-dose X-ray fluoroscopic images, not only by improving the sharpness, but also by removing artifacts and noise, including overshoot. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An enhanced approach for biomedical image restoration using image fusion techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Karam, Ghada Sabah; Abbas, Fatma Ismail; Abood, Ziad M.; Kadhim, Kadhim K.; Karam, Nada S.

2018-05-01

Biomedical image is generally noisy and little blur due to the physical mechanisms of the acquisition process, so one of the common degradations in biomedical image is their noise and poor contrast. The idea of biomedical image enhancement is to improve the quality of the image for early diagnosis. In this paper we are using Wavelet Transformation to remove the Gaussian noise from biomedical images: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) image and Radiography (Radio) image, in different color spaces (RGB, HSV, YCbCr), and we perform the fusion of the denoised images resulting from the above denoising techniques using add image method. Then some quantive performance metrics such as signal -to -noise ratio (SNR), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and Mean Square Error (MSE), etc. are computed. Since this statistical measurement helps in the assessment of fidelity and image quality. The results showed that our approach can be applied of Image types of color spaces for biomedical images.

The law, economics and politics of international standardisation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Delimatsis, Panagiotis

2015-01-01

In an era of increased reliance on private regulatory bodies and globalised economic activity, standardisation is the field where politics, technical expertise and strategic behaviour meet and interact. International standard-setting bodies exemplify the rise of transnational governance and the

Enhancement of intracranial meningeal lesions with Gd-DTPA MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, E.; De La Paz, R.

1989-01-01

Pathologic intracranial meningeal enhancement on Gd-DTPA MR images (T1-weighted spin-echo sequence, 800/20 [repetition time msec/echo time msec] 1.5 T) was evaluated in 23 patients. Diagnoses included metastatic neoplasm (13 cases), benign neoplasm (four), infection (one), subarachnoid hemorrhage (three), and subdural hematoma (two). Eleven patients had undergone previous surgery. Diffuse enhancement occurred in 11 patients: eight with malignant infiltration, two with postoperative inflammation, and one with meningitis. Focal enhancement occurred in 12 patients, equally divided between those with malignant and benign processes: six cases were adjacent to intra- or extra-axial malignancy; three were at sites of recent (1--3 weeks) subarachnoid hemorrhage; and three were postoperative, adjacent to a craniotomy or subdural hematoma. Meningeal lesions were rarely diagnosed on the precontrast images, and Gd-DTPA enhancement was needed to distinguish between thickened meninges and thin fluid collections. Precontrast T1- and T2-weighted images were needed to discriminate high-signal meningeal enhancement from subacute subdural or subarachnoid hemorrhage, diploic marrow, normal vascular structures, and benign dural plaques. Meningeal enhancement was not pathology specific, and precontrast images are recommended to avoid misdiagnosis of subacute hemorrhage and misinterpretation of normal anatomy

Contrast enhanced ultrasound in liver imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nielsen, Michael Bachmann; Bang, Nanna

2004-01-01

Ultrasound contrast agents were originally introduced to enhance the Doppler signals when detecting vessels with low velocity flow or when imaging conditions were sub-optimal. Contrast agents showed additional properties, it was discovered that a parenchymal enhancement phase in the liver followed the enhancement of the blood pool. Contrast agents have made ultrasound scanning more accurate in detection and characterization of focal hepatic lesions and the sensitivity is now comparable with CT and MRI scanning. Further, analysis of the transit time of contrast agent through the liver seems to give information on possible hepatic involvement, not only from focal lesions but also from diffuse benign parenchymal disease. The first ultrasound contrast agents were easily destroyed by the energy from the sound waves but newer agents have proved to last for longer time and hereby enable real-time scanning and make contrast enhancement suitable for interventional procedures such as biopsies and tissue ablation. Also, in monitoring the effect of tumour treatment contrast agents have been useful. A brief overview is given on some possible applications and on different techniques using ultrasound contrast agents in liver imaging. At present, the use of an ultrasound contrast agent that allows real-time scanning with low mechanical index is to be preferred

Assessment of arterial hypervascularity of hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison of contrast-enhanced US and gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugimoto, Katsutoshi; Moriyasu, Fuminori; Taira, Junichi; Imai, Yasuharu; Shiraishi, Junji; Saito, Kazuhiro; Saguchi, Toru

2012-01-01

To compare contrast-enhanced (CE) ultrasound with gadoxetate disodium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the assessment of arterial hypervascularity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and dysplastic nodule (DN), with CT during hepatic arteriography (CTHA) as the reference standard. This study included 54 consecutively diagnosed patients, with 57 histologically confirmed HCCs and 3 DNs (high-grade). All patients underwent CE ultrasound, gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging and CTHA. Two trained diagnostic radiologists interpreted the CTHA images and rated the degree of intratumoral arterial vascularity by consensus using a five-point confidence scale as the reference standard. In the observer study, the degrees of vascularity on CE ultrasound and gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR images were qualitatively analysed by four independent readers using a five-point confidence scale. Diagnostic accuracy was analysed by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The diagnostic accuracies of the average area under the ROC curve (AUC) were significantly greater with CE ultrasound (average AUC: 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.88-1.00) than with gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging (average AUC 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.93, P = 0.0014). Contrast-enhanced ultrasound yields a significantly higher AUC value than gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging in the assessment of arterial hypervascularity of HCC and DN. Key Points circle Arterial hypervascularity is an important feature determining treatment options in hepatocellular carcinoma. circle It can be assessed by contrast-enhanced (CE) ultrasound or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. circle CE ultrasound was more accurate than Gd-EOB-DTPA MRI in assessing intratumoral vascularity. circle Hypovascular hepatic nodules should be further investigated using CE ultrasound. (orig.)

Bioboxes: standardised containers for interchangeable bioinformatics software.

Science.gov (United States)

Belmann, Peter; Dröge, Johannes; Bremges, Andreas; McHardy, Alice C; Sczyrba, Alexander; Barton, Michael D

2015-01-01

Software is now both central and essential to modern biology, yet lack of availability, difficult installations, and complex user interfaces make software hard to obtain and use. Containerisation, as exemplified by the Docker platform, has the potential to solve the problems associated with sharing software. We propose bioboxes: containers with standardised interfaces to make bioinformatics software interchangeable.

Image enhancement software for underwater recovery operations: User's manual

Science.gov (United States)

Partridge, William J.; Therrien, Charles W.

1989-06-01

This report describes software for performing image enhancement on live or recorded video images. The software was developed for operational use during underwater recovery operations at the Naval Undersea Warfare Engineering Station. The image processing is performed on an IBM-PC/AT compatible computer equipped with hardware to digitize and display video images. The software provides the capability to provide contrast enhancement and other similar functions in real time through hardware lookup tables, to automatically perform histogram equalization, to capture one or more frames and average them or apply one of several different processing algorithms to a captured frame. The report is in the form of a user manual for the software and includes guided tutorial and reference sections. A Digital Image Processing Primer in the appendix serves to explain the principle concepts that are used in the image processing.

Image enhancement by spatial frequency post-processing of images obtained with pupil filters

Science.gov (United States)

Estévez, Irene; Escalera, Juan C.; Stefano, Quimey Pears; Iemmi, Claudio; Ledesma, Silvia; Yzuel, María J.; Campos, Juan

2016-12-01

The use of apodizing or superresolving filters improves the performance of an optical system in different frequency bands. This improvement can be seen as an increase in the OTF value compared to the OTF for the clear aperture. In this paper we propose a method to enhance the contrast of an image in both its low and its high frequencies. The method is based on the generation of a synthetic Optical Transfer Function, by multiplexing the OTFs given by the use of different non-uniform transmission filters on the pupil. We propose to capture three images, one obtained with a clear pupil, one obtained with an apodizing filter that enhances the low frequencies and another one taken with a superresolving filter that improves the high frequencies. In the Fourier domain the three spectra are combined by using smoothed passband filters, and then the inverse transform is performed. We show that we can create an enhanced image better than the image obtained with the clear aperture. To evaluate the performance of the method, bar tests (sinusoidal tests) with different frequency content are used. The results show that a contrast improvement in the high and low frequencies is obtained.

Enhancement system of nighttime infrared video image and visible video image

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yue; Piao, Yan

2016-11-01

Visibility of Nighttime video image has a great significance for military and medicine areas, but nighttime video image has so poor quality that we can't recognize the target and background. Thus we enhance the nighttime video image by fuse infrared video image and visible video image. According to the characteristics of infrared and visible images, we proposed improved sift algorithm andαβ weighted algorithm to fuse heterologous nighttime images. We would deduced a transfer matrix from improved sift algorithm. The transfer matrix would rapid register heterologous nighttime images. And theαβ weighted algorithm can be applied in any scene. In the video image fusion system, we used the transfer matrix to register every frame and then used αβ weighted method to fuse every frame, which reached the time requirement soft video. The fused video image not only retains the clear target information of infrared video image, but also retains the detail and color information of visible video image and the fused video image can fluency play.

Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging of avascular necrosis of the hip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van de Berg, B.; Malghem, J.; Noel, H.; Maldague, B.

1990-01-01

This paper evaluates the interest of Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging in the diagnosis of avascular necrosis (AVN) of the hip. MR imaging of 10 patients with various stages of AVN of the femoral head (14 abnormal hips) was performed (1.5-T Gyroscan). T1-weighted images before and after contrast injection and T2-weighted images were obtained in two planes. MR images were compared with pathologic findings in six femoral head specimens (total hip replacement). In the early stages of AVN (Mitchell classes A and B), a peripheral band of contrast-enhanced tissue appears on T1-weighted images after Gd-DTPA injection, mimicking the double line seen on T2-weighted images. In later stages (class C and D), the sequestrated segments, appearing hypointense on T1-weighted images, usually show a significant signal intensity enhancement after Gd-DTPA injection. The truly avascular areas may be limited to a band of thickened subchondral bone

Enhanced Imaging of Building Interior for Portable MIMO Through-the-wall Radar

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yongping; Zhu, Jiahua; Hu, Jun; Jin, Tian; Zhou, Zhimin

2018-01-01

Portable multi-input multi-output (MIMO) radar system is able to imaging the building interior through aperture synthesis. However, significant grating lobes are invoked in the directly imaging results, which may deteriorate the imaging quality of other targets and influence the detail information extraction of imaging scene. In this paper, a two-stage coherence factor (CF) weighting method is proposed to enhance the imaging quality. After obtaining the sub-imaging results of each spatial sampling position using conventional CF approach, a window function is employed to calculate the proposed “enhanced CF” adaptive to the spatial variety effect behind the wall for the combination of these sub-images. The real data experiment illustrates the better performance of proposed method on grating lobes suppression and imaging quality enhancement compare to the traditional radar imaging approach.

Local contrast-enhanced MR images via high dynamic range processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandra, Shekhar S; Engstrom, Craig; Fripp, Jurgen; Neubert, Ales; Jin, Jin; Walker, Duncan; Salvado, Olivier; Ho, Charles; Crozier, Stuart

2018-09-01

To develop a local contrast-enhancing and feature-preserving high dynamic range (HDR) image processing algorithm for multichannel and multisequence MR images of multiple body regions and tissues, and to evaluate its performance for structure visualization, bias field (correction) mitigation, and automated tissue segmentation. A multiscale-shape and detail-enhancement HDR-MRI algorithm is applied to data sets of multichannel and multisequence MR images of the brain, knee, breast, and hip. In multisequence 3T hip images, agreement between automatic cartilage segmentations and corresponding synthesized HDR-MRI series were computed for mean voxel overlap established from manual segmentations for a series of cases. Qualitative comparisons between the developed HDR-MRI and standard synthesis methods were performed on multichannel 7T brain and knee data, and multisequence 3T breast and knee data. The synthesized HDR-MRI series provided excellent enhancement of fine-scale structure from multiple scales and contrasts, while substantially reducing bias field effects in 7T brain gradient echo, T 1 and T 2 breast images and 7T knee multichannel images. Evaluation of the HDR-MRI approach on 3T hip multisequence images showed superior outcomes for automatic cartilage segmentations with respect to manual segmentation, particularly around regions with hyperintense synovial fluid, across a set of 3D sequences. The successful combination of multichannel/sequence MR images into a single-fused HDR-MR image format provided consolidated visualization of tissues within 1 omnibus image, enhanced definition of thin, complex anatomical structures in the presence of variable or hyperintense signals, and improved tissue (cartilage) segmentation outcomes. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

MR imaging of the breast with Gd-DTPA enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hachiya, Junichi; Seki, Tsuneaki; Okada, Minoru; Nitatori, Toshiaki; Korenaga, Tateo; Furuya, Yoshiro

1991-01-01

The accuracy of MR imaging with Gd-DTPA enhancement was compared with mammography and ultrasonography in 52 patients with clinically palpable benign and malignant breast masses (36 carcinomas, 2 malignant phyllodes tumors, 7 fibroadenomas, 7 cysts). On dynamic MR imaging, carcinomas and fibroadenomas were discriminated by their different dynamic enhancement profiles. In carcinomas, signal intensity increased rapidly, reaching a peak or plateau within 2 min after the injection of contrast medium. In fibroadenomas, signal intensity showed a much slower continuous increase without ceasing until about 8 min after injection. Malignant phyllodes tumors showed a dynamic enhancement profile identical to that of benign fibroadenomas. MR imaging correctly identified 84% of malignant tumors, 86% of fibroadenomas, and 100% of cysts, and was substantially more accurate in tissue characterization than mammography. The results of ultrasonography were highly similar to those of MR imaging. However, no single modality was infallible, and the three modalities were complementary rather than competitive. Considering the high cost and long examination time of MR imaging, mammography supplemented by ultrasonography seems to be the method of choice in the diagnosis of breast lesions. Nevertheless, MR imaging can add important information when the results of mammography and ultrasonography are insufficient or contradictory. (author)

Restoration and Enhancement of Underwater Images Based on Bright Channel Prior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yakun Gao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposed a new method of underwater images restoration and enhancement which was inspired by the dark channel prior in image dehazing field. Firstly, we proposed the bright channel prior of underwater environment. By estimating and rectifying the bright channel image, estimating the atmospheric light, and estimating and refining the transmittance image, eventually underwater images were restored. Secondly, in order to rectify the color distortion, the restoration images were equalized by using the deduced histogram equalization. The experiment results showed that the proposed method could enhance the quality of underwater images effectively.

Real-time movie image enhancement in NMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doyle, M.; Mansfield, P.

1986-01-01

Clinical NMR motion picture (movie) images can now be produced routinely in real-time by ultra-high-speed echo-planar imaging (EPI). The single-shot image quality depends on both pixel resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), both factors being intertradeable. If image S/N is sacrificed rather than resolution, it is shown that S/N may be greatly enhanced subsequently without vitiating spatial resolution or foregoing real motional effects when the object motion is periodic. This is achieved by a Fourier filtering process. Experimental results are presented which demonstrate the technique for a normal functioning heart. (author)

Method and apparatus for enhancing radiometric imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Logan, R. H.; Paradish, F. J.

1985-01-01

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for enhancing target detection, particularly in the millimeter wave frequency range, through the utilization of an imaging radiometer. The radiometer, which is a passive thermal receiver, detects the reflected and emitted thermal radiation of targets within a predetermined antenna/receiver beamwidth. By scanning the radiometer over a target area, a thermal image is created. At millimeter wave frequencies, the received emissions from the target area are highly dependent on the emissivity of the target of interest. Foliage will appear ''hot'' due to its high emissivity and metals will appear cold due to their low emissivities. A noise power illuminator is periodically actuated to illuminate the target of interest. When the illuminator is actuated, the role of emissivity is reversed, namely poorly emissive targets will generally be good reflectors which in the presence of an illuminator will appear ''hot''. The highly emissive targets (such as foliage and dirt) which absorb most of the transmitted energy will appear almost the same as in a nonilluminated, passive image. Using a data processor, the intensity of the passive image is subtracted from the intensity of the illuminated, active image which thereby cancels the background foliage, dirt, etc. and the reflective metallic targets are enhanced

Improvement of Fuzzy Image Contrast Enhancement Using Simulated Ergodic Fuzzy Markov Chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behrouz Fathi-Vajargah

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel fuzzy enhancement technique using simulated ergodic fuzzy Markov chains for low contrast brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI. The fuzzy image contrast enhancement is proposed by weighted fuzzy expected value. The membership values are then modified to enhance the image using ergodic fuzzy Markov chains. The qualitative performance of the proposed method is compared to another method in which ergodic fuzzy Markov chains are not considered. The proposed method produces better quality image.

BIM Anatomy II: Standardisation Needs & Support Systems

OpenAIRE

Hooper, Martin

2015-01-01

This thesis presents the results of an investigation into BIM standardisation needs and procedural supporting mechanisms that may enable design, construction and operating (DCO) organisations to advance their deployment of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology, and improve construction project outcomes. To achieve sustainable development requires effective information management. Building Information Modelling is of strategic importance for the development of effi...

Current standardisation for nanotechnology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bard, Delphine; Mark, David; Moehlmann, Carsten

2009-01-01

Standardisation and standards provide an important mechanism to support both innovation and the application of regulations. There is currently no specific regulation for any nanomaterials. Health, safety and environmental protection aspects associated with nanomaterials are however in principle covered to different levels by current EU regulatory framework. There are a number of national, European and international organisations developing standards associated with the development, description and use of nanomaterials as well as the protection of human health and the environment from the production and use of chemicals and consumer products, including nanomaterials. These organisations have also established specific committees on nanotechnology. This paper outlines the different relevant regulations and standards. This paper will mainly be focused on a European health and safety perspective.

National aspects of nuclear standardisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, K.

1984-01-01

The article first introduces the German Standards Institute (DIN) in figures and in its work, and gives details of the Nuclear Technology Committee (NK) which works with the Nuclear Committee. The German regulations consist of a total of about 220 documents, which cost about 18 million DM per annum. The use of nuclear standardisation can be seen in 1) a standardized, high safety level; 2) speeding up and simplifying the authorisation process; 3) improved acceptance; 4) means of technology transfer; 5) simplified trace across borders and 6) standardized requirements for plant near the border. (HSCH) [de

Quantifying the effect of colorization enhancement on mammogram images

Science.gov (United States)

Wojnicki, Paul J.; Uyeda, Elizabeth; Micheli-Tzanakou, Evangelia

2002-04-01

Current methods of radiological displays provide only grayscale images of mammograms. The limitation of the image space to grayscale provides only luminance differences and textures as cues for object recognition within the image. However, color can be an important and significant cue in the detection of shapes and objects. Increasing detection ability allows the radiologist to interpret the images in more detail, improving object recognition and diagnostic accuracy. Color detection experiments using our stimulus system, have demonstrated that an observer can only detect an average of 140 levels of grayscale. An optimally colorized image can allow a user to distinguish 250 - 1000 different levels, hence increasing potential image feature detection by 2-7 times. By implementing a colorization map, which follows the luminance map of the original grayscale images, the luminance profile is preserved and color is isolated as the enhancement mechanism. The effect of this enhancement mechanism on the shape, frequency composition and statistical characteristics of the Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) are analyzed and presented. Thus, the effectiveness of the image colorization is measured quantitatively using the Visual Evoked Potential (VEP).

Neutron activation analysis with k{sub 0}-standardisation : general formalism and procedure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pomme, S.; Hardeman, F. [Centre de l`Etude de l`Energie Nucleaire, Mol (Belgium); Robouch, P.; Etxebarria, N.; Arana, G. [European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Geel (Belgium)

1997-09-01

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) with k{sub 0}-standardisation is a powerful tool for multi-element analysis at a broad range of trace element concentrations. An overview is given of the basic principles, fundamental equations, and general procedure of this method. Different aspects of the description of the neutron activation reaction rate are discussed, applying the Hogdahl convention. A general activation-decay formula is derived and its application to INAA is demonstrated. Relevant k{sub 0}-definitions for different activation decay schemes are summarised and upgraded to cases of extremely high fluxes. The main standardisation techniques for INAA are discussed, emphasizing the k{sub 0}-standardisation. Some general aspects of the basic equipment and its calibration are discussed, such as the characterisation of the neutron field and the tuning of the spectrometry part. A method for the prediction and optimisation of the analytical performance of INAA is presented.

XML-based clinical data standardisation in the National Health Service Scotland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raluca Bunduchi

2006-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to clarify the role that socio-economic factors played in shaping the development of XML-based clinical data standards in the National Health Service in Scotland from 2000 to 2004. The paper discusses the NHS Scotland approach to clinical data standardisation, emphasising the actors involved, their choices during the standard development process and the factors that have shaped these choices. The case suggests that the NHS Scotland approach to clinical data standardisation is shaped by strong political pressures for fast development of an integrated electronic patient care system, economic pressures for high efficiency and cost reductions, and organisational requirements for strong clinical support. Such economic, political and organisational pressures explain the informal approach to standard development, the emphasis on fast system development and strong clinical involvement. At the same time, market factors explain the low commitment of the IT vendors, which might have otherwise put significant pressure onNHSScotland to pursue a more formalised standardisation approach within an internationally recognised standard-setting body.

FFT-enhanced IHS transform method for fusing high-resolution satellite images

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Y.; Ehlers, M.; Usery, E.L.; Madden, M.

2007-01-01

Existing image fusion techniques such as the intensity-hue-saturation (IHS) transform and principal components analysis (PCA) methods may not be optimal for fusing the new generation commercial high-resolution satellite images such as Ikonos and QuickBird. One problem is color distortion in the fused image, which causes visual changes as well as spectral differences between the original and fused images. In this paper, a fast Fourier transform (FFT)-enhanced IHS method is developed for fusing new generation high-resolution satellite images. This method combines a standard IHS transform with FFT filtering of both the panchromatic image and the intensity component of the original multispectral image. Ikonos and QuickBird data are used to assess the FFT-enhanced IHS transform method. Experimental results indicate that the FFT-enhanced IHS transform method may improve upon the standard IHS transform and the PCA methods in preserving spectral and spatial information. ?? 2006 International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Inc. (ISPRS).

Diffraction enhanced imaging of a rat model of gastric acid aspiration pneumonitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Connor, Dean M; Zhong, Zhong; Foda, Hussein D; Wiebe, Sheldon; Parham, Christopher A; Dilmanian, F Avraham; Cole, Elodia B; Pisano, Etta D

2011-12-01

Diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) is a type of phase contrast x-ray imaging that has improved image contrast at a lower dose than conventional radiography for many imaging applications, but no studies have been done to determine if DEI might be useful for diagnosing lung injury. The goals of this study were to determine if DEI could differentiate between healthy and injured lungs for a rat model of gastric aspiration and to compare diffraction-enhanced images with chest radiographs. Radiographs and diffraction-enhanced chest images of adult Sprague Dawley rats were obtained before and 4 hours after the aspiration of 0.4 mL/kg of 0.1 mol/L hydrochloric acid. Lung damage was confirmed with histopathology. The radiographs and diffraction-enhanced peak images revealed regions of atelectasis in the injured rat lung. The diffraction-enhanced peak images revealed the full extent of the lung with improved clarity relative to the chest radiographs, especially in the portion of the lower lobe that extended behind the diaphragm on the anteroposterior projection. For a rat model of gastric acid aspiration, DEI is capable of distinguishing between a healthy and an injured lung and more clearly than radiography reveals the full extent of the lung and the lung damage. Copyright © 2011 AUR. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of a Mathematical Model for Digital Image Enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Geha, Hassem; Nasseh, Ibrahim; Noujeim, Marcel

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to compare the detected number of holes on a stepwedge on images resulting from the application of the 5th degree polynomial model compared to the images resulting from the application of linear enhancement. Material and Methods : A 10-step aluminum step wedge with holes randomly drilled on each step was exposed with three different kVp and five exposure times per kVp on a Schick33(®) sensor. The images were enhanced by brightness/contrast adjustment, histogram equalization and with the 5th degree polynomial model and compared to the original non-enhanced images by six observers in two separate readings. Results : There was no significant difference between the readers and between the first and second reading. There was a significant three-factor interaction among Method, Exposure time, and kVp in detecting holes. The overall pattern was: "Poly" results in the highest counts, "Original" in the lowest counts, with "B/C" and "Equalized" intermediate. Conclusion : The 5th degree polynomial model showed more holes when compared to the other modalities.

Robust algebraic image enhancement for intelligent control systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lerner, Bao-Ting; Morrelli, Michael

1993-01-01

Robust vision capability for intelligent control systems has been an elusive goal in image processing. The computationally intensive techniques a necessary for conventional image processing make real-time applications, such as object tracking and collision avoidance difficult. In order to endow an intelligent control system with the needed vision robustness, an adequate image enhancement subsystem capable of compensating for the wide variety of real-world degradations, must exist between the image capturing and the object recognition subsystems. This enhancement stage must be adaptive and must operate with consistency in the presence of both statistical and shape-based noise. To deal with this problem, we have developed an innovative algebraic approach which provides a sound mathematical framework for image representation and manipulation. Our image model provides a natural platform from which to pursue dynamic scene analysis, and its incorporation into a vision system would serve as the front-end to an intelligent control system. We have developed a unique polynomial representation of gray level imagery and applied this representation to develop polynomial operators on complex gray level scenes. This approach is highly advantageous since polynomials can be manipulated very easily, and are readily understood, thus providing a very convenient environment for image processing. Our model presents a highly structured and compact algebraic representation of grey-level images which can be viewed as fuzzy sets.

Gadolinium-enhanced turbo FLASH MR imaging of renal perfusion and excretion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, A.; Teresi, L.M.; Herbst, M.; O'Sullivan, R.M.; Lee, R.; Smith, C.; Renner, J.; Rappaport, A.; Bradley, W.G. Jr.

1990-01-01

This paper describes a novel approach to MR imaging of renal perfusion and excretion using gadolinium-enhanced, T1-weighted TURBP, fast low-angle shot (FLASH) imaging. Five normal volunteers and four patients were studied on a 1.5-T imaging system. Time-intensity curves of the appearance of gadolinium in each kidney and the bladder were then generated. In normal volunteers, marked first-pass enhancement of renal cortex followed by renal pyramids and collecting systems could be demonstrated on the first-pass gadolinium images. Delayed images showed hyperintense gadolinium within the bladder

Characterization of liver metastases: the efficacy of biphasic magnetic resonance imaging with ferucarbotran-enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, H.S.; Byun, J.H.; Won, H.J.; Kim, K.W.; Lee, S.S.; Lee, M.G.; Yun, S.C.

2010-01-01

Aim: To retrospectively evaluate the efficacy of biphasic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the liver with ferucarbotran-enhancement for the characterization of hepatic metastases. Materials and methods: Thirty-six patients underwent MRI of the liver with separate acquisition of double-contrast enhancement consisting of gadolinium and ferucarbotran. A total of 106 focal hepatic lesions (51 metastases, 31 cysts, 23 haemangiomas, and one eosinophilic abscess) were included. Two sets of MRI were analysed: (1) ferucarbotran set: ferucarbotran-enhanced T1-weighted (T1W) dynamic imaging combined with ferucarbotran-enhanced T2*-weighted (T2*W) delayed imaging and (2) double set: gadolinium-enhanced T1W dynamic imaging combined with ferucarbotran-enhanced T2*W delayed imaging. The diagnostic accuracy of the two sets was evaluated using alternative free-response receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Sensitivity and specificity were compared using the McNemar test. The enhancement pattern of focal hepatic lesions was analysed on gadolinium and ferucarbotran-enhanced T1W dynamic imaging. Results: There was no significant difference in the accuracy of characterizing hepatic metastases between the two sets. Sensitivity and specificity were not significantly different between the sets (p > 0.05). Peripheral rim enhancement was exhibited in 57% of metastatic lesions on ferucarbotran-enhanced T1W dynamic imaging. The majority (96%) of hepatic haemangiomas demonstrated typical peripheral nodular enhancement with progression on ferucarbotran-enhanced T1W dynamic imaging and were easily differentiated from metastases. Conclusion: Biphasic MRI of the liver with ferucarbotran-enhancement alone provided comparable diagnostic efficacy to double-contrast MRI for the characterization of hepatic metastases.

Solitary hepatic infantile hemangioendothelioma: dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mortele, Koenraad J.; Vanzieleghem, Bart; Mortele, Bart; Benoit, Yves; Ros, Pablo R.

2002-01-01

We report the MRI findings of a solitary hepatic infantile hemangioendothelioma (IHE) diagnosed in a 14-day-old girl. To the best of our knowledge, only one report has illustrated the dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging features of IHE previously. Compounding the rarity of presentation as a solitary mass, the gadolinium-enhanced MRI appearance in our case is unique, because the IHE showed an early rim-like pseudocapsular enhancement followed by progressive fill-in of the lesion on delayed imaging. (orig.)

Methods for Enhancing Geological Structures in Spectral Spatial Difference－Based on Remote-Sensing Image

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2000-01-01

@@In this paper, some image processing methods such as directional template (mask) matching enhancement, pseudocolor or false color enhancement, K-L transform enhancement are used to enhance a geological structure, one of important ore-controlling factors, shown in the remote-sensing images.This geological structure is regarded as image anomaly in the remote-sensing image, since considerable differences, based on the spatial spectral distribution pattern, in gray values (spectral), color tones and texture, are always present between the geological structure and background. Therefore,the enhancement of the geological structure in the remotesensing image is that of the spectral spatial difference.

Enhancement of image contrast in linacgram through image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, Hyun Suk; Shin, Hyun Kyo; Lee, Re Na

2000-01-01

Conventional radiation therapy portal images gives low contrast images. The purpose of this study was to enhance image contrast of a linacgram by developing a low--cost image processing method. Chest linacgram was obtained by irradiating humanoid phantom and scanned using Diagnostic-Pro scanner for image processing. Several types of scan method were used in scanning. These include optical density scan, histogram equalized scan, linear histogram based scan, linear histogram independent scan, linear optical density scan, logarithmic scan, and power square root scan. The histogram distribution of the scanned images were plotted and the ranges of the gray scale were compared among various scan types. The scanned images were then transformed to the gray window by pallette fitting method and the contrast of the reprocessed portal images were evaluated for image improvement. Portal images of patients were also taken at various anatomic sites and the images were processed by Gray Scale Expansion (GSE) method. The patient images were analyzed to examine the feasibility of using the GSE technique in clinic. The histogram distribution showed that minimum and maximum gray scale ranges of 3192 and 21940 were obtained when the image was scanned using logarithmic method and square root method, respectively. Out of 256 gray scale, only 7 to 30% of the steps were used. After expanding the gray scale to full range, contrast of the portal images were improved. Experiment performed with patient image showed that improved identification of organs were achieved by GSE in portal images of knee joint, head and neck, lung, and pelvis. Phantom study demonstrated that the GSE technique improved image contrast of a linacgram. This indicates that the decrease in image quality resulting from the dual exposure, could be improved by expanding the gray scale. As a result, the improved technique will make it possible to compare the digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR) and simulation image for

Standardised neonatal parenteral nutrition formulations – an Australasian group consensus 2012

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Standardised parenteral nutrition formulations are routinely used in the neonatal intensive care units in Australia and New Zealand. In 2010, a multidisciplinary group was formed to achieve a consensus on the formulations acceptable to majority of the neonatal intensive care units. Literature review was undertaken for each nutrient and recommendations were developed in a series of meetings held between November 2010 and April 2011. Three standard and 2 optional amino acid/dextrose formulations and one lipid emulsion were agreed by majority participants in the consensus. This has a potential to standardise neonatal parenteral nutrition guidelines, reduce costs and prescription errors. PMID:24548745

Enhancement of Electroluminescence (EL) image measurements for failure quantification methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parikh, Harsh; Spataru, Sergiu; Sera, Dezso

2018-01-01

Enhanced quality images are necessary for EL image analysis and failure quantification. A method is proposed which determines image quality in terms of more accurate failure detection of solar panels through electroluminescence (EL) imaging technique. The goal of the paper is to determine the most...

A developed unsharp masking method for images contrast enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaafouri, A.; Sayadi, M.; Fnaiech, F.

2011-01-01

In this paper, we propose a developed unsharp masking process for contrast image enhancement. The main idea here is to enhance the dark and bright area in the same way which matches the response of human visual system well. Then in order to reduce the noise effect, a mean weighted high pass filter is used for edge extraction. The proposed method gives satisfactory results for wide range of low contrast images compared with others known approaches.

Creation and Initial Validation of the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, Catriona M; Namasivayam-MacDonald, Ashwini M; Guida, Brittany T; Cichero, Julie A; Duivestein, Janice; Hanson, Ben; Lam, Peter; Riquelme, Luis F

2018-05-01

To assess consensual validity, interrater reliability, and criterion validity of the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale, a new functional outcome scale intended to capture the severity of oropharyngeal dysphagia, as represented by the degree of diet texture restriction recommended for the patient. Participants assigned International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale scores to 16 clinical cases. Consensual validity was measured against reference scores determined by an author reference panel. Interrater reliability was measured overall and across quartile subsets of the dataset. Criterion validity was evaluated versus Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) scores assigned by survey respondents to the same case scenarios. Feedback was requested regarding ease and likelihood of use. Web-based survey. Respondents (N=170) from 29 countries. Not applicable. Consensual validity (percent agreement and Kendall τ), criterion validity (Spearman rank correlation), and interrater reliability (Kendall concordance and intraclass coefficients). The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale showed strong consensual validity, criterion validity, and interrater reliability. Scenarios involving liquid-only diets, transition from nonoral feeding, or trial diet advances in therapy showed the poorest consensus, indicating a need for clear instructions on how to score these situations. The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale showed greater sensitivity than the FOIS to specific changes in diet. Most (>70%) respondents indicated enthusiasm for implementing the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale. This initial validation study suggests that the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative Functional Diet Scale has strong consensual and criterion validity and can be used reliably by clinicians

Decommissioning costing approach based on the standardised list of costing items. Lessons learnt by the OMEGA computer code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daniska, Vladimir; Rehak, Ivan; Vasko, Marek; Ondra, Frantisek; Bezak, Peter; Pritrsky, Jozef; Zachar, Matej; Necas, Vladimir

2011-01-01

The document 'A Proposed Standardised List of Items for Costing Purposes' was issues in 1999 by OECD/NEA, IAEA and European Commission (EC) for promoting the harmonisation in decommissioning costing. It is a systematic list of decommissioning activities classified in chapters 01 to 11 with three numbered levels. Four cost group are defined for cost at each level. Document constitutes the standardised matrix of decommissioning activities and cost groups with definition of content of items. Knowing what is behind the items makes the comparison of cost for decommissioning projects transparent. Two approaches are identified for use of the standardised cost structure. First approach converts the cost data from existing specific cost structures into the standardised cost structure for the purpose of cost presentation. Second approach uses the standardised cost structure as the base for the cost calculation structure; the calculated cost data are formatted in the standardised cost format directly; several additional advantages may be identified in this approach. The paper presents the costing methodology based on the standardised cost structure and lessons learnt from last ten years of the implementation of the standardised cost structure as the cost calculation structure in the computer code OMEGA. Code include also on-line management of decommissioning waste, decay of radioactively, evaluation of exposure, generation and optimisation of the Gantt chart of a decommissioning project, which makes the OMEGA code an effective tool for planning and optimisation of decommissioning processes. (author)

Use of standardised patients to assess quality of tuberculosis care: a pilot, cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Jishnu; Kwan, Ada; Daniels, Benjamin; Satyanarayana, Srinath; Subbaraman, Ramnath; Bergkvist, Sofi; Das, Ranendra K; Das, Veena; Pai, Madhukar

2015-11-01

Existing studies of the quality of tuberculosis care have relied on recall-based patient surveys, questionnaire surveys of knowledge, and prescription or medical record analysis, and the results mostly show the health-care provider's knowledge rather than actual practice. No study has used standardised patients to assess clinical practice. Therefore we aimed to assess quality of care for tuberculosis using such patients. We did a pilot, cross-sectional validation study of a convenience sample of consenting private health-care providers in low-income and middle-income areas of Delhi, India. We recruited standardised patients in apparently good health from the local community to present four cases (two of presumed tuberculosis and one each of confirmed tuberculosis and suspected multidrug-resistant tuberculosis) to a randomly allocated health-care provider. The key objective was to validate the standardised-patient method using three criteria: negligible risk and ability to avoid adverse events for providers and standardised patients, low detection rates of standardised patients by providers, and data accuracy across standardised patients and audio verification of standardised-patient recall. We also used medical vignettes to assess providers' knowledge of presumed tuberculosis. Correct case management was benchmarked using Standards for Tuberculosis Care in India (STCI). Between Feb 2, and March 28, 2014, we recruited and trained 17 standardised patients who had 250 interactions with 100 health-care providers, 29 of whom were qualified in allopathic medicine (ie, they had a Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery [MBBS] degree), 40 of whom practised alternative medicine, and 31 of whom were informal health-care providers with few or no qualifications. The interactions took place between April 1, and April 23, 2014. The proportion of detected standardised patients was low (11 [5%] detected out of 232 interactions among providers who completed the follow-up survey), and

Enhancement method for rendered images of home decoration based on SLIC superpixels

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Yutong; Jiang, Xiaotong

2018-04-01

Rendering technology has been widely used in the home decoration industry in recent years for images of home decoration design. However, due to the fact that rendered images of home decoration design rely heavily on the parameters of renderer and the lights of scenes, most rendered images in this industry require further optimization afterwards. To reduce workload and enhance rendered images automatically, an algorithm utilizing neural networks is proposed in this manuscript. In addition, considering few extreme conditions such as strong sunlight and lights, SLIC superpixels based segmentation is used to choose out these bright areas of an image and enhance them independently. Finally, these chosen areas are merged with the entire image. Experimental results show that the proposed method effectively enhances the rendered images when compared with some existing algorithms. Besides, the proposed strategy is proven to be adaptable especially to those images with obvious bright parts.

IT-supported skill-mix change and standardisation in integrated eyecare: lessons from two screening projects in The Netherlands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marleen de Mul

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Information Technology (IT has the potential to significantly support skill-mix change and, thereby, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of integrated care. Theory and methods: IT and skill-mix change share an important precondition: the standardisation of work processes. Standardisation plays a crucial role in IT-supported skill-mix change. It is not a matter of more or less standardisation than in the ‘old’ situation, but about creating an optimal fit. We used qualitative data from our evaluation of two integrated-care projects in Dutch eyecare to identify domains where this fit is important. Results: While standardisation was needed to delegate screening tasks from physicians to non-physicians, and to assure the quality of the integrated-care process as a whole, tensions arose in three domains: the performance of clinical tasks, the documentation, and the communication between professionals. Unfunctional standardisation led to dissatisfaction and distrust between the professionals involved in screening. Discussion and conclusion: Although the integration seems promising, much work is needed to ensure a synergistic relationship between skill-mix change and IT. Developing IT-supported skill-mix change by means of standardisation is a matter of tailoring standardisation to fit the situation at hand, while dealing with the local constraints of available technology and organisational context.

An adaptive image enhancement technique by combining cuckoo search and particle swarm optimization algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Zhiwei; Wang, Mingwei; Hu, Zhengbing; Liu, Wei

2015-01-01

Image enhancement is an important procedure of image processing and analysis. This paper presents a new technique using a modified measure and blending of cuckoo search and particle swarm optimization (CS-PSO) for low contrast images to enhance image adaptively. In this way, contrast enhancement is obtained by global transformation of the input intensities; it employs incomplete Beta function as the transformation function and a novel criterion for measuring image quality considering three factors which are threshold, entropy value, and gray-level probability density of the image. The enhancement process is a nonlinear optimization problem with several constraints. CS-PSO is utilized to maximize the objective fitness criterion in order to enhance the contrast and detail in an image by adapting the parameters of a novel extension to a local enhancement technique. The performance of the proposed method has been compared with other existing techniques such as linear contrast stretching, histogram equalization, and evolutionary computing based image enhancement methods like backtracking search algorithm, differential search algorithm, genetic algorithm, and particle swarm optimization in terms of processing time and image quality. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is robust and adaptive and exhibits the better performance than other methods involved in the paper.

An Adaptive Image Enhancement Technique by Combining Cuckoo Search and Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiwei Ye

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Image enhancement is an important procedure of image processing and analysis. This paper presents a new technique using a modified measure and blending of cuckoo search and particle swarm optimization (CS-PSO for low contrast images to enhance image adaptively. In this way, contrast enhancement is obtained by global transformation of the input intensities; it employs incomplete Beta function as the transformation function and a novel criterion for measuring image quality considering three factors which are threshold, entropy value, and gray-level probability density of the image. The enhancement process is a nonlinear optimization problem with several constraints. CS-PSO is utilized to maximize the objective fitness criterion in order to enhance the contrast and detail in an image by adapting the parameters of a novel extension to a local enhancement technique. The performance of the proposed method has been compared with other existing techniques such as linear contrast stretching, histogram equalization, and evolutionary computing based image enhancement methods like backtracking search algorithm, differential search algorithm, genetic algorithm, and particle swarm optimization in terms of processing time and image quality. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is robust and adaptive and exhibits the better performance than other methods involved in the paper.

Morphological image processing for quantitative shape analysis of biomedical structures: effective contrast enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimori, Yoshitaka

2013-01-01

A contrast enhancement approach utilizing a new type of mathematical morphology called rotational morphological processing is introduced. The method is quantitatively evaluated and then applied to some medical images. Image processing methods significantly contribute to visualization of images captured by biomedical modalities (such as mammography, X-ray computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and light and electron microscopy). Quantitative interpretation of the deluge of complicated biomedical images, however, poses many research challenges, one of which is to enhance structural features that are scarcely perceptible to the human eye. This study introduces a contrast enhancement approach based on a new type of mathematical morphology called rotational morphological processing. The proposed method is applied to medical images for the enhancement of structural features. The effectiveness of the method is evaluated quantitatively by the contrast improvement ratio (CIR). The CIR of the proposed method is 12.1, versus 4.7 and 0.1 for two conventional contrast enhancement methods, clearly indicating the high contrasting capability of the method

Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging features of hepatic hemangioma compared with enhanced computed tomography

OpenAIRE

Tateyama, Akihiro; Fukukura, Yoshihiko; Takumi, Koji; Shindo, Toshikazu; Kumagae, Yuichi; Kamimura, Kiyohisa; Nakajo, Masayuki

2012-01-01

AIM: To clarify features of hepatic hemangiomas on gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriaminpentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared with enhanced computed tomography (CT).

Polarization imaging enhancement for target vision through haze

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Hai-Ying; Zhang, San-Xi; Li, Jie; LI, Bin; Tang, Zi-li; Liu, Biao; Jia, Wen-Wu

2016-10-01

Haze, fog, and smoke are turbid medium in the atmosphere which usually degrade viewing condition of outdoor scenes. The resulted images lose contrast and color fidelity with serious degradation. Due to loss of large detailed information of measured scene, it will usually lead to invalid detection and measurement. The suspended particles in the atmosphere and the scene being measured give rise to polarization changes by their reflection. In the process of reflection, absorption and scattering, the object itself can be determined by its own polarization characteristics. Based on this point, we proposed an approach for target vision through haze. This approach is based on the polarization differences between the scene being measured and the scattering background to move the haze effects. It can realize a great visibility enhancement and enable the scene rendering even if imaged under restricted viewing conditions with low polarization. In this work, the detailed theoretical operation principle is presented. A validating imaging system is established and the corresponding experiment is carried out. We present the experimental results of haze-free image of scene with recovered high contrast. This method also can be used to effectively enhance the imaging performance of any other optical system.

Standardisation of 64Cu using a software coincidence counting system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Havelka, Miroslav; Sochorová, Jana

2014-01-01

The activity of the radionuclide 64 Cu was determined by the efficiency extrapolation method applied to 4π(PC)−γ coincidence counting. The standardisation was performed by software coincidence counting—a digital method for primary activity measurement that simplifies the setting of optimal coincidence parameters. The γ-ray-energy window, characterised by identical gamma detection efficiency related to the sum of EC and to the sum of beta decay branches, was found. This setting ensured a linear and zero slope extrapolation curve. - Highlights: • Standardisation realised by extrapolation method applied to 4π(PC)−γ coincidence. • Digital method for optimal setting of coincidence parameters was used. • Result with total standard uncertainty of 0.74% was obtained

Enhanced EDX images by fusion of multimodal SEM images using pansharpening techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Franchi, G; Angulo, J; Moreaud, M; Sorbier, L

2018-01-01

The goal of this paper is to explore the potential interest of image fusion in the context of multimodal scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging. In particular, we aim at merging the backscattered electron images that usually have a high spatial resolution but do not provide enough discriminative information to physically classify the nature of the sample, with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) images that have discriminative information but a lower spatial resolution. The produced images are named enhanced EDX. To achieve this goal, we have compared the results obtained with classical pansharpening techniques for image fusion with an original approach tailored for multimodal SEM fusion of information. Quantitative assessment is obtained by means of two SEM images and a simulated dataset produced by a software based on PENELOPE. © 2017 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2017 Royal Microscopical Society.

Standardisation of costs: the Dutch Manual for Costing in economic evaluations.

Science.gov (United States)

Oostenbrink, Jan B; Koopmanschap, Marc A; Rutten, Frans F H

2002-01-01

The lack of a uniform costing methodology is often considered a weakness of economic evaluations that hinders the interpretation and comparison of studies. Standardisation is therefore an important topic within the methodology of economic evaluations and in national guidelines that formulate the formal requirements for studies to be considered when deciding on the reimbursement of new medical therapies. Recently, the Dutch Manual for Costing: Methods and Standard Costs for Economic Evaluations in Health Care (further referred to as "the manual") has been published, in addition to the Dutch guidelines for pharmacoeconomic research. The objectives of this article are to describe the main content of the manual and to discuss some key issues of the manual in relation to the standardisation of costs. The manual introduces a six-step procedure for costing. These steps concern: the scope of the study;the choice of cost categories;the identification of units;the measurement of resource use;the monetary valuation of units; andthe calculation of unit costs. Each step consists of a number of choices and these together define the approach taken. In addition to a description of the costing process, five key issues regarding the standardisation of costs are distinguished. These are the use of basic principles, methods for measurement and valuation, standard costs (average prices of healthcare services), standard values (values that can be used within unit cost calculations), and the reporting of outcomes. The use of the basic principles, standard values and minimal requirements for reporting outcomes, as defined in the manual, are obligatory in studies that support submissions to acquire reimbursement for new pharmaceuticals. Whether to use standard costs, and the choice of a particular method to measure or value costs, is left mainly to the investigator, depending on the specific study setting. In conclusion, several instruments are available to increase standardisation in

A novel image-domain-based cone-beam computed tomography enhancement algorithm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Xiang; Li Tianfang; Yang Yong; Heron, Dwight E; Huq, M Saiful, E-mail: lix@upmc.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA 15232 (United States)

2011-05-07

Kilo-voltage (kV) cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) plays an important role in image-guided radiotherapy. However, due to a large cone-beam angle, scatter effects significantly degrade the CBCT image quality and limit its clinical application. The goal of this study is to develop an image enhancement algorithm to reduce the low-frequency CBCT image artifacts, which are also called the bias field. The proposed algorithm is based on the hypothesis that image intensities of different types of materials in CBCT images are approximately globally uniform (in other words, a piecewise property). A maximum a posteriori probability framework was developed to estimate the bias field contribution from a given CBCT image. The performance of the proposed CBCT image enhancement method was tested using phantoms and clinical CBCT images. Compared to the original CBCT images, the corrected images using the proposed method achieved a more uniform intensity distribution within each tissue type and significantly reduced cupping and shading artifacts. In a head and a pelvic case, the proposed method reduced the Hounsfield unit (HU) errors within the region of interest from 300 HU to less than 60 HU. In a chest case, the HU errors were reduced from 460 HU to less than 110 HU. The proposed CBCT image enhancement algorithm demonstrated a promising result by the reduction of the scatter-induced low-frequency image artifacts commonly encountered in kV CBCT imaging.

Chain of evidence generation for contrast enhancement in digital image forensics

Science.gov (United States)

Battiato, Sebastiano; Messina, Giuseppe; Strano, Daniela

2010-01-01

The quality of the images obtained by digital cameras has improved a lot since digital cameras early days. Unfortunately, it is not unusual in image forensics to find wrongly exposed pictures. This is mainly due to obsolete techniques or old technologies, but also due to backlight conditions. To extrapolate some invisible details a stretching of the image contrast is obviously required. The forensics rules to produce evidences require a complete documentation of the processing steps, enabling the replication of the entire process. The automation of enhancement techniques is thus quite difficult and needs to be carefully documented. This work presents an automatic procedure to find contrast enhancement settings, allowing both image correction and automatic scripting generation. The technique is based on a preprocessing step which extracts the features of the image and selects correction parameters. The parameters are thus saved through a JavaScript code that is used in the second step of the approach to correct the image. The generated script is Adobe Photoshop compliant (which is largely used in image forensics analysis) thus permitting the replication of the enhancement steps. Experiments on a dataset of images are also reported showing the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

Depth image enhancement using perceptual texture priors

Science.gov (United States)

Bang, Duhyeon; Shim, Hyunjung

2015-03-01

A depth camera is widely used in various applications because it provides a depth image of the scene in real time. However, due to the limited power consumption, the depth camera presents severe noises, incapable of providing the high quality 3D data. Although the smoothness prior is often employed to subside the depth noise, it discards the geometric details so to degrade the distance resolution and hinder achieving the realism in 3D contents. In this paper, we propose a perceptual-based depth image enhancement technique that automatically recovers the depth details of various textures, using a statistical framework inspired by human mechanism of perceiving surface details by texture priors. We construct the database composed of the high quality normals. Based on the recent studies in human visual perception (HVP), we select the pattern density as a primary feature to classify textures. Upon the classification results, we match and substitute the noisy input normals with high quality normals in the database. As a result, our method provides the high quality depth image preserving the surface details. We expect that our work is effective to enhance the details of depth image from 3D sensors and to provide a high-fidelity virtual reality experience.

Standardisation of Bull's Mental Skills Questionnaire in South Africa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The contemporary science of sport and exercise psychology requires the standardisation of mental skills questionnaires to facilitate accurate assessment of and intervention for individuals and groups in various health and sport related contexts. The study presents international research findings regarding the ...

Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography in carotid artery disease: does automated image registration improve image quality?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menke, Jan; Larsen, Joerg

2009-01-01

Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is a noninvasive imaging alternative to digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for patients with carotid artery disease. In DSA, image quality can be improved by shifting the mask image if the patient has moved during angiography. This study investigated whether such image registration may also help to improve the image quality of carotid MRA. Data from 370 carotid MRA examinations of patients likely to have carotid artery disease were prospectively collected. The standard nonregistered MRAs were compared to automatically linear, affine and warp registered MRA by using three image quality parameters: the vessel detection probability (VDP) in maximum intensity projection (MIP) images, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in MIP images, and contrast-to-noise ratio in three-dimensional image volumes. A body shift of less than 1 mm occurred in 96.2% of cases. Analysis of variance revealed no significant influence of image registration and body shift on image quality (p > 0.05). In conclusion, standard contrast-enhanced carotid MRA usually requires no image registration to improve image quality and is generally robust against any naturally occurring body shift. (orig.)

Gadolinium-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of musculoskeletal infectious processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hopkins, K.L.; Li, K.C.P.; Bergman, G.

1995-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess whether gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides diagnostic information beyond that given by nonenhanced imaging in the evaluation of musculoskeletal infectious processes and whether it can be used for differentiating infectious from noninfectious inflammatory lesions. Magnetic resonance images performed with and without intravenous gadolinium-DTPA in 34 cases in which musculoskeletal infection had been clinically suspected were reviewed. Infectious lesions-including osteomyelitis, pyarthrosis, abscess, and cellulitis-were confirmed in a total of 22 cases: in 15 by biopsy or drainage and in 7 by clinical course. Our results show that gadolinium-DTPA-enhanced MRI is a highly sensitive technique in diagnosing musculoskeletal infectious lesions. It is especially useful in distinguishing abscesses from surrounding cellulitis/myositis. Lack of contrast enhancement rules out infection with a high degree of certainty. However, contrast enhancement cannot be used to reliably distinguish infectious from noninfectious inflammatory conditions. (orig.)

Gadolinium-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of musculoskeletal infectious processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hopkins, K.L. [Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, Stanford Univ. Medical Center, CA (United States); Li, K.C.P. [Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, Stanford Univ. Medical Center, CA (United States); Bergman, G. [Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, Stanford Univ. Medical Center, CA (United States)

1995-07-01

The purpose of this study was to assess whether gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides diagnostic information beyond that given by nonenhanced imaging in the evaluation of musculoskeletal infectious processes and whether it can be used for differentiating infectious from noninfectious inflammatory lesions. Magnetic resonance images performed with and without intravenous gadolinium-DTPA in 34 cases in which musculoskeletal infection had been clinically suspected were reviewed. Infectious lesions-including osteomyelitis, pyarthrosis, abscess, and cellulitis-were confirmed in a total of 22 cases: in 15 by biopsy or drainage and in 7 by clinical course. Our results show that gadolinium-DTPA-enhanced MRI is a highly sensitive technique in diagnosing musculoskeletal infectious lesions. It is especially useful in distinguishing abscesses from surrounding cellulitis/myositis. Lack of contrast enhancement rules out infection with a high degree of certainty. However, contrast enhancement cannot be used to reliably distinguish infectious from noninfectious inflammatory conditions. (orig.)

Contrast-enhanced NMR imaging: animal studies using gadolinium-DTPA complex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brasch, R.C.; Weinmann, H.J.; Wesbey, G.E.

1984-01-01

Gadolinium (Gd)-DTPA complex was assessed as a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) contrast-enhancing agent by experimentally imaging normal and diseased animals. After intravenous injection, Gd-DTPA, a strongly paramagnetic complex by virtue of unpaired electrons, was rapidly excreted into the urine of rats, producing an easily observable contrast enhancement on NMR images in kidney parenchyma and urine. Sterile soft-tissue abscesses demonstrated an obvious rim pattern of enhancement. A focus of radiation-induced brain damage in a canine model was only faintly detectable on spin-echo NMR images before contrast administration; after 0.5 mmol/kg Gd-DTPA administration, the lesion intensity increased from 3867 to 5590. In comparison, the normal brain with an intact blood-brain barrier remained unchanged in NMR characterization. Gd-DTPA is a promising new NMR contrast enhancer for the clinical assessment of renal function, of inflammatory lesions, and of focal disruption of the blood-brain barrier

Activity standardisation of 18F and ionisation chamber calibration for nuclear medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schrader, H.; Klein, R.; Kossert, K.

2007-01-01

Primary activity standardisations were performed on solutions of 18 F using 4πβ-γ coincidence counting and liquid scintillation counting (LSC) according to the CIEMAT/NIST method. A β + -emission probability of 96.86% was used for both methods. The various standardised 18 F solutions were measured in ionisation chambers of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and compared by determining radionuclide calibration factors. Already in 2001 an 18 F solution had been standardised at the PTB and compared with the results of nine national metrology institutes (NMIs), using the ISOCAL IV secondary radionuclide calibrators of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) as transfer instruments and a 68 Ge check source solution. These results were linked to the International Reference System (SIR) at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) by aliquots of solutions sent by the Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (BNM-LNHB) and the NPL. Further on, in 2005, PTB sent an aliquot of an 18 F solution to the SIR for ionisation chamber measurements. A value of the equivalent activity was determined and included in the key comparison database (KCDB). The recent PTB value of the equivalent activity of the SIR is in good agreement with the key comparison reference value determined from five NMIs. These results confirm that the standardisation of 18 F solutions can be achieved with the accuracy required for use in nuclear medicine and, in particular, for applications in positron emission tomography (PET)

Oriented diffusion filtering for enhancing low-quality fingerprint images

KAUST Repository

Gottschlich, C.; Schönlieb, C.-B.

2012-01-01

To enhance low-quality fingerprint images, we present a novel method that first estimates the local orientation of the fingerprint ridge and valley flow and next performs oriented diffusion filtering, followed by a locally adaptive contrast enhancement step. By applying the authors' new approach to low-quality images of the FVC2004 fingerprint databases, the authors are able to show its competitiveness with other state-of-the-art enhancement methods for fingerprints like curved Gabor filtering. A major advantage of oriented diffusion filtering over those is its computational efficiency. Combining oriented diffusion filtering with curved Gabor filters led to additional improvements and, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the lowest equal error rates achieved so far using MINDTCT and BOZORTH3 on the FVC2004 databases. The recognition performance and the computational efficiency of the method suggest to include oriented diffusion filtering as a standard image enhancement add-on module for real-time fingerprint recognition systems. In order to facilitate the reproduction of these results, an implementation of the oriented diffusion filtering for Matlab and GNU Octave is made available for download. © 2012 The Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Oriented diffusion filtering for enhancing low-quality fingerprint images

KAUST Repository

Gottschlich, C.

2012-01-01

To enhance low-quality fingerprint images, we present a novel method that first estimates the local orientation of the fingerprint ridge and valley flow and next performs oriented diffusion filtering, followed by a locally adaptive contrast enhancement step. By applying the authors\\' new approach to low-quality images of the FVC2004 fingerprint databases, the authors are able to show its competitiveness with other state-of-the-art enhancement methods for fingerprints like curved Gabor filtering. A major advantage of oriented diffusion filtering over those is its computational efficiency. Combining oriented diffusion filtering with curved Gabor filters led to additional improvements and, to the best of the authors\\' knowledge, the lowest equal error rates achieved so far using MINDTCT and BOZORTH3 on the FVC2004 databases. The recognition performance and the computational efficiency of the method suggest to include oriented diffusion filtering as a standard image enhancement add-on module for real-time fingerprint recognition systems. In order to facilitate the reproduction of these results, an implementation of the oriented diffusion filtering for Matlab and GNU Octave is made available for download. © 2012 The Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Differential evolution optimization combined with chaotic sequences for image contrast enhancement

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Santos Coelho, Leandro dos [Industrial and Systems Engineering Graduate Program, LAS/PPGEPS, Pontifical Catholic University of Parana, PUCPR Imaculada Conceicao, 1155, 80215-901 Curitiba, Parana (Brazil)], E-mail: leandro.coelho@pucpr.br; Sauer, Joao Guilherme [Industrial and Systems Engineering Graduate Program, LAS/PPGEPS, Pontifical Catholic University of Parana, PUCPR Imaculada Conceicao, 1155, 80215-901 Curitiba, Parana (Brazil)], E-mail: joao.sauer@gmail.com; Rudek, Marcelo [Industrial and Systems Engineering Graduate Program, LAS/PPGEPS, Pontifical Catholic University of Parana, PUCPR Imaculada Conceicao, 1155, 80215-901 Curitiba, Parana (Brazil)], E-mail: marcelo.rudek@pucpr.br

2009-10-15

Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) are stochastic and robust meta-heuristics of evolutionary computation field useful to solve optimization problems in image processing applications. Recently, as special mechanism to avoid being trapped in local minimum, the ergodicity property of chaotic sequences has been used in various designs of EAs. Three differential evolution approaches based on chaotic sequences using logistic equation for image enhancement process are proposed in this paper. Differential evolution is a simple yet powerful evolutionary optimization algorithm that has been successfully used in solving continuous problems. The proposed chaotic differential evolution schemes have fast convergence rate but also maintain the diversity of the population so as to escape from local optima. In this paper, the image contrast enhancement is approached as a constrained nonlinear optimization problem. The objective of the proposed chaotic differential evolution schemes is to maximize the fitness criterion in order to enhance the contrast and detail in the image by adapting the parameters using a contrast enhancement technique. The proposed chaotic differential evolution schemes are compared with classical differential evolution to two testing images. Simulation results on three images show that the application of chaotic sequences instead of random sequences is a possible strategy to improve the performance of classical differential evolution optimization algorithm.

Characterisation of a resolution enhancing image inversion interferometer.

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Wicker, Kai; Sindbert, Simon; Heintzmann, Rainer

2009-08-31

Image inversion interferometers have the potential to significantly enhance the lateral resolution and light efficiency of scanning fluorescence microscopes. Self-interference of a point source's coherent point spread function with its inverted copy leads to a reduction in the integrated signal for off-axis sources compared to sources on the inversion axis. This can be used to enhance the resolution in a confocal laser scanning microscope. We present a simple image inversion interferometer relying solely on reflections off planar surfaces. Measurements of the detection point spread function for several types of light sources confirm the predicted performance and suggest its usability for scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy.

Fuzzy Logic-Based Histogram Equalization for Image Contrast Enhancement

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V. Magudeeswaran

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Fuzzy logic-based histogram equalization (FHE is proposed for image contrast enhancement. The FHE consists of two stages. First, fuzzy histogram is computed based on fuzzy set theory to handle the inexactness of gray level values in a better way compared to classical crisp histograms. In the second stage, the fuzzy histogram is divided into two subhistograms based on the median value of the original image and then equalizes them independently to preserve image brightness. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of proposed FHE algorithm are evaluated using two well-known parameters like average information contents (AIC and natural image quality evaluator (NIQE index for various images. From the qualitative and quantitative measures, it is interesting to see that this proposed method provides optimum results by giving better contrast enhancement and preserving the local information of the original image. Experimental result shows that the proposed method can effectively and significantly eliminate washed-out appearance and adverse artifacts induced by several existing methods. The proposed method has been tested using several images and gives better visual quality as compared to the conventional methods.

Biliary enhanced MR imaging by Gd-DTPA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohkawa, Shinichi; Fujikura, Yuji; Kanai, Toshio; Hiramatsu, Kyoichi.

1992-01-01

Biliary enhanced MRI (BEMRI) by Gd-DTPA via PTCD and/or PTGBD tube for obstructive jaundice was performed in 8 patients. In all cases, biliary tract was clearly visualised as high signal intensity on T1 weighted images. On same images, primary lesion such as common bile duct cancer was also visualised as well as portal system. In addition, MR angiography (MRA) by 2D-time of flight method was performed. MRA with BEMRI shows portal encasement on the same image as biliary tract obstruction. This suggests MRA with BEMRI may replace the other modality for obstructive jaundice. (author)

FUZZY BASED CONTRAST STRETCHING FOR MEDICAL IMAGE ENHANCEMENT

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T.C. Raja Kumar

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Contrast Stretching is an important part in medical image processing applications. Contrast is the difference between two adjacent pixels. Fuzzy statistical values are analyzed and better results are produced in the spatial domain of the input image. The histogram mapping produces the resultant image with less impulsive noise and smooth nature. The probabilities of gray values are generated and the fuzzy set is determined from the position of the input image pixel. The result indicates the good performance of the proposed fuzzy based stretching. The inverse transform of the real values are mapped with the input image to generate the fuzzy statistics. This approach gives a flexible image enhancement for medical images in the presence of noises.

Image fusion for dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

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Leach Martin O

2004-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Multivariate imaging techniques such as dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI have been shown to provide valuable information for medical diagnosis. Even though these techniques provide new information, integrating and evaluating the much wider range of information is a challenging task for the human observer. This task may be assisted with the use of image fusion algorithms. Methods In this paper, image fusion based on Kernel Principal Component Analysis (KPCA is proposed for the first time. It is demonstrated that a priori knowledge about the data domain can be easily incorporated into the parametrisation of the KPCA, leading to task-oriented visualisations of the multivariate data. The results of the fusion process are compared with those of the well-known and established standard linear Principal Component Analysis (PCA by means of temporal sequences of 3D MRI volumes from six patients who took part in a breast cancer screening study. Results The PCA and KPCA algorithms are able to integrate information from a sequence of MRI volumes into informative gray value or colour images. By incorporating a priori knowledge, the fusion process can be automated and optimised in order to visualise suspicious lesions with high contrast to normal tissue. Conclusion Our machine learning based image fusion approach maps the full signal space of a temporal DCE-MRI sequence to a single meaningful visualisation with good tissue/lesion contrast and thus supports the radiologist during manual image evaluation.

Magnetic resonance image enhancement using V-filter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, H.; Sugita, K.; Kanzaki, N.; Johja, I.; Hiraki, Y.

1990-01-01

The purpose of this study is to present a method of boundary enhancement algorithms for magnetic resonance images using a V-filter. The boundary of the brain tumor was precisely extracted by the region segmentation techniques

Contrast enhancement of fingerprint images using intuitionistic type II fuzzy set

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Devarasan Ezhilmaran

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A novel contrast image enhancement of fingerprint images using intuitionistic type II fuzzy set theory is recommended in this work. The method of Hamacher T co-norm(S norm which generates a new membership function with the help of upper and lower membership function of type II fuzzy set. The finger print identification is one of the very few techniques employed in forensic science to aid criminal investigations in daily life, providing access control in financial security;-, visa related services, as well as others. Mostly fingerprint images are poorly illuminated and hardly visible, so it is necessary to enhance the input images. The enhancement is useful for authentication and matching. The fingerprint enhancement is vital for identifying and authenticating people by matching their fingerprints with the stored one in the database. The proposed enhancement of the intuitionistic type II fuzzy set theory results showed that it is more effective, especially, very useful for forensic science operations. The experimental results were compared with non-fuzzy, fuzzy, intuitionistic fuzzy and type II fuzzy methods in which the proposed method offered better results with good quality, less noise and low blur features.

An improved contrast enhancement algorithm for infrared images based on adaptive double plateaus histogram equalization

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shuo; Jin, Weiqi; Li, Li; Li, Yiyang

2018-05-01

Infrared thermal images can reflect the thermal-radiation distribution of a particular scene. However, the contrast of the infrared images is usually low. Hence, it is generally necessary to enhance the contrast of infrared images in advance to facilitate subsequent recognition and analysis. Based on the adaptive double plateaus histogram equalization, this paper presents an improved contrast enhancement algorithm for infrared thermal images. In the proposed algorithm, the normalized coefficient of variation of the histogram, which characterizes the level of contrast enhancement, is introduced as feedback information to adjust the upper and lower plateau thresholds. The experiments on actual infrared images show that compared to the three typical contrast-enhancement algorithms, the proposed algorithm has better scene adaptability and yields better contrast-enhancement results for infrared images with more dark areas or a higher dynamic range. Hence, it has high application value in contrast enhancement, dynamic range compression, and digital detail enhancement for infrared thermal images.

Noise reduction and image enhancement using a hardware implementation of artificial neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

David, Robert; Williams, Erin; de Tremiolles, Ghislain; Tannhof, Pascal

1999-03-01

In this paper, we present a neural based solution developed for noise reduction and image enhancement using the ZISC, an IBM hardware processor which implements the Restricted Coulomb Energy algorithm and the K-Nearest Neighbor algorithm. Artificial neural networks present the advantages of processing time reduction in comparison with classical models, adaptability, and the weighted property of pattern learning. The goal of the developed application is image enhancement in order to restore old movies (noise reduction, focus correction, etc.), to improve digital television images, or to treat images which require adaptive processing (medical images, spatial images, special effects, etc.). Image results show a quantitative improvement over the noisy image as well as the efficiency of this system. Further enhancements are being examined to improve the output of the system.

Gadobenate-dimeglumine-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for hepatic lesions in children

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Chavhan, Govind B.; Mann, Erika [The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Toronto (Canada); Kamath, Binita M. [The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Toronto (Canada); Babyn, Paul S. [Royal University Hospital, Department of Medical Imaging, Saskatoon (Canada)

2014-10-15

Magnetic resonance imaging enhanced by hepatocyte-specific contrast media has been found useful to characterize liver lesions in adults and children. To present our experience with gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA)-enhanced MRI for evaluation of focal liver lesions in children. We retrospectively reviewed gadobenate-dimeglumine-enhanced MR images obtained for evaluation of suspected hepatic lesions in 30 children. Signal characteristics on various sequences including 45- to 60-min hepatobiliary phase images were noted by two radiologists. Chart review identified relevant clinical details including history of cancer treatment, available pathology and stability of lesion size on follow-up imaging. Of the 30 children who had gadobenate-enhanced MRI, 26 showed focal lesions. Diagnoses in 26 children were focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) in 15, hemangiomas in 3, regenerating nodules in 3, focal fatty infiltration in 2, indeterminate lesions in 3, and one patient each with adenomas, hepatoblastoma and metastasis. Two patients had multiple diagnoses. All FNH lesions (39), all regenerative nodules (19) and an indeterminate lesion were iso- or hyperintense on hepatobiliary-phase images while all other lesions (28) were hypointense to hepatic parenchyma. The average follow-up period was 21.7 months. Our experience with gadobenate-enhanced MRI indicates potential utility of gadobenate in the evaluation of pediatric hepatic lesions in differentiating FNH and regenerating nodules from other lesions. (orig.)

Integrated interpretation of overlapping AEM datasets achieved through standardisation

Science.gov (United States)

Sørensen, Camilla C.; Munday, Tim; Heinson, Graham

2015-12-01

Numerous airborne electromagnetic surveys have been acquired in Australia using a variety of systems. It is not uncommon to find two or more surveys covering the same ground, but acquired using different systems and at different times. Being able to combine overlapping datasets and get a spatially coherent resistivity-depth image of the ground can assist geological interpretation, particularly when more subtle geophysical responses are important. Combining resistivity-depth models obtained from the inversion of airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data can be challenging, given differences in system configuration, geometry, flying height and preservation or monitoring of system acquisition parameters such as waveform. In this study, we define and apply an approach to overlapping AEM surveys, acquired by fixed wing and helicopter time domain electromagnetic (EM) systems flown in the vicinity of the Goulds Dam uranium deposit in the Frome Embayment, South Australia, with the aim of mapping the basement geometry and the extent of the Billeroo palaeovalley. Ground EM soundings were used to standardise the AEM data, although results indicated that only data from the REPTEM system needed to be corrected to bring the two surveys into agreement and to achieve coherent spatial resistivity-depth intervals.

Free-breathing motion-corrected late-gadolinium-enhancement imaging improves image quality in children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olivieri, Laura; O'Brien, Kendall J.; Cross, Russell; Xue, Hui; Kellman, Peter; Hansen, Michael S.

2016-01-01

The value of late-gadolinium-enhancement (LGE) imaging in the diagnosis and management of pediatric and congenital heart disease is clear; however current acquisition techniques are susceptible to error and artifacts when performed in children because of children's higher heart rates, higher prevalence of sinus arrhythmia, and inability to breath-hold. Commonly used techniques in pediatric LGE imaging include breath-held segmented FLASH (segFLASH) and steady-state free precession-based (segSSFP) imaging. More recently, single-shot SSFP techniques with respiratory motion-corrected averaging have emerged. This study tested and compared single-shot free-breathing LGE techniques with standard segmented breath-held techniques in children undergoing LGE imaging. Thirty-two consecutive children underwent clinically indicated late-enhancement imaging using intravenous gadobutrol 0.15 mmol/kg. Breath-held segSSFP, breath-held segFLASH, and free-breathing single-shot SSFP LGE sequences were performed in consecutive series in each child. Two blinded reviewers evaluated the quality of the images and rated them on a scale of 1-5 (1 = poor, 5 = superior) based on blood pool-myocardial definition, presence of cardiac motion, presence of respiratory motion artifacts, and image acquisition artifact. We used analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare groups. Patients ranged in age from 9 months to 18 years, with a mean +/- standard deviation (SD) of 13.3 +/- 4.8 years. R-R interval at the time of acquisition ranged 366-1,265 milliseconds (ms) (47-164 beats per minute [bpm]), mean +/- SD of 843+/-231 ms (72+/-21 bpm). Mean +/- SD quality ratings for long-axis imaging for segFLASH, segSSFP and single-shot SSFP were 3.1+/-0.9, 3.4+/-0.9 and 4.0+/-0.9, respectively (P < 0.01 by ANOVA). Mean +/- SD quality ratings for short-axis imaging for segFLASH, segSSFP and single-shot SSFP were 3.4+/-1, 3.8+/-0.9 and 4.3+/-0.7, respectively (P < 0.01 by ANOVA). Single-shot late-enhancement

Free-breathing motion-corrected late-gadolinium-enhancement imaging improves image quality in children

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olivieri, Laura; O' Brien, Kendall J. [Children' s National Health System, Division of Cardiology, Washington, DC (United States); National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (United States); Cross, Russell [Children' s National Health System, Division of Cardiology, Washington, DC (United States); Xue, Hui; Kellman, Peter; Hansen, Michael S. [National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (United States)

2016-06-15

The value of late-gadolinium-enhancement (LGE) imaging in the diagnosis and management of pediatric and congenital heart disease is clear; however current acquisition techniques are susceptible to error and artifacts when performed in children because of children's higher heart rates, higher prevalence of sinus arrhythmia, and inability to breath-hold. Commonly used techniques in pediatric LGE imaging include breath-held segmented FLASH (segFLASH) and steady-state free precession-based (segSSFP) imaging. More recently, single-shot SSFP techniques with respiratory motion-corrected averaging have emerged. This study tested and compared single-shot free-breathing LGE techniques with standard segmented breath-held techniques in children undergoing LGE imaging. Thirty-two consecutive children underwent clinically indicated late-enhancement imaging using intravenous gadobutrol 0.15 mmol/kg. Breath-held segSSFP, breath-held segFLASH, and free-breathing single-shot SSFP LGE sequences were performed in consecutive series in each child. Two blinded reviewers evaluated the quality of the images and rated them on a scale of 1-5 (1 = poor, 5 = superior) based on blood pool-myocardial definition, presence of cardiac motion, presence of respiratory motion artifacts, and image acquisition artifact. We used analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare groups. Patients ranged in age from 9 months to 18 years, with a mean +/- standard deviation (SD) of 13.3 +/- 4.8 years. R-R interval at the time of acquisition ranged 366-1,265 milliseconds (ms) (47-164 beats per minute [bpm]), mean +/- SD of 843+/-231 ms (72+/-21 bpm). Mean +/- SD quality ratings for long-axis imaging for segFLASH, segSSFP and single-shot SSFP were 3.1+/-0.9, 3.4+/-0.9 and 4.0+/-0.9, respectively (P < 0.01 by ANOVA). Mean +/- SD quality ratings for short-axis imaging for segFLASH, segSSFP and single-shot SSFP were 3.4+/-1, 3.8+/-0.9 and 4.3+/-0.7, respectively (P < 0.01 by ANOVA). Single-shot late-enhancement

Learning a No-Reference Quality Assessment Model of Enhanced Images With Big Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Ke; Tao, Dacheng; Qiao, Jun-Fei; Lin, Weisi

2018-04-01

In this paper, we investigate into the problem of image quality assessment (IQA) and enhancement via machine learning. This issue has long attracted a wide range of attention in computational intelligence and image processing communities, since, for many practical applications, e.g., object detection and recognition, raw images are usually needed to be appropriately enhanced to raise the visual quality (e.g., visibility and contrast). In fact, proper enhancement can noticeably improve the quality of input images, even better than originally captured images, which are generally thought to be of the best quality. In this paper, we present two most important contributions. The first contribution is to develop a new no-reference (NR) IQA model. Given an image, our quality measure first extracts 17 features through analysis of contrast, sharpness, brightness and more, and then yields a measure of visual quality using a regression module, which is learned with big-data training samples that are much bigger than the size of relevant image data sets. The results of experiments on nine data sets validate the superiority and efficiency of our blind metric compared with typical state-of-the-art full-reference, reduced-reference and NA IQA methods. The second contribution is that a robust image enhancement framework is established based on quality optimization. For an input image, by the guidance of the proposed NR-IQA measure, we conduct histogram modification to successively rectify image brightness and contrast to a proper level. Thorough tests demonstrate that our framework can well enhance natural images, low-contrast images, low-light images, and dehazed images. The source code will be released at https://sites.google.com/site/guke198701/publications.

A fast combinatorial enhancement technique for earthquake damage identification based on remote sensing image

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Aixia; Wang, Xiaoqing; Ding, Xiang; Du, Zecheng

2010-11-01

On the basis of the study on the enhancement methods of remote sensing images obtained after several earthquakes, the paper designed a new and optimized image enhancement model which was implemented by combining different single methods. The patterns of elementary model units and combined types of model were defined. Based on the enhancement model database, the algorithm of combinatorial model was brought out via C++ programming. The combined model was tested by processing the aerial remote sensing images obtained after 1976 Tangshan earthquake. It was proved that the definition and implementation of combined enhancement model can efficiently improve the ability and flexibility of image enhancement algorithm.

Fundamentals of quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Paldino, Michael J; Barboriak, Daniel P

2009-05-01

Quantitative analysis of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging (DCE-MR imaging) has the power to provide information regarding physiologic characteristics of the microvasculature and is, therefore, of great potential value to the practice of oncology. In particular, these techniques could have a significant impact on the development of novel anticancer therapies as a promising biomarker of drug activity. Standardization of DCE-MR imaging acquisition and analysis to provide more reproducible measures of tumor vessel physiology is of crucial importance to realize this potential. The purpose of this article is to review the pathophysiologic basis and technical aspects of DCE-MR imaging techniques.

Experimental and theoretical investigations of diffraction enhanced imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Junyue; Zhu Peiping; Yuan Qingxi; Huang Wanxia; Shu Hang; Chen Bo; Li Enrong; Liu Yijin; Hu Tiandou; Wu Ziyu

2007-01-01

This contribution investigates the effect on the imaging contrast of the small angle scattering and of the rocking curve in the entire angular range. We show that based on the small angle scattering properties, the reflectivity of the crystal analyzer and the rocking curve of the monochromator-analyzer, in a diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) experimental setup the contrast of the image collected at the top of the rocking curve is always higher than that of the apparent absorption image. Moreover, our experimental data confirm that the quality of a refraction image is superior to a refraction-like image. In order to understand the observed behavior we introduce and discuss the contribution of a new term in the classical DEI equation

Experimental and theoretical investigations of diffraction enhanced imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Junyue [Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Zhu Peiping [Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China)], E-mail: zhupp@ihep.ac.cn; Yuan Qingxi; Huang Wanxia [Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Shu Hang [Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Chen Bo [Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Li Enrong [Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Liu Yijin; Hu Tiandou; Wu Ziyu [Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China)

2007-09-21

This contribution investigates the effect on the imaging contrast of the small angle scattering and of the rocking curve in the entire angular range. We show that based on the small angle scattering properties, the reflectivity of the crystal analyzer and the rocking curve of the monochromator-analyzer, in a diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) experimental setup the contrast of the image collected at the top of the rocking curve is always higher than that of the apparent absorption image. Moreover, our experimental data confirm that the quality of a refraction image is superior to a refraction-like image. In order to understand the observed behavior we introduce and discuss the contribution of a new term in the classical DEI equation.

Image contrast enhancement based on a local standard deviation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Dah-Chung; Wu, Wen-Rong

1996-01-01

The adaptive contrast enhancement (ACE) algorithm is a widely used image enhancement method, which needs a contrast gain to adjust high frequency components of an image. In the literature, the gain is usually inversely proportional to the local standard deviation (LSD) or is a constant. But these cause two problems in practical applications, i.e., noise overenhancement and ringing artifact. In this paper a new gain is developed based on Hunt's Gaussian image model to prevent the two defects. The new gain is a nonlinear function of LSD and has the desired characteristic emphasizing the LSD regions in which details are concentrated. We have applied the new ACE algorithm to chest x-ray images and the simulations show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm

USE OF IMAGE ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING REAL TIME FACE RECOGNITION EFFICIENCY ON WEARABLE GADGETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MUHAMMAD EHSAN RANA

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to study the effects of image enhancement techniques on face recognition performance of wearable gadgets with an emphasis on recognition rate.In this research, a number of image enhancement techniques are selected that include brightness normalization, contrast normalization, sharpening, smoothing, and various combinations of these. Subsequently test images are obtained from AT&T database and Yale Face Database B to investigate the effect of these image enhancement techniques under various conditions such as change of illumination and face orientation and expression.The evaluation of data, collected during this research, revealed that the effect of image pre-processing techniques on face recognition highly depends on the illumination condition under which these images are taken. It is revealed that the benefit of applying image enhancement techniques on face images is best seen when there is high variation of illumination among images. Results also indicate that highest recognition rate is achieved when images are taken under low light condition and image contrast is enhanced using histogram equalization technique and then image noise is reduced using median smoothing filter. Additionally combination of contrast normalization and mean smoothing filter shows good result in all scenarios. Results obtained from test cases illustrate up to 75% improvement in face recognition rate when image enhancement is applied to images in given scenarios.

Characterization of the enhancing lesions on dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in patients with interstitial mammoplasty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Tae Yun; Kim, Sung Hun; Kang, Bong Joo; Kim, Hyeon Sook; Cha, Eun Suk; Kim, Ji Youn; Song, Byung Joo

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to categorize the morphologic and kinetic features of enhancing lesions in breasts with interstitial mammoplasty using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and to assess factors predictive of breast cancer. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and radiological data of 21 enhancing lesions in 19 patients with interstitial mammoplasty, who underwent breast magnetic resonance imaging and biopsy or an operation in our hospital from September 2008 to July 2012. These lesions were sorted by morphological and kinetic features and final assessment category according to the BI-RADS lexicon. Results: Nine cases were confirmed to be ductal carcinoma in situ (n = 2) and invasive ductal carcinoma (n = 7), and the remaining 12 cases were fibrocystic disease (n = 2), fibroadenoma (n = 2), fat necrosis (n = 1), foreign body granuloma (n = 3) and silicone mastitis (n = 1). Common features of malignancy included irregular shape (50.0%), spiculated margins (75.0%), heterogeneous enhancement (50.0%) and type III kinetic pattern (87.5%). The correlations of margins and kinetic curve pattern with benignity and malignancy approached statistical significance (p = 0.02, respectively). We found no correlation for shape (p = 0.33) or internal enhancement (p = 0.42) between lesion types. The malignancy rate of enhancing lesions was 42.8% (9/21). The sensitivity and specificity of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging were 100% and 16.67%, respectively. The positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging were 47.38%, 100% and 52.38%. Overall inter-observer agreement for the kinetic curve pattern was good (κ = 0.67). Moderate agreement was seen in describing the shape, margin, enhancement and assessing the final category (κ = 0.59, 0.46, 0.58 and 0.49, respectively). Conclusion: Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging had a high

Characterization of the enhancing lesions on dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in patients with interstitial mammoplasty

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Tae Yun [Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Sung Hun, E-mail: rad-ksh@catholic.ac.kr [Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea (Korea, Republic of); Kang, Bong Joo [Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyeon Sook [Department of Radiology, St. Paul Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea (Korea, Republic of); Cha, Eun Suk [Department of Radiology, Ewha Womans University, School of Medicine, Mokdong Hospital (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Ji Youn [Department of Radiology, Yeouido St. Mary' s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea (Korea, Republic of); Song, Byung Joo [Department of Surgery, Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2013-12-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to categorize the morphologic and kinetic features of enhancing lesions in breasts with interstitial mammoplasty using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and to assess factors predictive of breast cancer. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and radiological data of 21 enhancing lesions in 19 patients with interstitial mammoplasty, who underwent breast magnetic resonance imaging and biopsy or an operation in our hospital from September 2008 to July 2012. These lesions were sorted by morphological and kinetic features and final assessment category according to the BI-RADS lexicon. Results: Nine cases were confirmed to be ductal carcinoma in situ (n = 2) and invasive ductal carcinoma (n = 7), and the remaining 12 cases were fibrocystic disease (n = 2), fibroadenoma (n = 2), fat necrosis (n = 1), foreign body granuloma (n = 3) and silicone mastitis (n = 1). Common features of malignancy included irregular shape (50.0%), spiculated margins (75.0%), heterogeneous enhancement (50.0%) and type III kinetic pattern (87.5%). The correlations of margins and kinetic curve pattern with benignity and malignancy approached statistical significance (p = 0.02, respectively). We found no correlation for shape (p = 0.33) or internal enhancement (p = 0.42) between lesion types. The malignancy rate of enhancing lesions was 42.8% (9/21). The sensitivity and specificity of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging were 100% and 16.67%, respectively. The positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging were 47.38%, 100% and 52.38%. Overall inter-observer agreement for the kinetic curve pattern was good (κ = 0.67). Moderate agreement was seen in describing the shape, margin, enhancement and assessing the final category (κ = 0.59, 0.46, 0.58 and 0.49, respectively). Conclusion: Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging had a high

Fingerprint image enhancement by differential hysteresis processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Blotta, Eduardo; Moler, Emilce

2004-05-10

A new method to enhance defective fingerprints images through image digital processing tools is presented in this work. When the fingerprints have been taken without any care, blurred and in some cases mostly illegible, as in the case presented here, their classification and comparison becomes nearly impossible. A combination of spatial domain filters, including a technique called differential hysteresis processing (DHP), is applied to improve these kind of images. This set of filtering methods proved to be satisfactory in a wide range of cases by uncovering hidden details that helped to identify persons. Dactyloscopy experts from Policia Federal Argentina and the EAAF have validated these results.

HDR Image Quality Enhancement Based on Spatially Variant Retinal Response

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Horiuchi Takahiko

2010-01-01

Full Text Available There is a growing demand for being able to display high dynamic range (HDR images on low dynamic range (LDR devices. Tone mapping is a process for enhancing HDR image quality on an LDR device by converting the tonal values of the original image from HDR to LDR. This paper proposes a new tone mapping algorithm for enhancing image quality by deriving a spatially-variant operator for imitating S-potential response in human retina, which efficiently improves local contrasts while conserving good global appearance. The proposed tone mapping operator is studied from a system construction point of view. It is found that the operator is regarded as a natural extension of the Retinex algorithm by adding a global adaptation process to the local adaptation. The feasibility of the proposed algorithm is examined in detail on experiments using standard HDR images and real HDR scene images, comparing with conventional tone mapping algorithms.

Study of quality perception in medical images based on comparison of contrast enhancement techniques in mammographic images

Science.gov (United States)

Matheus, B.; Verçosa, L. B.; Barufaldi, B.; Schiabel, H.

2014-03-01

With the absolute prevalence of digital images in mammography several new tools became available for radiologist; such as CAD schemes, digital zoom and contrast alteration. This work focuses in contrast variation and how the radiologist reacts to these changes when asked to evaluated image quality. Three contrast enhancing techniques were used in this study: conventional equalization, CCB Correction [1] - a digitization correction - and value subtraction. A set of 100 images was used in tests from some available online mammographic databases. The tests consisted of the presentation of all four versions of an image (original plus the three contrast enhanced images) to the specialist, requested to rank each one from the best up to worst quality for diagnosis. Analysis of results has demonstrated that CCB Correction [1] produced better images in almost all cases. Equalization, which mathematically produces a better contrast, was considered the worst for mammography image quality enhancement in the majority of cases (69.7%). The value subtraction procedure produced images considered better than the original in 84% of cases. Tests indicate that, for the radiologist's perception, it seems more important to guaranty full visualization of nuances than a high contrast image. Another result observed is that the "ideal" scanner curve does not yield the best result for a mammographic image. The important contrast range is the middle of the histogram, where nodules and masses need to be seen and clearly distinguished.

Mediastinal lymphoma: quantitative changes in gadolinium enhancement at MR imaging after treatment.

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Rahmouni, A; Divine, M; Lepage, E; Jazaerli, N; Belhadj, K; Gaulard, P; Golli, M; Reyes, F; Vasile, N

2001-06-01

To compare changes in gadolinium enhancement at magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with outcome in mediastinal lymphoma after treatment. Thirty-one patients with bulky mediastinal lymphoma (17 with Hodgkin disease, 14 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma) underwent serial MR imaging before and up to 50 months after treatment, with routine follow-up (including computed tomography). Signal intensity ratios between masses and muscle were calculated on T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and contrast material-enhanced T1-weighted spin-echo MR images. The percentage enhancement and signal intensity ratios of mediastinal masses on T2-weighted MR images were calculated at diagnosis and during and after treatment. Twenty-one patients with persistent complete remission had a mean percentage enhancement of residual masses (4%; range, -26% to 40%) that was significantly lower than that of initial masses (78%; range, 41%-124%). Although the mean signal intensity ratio of residual masses on T2-weighted images was significantly lower than that of initial masses, an increase in this ratio was observed in four patients after treatment. In seven patients with relapse, the percentage enhancement value of the residual mass was as high as that of the initial mass. Gadolinium enhancement of lymphomatous masses of the mediastinum decreased markedly after treatment in patients in continuous complete remission but not in patients with relapse.

Image Enhancement via Subimage Histogram Equalization Based on Mean and Variance

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

This paper puts forward a novel image enhancement method via Mean and Variance based Subimage Histogram Equalization (MVSIHE), which effectively increases the contrast of the input image with brightness and details well preserved compared with some other methods based on histogram equalization (HE). Firstly, the histogram of input image is divided into four segments based on the mean and variance of luminance component, and the histogram bins of each segment are modified and equalized, respectively. Secondly, the result is obtained via the concatenation of the processed subhistograms. Lastly, the normalization method is deployed on intensity levels, and the integration of the processed image with the input image is performed. 100 benchmark images from a public image database named CVG-UGR-Database are used for comparison with other state-of-the-art methods. The experiment results show that the algorithm can not only enhance image information effectively but also well preserve brightness and details of the original image. PMID:29403529

Image Enhancement via Subimage Histogram Equalization Based on Mean and Variance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liyun Zhuang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper puts forward a novel image enhancement method via Mean and Variance based Subimage Histogram Equalization (MVSIHE, which effectively increases the contrast of the input image with brightness and details well preserved compared with some other methods based on histogram equalization (HE. Firstly, the histogram of input image is divided into four segments based on the mean and variance of luminance component, and the histogram bins of each segment are modified and equalized, respectively. Secondly, the result is obtained via the concatenation of the processed subhistograms. Lastly, the normalization method is deployed on intensity levels, and the integration of the processed image with the input image is performed. 100 benchmark images from a public image database named CVG-UGR-Database are used for comparison with other state-of-the-art methods. The experiment results show that the algorithm can not only enhance image information effectively but also well preserve brightness and details of the original image.

Image Enhancement via Subimage Histogram Equalization Based on Mean and Variance.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Liyun; Guan, Yepeng

2017-01-01

This paper puts forward a novel image enhancement method via Mean and Variance based Subimage Histogram Equalization (MVSIHE), which effectively increases the contrast of the input image with brightness and details well preserved compared with some other methods based on histogram equalization (HE). Firstly, the histogram of input image is divided into four segments based on the mean and variance of luminance component, and the histogram bins of each segment are modified and equalized, respectively. Secondly, the result is obtained via the concatenation of the processed subhistograms. Lastly, the normalization method is deployed on intensity levels, and the integration of the processed image with the input image is performed. 100 benchmark images from a public image database named CVG-UGR-Database are used for comparison with other state-of-the-art methods. The experiment results show that the algorithm can not only enhance image information effectively but also well preserve brightness and details of the original image.

Gd-DTPA enhanced MR imaging in Bell's palsy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, Yasushi; Kawamura, Yuji; Yanagihara, Naoaki; Sadamoto, Masanori; Sadamoto, Kazuhiko.

1991-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was carried out in 27 patients with Bell's palsy. T1-weighted spin-echo images (TR500/TE25-34) were taken before and after the intravenous administration of Gd-DTPA (0.1 mmol/kg) with 0.5T superconductive MRI. There was significant enhancement at the geniculate ganglion and the horizontal segment of the involved facial nerve in 22 patients (81.5%) and at the vertical segment in 20 (74.1%). Enhancement at the meatal fundus was seen in only 4 patients (14.9%) and at the labyrinthine segment in 8 (29.6%). These results corroborate other evidence that the geniculate ganglion is involved most frequently in Bell's palsy. In addition, the enhancement of the proximal portion, i.e. the meatal fundus and the labyrinthine segment of the nerve, although not common, noted in this study may be important in the diagnosis and treatment of Bell's palsy. (author)

Geological mapping potential of computer-enhanced images from the Shuttle Imaging Radar - Lisbon Valley Anticline, Utah

Science.gov (United States)

Curlis, J. D.; Frost, V. S.; Dellwig, L. F.

1986-01-01

Computer-enhancement techniques applied to the SIR-A data from the Lisbon Valley area in the northern portion of the Paradox basin increased the value of the imagery in the development of geologically useful maps. The enhancement techniques include filtering to remove image speckle from the SIR-A data and combining these data with Landsat multispectral scanner data. A method well-suited for the combination of the data sets utilized a three-dimensional domain defined by intensity-hue-saturation (IHS) coordinates. Such a system allows the Landsat data to modulate image intensity, while the SIR-A data control image hue and saturation. Whereas the addition of Landsat data to the SIR-A image by means of a pixel-by-pixel ratio accentuated textural variations within the image, the addition of color to the combined images enabled isolation of areas in which gray-tone contrast was minimal. This isolation resulted in a more precise definition of stratigraphic units.

Assessment of acrylamide toxicity using a battery of standardised bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Zovko, Mira; Vidaković-Cifrek, Željka; Cvetković, Želimira; Bošnir, Jasna; Šikić, Sandra

2015-12-01

Acrylamide is a monomer widely used as an intermediate in the production of organic chemicals, e.g. polyacrylamides (PAMs). Since PAMs are low cost chemicals with applications in various industries and waste- and drinking water treatment, a certain amount of non-polymerised acrylamide is expected to end up in waterways. PAMs are non-toxic but acrylamide induces neurotoxic effects in humans and genotoxic, reproductive, and carcinogenic effects in laboratory animals. In order to evaluate the effect of acrylamide on freshwater organisms, bioassays were conducted on four species: algae Desmodesmus subspicatus and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, duckweed Lemna minor and water flea Daphnia magna according to ISO (International Organization for Standardisation) standardised methods. This approach ensures the evaluation of acrylamide toxicity on organisms with different levels of organisation and the comparability of results, and it examines the value of using a battery of low-cost standardised bioassays in the monitoring of pollution and contamination of aquatic ecosystems. These results showed that EC50 values were lower for Desmodesmus subspicatus and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata than for Daphnia magna and Lemna minor, which suggests an increased sensitivity of algae to acrylamide. According to the toxic unit approach, the values estimated by the Lemna minor and Daphnia magna bioassays, classify acrylamide as slightly toxic (TU=0-1; Class 1). The results obtained from algal bioassays (Desmodesmus subspicatus and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata) revealed the toxic effect of acrylamide (TU=1-10; Class 2) on these organisms.

Magnetic resonance imaging of urinary bladder carcinoma: tumor staging and gadolinium contrast-enhanced imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doringer, E.; Joos, H.; Forstner, R.; Schmoller, H.

1992-01-01

Forty-nine patients with urinary bladder carcinomas underwent pre-operative examinations using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The results of the MR examinations were correlated with the clinical-pathological findings following transurethral resection (TUR) and bimanual palpation (n = 47) or radical cystectomy (n = 2). The results of pre-contrast MR tumor staging (T1, T2), viewing stages Tis-T2 collectively, and subsequent to separate assessments of stages T3b-T4b, were correct 76.6% of the time. Gadolinium-DTPA (Gd-DTPA) contrast-enhanced examinations (pre-contrast T1 and after Gd-DTPA) showed a staging accuracy rate of 85.7%. T2-weighted images did not indicate any advantage when compared to T1-weighted images following Gd-DTPA. The signal intensity ratios of tumor/fat and tumor/muscle tissue were measured on T1-weighted pre-contrast images and following Gd-DTPA and then evaluated statistically, whereby the increased tumor signal intensity was statistically significant (Wilcoxon test, P < 0.01). Due to the relatively short examination time needed for T1-weighted images and the specific tumor enhancement, the administration of Gd-DTPA proves valuable in the diagnosis of bladder carcinomas. T2-weighted images are not necessary. (orig.)

Double Minimum Variance Beamforming Method to Enhance Photoacoustic Imaging

OpenAIRE

Paridar, Roya; Mozaffarzadeh, Moein; Nasiriavanaki, Mohammadreza; Orooji, Mahdi

2018-01-01

One of the common algorithms used to reconstruct photoacoustic (PA) images is the non-adaptive Delay-and-Sum (DAS) beamformer. However, the quality of the reconstructed PA images obtained by DAS is not satisfying due to its high level of sidelobes and wide mainlobe. In contrast, adaptive beamformers, such as minimum variance (MV), result in an improved image compared to DAS. In this paper, a novel beamforming method, called Double MV (D-MV) is proposed to enhance the image quality compared to...

Comparison of Background Parenchymal Enhancement at Contrast-enhanced Spectral Mammography and Breast MR Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Sogani, Julie; Morris, Elizabeth A; Kaplan, Jennifer B; D'Alessio, Donna; Goldman, Debra; Moskowitz, Chaya S; Jochelson, Maxine S

2017-01-01

Purpose To assess the extent of background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) at contrast material-enhanced (CE) spectral mammography and breast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, to evaluate interreader agreement in BPE assessment, and to examine the relationships between clinical factors and BPE. Materials and Methods This was a retrospective, institutional review board-approved, HIPAA-compliant study. Two hundred seventy-eight women from 25 to 76 years of age with increased breast cancer risk who underwent CE spectral mammography and MR imaging for screening or staging from 2010 through 2014 were included. Three readers independently rated BPE on CE spectral mammographic and MR images with the ordinal scale: minimal, mild, moderate, or marked. To assess pairwise agreement between BPE levels on CE spectral mammographic and MR images and among readers, weighted κ coefficients with quadratic weights were calculated. For overall agreement, mean κ values and bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals were calculated. The univariate and multivariate associations between BPE and clinical factors were examined by using generalized estimating equations separately for CE spectral mammography and MR imaging. Results Most women had minimal or mild BPE at both CE spectral mammography (68%-76%) and MR imaging (69%-76%). Between CE spectral mammography and MR imaging, the intrareader agreement ranged from moderate to substantial (κ = 0.55-0.67). Overall agreement on BPE levels between CE spectral mammography and MR imaging and among readers was substantial (κ = 0.66; 95% confidence interval: 0.61, 0.70). With both modalities, BPE demonstrated significant association with menopausal status, prior breast radiation therapy, hormonal treatment, breast density on CE spectral mammographic images, and amount of fibroglandular tissue on MR images (P spectral mammographic and MR images. © RSNA, 2016.

Automatic anatomically selective image enhancement in digital chest radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sezan, M.I.; Minerbo, G.N.; Schaetzing, R.

1989-01-01

The authors develop a technique for automatic anatomically selective enhancement of digital chest radiographs. Anatomically selective enhancement is motivated by the desire to simultaneously meet the different enhancement requirements of the lung field and the mediastinum. A recent peak detection algorithm and a set of rules are applied to the image histogram to determine automatically a gray-level threshold between the lung field and mediastinum. The gray-level threshold facilitates anatomically selective gray-scale modification and/or unsharp masking. Further, in an attempt to suppress possible white-band or black-band artifacts due to unsharp masking at sharp edges, local-contrast adaptivity is incorporated into anatomically selective unsharp masking by designing an anatomy-sensitive emphasis parameter which varies asymmetrically with positive and negative values of the local image contrast

Image enhancement by spectral-error correction for dual-energy computed tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Kyung-Kook; Oh, Chang-Hyun; Akay, Metin

2011-01-01

Dual-energy CT (DECT) was reintroduced recently to use the additional spectral information of X-ray attenuation and aims for accurate density measurement and material differentiation. However, the spectral information lies in the difference between low and high energy images or measurements, so that it is difficult to acquire accurate spectral information due to amplification of high pixel noise in the resulting difference image. In this work, an image enhancement technique for DECT is proposed, based on the fact that the attenuation of a higher density material decreases more rapidly as X-ray energy increases. We define as spectral error the case when a pixel pair of low and high energy images deviates far from the expected attenuation trend. After analyzing the spectral-error sources of DECT images, we propose a DECT image enhancement method, which consists of three steps: water-reference offset correction, spectral-error correction, and anti-correlated noise reduction. It is the main idea of this work that makes spectral errors distributed like random noise over the true attenuation and suppressed by the well-known anti-correlated noise reduction. The proposed method suppressed noise of liver lesions and improved contrast between liver lesions and liver parenchyma in DECT contrast-enhanced abdominal images and their two-material decomposition.

Lessons from Small-scale Standardised Testing of English Reading ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The superior performance by the public school can partly be explained by teachers teaching experience, most of them have been teaching for more than ten years and greater community support for the school. It is recommended that data produced through small-scale standardised testing should be used by school ...

A Variable Order Fractional Differential-Based Texture Enhancement Algorithm with Application in Medical Imaging.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiang Yu

Full Text Available Texture enhancement is one of the most important techniques in digital image processing and plays an essential role in medical imaging since textures discriminate information. Most image texture enhancement techniques use classical integral order differential mask operators or fractional differential mask operators using fixed fractional order. These masks can produce excessive enhancement of low spatial frequency content, insufficient enhancement of large spatial frequency content, and retention of high spatial frequency noise. To improve upon existing approaches of texture enhancement, we derive an improved Variable Order Fractional Centered Difference (VOFCD scheme which dynamically adjusts the fractional differential order instead of fixing it. The new VOFCD technique is based on the second order Riesz fractional differential operator using a Lagrange 3-point interpolation formula, for both grey scale and colour image enhancement. We then use this method to enhance photographs and a set of medical images related to patients with stroke and Parkinson's disease. The experiments show that our improved fractional differential mask has a higher signal to noise ratio value than the other fractional differential mask operators. Based on the corresponding quantitative analysis we conclude that the new method offers a superior texture enhancement over existing methods.

An in vitro study of anti-inflammatory activity of standardised Andrographis paniculata extracts and pure andrographolide.

Science.gov (United States)

Low, Mitchell; Khoo, Cheang S; Münch, Gerald; Govindaraghavan, Suresh; Sucher, Nikolaus J

2015-02-07

The anti-inflammatory activity of Andrographis paniculata (Acanthaceae), a traditional medicine widely used in Asia, is commonly attributed to andrographolide, its main secondary metabolite. Commercial A. paniculata extracts are standardised to andrographolide content. We undertook the present study to investigate 1) how selective enrichment of andrographolide in commercial A. paniculata extracts affects the variability of non-standardised phytochemical components and 2) if variability in the non-standardised components of the extract affects the pharmacological activity of andrographolide itself. We characterized 12 commercial, standardised (≥30% andrographolide) batches of A. paniculata extracts from India by HPLC profiling. We determined the antioxidant capacity of the extracts using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging, oxygen radical antioxidant capacity (ORAC) and a Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) antioxidant assays. Their anti-inflammatory activity was assessed by assaying their inhibitory effect on the release of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in the human monocytic cell line THP-1. The andrographolide content in the samples was close to the claimed value (32.2 ± 2.1%, range 27.5 to 35.9%). Twenty-one non-standardised constituents exhibited more than 2-fold variation in HPLC peak intensities in the tested batches. The chlorogenic acid content of the batches varied more than 30-fold. The DPPH free radical scavenging activity varied ~3-fold, the ORAC and FC antioxidant capacity varied ~1.5 fold among batches. In contrast, the TNF-α inhibitory activity of the extracts exhibited little variation and comparison with pure andrographolide indicated that it was mostly due to their andrographolide content. Standardised A. paniculata extracts contained the claimed amount of andrographolide but exhibited considerable phytochemical background variation. DPPH radical scavenging activity of the extracts was mostly due to the flavonoid

Gadoxetic acid disodium-enhanced MR imaging of cholangiolocellular carcinoma of the liver. Imaging characteristics and histopathological correlations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haradome, Hiroki; Toda, Yusuke [Nihon University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Tokyo (Japan); Unno, Toshiyuki [Showa General Hospital, Department of Radiology, Koganei (Japan); Morisaka, Hiroyuki; Ichikawa, Tomoaki [Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Saitama (Japan); Kwee, Thomas C. [UMC Groningen, Department of Radiology, Groningen (Netherlands); Kondo, Hiroshi [Teikyo University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Tokyo (Japan); Sano, Keiji [Teikyo University School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Tokyo (Japan); Kondo, Fukuo [Teikyo University Hospital, Department of Pathology, Tokyo (Japan); Sugitani, Masahiko [Nihon University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Tokyo (Japan); Takayama, Tadatoshi [Nihon University School of Medicine, Department of Digestive Surgery, Tokyo (Japan)

2017-11-15

To review the gadoxetic acid disodium (EOB)-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging features of cholangiolocellular carcinoma (CoCC) of the liver and compare them with those of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). EOB-enhanced MR images of 19 patients with CoCC, 23 with ICC, and 51 with HCC were retrospectively evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the characteristic MR features of CoCC with histopathological-imaging correlation. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that dot-/band-shaped internal enhancement during the arterial and portal phases (P < 0.001), and larger arterial ring enhancement ratio (CoCC, 0.13 ± 0.04; ICC, 0.074 ± 0.04; P = 0.013) were significantly independently associated with CoCC in contrast to ICC, whereas several MR features including progressive enhancement during the portal and late phases (P < 0.001), target appearance in the hepatocyte phase (P = 0.004), and vessel penetration (P = 0.013) were significantly more frequently associated with CoCC than HCC. The dot-/band-like internal enhancement (78.9% of CoCCs) histopathologically corresponded to the tumour cell nest with vascular proliferations and retained Glisson's sheath structure. EOB-enhanced MR features of CoCC largely differ from those of HCC but are similar to those of ICC. However, the finding of thicker arterial ring enhancement with dot-/band-like internal enhancement could help differentiate CoCC from ICC. (orig.)

Value of gadoxetic acid-enhanced and diffusion-weighted MR imaging in evaluation of hepatocellular carcinomas with atypical enhancement pattern on contrast-enhanced multiphasic MDCT in patients with chronic liver disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyun Su; Kim, Seong Hyun; Kang, Tae Wook; Song, Kyoung Doo; Choi, Dongil; Park, Cheol Keun

2015-01-01

Highlights: •We investigated imaging findings on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI of HCCs without the typical enhancement pattern on multiphasic MDCT. •Most HCCs showed ancillary MR findings of typical HCC. •Considerable number of HCCs showed MR enhancement pattern of typical HCC. -- Abstract: Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of enhancement kinetics and ancillary imaging findings on gadoxetic acid-enhanced and diffusion-weighted (DW) MR imaging for diagnosing hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) without the typical enhancement pattern on contrast-enhanced multiphasic MDCT in patients with chronic liver disease. Materials and methods: Eighty-two surgically confirmed HCCs without the typical enhancement pattern (hypervascular in the arterial phase, followed by washout on the portal or equilibrium phases) on triple-phase MDCT were enrolled in this study. The patients were classified into four categories based on the CT density pattern of arterial and equilibrium phases (isodense–isodense, hypodense–hypodense, isodense–hypodense, and hyperdense–isodense) compared to liver parenchyma. Signal intensity of HCCs on T2-weighted images (T2WI), arterial phase, 3 min late-phase, hepatobiliary phase (HBP) and DW images with a b value of 800 s/mm 2 were qualitatively evaluated, and ADC values were measured. Fisher's exact test and Chi-square test were used to compare the frequency and trend of hyperintensity on T2WI, hypointensity on HBP images, hyperintensity on DW images, and histopathologic grades between groups with different CT density patterns. Kruskal–Wallis test was used to compare the ADC value between groups. Results: Thirty and 52 HCCs were categorized as hypervascular (hyperdense–isodense) and non-hypervascular HCCs (3, isodense–isodense; 37, hypodense–hypodense; 12, isodense–hypodense), respectively. Most HCCs showed hyperintensity on T2WI (77/82, 93.9%) and DW images (81/82, 98.8%) and hypointensity on HBP images

Value of gadoxetic acid-enhanced and diffusion-weighted MR imaging in evaluation of hepatocellular carcinomas with atypical enhancement pattern on contrast-enhanced multiphasic MDCT in patients with chronic liver disease

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyun Su [Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Ilwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Seong Hyun, E-mail: kshyun@skku.edu [Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Ilwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kang, Tae Wook; Song, Kyoung Doo; Choi, Dongil [Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Ilwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Cheol Keun [Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Ilwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-04-15

Highlights: •We investigated imaging findings on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI of HCCs without the typical enhancement pattern on multiphasic MDCT. •Most HCCs showed ancillary MR findings of typical HCC. •Considerable number of HCCs showed MR enhancement pattern of typical HCC. -- Abstract: Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of enhancement kinetics and ancillary imaging findings on gadoxetic acid-enhanced and diffusion-weighted (DW) MR imaging for diagnosing hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) without the typical enhancement pattern on contrast-enhanced multiphasic MDCT in patients with chronic liver disease. Materials and methods: Eighty-two surgically confirmed HCCs without the typical enhancement pattern (hypervascular in the arterial phase, followed by washout on the portal or equilibrium phases) on triple-phase MDCT were enrolled in this study. The patients were classified into four categories based on the CT density pattern of arterial and equilibrium phases (isodense–isodense, hypodense–hypodense, isodense–hypodense, and hyperdense–isodense) compared to liver parenchyma. Signal intensity of HCCs on T2-weighted images (T2WI), arterial phase, 3 min late-phase, hepatobiliary phase (HBP) and DW images with a b value of 800 s/mm{sup 2} were qualitatively evaluated, and ADC values were measured. Fisher's exact test and Chi-square test were used to compare the frequency and trend of hyperintensity on T2WI, hypointensity on HBP images, hyperintensity on DW images, and histopathologic grades between groups with different CT density patterns. Kruskal–Wallis test was used to compare the ADC value between groups. Results: Thirty and 52 HCCs were categorized as hypervascular (hyperdense–isodense) and non-hypervascular HCCs (3, isodense–isodense; 37, hypodense–hypodense; 12, isodense–hypodense), respectively. Most HCCs showed hyperintensity on T2WI (77/82, 93.9%) and DW images (81/82, 98.8%) and hypointensity on HBP

Lumbosacral lipoma : gadolinium-enhanced fat saturation T1 weighted MR image is necessary?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Man Won; Kim, Hyun Chul; Chung, Tae Woong; Seo, Jeong Jin; Chung, Gwang Woo; Kim, Yun Hyeon; Kim, Jae Kyu; Park, Jin Gyoon; Kang, Heoung Keun

1999-01-01

To evaluate the usefulness of contrast-enhanced fat saturation T1-weighted imaging for the evaluation of spinal lipoma, compared with clinical symptoms and surgical findings. Ten patients with lipomyelomeningocele, confirmed by surgery, were included in this study. In all cases, conventional spin echo T1-and T2-weighted MR imaging, and contrast-enhanced fat saturation T1-weighted imaging was performed to evaluate clinical symptoms, the position of the conus medullaris, the presence of cord tethering, and associated anomalies, and to compare the relative usefulness of the techniques. All ten patients were suffering from lipomyelomeningocele without filum terminale fibrolipoma or intradural lipoma. All cases were associated with cord tethering. As associated anomalies, there were seven cases of syringomyelia without hydrocephalus or anorectal anomaly. To evaluate the position of the spinal conus and the presence of cord tethering, conventional T1-weighted imaging was more useful than the contrast-enhanced fat saturation equivalent. In patients with early-stage spinal lipoma, MRI is useful for evaluation of the causes and position of cord tethering and associated anomalies Our results suggest that contrast-enhanced fat saturation T1-weighted images do not provide additional information concerning spinal lipoma, and that for the diagnosis of this condition, conventional T1 and T2-weighted images are more useful than those obtained by contrast-enhanced fat saturation T1-weighted imaging

Spatial light modulator array with heat minimization and image enhancement features

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Kanti [Briarcliff Manor, NY; Sweatt, William C [Albuquerque, NM; Zemel, Marc [New Rochelle, NY

2007-01-30

An enhanced spatial light modulator (ESLM) array, a microelectronics patterning system and a projection display system using such an ESLM for heat-minimization and resolution enhancement during imaging, and the method for fabricating such an ESLM array. The ESLM array includes, in each individual pixel element, a small pixel mirror (reflective region) and a much larger pixel surround. Each pixel surround includes diffraction-grating regions and resolution-enhancement regions. During imaging, a selected pixel mirror reflects a selected-pixel beamlet into the capture angle of a projection lens, while the diffraction grating of the pixel surround redirects heat-producing unused radiation away from the projection lens. The resolution-enhancement regions of selected pixels provide phase shifts that increase effective modulation-transfer function in imaging. All of the non-selected pixel surrounds redirect all radiation energy away from the projection lens. All elements of the ESLM are fabricated by deposition, patterning, etching and other microelectronic process technologies.

The Multiscale Bowler-Hat Transform for Vessel Enhancement in 3D Biomedical Images

OpenAIRE

Sazak, Cigdem; Nelson, Carl J.; Obara, Boguslaw

2018-01-01

Enhancement and detection of 3D vessel-like structures has long been an open problem as most existing image processing methods fail in many aspects, including a lack of uniform enhancement between vessels of different radii and a lack of enhancement at the junctions. Here, we propose a method based on mathematical morphology to enhance 3D vessel-like structures in biomedical images. The proposed method, 3D bowler-hat transform, combines sphere and line structuring elements to enhance vessel-l...

Feature and Contrast Enhancement of Mammographic Image Based on Multiscale Analysis and Morphology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shibin Wu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A new algorithm for feature and contrast enhancement of mammographic images is proposed in this paper. The approach bases on multiscale transform and mathematical morphology. First of all, the Laplacian Gaussian pyramid operator is applied to transform the mammography into different scale subband images. In addition, the detail or high frequency subimages are equalized by contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE and low-pass subimages are processed by mathematical morphology. Finally, the enhanced image of feature and contrast is reconstructed from the Laplacian Gaussian pyramid coefficients modified at one or more levels by contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization and mathematical morphology, respectively. The enhanced image is processed by global nonlinear operator. The experimental results show that the presented algorithm is effective for feature and contrast enhancement of mammogram. The performance evaluation of the proposed algorithm is measured by contrast evaluation criterion for image, signal-noise-ratio (SNR, and contrast improvement index (CII.

Contrast enhancement of bite mark images using the grayscale mixer in ACR in Photoshop®.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Sam; Noorbhai, Suzanne; Lawson, Zoe; Stacey-Jones, Seren; Carabott, Romina

2013-05-01

Enhanced images may improve bite mark edge definition, assisting forensic analysis. Current contrast enhancement involves color extraction, viewing layered images by channel. A novel technique, producing a single enhanced image using the grayscale mix panel within Adobe Camera Raw®, has been developed and assessed here, allowing adjustments of multiple color channels simultaneously. Stage 1 measured RGB values in 72 versions of a color chart image; eight sliders in Photoshop® were adjusted at 25% intervals, all corresponding colors affected. Stage 2 used a bite mark image, and found only red, orange, and yellow sliders had discernable effects. Stage 3 assessed modality preference between color, grayscale, and enhanced images; on average, the 22 survey participants chose the enhanced image as better defined for nine out of 10 bite marks. The study has shown potential benefits for this new technique. However, further research is needed before use in the analysis of bite marks. © 2013 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Image accuracy and representational enhancement through low-level, multi-sensor integration techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, J.E.

1993-05-01

Multi-Sensor Integration (MSI) is the combining of data and information from more than one source in order to generate a more reliable and consistent representation of the environment. The need for MSI derives largely from basic ambiguities inherent in our current sensor imaging technologies. These ambiguities exist as long as the mapping from reality to image is not 1-to-1. That is, if different 44 realities'' lead to identical images, a single image cannot reveal the particular reality which was the truth. MSI techniques can be divided into three categories based on the relative information content of the original images with that of the desired representation: (1) ''detail enhancement,'' wherein the relative information content of the original images is less rich than the desired representation; (2) ''data enhancement,'' wherein the MSI techniques axe concerned with improving the accuracy of the data rather than either increasing or decreasing the level of detail; and (3) ''conceptual enhancement,'' wherein the image contains more detail than is desired, making it difficult to easily recognize objects of interest. In conceptual enhancement one must group pixels corresponding to the same conceptual object and thereby reduce the level of extraneous detail. This research focuses on data and conceptual enhancement algorithms. To be useful in many real-world applications, e.g., autonomous or teleoperated robotics, real-time feedback is critical. But, many MSI/image processing algorithms require significant processing time. This is especially true of feature extraction, object isolation, and object recognition algorithms due to their typical reliance on global or large neighborhood information. This research attempts to exploit the speed currently available in state-of-the-art digitizers and highly parallel processing systems by developing MSI algorithms based on pixel rather than global-level features

Recurrent postoperative sciatica: Evaluation with MR imaging and enhanced CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duoauferrier, R.; Frocrain, L.; Husson, J.L.

1987-01-01

The authors prospectively compared surface coil MR (SCMR) imaging and CT with iodinate contrast enhancement in 50 patients with recurrent postoperative sciatica. Of the 50 patients enrolled in the study, surgical treatment was elected in 27 patients after independent examination of SCMR imaging and enhanced CT. All predictions made with the 27 SCMR images were surgically confirmed. The surgical findings were 20 recurrent disk herniations, five recurrent disk herniations with scar tissue, one disk herniation above the level of diskectomy, and one disk herniation below the level of diskectomy. The surgical findings of the 12 patients who had scar tissue on CT were seven recurrent disk herniations, four recurrent disk herniations with scar tissue, and one disk herniation below the operated level. SCMR imaging was more sensitive and more specific than CT to differentiate scar tissue from recurrent disk herniation

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging of endometrial cancer. Optimizing the imaging delay for tumour-myometrium contrast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sung Bin; Moon, Min Hoan; Sung, Chang Kyu; Oh, Sohee; Lee, Young Ho

2014-01-01

To investigate the optimal imaging delay time of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in women with endometrial cancer. This prospective single-institution study was approved by the institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained from the participants. Thirty-five women (mean age, 54 years; age range, 29-66 years) underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging with a temporal resolution of 25-40 seconds. The signal intensity difference ratios between the myometrium and endometrial cancer were analyzed to investigate the optimal imaging delay time using single change-point analysis. The optimal imaging delay time for appropriate tumour-myometrium contrast ranged from 31.7 to 268.1 seconds. The median optimal imaging delay time was 91.3 seconds, with an interquartile range of 46.2 to 119.5 seconds. The median signal intensity difference ratios between the myometrium and endometrial cancer were 0.03, with an interquartile range of -0.01 to 0.06, on the pre-contrast MR imaging and 0.20, with an interquartile range of 0.15 to 0.25, on the post-contrast MR imaging. An imaging delay of approximately 90 seconds after initiating contrast material injection may be optimal for obtaining appropriate tumour-myometrium contrast in women with endometrial cancer. (orig.)

Changes of renal blood flow after ESWL: Assessment by ASL MR imaging, contrast enhanced MR imaging, and renal resistive index

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Abd Ellah, Mohamed, E-mail: dr_m_hamdy2006@hotmail.co [Innsbruck Medical University, Radiology Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Kremser, Christian, E-mail: christian.kremser@i-med.ac.a [Innsbruck Medical University, Radiology Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Pallwein, Leo, E-mail: leo.pallwein-prettner@uki.a [Innsbruck Medical University, Radiology Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Aigner, Friedrich, E-mail: friedrich.Aigner@uki.a [Innsbruck Medical University, Radiology Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Schocke, Michael, E-mail: michael.schocke@i-med.ac.a [Innsbruck Medical University, Radiology Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Peschel, Reinhard, E-mail: reinhard.peschel@uki.a [Innsbruck Medical University, Urology Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Pedross, Florian, E-mail: florian.pedross@i-med.ac.a [Innsbruck Medical University, Medical Statistics Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Pinggera, Germar-Michael, E-mail: germar.pinggera@uki.a [Innsbruck Medical University, Urology Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Wolf, Christian, E-mail: christian.wolf@bkh-reutte.a [Innsbruck Medical University, Radiology Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Alsharkawy, Mostafa A.M., E-mail: drmostafamri@yahoo.co [Assiut University, Radiology Dept., Assiut (Egypt); Jaschke, Werner, E-mail: werner.jaschke@i-med.ac.a [Innsbruck Medical University, Radiology Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Frauscher, Ferdinand, E-mail: ferdinand.frauscher@uki.a [Innsbruck Medical University, Radiology Dept., Anich St. 35, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria)

2010-10-15

The annual incidence of stone formation is increased in the industrialised world. Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy is a non-invasive effective treatment of upper urinary tract stones. This study is aimed to evaluate changes of renal blood flow in patients undergoing extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) by arterial spin labeling (ASL) MR imaging, contrast enhanced dynamic MR imaging, and renal resistive index (RI). Thirteen patients with nephrolithiasis were examined using MR imaging and Doppler ultrasound 12 h before and 12 h after ESWL. ASL sequence was done for both kidneys and followed by contrast enhanced MR imaging. In addition RI Doppler ultrasound measurements were performed. A significant increase in RI (p < 0.001) was found in both treated and untreated kidneys. ASL MR imaging also showed significant changes in both kidneys (p < 0.001). Contrast enhanced dynamic MR imaging did not show significant changes in the kidneys. ESWL causes changes in RI and ASL MR imaging, which seem to reflect changes in renal blood flow.

Applying Enhancement Filters in the Pre-processing of Images of Lymphoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Sérgio Henrique; Do Nascimento, Marcelo Zanchetta; Neves, Leandro Alves; Batista, Valério Ramos

2015-01-01

Lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the immune system, and is classified as Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin. It is one of the ten types of cancer that are the most common on earth. Among all malignant neoplasms diagnosed in the world, lymphoma ranges from three to four percent of them. Our work presents a study of some filters devoted to enhancing images of lymphoma at the pre-processing step. Here the enhancement is useful for removing noise from the digital images. We have analysed the noise caused by different sources like room vibration, scraps and defocusing, and in the following classes of lymphoma: follicular, mantle cell and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The filters Gaussian, Median and Mean-Shift were applied to different colour models (RGB, Lab and HSV). Afterwards, we performed a quantitative analysis of the images by means of the Structural Similarity Index. This was done in order to evaluate the similarity between the images. In all cases we have obtained a certainty of at least 75%, which rises to 99% if one considers only HSV. Namely, we have concluded that HSV is an important choice of colour model at pre-processing histological images of lymphoma, because in this case the resulting image will get the best enhancement

Non-Enhanced MR Imaging of Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations at 7 Tesla.

Science.gov (United States)

Wrede, Karsten H; Dammann, Philipp; Johst, Sören; Mönninghoff, Christoph; Schlamann, Marc; Maderwald, Stefan; Sandalcioglu, I Erol; Ladd, Mark E; Forsting, Michael; Sure, Ulrich; Umutlu, Lale

2016-03-01

To evaluate prospectively 7 Tesla time-of-flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and 7 Tesla non-contrast-enhanced magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition gradient-echo (MPRAGE) for delineation of intracerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) in comparison to 1.5 Tesla TOF MRA and digital subtraction angiography (DSA). Twenty patients with single or multifocal AVMs were enrolled in this trial. The study protocol comprised 1.5 and 7 Tesla TOF MRA and 7 Tesla non-contrast-enhanced MPRAGE sequences. All patients underwent an additional four-vessel 3D DSA. Image analysis of the following five AVM features was performed individually by two radiologists on a five-point scale: nidus, feeder(s), draining vein(s), relationship to adjacent vessels, and overall image quality and presence of artefacts. A total of 21 intracerebral AVMs were detected. Both sequences at 7 Tesla were rated superior over 1.5 Tesla TOF MRA in the assessment of all considered AVM features. Image quality at 7 Tesla was comparable with DSA considering both sequences. Inter-observer accordance was good to excellent for the majority of ratings. This study demonstrates excellent image quality for depiction of intracerebral AVMs using non-contrast-enhanced 7 Tesla MRA, comparable with DSA. Assessment of untreated AVMs is a promising clinical application of ultra-high-field MRA. • Non-contrast-enhanced 7 Tesla MRA demonstrates excellent image quality for intracerebral AVM depiction. • Image quality at 7 Tesla was comparable with DSA considering both sequences. • Assessment of intracerebral AVMs is a promising clinical application of ultra-high-field MRA.

Tolerance of image enhancement brightness and contrast in lateral cephalometric digital radiography for Steiner analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Rianti, R. A.; Priaminiarti, M.; Syahraini, S. I.

2017-08-01

Image enhancement brightness and contrast can be adjusted on lateral cephalometric digital radiographs to improve image quality and anatomic landmarks for measurement by Steiner analysis. To determine the limit value for adjustments of image enhancement brightness and contrast in lateral cephalometric digital radiography for Steiner analysis. Image enhancement brightness and contrast were adjusted on 100 lateral cephalometric radiography in 10-point increments (-30, -20, -10, 0, +10, +20, +30). Steiner analysis measurements were then performed by two observers. Reliabilities were tested by the Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and significance tested by ANOVA or the Kruskal Wallis test. No significant differences were detected in lateral cephalometric analysis measurements following adjustment of the image enhancement brightness and contrast. The limit value of adjustments of the image enhancement brightness and contrast associated with incremental 10-point changes (-30, -20, -10, 0, +10, +20, +30) does not affect the results of Steiner analysis.

An Image Enhancement Method Using the Quantum-Behaved Particle Swarm Optimization with an Adaptive Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoping Su

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Image enhancement techniques are very important to image processing, which are used to improve image quality or extract the fine details in degraded images. In this paper, two novel objective functions based on the normalized incomplete Beta transform function are proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of grayscale image enhancement and color image enhancement, respectively. Using these objective functions, the parameters of transform functions are estimated by the quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO. We also propose an improved QPSO with an adaptive parameter control strategy. The QPSO and the AQPSO algorithms, along with genetic algorithm (GA and particle swarm optimization (PSO, are tested on several benchmark grayscale and color images. The results show that the QPSO and AQPSO perform better than GA and PSO for the enhancement of these images, and the AQPSO has some advantages over QPSO due to its adaptive parameter control strategy.

Degeneration of uterine leiomyoma: comparison between Gd-DTPA enhanced MR imaging and pathologic findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, M. J.; Kim, G. W.; No, T. Y.; Ahn, W. H.; Baik, S. K.; Kim, B. G.; Choi, H. Y.; Paik, O. J.

1995-01-01

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone(GnRH) analogues have been used as a conservative or preoperative therapy in the treatment of uterine leiomyoma. Since these drugs, which can induce a low estrogenic state, affect only undegenerative leiomyoma tissue, the aim of the present study was to differentiate degenerative leiomyoma from undegenerative one by Gd-DTPA enhanced magnetic resonance imaging(MRI). There were 40 masses in 24 patients; all were diagnosed by surgical-pathology. With superconductive 0.5T MR circuit, T1-and T2-weighted images and Gd-DTPA T1-weighted images were obtained. Based on a combination of signal intensities of T2-weighted and enhanced T1 weighted image on the same tumor section all the lesions were classified to one of four MRI patterns. Pattern I was a heterogeneous hyperintensity on the T2-weighted images that was enhancement by Gd-DTPA. Pattern II was a high signal intensity on the T2-weighted MR images but no enhancement by Gd-DTPA. Pattern III was a low to intermediate signal intensity on the T2-weighted MR images and enhancement on the Gd-DTPA T1-weighted images. Pattern IV was a low to intermediate signal intensity on the T2-weighted images and no enhancement by Gd-DTPA. Each of these 4 groups of MRI pattern were co-related to the surgical-pathology findings. Pathologically, pattern I corresponded to an edematous leiomyoma in 3 cases and a connective tissue leiomyoma in one case. Pattern II corresponded to three red degeneration, two cystic degeneration and one infected leiomyoma. Pattern III corresponded to eighteen undegenerative leiomyomas, but some of them showed focal connective tissue proliferation. All of twelve cases in pattern IV corresponded to a hyaline degeneration. MRI with Gd-DTPA enhancement may differentiate undegenerative leiomyoma from degenerated one

Degeneration of uterine leiomyoma: comparison between Gd-DTPA enhanced MR imaging and pathologic findings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, M. J.; Kim, G. W.; No, T. Y.; Ahn, W. H.; Baik, S. K.; Kim, B. G.; Choi, H. Y.; Paik, O. J. [Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

1995-05-15

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone(GnRH) analogues have been used as a conservative or preoperative therapy in the treatment of uterine leiomyoma. Since these drugs, which can induce a low estrogenic state, affect only undegenerative leiomyoma tissue, the aim of the present study was to differentiate degenerative leiomyoma from undegenerative one by Gd-DTPA enhanced magnetic resonance imaging(MRI). There were 40 masses in 24 patients; all were diagnosed by surgical-pathology. With superconductive 0.5T MR circuit, T1-and T2-weighted images and Gd-DTPA T1-weighted images were obtained. Based on a combination of signal intensities of T2-weighted and enhanced T1 weighted image on the same tumor section all the lesions were classified to one of four MRI patterns. Pattern I was a heterogeneous hyperintensity on the T2-weighted images that was enhancement by Gd-DTPA. Pattern II was a high signal intensity on the T2-weighted MR images but no enhancement by Gd-DTPA. Pattern III was a low to intermediate signal intensity on the T2-weighted MR images and enhancement on the Gd-DTPA T1-weighted images. Pattern IV was a low to intermediate signal intensity on the T2-weighted images and no enhancement by Gd-DTPA. Each of these 4 groups of MRI pattern were co-related to the surgical-pathology findings. Pathologically, pattern I corresponded to an edematous leiomyoma in 3 cases and a connective tissue leiomyoma in one case. Pattern II corresponded to three red degeneration, two cystic degeneration and one infected leiomyoma. Pattern III corresponded to eighteen undegenerative leiomyomas, but some of them showed focal connective tissue proliferation. All of twelve cases in pattern IV corresponded to a hyaline degeneration. MRI with Gd-DTPA enhancement may differentiate undegenerative leiomyoma from degenerated one.

Assessment of image display of contrast enhanced T1W images with fat suppression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyazaki, Isao; Ishizaki, Keiko; Kobayashi, Kuninori; Katou, Masanobu

2006-01-01

The effects of imaging conditions and measures for their improvement were examined with regard to recognition of the effects of contrast on images when T 1 -weighted imaging with selective fat suppression was applied. Luminance at the target region was examined before and after contrast imaging using phantoms assuming pre- and post-imaging conditions. A clinical examination was performed on tumors revealed by breast examination, including those surrounded by mammary gland and by fat tissue. When fat suppression was used and imaging contrast was enhanced, the luminance level of fat tumors with the same structure as the prepared phantoms appeared to be high both before and after contrast imaging, and the effects of contrast were not distinguishable. This observation is attributable to the fact that the imaging conditions before and after contrast imaging were substantially different. To make a comparison between pre- and post-contrast images, it is considered necessary to perform imaging with fixed receiver gain and to apply the same imaging method for pre- and post-contrast images by adjusting post-contrast imaging conditions to those of pre-contrast imaging. (author)

Cerebral and meningeal manifestations of AIDS: comparison of plain T2-weighted images and Gd-DTPA enhanced T1-weighted images in 105 patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jochens, R.; Henkes, H.; Steinkamp, H.J.; Terstegge, K.; Hosten, N.; Ruf, B.; Schoerner, W.

1994-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the potential of T1-weighted Gd-DTPA enhanced MR imaging in the diagnosis of cerebral manifestations of AIDS. 105 patients with AIDS were imaged with plain T2-weighted images as well as with Gd-DTPA enhanced T1-weighted pulse sequences. Our study revealed comparable sensitivities in the detection of morphological changes as shown on plain T2-weighted images and Gd-DTPA enhanced T1-weighted images in 55% of patients (normal and pathologic findings). Plain T2-weighted images were superior in 28.5% and provided significantly better results in 8.5% of patients. Gd-DTPA enhanced T1-weighted images were superior in only 5% cases and revealed significantly better results in 3%. As a result, T2-weighted plain images were superior in approximately 40% of patients concerning detection of morphologic changes. In almost 10% of patients with parechymal and meningeal lesions, Gd-DTPA enhanced T1-weighted images, however, were superior or even significantly better compared to T2-weighted plain images. The detection of morphologic changes in MR imaging can be further increased with Gd-DTPA. With regard to differential diagnosis and diesease activity, plain T2-weighted images and Gd-DTPA enhanced T1-weighted images revealed comparable results in 42% of patients (normal and pathologic findings). T2-weighted plain images were superior in 2% of cases whereas Gd-DTPA enhanced T1-weighted images were superior in as much as 56% of patient. MR imaging enhanced with Gd-DTPA yielded additional information on disease activity in 73% of patients with pathologic findings in the cerebral parechyma and the meninges. The surplus of information also refers to the etiology of cerebral pathology and differential diagnosis. Because of the frequency of cerebral manifestations in AIDS, early diagnosis for initiation of therapy and follow-up studies to monitor therapy are crucial. (orig./MG) [de

Diagnostic Accuracy of Dynamic Contrast Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Characterizing Lung Masses

Science.gov (United States)

Inan, Nagihan; Arslan, Arzu; Donmez, Muhammed; Sarisoy, Hasan Tahsin

2016-01-01

Background Imaging plays a critical role not only in the detection, but also in the characterization of lung masses as benign or malignant. Objectives To determine the diagnostic accuracy of dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant lung masses. Patients and Methods Ninety-four masses were included in this prospective study. Five dynamic series of T1-weighted spoiled gradient echo (FFE) images were obtained, followed by a T1-weighted FFE sequence in the late phase (5th minutes). Contrast enhancement patterns in the early (25th second) and late (5th minute) phase images were evaluated. For the quantitative evaluation, signal intensity (SI)-time curves were obtained and the maximum relative enhancement, wash-in rate, and time-to-peak enhancement of masses in both groups were calculated. Results The early phase contrast enhancement patterns were homogeneous in 78.2% of the benign masses, while heterogeneous in 74.4% of the malignant tumors. On the late phase images, 70.8% of the benign masses showed homogeneous enhancement, while most of the malignant masses showed heterogeneous enhancement (82.4%). During the first pass, the maximum relative enhancement and wash-in rate values of malignant masses were significantly higher than those of the benign masses (P = 0.03 and 0.04, respectively). The cutoff value at 15% yielded a sensitivity of 85.4%, specificity of 61.2%, and positive predictive value of 68.7% for the maximum relative enhancement. Conclusion Contrast enhancement patterns and SI-time curve analysis of MRI are helpful in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant lung masses. PMID:27703654

Local gray level S-curve transformation - A generalized contrast enhancement technique for medical images.

Science.gov (United States)

Gandhamal, Akash; Talbar, Sanjay; Gajre, Suhas; Hani, Ahmad Fadzil M; Kumar, Dileep

2017-04-01

Most medical images suffer from inadequate contrast and brightness, which leads to blurred or weak edges (low contrast) between adjacent tissues resulting in poor segmentation and errors in classification of tissues. Thus, contrast enhancement to improve visual information is extremely important in the development of computational approaches for obtaining quantitative measurements from medical images. In this research, a contrast enhancement algorithm that applies gray-level S-curve transformation technique locally in medical images obtained from various modalities is investigated. The S-curve transformation is an extended gray level transformation technique that results into a curve similar to a sigmoid function through a pixel to pixel transformation. This curve essentially increases the difference between minimum and maximum gray values and the image gradient, locally thereby, strengthening edges between adjacent tissues. The performance of the proposed technique is determined by measuring several parameters namely, edge content (improvement in image gradient), enhancement measure (degree of contrast enhancement), absolute mean brightness error (luminance distortion caused by the enhancement), and feature similarity index measure (preservation of the original image features). Based on medical image datasets comprising 1937 images from various modalities such as ultrasound, mammograms, fluorescent images, fundus, X-ray radiographs and MR images, it is found that the local gray-level S-curve transformation outperforms existing techniques in terms of improved contrast and brightness, resulting in clear and strong edges between adjacent tissues. The proposed technique can be used as a preprocessing tool for effective segmentation and classification of tissue structures in medical images. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Off-site evaluation of liver lesion detection by Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gehl, H.B.; Bourne, M.; Grazioli, L.; Moeller, A.; Lodemann, K.P.

2001-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI in liver lesion detection in comparison with unenhanced MRI and dynamic CT. The image sets of 148 of 151 patients enrolled in a multicenter German phase-III trial were evaluated by two independent radiologists unaffiliated with the investigating centers. Patients underwent a routine MRI protocol comprising T2- and T1-weighted spin-echo and T1-weighted gradient-echo (GE) sequences pre and 1 h post 0.1 mmol/kg Gd-BOPTA (Bracco-Byk Gulden, Konstanz, Germany). Additionally, a serial T1-weighted GE scan was performed after administration of the first half of the dose. All patients underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced CT. The evaluation was performed with regard to the number and size of lesions detected per patient by each modality or sequence. Furthermore, all pre CM and pre + post CM image sets were analyzed for number of lesions per patient. Both readers detected significantly more lesions in the contrast-enhanced image set compared with the unenhanced image set (32 and 39 %, respectively; p < 0.0001). While contrast-enhanced CT detected a similar number of lesions to unenhanced MRI, it was clearly inferior to contrast-enhanced MRI (reader 1: p = 0.0117; reader 2: p = 0.0225). Of the T1-weighted scans performed, the dynamic and late T1-weighted GE exams contributed most to the increased lesion detection rate (reader 1: p = 0.0007; reader 2: p = 0.0037). The size of the smallest lesion detected by means of MRI was significantly larger in the pre-CM image sets than in the pre + post CM image sets (reader 1: p = 0.001; reader 2: p < 0.0001). Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI detected significantly smaller lesions than contrast-enhanced CT (reader 1: p = 0.0117; reader 2: p = 0.0925). Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MR imaging improves liver lesion detection significantly over unenhanced MRI and dynamic CT. (orig.)

Off-site evaluation of liver lesion detection by Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gehl, H.B. [Inst. of Diagnostic Radiology, Medical Univ. of Luebeck (Germany); Bourne, M. [Dept. of Radiology, Univ. Hospital of Wales, Cardiff (United Kingdom); Grazioli, L. [Dept. of Radiology, Univ. of Brescia (Italy); Moeller, A. [MEDIDATA GmbH, Konstanz (Germany); Lodemann, K.P. [BRACCO-BYK GULDEN GmbH, Konstanz (Germany)

2001-02-01

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI in liver lesion detection in comparison with unenhanced MRI and dynamic CT. The image sets of 148 of 151 patients enrolled in a multicenter German phase-III trial were evaluated by two independent radiologists unaffiliated with the investigating centers. Patients underwent a routine MRI protocol comprising T2- and T1-weighted spin-echo and T1-weighted gradient-echo (GE) sequences pre and 1 h post 0.1 mmol/kg Gd-BOPTA (Bracco-Byk Gulden, Konstanz, Germany). Additionally, a serial T1-weighted GE scan was performed after administration of the first half of the dose. All patients underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced CT. The evaluation was performed with regard to the number and size of lesions detected per patient by each modality or sequence. Furthermore, all pre CM and pre + post CM image sets were analyzed for number of lesions per patient. Both readers detected significantly more lesions in the contrast-enhanced image set compared with the unenhanced image set (32 and 39 %, respectively; p < 0.0001). While contrast-enhanced CT detected a similar number of lesions to unenhanced MRI, it was clearly inferior to contrast-enhanced MRI (reader 1: p = 0.0117; reader 2: p = 0.0225). Of the T1-weighted scans performed, the dynamic and late T1-weighted GE exams contributed most to the increased lesion detection rate (reader 1: p = 0.0007; reader 2: p = 0.0037). The size of the smallest lesion detected by means of MRI was significantly larger in the pre-CM image sets than in the pre + post CM image sets (reader 1: p = 0.001; reader 2: p < 0.0001). Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI detected significantly smaller lesions than contrast-enhanced CT (reader 1: p = 0.0117; reader 2: p = 0.0925). Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MR imaging improves liver lesion detection significantly over unenhanced MRI and dynamic CT. (orig.)

Diffraction-enhanced imaging of the rat spine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kelly, M.E. [Cleveland Clinic, Dept. of Neurosurgery, Cleveland, Ohio (United States)]. E-mail: mebkelly@gmail.com; Beavis, R.C. [Univ. of Saskatchewan, Royal Univ. Hospital, Div. of Orthopaedic Surgery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada); Fourney, D.R. [Univ. of Saskatchewan, Royal Univ. Hospital, Div. of Neurosurgery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada); Schultke, E. [Univ. of Saskatchewan, Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada); Parham, C. [Univ. of North Carolina, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (United States); Juurlink, B.H. [Univ. of Saskatchewan, Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada); Zhong, Z. [Brookhaven National Laboratory, National Synchrotron Light Source, Upton, New York (United States); Chapman, L.D. [Univ. of Saskatchewan, Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada)

2006-10-15

Diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) uses monochromatic synchrotron X-rays to image tissue. This technique has been shown to produce superior bony and soft tissue characterization when compared with conventional absorption radiography. Application of this imaging modality is under investigation, and this study represents the first DEI analysis of the vertebral column. Four male Wistar rats were studied. Spine muscle blocks were imaged in 3 of the rats after thoracic laminectomy (n = 1), after lumbar laminectomy (n = 1), and in a control condition (n = 1). The fourth rat was imaged as a whole animal control. Conventional radiography and synchrotron-supported DEI at 40 keV were performed on all specimens. We compared images side by side, using a nonvalidated subjective assessment technique. DEI produced superior visualization of the vertebral anatomy, compared with conventional absorption radiography for all specimens. Greater bony and soft tissue detail was noted, with improved image contrast. In addition to imaging the anatomical structures, DEI showed the polyglactin suture material used for fascial closure in the 2 animals that underwent surgery. Artifact from air bubbles was present on DEI images but not on plain radiographs. This represents the first use of DEI, a novel imaging modality, to image the vertebral column. It provides excellent anatomic detail with superior contrast and visualization of both bone and soft tissue when compared with conventional radiography. Future applications of this investigational technique may include analysis of spinal fusion as well as degenerative and neoplastic conditions of the spine. (author)

Diffraction-enhanced imaging of the rat spine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, M.E.; Beavis, R.C.; Fourney, D.R.; Schultke, E.; Parham, C.; Juurlink, B.H.; Zhong, Z.; Chapman, L.D.

2006-01-01

Diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) uses monochromatic synchrotron X-rays to image tissue. This technique has been shown to produce superior bony and soft tissue characterization when compared with conventional absorption radiography. Application of this imaging modality is under investigation, and this study represents the first DEI analysis of the vertebral column. Four male Wistar rats were studied. Spine muscle blocks were imaged in 3 of the rats after thoracic laminectomy (n = 1), after lumbar laminectomy (n = 1), and in a control condition (n = 1). The fourth rat was imaged as a whole animal control. Conventional radiography and synchrotron-supported DEI at 40 keV were performed on all specimens. We compared images side by side, using a nonvalidated subjective assessment technique. DEI produced superior visualization of the vertebral anatomy, compared with conventional absorption radiography for all specimens. Greater bony and soft tissue detail was noted, with improved image contrast. In addition to imaging the anatomical structures, DEI showed the polyglactin suture material used for fascial closure in the 2 animals that underwent surgery. Artifact from air bubbles was present on DEI images but not on plain radiographs. This represents the first use of DEI, a novel imaging modality, to image the vertebral column. It provides excellent anatomic detail with superior contrast and visualization of both bone and soft tissue when compared with conventional radiography. Future applications of this investigational technique may include analysis of spinal fusion as well as degenerative and neoplastic conditions of the spine. (author)

PENGGUNAAN WAVELET IMAGE ENHANCEMENT DAN TEKSTUR ENERGI CITRA UNTUK MENDETEKSI MASSA MENCURIGAKAN PADA MAMOGRAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heru Wahyu Herwanto

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The Use of Wavelet Image Enhancement and Image Energy Texture for Detecting Suspected Mass in Mammogram. Breast cancer is one of the most dangerous cancer for female. The risk of the cancer can be lessened by early detection using mammography. This research sets out to detect and sign the edge of suspected mass in mammogram. The method used is an image enhancement and segmentation. The process of image enhancement uses the method of adaptive wavelet enhancement, meanwhile the segmentation uses the calculation of image energy texture with laws filter, smoothing, tressholding, morphology, and boudary extraction. The final result of this method will be compared with those of same method with corrected images abd adaptive histogram equalization. The result of the research shows that there is an improvement of enthropy, deviation standard, and contrast values. The overall execution program takes 1.82869 seconds longer than the adaptive histogram equalization.

Imaging of cauda equina edema in lumbar canal stenosis by using gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging: experimental constriction injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, S; Uchida, K; Takeno, K; Baba, H; Suzuki, Y; Hayakawa, K; Yoshizawa, H

2006-02-01

It has been reported that disturbance of blood flow arising from circumferential compression of the cauda equina by surrounding tissue plays a major role in the appearance of neurogenic intermittent claudication (NIC) associated with lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS). We created a model of LSCS to clarify the mechanism of enhancement within the cauda equina on gadolinium-enhanced MR images from patients with LSCS. In 20 dogs, a lumbar laminectomy was performed by applying circumferential constriction to the cauda equina by using a silicon tube, to produce 30% stenosis of the circumferential diameter of the dural tube. After 1 and 3 weeks, gadolinium and Evans blue albumin were injected intravenously at the same time. The sections were used to investigate the status of the blood-nerve barrier function under a fluorescence microscope and we compared gadolinium-enhanced MR images with Evans blue albumin distribution in the nerve. The other sections were used for light and transmission electron microscopic study. In this model, histologic examination showed congestion and dilation in many of the intraradicular veins, as well as inflammatory cell infiltration. The intraradicular edema caused by venous congestion and Wallerian degeneration can also occur at sites that are not subject to mechanical compression. Enhanced MR imaging showed enhancement of the cauda equina at the stenosed region, demonstrating the presence of edema. Gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging may be a useful tool for the diagnosis of microcirculatory disorders of the cauda equina associated with LSCS.

Gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma occurring in liver transplants

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Kim, Mimi [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Hanyang University of Hospital, Department of Radiology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kang, Tae Wook; Jeong, Woo Kyoung; Kim, Young Kon; Kim, Seong Hyun [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jong Man [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Sinn, Dong Hyun [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Division of hepatology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Min-Ji; Jung, Sin-ho [Samsung Medical Center, Biostatics and Clinical Epidemiology Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-08-15

Characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on magnetic resonance (MR) images were compared in patients who did or did not undergo liver transplantation (LT), and we evaluated the relationship of these findings with overall survival (OS) and time-to-tumour recurrence (TTR) after transplantation. The enhancement pattern of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR images of 25 patients with recurrent HCCs (LT group) and 25 surgically confirmed HCC patients in the non-transplanted (control) group were compared. Typical enhancement was defined as 1) arterial enhancement and delayed wash-out and 2) absence of typical features of cholangiocarcinoma consisting of arterial rim enhancement and target appearance on hepatobiliary phase images. OS and TTR were analyzed in the LT group according to these patterns using the log-rank test. HCCs in the LT group significantly more often had an atypical enhancement pattern (16/25, 64.0%) than those in the control group (5/25, 20.0%; p = 0.004). However, OS and TTR did not differ significantly according to these enhancement patterns of recurrent HCC (p > 0.05). Although enhancement patterns of recurrent HCC in transplanted liver did not affect OS and TTR, these HCCs that arise after LT frequently revealed atypical enhancement on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging. (orig.)

Gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma occurring in liver transplants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Mimi; Kang, Tae Wook; Jeong, Woo Kyoung; Kim, Young Kon; Kim, Seong Hyun; Kim, Jong Man; Sinn, Dong Hyun; Kim, Min-Ji; Jung, Sin-ho

2017-01-01

Characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on magnetic resonance (MR) images were compared in patients who did or did not undergo liver transplantation (LT), and we evaluated the relationship of these findings with overall survival (OS) and time-to-tumour recurrence (TTR) after transplantation. The enhancement pattern of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR images of 25 patients with recurrent HCCs (LT group) and 25 surgically confirmed HCC patients in the non-transplanted (control) group were compared. Typical enhancement was defined as 1) arterial enhancement and delayed wash-out and 2) absence of typical features of cholangiocarcinoma consisting of arterial rim enhancement and target appearance on hepatobiliary phase images. OS and TTR were analyzed in the LT group according to these patterns using the log-rank test. HCCs in the LT group significantly more often had an atypical enhancement pattern (16/25, 64.0%) than those in the control group (5/25, 20.0%; p = 0.004). However, OS and TTR did not differ significantly according to these enhancement patterns of recurrent HCC (p > 0.05). Although enhancement patterns of recurrent HCC in transplanted liver did not affect OS and TTR, these HCCs that arise after LT frequently revealed atypical enhancement on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging. (orig.)

CMOS image sensor with contour enhancement

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Meng, Liya; Lai, Xiaofeng; Chen, Kun; Yuan, Xianghui

2010-10-01

Imitating the signal acquisition and processing of vertebrate retina, a CMOS image sensor with bionic pre-processing circuit is designed. Integration of signal-process circuit on-chip can reduce the requirement of bandwidth and precision of the subsequent interface circuit, and simplify the design of the computer-vision system. This signal pre-processing circuit consists of adaptive photoreceptor, spatial filtering resistive network and Op-Amp calculation circuit. The adaptive photoreceptor unit with a dynamic range of approximately 100 dB has a good self-adaptability for the transient changes in light intensity instead of intensity level itself. Spatial low-pass filtering resistive network used to mimic the function of horizontal cell, is composed of the horizontal resistor (HRES) circuit and OTA (Operational Transconductance Amplifier) circuit. HRES circuit, imitating dendrite of the neuron cell, comprises of two series MOS transistors operated in weak inversion region. Appending two diode-connected n-channel transistors to a simple transconductance amplifier forms the OTA Op-Amp circuit, which provides stable bias voltage for the gate of MOS transistors in HRES circuit, while serves as an OTA voltage follower to provide input voltage for the network nodes. The Op-Amp calculation circuit with a simple two-stage Op-Amp achieves the image contour enhancing. By adjusting the bias voltage of the resistive network, the smoothing effect can be tuned to change the effect of image's contour enhancement. Simulations of cell circuit and 16×16 2D circuit array are implemented using CSMC 0.5μm DPTM CMOS process.

NSCT BASED LOCAL ENHANCEMENT FOR ACTIVE CONTOUR BASED IMAGE SEGMENTATION APPLICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiren Mewada

2010-08-01

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

Cranial nerve assessment in cavernous sinus tumors with contrast-enhanced 3D fast-imaging employing steady-state acquisition MR imaging

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Amemiya, Shiori; Aoki, Shigeki; Ohtomo, Kuni [University of Tokyo, Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo (Japan)

2009-07-15

The purpose of this study is to apply contrast-enhanced 3D fast-imaging employing steady-state acquisition (3D-FIESTA) imaging to the evaluation of cranial nerves (CN) in patients with cavernous sinus tumors. Contrast-enhanced 3D-FIESTA images were acquired from ten patients with cavernous sinus tumors with a 3-T unit. In all cases, the trigeminal nerve with tumor involvement was easily identified in the cavernous portions. Although oculomotor and abducens nerves were clearly visualized against the tumor area with intense contrast enhancement, they were hardly identifiable within the area lacking contrast enhancement. The trochlear nerve was visualized in part, but not delineated as a linear structure outside of the lesion. Contrast-enhanced 3D-FIESTA can be useful in the assessment of cranial nerves in and around the cavernous sinus with tumor involvement. (orig.)

Cranial nerve assessment in cavernous sinus tumors with contrast-enhanced 3D fast-imaging employing steady-state acquisition MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amemiya, Shiori; Aoki, Shigeki; Ohtomo, Kuni

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study is to apply contrast-enhanced 3D fast-imaging employing steady-state acquisition (3D-FIESTA) imaging to the evaluation of cranial nerves (CN) in patients with cavernous sinus tumors. Contrast-enhanced 3D-FIESTA images were acquired from ten patients with cavernous sinus tumors with a 3-T unit. In all cases, the trigeminal nerve with tumor involvement was easily identified in the cavernous portions. Although oculomotor and abducens nerves were clearly visualized against the tumor area with intense contrast enhancement, they were hardly identifiable within the area lacking contrast enhancement. The trochlear nerve was visualized in part, but not delineated as a linear structure outside of the lesion. Contrast-enhanced 3D-FIESTA can be useful in the assessment of cranial nerves in and around the cavernous sinus with tumor involvement. (orig.)

Image quality enhancement for skin cancer optical diagnostics

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Bliznuks, Dmitrijs; Kuzmina, Ilona; Bolocko, Katrina; Lihachev, Alexey

2017-12-01

The research presents image quality analysis and enhancement proposals in biophotonic area. The sources of image problems are reviewed and analyzed. The problems with most impact in biophotonic area are analyzed in terms of specific biophotonic task - skin cancer diagnostics. The results point out that main problem for skin cancer analysis is the skin illumination problems. Since it is often not possible to prevent illumination problems, the paper proposes image post processing algorithm - low frequency filtering. Practical results show diagnostic results improvement after using proposed filter. Along that, filter do not reduces diagnostic results' quality for images without illumination defects. Current filtering algorithm requires empirical tuning of filter parameters. Further work needed to test the algorithm in other biophotonic applications and propose automatic filter parameter selection.

Diffraction enhanced imaging of normal and arthritic mice feet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crittell, Suzanne; Cheung, K.C.; Hall, Chris; Ibison, Mark; Nolan, Paul; Page, Robert; Scraggs, David; Wilkinson, Steve

2007-01-01

The aim of this experiment was to produce X-ray images of mice feet using the diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) system at the UK Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS) at Daresbury. There were two broad types of mice feet samples studied: normal and arthritic. The two types of samples were imaged using several views and compared in order to determine whether it would be possible to detect the early morphological changes linked with this form of arthritis. We found that the DEI images produced were indeed of sufficient quality to show the presence of some osteoarthritic changes

Clinical utility of eco-color-power Doppler ultrasonography and contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for interpretation and quantification of joint synovitis: a review.

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Carotti, Marina; Galeazzi, Vittoria; Catucci, Francesca; Zappia, Marcello; Arrigoni, Francesco; Barile, Antonio; Giovagnoni, Andrea

2018-01-19

With the introduction of new biologics such as anti-TNF-alpha antibodies and other therapies in the treatment of inflammatory arthritis, capable of halting joint destruction and functional disability, there are new pressures on diagnostic and prognostic imaging. Early demonstration of pre-erosive inflammatory features and monitoring of the long-term effects of treatment are becoming increasingly important. Early detection of synovitis offers advantages in terms of allowing early instigation of therapy and may allow the identification of those patients displaying more aggressive disease who might benefit from early intervention with expensive DMARD therapy. Advanced imaging techniques such as ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have focussed on the demonstration and quantification of synovitis and allow early diagnosis of inflammatory arthropathies such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Synovitis represents a potential surrogate measure of disease activity that can be monitored using either MRI or US; the techniques have, generally, focused on monitoring synovial volume or quality as assessed by its vascularity. However to achieve these goals, standardisation and validation of US and MRI are required to ensure accurate diagnosis, reproducibility and reliability. Each modality has different strengths and weaknesses and levels of validation. This article aims to increase the awareness of radiologists and rheumatologists about this field and to encourage them to participate and contribute to the ongoing development of these modalities. Without this collaboration, it is unlikely that these modalities will reach their full potential in the field of rheumatological imaging. This review is in two parts. The first part addresses the role of US and colour or power Doppler sonography (PDUS) in the detection and monitoring of synovitis in inflammatory arthropathies. The second part will look at advanced MR imaging and Dynamic contrast-enhanced

Structure and morphology of mythimna pupa under diffraction enhanced imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Wanxia; Yuan Qingxi; Zhu Peiping; Wang Junyue; Liu Yijin; Chen Bo; Shu Hang; Hu Tiandou; Wu Ziyu; Ge Siqin

2007-01-01

As a technique of X-ray phase contrast imaging, the diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) attracts much interest due to its high resolution and contrast. The top images of DEI were used to study the growth of a complete metamorphic mythimna in the period of pupa. Clear images about the pupa structure were obtained. The entire growth process of the pupa was observed, including the evolvement of part of organs and tissues from larva to imago. (authors)

Quantitative reconstruction from a single diffraction-enhanced image

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paganin, D.M.; Lewis, R.A.; Kitchen, M.

2003-01-01

Full text: We develop an algorithm for using a single diffraction-enhanced image (DEI) to obtain a quantitative reconstruction of the projected thickness of a single-material sample which is embedded within a substrate of approximately constant thickness. This algorithm is used to quantitatively map inclusions in a breast phantom, from a single synchrotron DEI image. In particular, the reconstructed images quantitatively represent the projected thickness in the bulk of the sample, in contrast to DEI images which greatly emphasise sharp edges (high spatial frequencies). In the context of an ultimate aim of improved methods for breast cancer detection, the reconstructions are potentially of greater diagnostic value compared to the DEI data. Lastly, we point out that the methods of analysis presented here are also applicable to the quantitative analysis of differential interference contrast (DIC) images

Image quality enhancement in low-light-level ghost imaging using modified compressive sensing method

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Shi, Xiaohui; Huang, Xianwei; Nan, Suqin; Li, Hengxing; Bai, Yanfeng; Fu, Xiquan

2018-04-01

Detector noise has a significantly negative impact on ghost imaging at low light levels, especially for existing recovery algorithm. Based on the characteristics of the additive detector noise, a method named modified compressive sensing ghost imaging is proposed to reduce the background imposed by the randomly distributed detector noise at signal path. Experimental results show that, with an appropriate choice of threshold value, modified compressive sensing ghost imaging algorithm can dramatically enhance the contrast-to-noise ratio of the object reconstruction significantly compared with traditional ghost imaging and compressive sensing ghost imaging methods. The relationship between the contrast-to-noise ratio of the reconstruction image and the intensity ratio (namely, the average signal intensity to average noise intensity ratio) for the three reconstruction algorithms are also discussed. This noise suppression imaging technique will have great applications in remote-sensing and security areas.

Partial Fingerprint Image Enhancement using Region Division Technique and Morphological Transform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, A.; Arshad, I.; Raja, G.

2015-01-01

Fingerprints are the most renowned biometric trait for identification and verification. The quality of fingerprint image plays a vital role in feature extraction and matching. Existing algorithms work well for good quality fingerprint images and fail for partial fingerprint images as they are obtained from excessively dry fingers or affected by disease resulting in broken ridges. We propose an algorithm to enhance partial fingerprint images using morphological operatins with region division technique. The proposed method divides low quality image into six regions from top to bottom. Morphological operations choose an appropriate Structuring Element (SE) that joins broken ridges and thus enhance the image for further processing. The proposed method uses SE line with suitable angle theta and radius r in each region based on the orientation of the ridges. The algorithm is applied to 14 low quality fingerprint images from FVC-2002 database. Experimental results show that percentage accuracy has been improved using the proposed algorithm. The manual markup has been reduced and accuracy of 76.16% with Equal Error Rate (EER) of 3.16% is achieved. (author)

Superparamagnetic nanoparticles for enhanced magnetic resonance and multimodal imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Sikma, Elise Ann Schultz

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful tool for noninvasive tomographic imaging of biological systems with high spatial and temporal resolution. Superparamagnetic (SPM) nanoparticles have emerged as highly effective MR contrast agents due to their biocompatibility, ease of surface modification and magnetic properties. Conventional nanoparticle contrast agents suffer from difficult synthetic reproducibility, polydisperse sizes and weak magnetism. Numerous synthetic techniques and nanoparticle formulations have been developed to overcome these barriers. However, there are still major limitations in the development of new nanoparticle-based probes for MR and multimodal imaging including low signal amplification and absence of biochemical reporters. To address these issues, a set of multimodal (T2/optical) and dual contrast (T1/T2) nanoparticle probes has been developed. Their unique magnetic properties and imaging capabilities were thoroughly explored. An enzyme-activatable contrast agent is currently being developed as an innovative means for early in vivo detection of cancer at the cellular level. Multimodal probes function by combining the strengths of multiple imaging techniques into a single agent. Co-registration of data obtained by multiple imaging modalities validates the data, enhancing its quality and reliability. A series of T2/optical probes were successfully synthesized by attachment of a fluorescent dye to the surface of different types of nanoparticles. The multimodal nanoparticles generated sufficient MR and fluorescence signal to image transplanted islets in vivo. Dual contrast T1/T2 imaging probes were designed to overcome disadvantages inherent in the individual T1 and T2 components. A class of T1/T2 agents was developed consisting of a gadolinium (III) complex (DTPA chelate or DO3A macrocycle) conjugated to a biocompatible silica-coated metal oxide nanoparticle through a disulfide linker. The disulfide linker has the ability to be reduced

Parametric imaging for characterizing focal liver lesions in contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Rognin, Nicolas G; Arditi, Marcel; Mercier, Laurent; Frinking, Peter J A; Schneider, Michel; Perrenoud, Geneviève; Anaye, Anass; Meuwly, Jean-Yves; Tranquart, François

2010-11-01

The differentiation between benign and malignant focal liver lesions plays an important role in diagnosis of liver disease and therapeutic planning of local or general disease. This differentiation, based on characterization, relies on the observation of the dynamic vascular patterns (DVP) of lesions with respect to adjacent parenchyma, and may be assessed during contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging after a bolus injection. For instance, hemangiomas (i.e., benign lesions) exhibit hyper-enhanced signatures over time, whereas metastases (i.e., malignant lesions) frequently present hyperenhanced foci during the arterial phase and always become hypo-enhanced afterwards. The objective of this work was to develop a new parametric imaging technique, aimed at mapping the DVP signatures into a single image called a DVP parametric image, conceived as a diagnostic aid tool for characterizing lesion types. The methodology consisted in processing a time sequence of images (DICOM video data) using four consecutive steps: (1) pre-processing combining image motion correction and linearization to derive an echo-power signal, in each pixel, proportional to local contrast agent concentration over time; (2) signal modeling, by means of a curve-fitting optimization, to compute a difference signal in each pixel, as the subtraction of adjacent parenchyma kinetic from the echopower signal; (3) classification of difference signals; and (4) parametric image rendering to represent classified pixels as a support for diagnosis. DVP parametric imaging was the object of a clinical assessment on a total of 146 lesions, imaged using different medical ultrasound systems. The resulting sensitivity and specificity were 97% and 91%, respectively, which compare favorably with scores of 81 to 95% and 80 to 95% reported in medical literature for sensitivity and specificity, respectively.

Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the breast: the value of pharmacokinetic parameters derived from fast dynamic imaging during initial enhancement in classifying lesions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veltman, J.; Stoutjesdijk, M.; Mann, R.; Huisman, H.J.; Barentsz, J.O.; Blickman, J.G.; Boetes, C.

2008-01-01

The value of pharmacokinetic parameters derived from fast dynamic imaging during initial enhancement in characterizing breast lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was evaluated. Sixty-eight malignant and 34 benign lesions were included. In the scanning protocol, high temporal resolution imaging was combined with high spatial resolution imaging. The high temporal resolution images were recorded every 4.1 s during initial enhancement (fast dynamic analysis). The high spatial resolution images were recorded at a temporal resolution of 86 s (slow dynamic analysis). In the fast dynamic evaluation pharmacokinetic parameters (K trans , V e and k ep ) were evaluated. In the slow dynamic analysis, each lesion was scored according to the BI-RADS classification. Two readers evaluated all data prospectively. ROC and multivariate analysis were performed. The slow dynamic analysis resulted in an AUC of 0.85 and 0.83, respectively. The fast dynamic analysis resulted in an AUC of 0.83 in both readers. The combination of both the slow and fast dynamic analyses resulted in a significant improvement of diagnostic performance with an AUC of 0.93 and 0.90 (P = 0.02). The increased diagnostic performance found when combining both methods demonstrates the additional value of our method in further improving the diagnostic performance of breast MRI. (orig.)

A process-stakeholder analysis of B2B industry standardisation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodon, J.; Ramis-Pujol, J.; Christiaanse, E.

2007-01-01

Purpose - Interoperability standards are a crucial aspect in the development of B2B e-business. The aim of this paper is to understand how standardisation evolves by analysing the interplay between activities and stakeholders within the process. Unlike most of the IS research that focuses on the

Inequalities in mortality: study rates, not standardised mortality ratios [Letter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bonneux, L.G.A.

2010-01-01

In their study from 1921 to 2007 Thomas and colleagues conclude on the basis of standardised mortality ratios that inequalities in mortality continue to rise and are now almost as high as in the 1930s. Relative ratios are, however, misleading when absolute rates change strongly. I calculated the

Multi-technology Integration Based on Low-contrast Microscopic Image Enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haoge Ma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Microscopic image enhancement is an important issue of image processing technique, which is used to improve the visual quality of image. This paper describes a novel multi resolution image segmentation algorithm for low DOF images. The algorithm is designed to separate a sharply focused object of interest from other foreground or background objects. The algorithm is fully automatic in that all parameters are image in dependent. A multiscale-approach based on high frequency wavelet coefficients and their statistics is used to perform context dependent classification of individual blocks of the image. Compared with the state of the art algorithms, this new algorithm provides better accuracy at higher speed.

MR imaging with Gd-DTPA enhancement in experimental acute injury of the spinal cord

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hackney, D.B.; Asato, R.; Joseph, P.M.; McGrath, J.T.; Grossman, R.I.; Shetty, A.

1986-01-01

The authors performed MR imaging with Gd-DTPA enhancement in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, with experimentally induced acute spinal cored injuries. After epidural compression of the spinal cored the pathologic changes of acute cord contusion were allowed to develop for 30 minutes to 4 hours. MR imaging was then performed at 1.4 T. Both short spin-echo (TR = 400 msec, TE = 15-20 msec) and long spin-echo (TR = 2,000 msec, TE = 100 msec) images were obtained. After the initial imaging, Gd-DTPA (0.1 mmol/kg) and Evans blue dye were administered intravenously and imaging was repeated. Enhancement of normal central gray matter was consistently observed. However, neither pathologic enhancement on MR images nor extravasation of Evans blue dye on histologic inspection were identified

Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging in facial nerve paralysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tien, R.D.; Dillon, W.P.

1989-01-01

GD-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging was used to evaluate 11 patients with facial nerve paralysis (five acute idiopathic facial palsy (Bell palsy), three chronic recurrent facial palsy, one acute facial palsy after local radiation therapy, one chronic facial dyskinesia, and one facial neuroma). In eight of 11 patients, there was marked enhancement of the infratemporal facial nerve from the labyrinthine segment to the stylomastoid foramen. Two patients had additional contrast enhancement in the internal auditory canal segment. In one patient, enhancement persisted (but to a lesser degree) 8 weeks after symptoms had resolved. In one patient, no enhancement was seen 15 months after resolution of Bell palsy. The facial neuroma was seen as a focal nodular enhancement in the mastoid segment of the facial nerve

Efficient image enhancement using sparse source separation in the Retinex theory

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Jongsu; Choi, Jangwon; Choe, Yoonsik

2017-11-01

Color constancy is the feature of the human vision system (HVS) that ensures the relative constancy of the perceived color of objects under varying illumination conditions. The Retinex theory of machine vision systems is based on the HVS. Among Retinex algorithms, the physics-based algorithms are efficient; however, they generally do not satisfy the local characteristics of the original Retinex theory because they eliminate global illumination from their optimization. We apply the sparse source separation technique to the Retinex theory to present a physics-based algorithm that satisfies the locality characteristic of the original Retinex theory. Previous Retinex algorithms have limited use in image enhancement because the total variation Retinex results in an overly enhanced image and the sparse source separation Retinex cannot completely restore the original image. In contrast, our proposed method preserves the image edge and can very nearly replicate the original image without any special operation.

Efficient Hardware Implementation For Fingerprint Image Enhancement Using Anisotropic Gaussian Filter.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Tariq Mahmood; Bailey, Donald G; Khan, Mohammad A U; Kong, Yinan

2017-05-01

A real-time image filtering technique is proposed which could result in faster implementation for fingerprint image enhancement. One major hurdle associated with fingerprint filtering techniques is the expensive nature of their hardware implementations. To circumvent this, a modified anisotropic Gaussian filter is efficiently adopted in hardware by decomposing the filter into two orthogonal Gaussians and an oriented line Gaussian. An architecture is developed for dynamically controlling the orientation of the line Gaussian filter. To further improve the performance of the filter, the input image is homogenized by a local image normalization. In the proposed structure, for a middle-range reconfigurable FPGA, both parallel compute-intensive and real-time demands were achieved. We manage to efficiently speed up the image-processing time and improve the resource utilization of the FPGA. Test results show an improved speed for its hardware architecture while maintaining reasonable enhancement benchmarks.

Multiphase contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging features of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-induced granulomatous prostatitis in five patients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kawada, Hiroshi; Kanematsu, Masayuki; Goshima, Satoshi; Kondo, Hiroshi; Watanabe, Haruo; Noda, Yoshifumi; Tanahashi, Yukichi; Kawai, Nobuyuki; Hoshi, Hiroaki [Gifu University Hospital, Gifu (Japan)

2015-04-15

To evaluate the multiphase contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging features of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-induced granulomatous prostatitis (GP). Magnetic resonance images obtained from five patients with histopathologically proven BCG-induced GP were retrospectively analyzed for tumor location, size, signal intensity on T2-weighted images (T2WI) and diffusion-weighted images (DWI), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value, and appearance on gadolinium-enhanced multiphase images. MR imaging findings were compared with histopathological findings. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-induced GP (size range, 9-40 mm; mean, 21.2 mm) were identified in the peripheral zone in all patients. The T2WI showed lower signal intensity compared with the normal peripheral zone. The DWIs demonstrated high signal intensity and low ADC values (range, 0.44-0.68 x 10(-3) mm2/sec; mean, 0.56 x 10(-3) mm2/sec), which corresponded to GP. Gadolinium-enhanced multiphase MR imaging performed in five patients showed early and prolonged ring enhancement in all cases of GP. Granulomatous tissues with central caseation necrosis were identified histologically, which corresponded to ring enhancement and a central low intensity area on gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging. The findings on T2WI, DWI, and gadolinium-enhanced images became gradually obscured with time. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-induced GP demonstrates early and prolonged ring enhancement on gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging which might be a key finding to differentiate it from prostate cancer.

Enhancement of the optical image with a DC blocked spiral holographic pattern

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Sung-In; Lee, Jung-Kyun; Song, Dong-Hoon; Choi, Dae-Sik; Ko, Do-Kyeong

2011-01-01

A modification of microscopy using a spiral phase plate, which enhanced the optical image by blocking the DC part of the object spectrum is presented. In conventional differential-interference-contrast microscopy, enhancement of optical images is achieved by interference of mutual coherent beams which experience different optical phases. This method increases the contrast of the optical image compared to normal microscopy, but the image still has some blurring around the edge of the sample. Our modification consists of placing a DC blocking region on an optical spatial filter, which allows us to achieve a sharp edge compared to the conventional one. By patterning the grating of the circular area in the center with a different direction (π/4 in our case), we could redirect the DC part of the Fourier component that passed through the center of the phase plate. By eliminating the DC part of the object spectrum, we could get a highly enhanced image and clearly observed the inside of the cheek cell, which was invisible otherwise.

Enhancement and denoising of mammographic images for breast disease detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yazdani, S.; Yusof, R.; Karimian, A.; Hematian, A.; Yousefi, M.

2012-01-01

In these two decades breast cancer is one of the leading cause of death among women. In breast cancer research, Mammographic Image is being assessed as a potential tool for detecting breast disease and investigating response to chemotherapy. In first stage of breast disease discovery, the density measurement of the breast in mammographic images provides very useful information. Because of the importance of the role of mammographic images the need for accurate and robust automated image enhancement techniques is becoming clear. Mammographic images have some disadvantages such as, the high dependence of contrast upon the way the image is acquired, weak distinction in splitting cyst from tumor, intensity non uniformity, the existence of noise, etc. These limitations make problem to detect the typical signs such as masses and microcalcifications. For this reason, denoising and enhancing the quality of mammographic images is very important. The method which is used in this paper is in spatial domain which its input includes high, intermediate and even very low contrast mammographic images based on specialist physician's view, while its output is processed images that show the input images with higher quality, more contrast and more details. In this research, 38 mammographic images have been used. The result of purposed method shows details of abnormal zones and the areas with defects so that specialist could explore these zones more accurately and it could be deemed as an index for cancer diagnosis. In this study, mammographic images are initially converted into digital images and then to increase spatial resolution power, their noise is reduced and consequently their contrast is improved. The results demonstrate effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed methods. (authors)

Effects of standardised cigarette packaging on craving, motivation to stop and perceptions of cigarettes and packs.

Science.gov (United States)

Brose, Leonie S; Chong, Chwen B; Aspinall, Emily; Michie, Susan; McEwen, Andy

2014-01-01

To assess whether standardised packs of the form introduced in Australia are associated with a reduction in acute craving and/or an increase in motivation to stop, and to replicate previous findings on perceptions of packaging, perceptions of smokers using it and perceived effects on behaviour. Following abstinence of at least 12 h, 98 regular and occasional smokers were randomised to exposure to their own cigarette package, another branded package or a standardised package. Craving (QSU-brief), motivation to stop, both at baseline and post-exposure. Ratings of 10 attributes concerning package design, perceived smoker characteristics and effects on behaviour, post-exposure only. For craving, a mixed model ANCOVA showed a significant interaction of packaging and time of measurement (F(2,94) = 8.77, p interaction for motivation to stop smoking (p = .9). The standardised pack was perceived to be significantly less appealing and less motivating to buy cigarettes, smokers using them were perceived as less popular and cigarettes from them expected to taste worse. Standardised cigarette packaging may reduce acute (hedonic) craving and is associated with more negative perceptions than branded packaging with less prominent health warnings.

Iris image enhancement for feature recognition and extraction

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mabuza, GP

2012-10-01

Full Text Available the employment of other algorithms and commands so as to better present and demonstrate the obtained results. Edge detection and enhancing images for use in an iris recognition system allow for efficient recognition and extraction of iris patterns. REFERENCES... Gonzalez, R.C. and Woods, R.E. 2002. Digital Image Processing 2nd Edition, Instructor?s manual .Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, pp 17-36. Proen?a, H. and Alexandre, L.A. 2007. Toward Noncooperative Iris Recognition: A classification approach using...

Phase contrast enhanced high resolution X-ray imaging and tomography of soft tissue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakubek, Jan; Granja, Carlos; Dammer, Jiri; Hanus, Robert; Holy, Tomas; Pospisil, Stanislav; Tykva, Richard; Uher, Josef; Vykydal, Zdenek

2007-01-01

A tabletop system for digital high resolution and high sensitivity X-ray micro-radiography has been developed for small-animal and soft-tissue imaging. The system is based on a micro-focus X-ray tube and the semiconductor hybrid position sensitive Medipix2 pixel detector. Transmission radiography imaging, conventionally based only on absorption, is enhanced by exploiting phase-shift effects induced in the X-ray beam traversing the sample. Phase contrast imaging is realized by object edge enhancement. DAQ is done by a novel fully integrated USB-based readout with online image generation. Improved signal reconstruction techniques make use of advanced statistical data analysis, enhanced beam hardening correction and direct thickness calibration of individual pixels. 2D and 3D micro-tomography images of several biological samples demonstrate the applicability of the system for biological and medical purposes including in-vivo and time dependent physiological studies in the life sciences

Multipeak Mean Based Optimized Histogram Modification Framework Using Swarm Intelligence for Image Contrast Enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Babu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A novel approach, Multipeak mean based optimized histogram modification framework (MMOHM is introduced for the purpose of enhancing the contrast as well as preserving essential details for any given gray scale and colour images. The basic idea of this technique is the calculation of multiple peaks (local maxima from the original histogram. The mean value of multiple peaks is computed and the input image’s histogram is segmented into two subhistograms based on this multipeak mean (mmean value. Then, a bicriteria optimization problem is formulated and the subhistograms are modified by selecting optimal contrast enhancement parameters. While formulating the enhancement parameters, particle swarm optimization is employed to find optimal values of them. Finally, the union of the modified subhistograms produces a contrast enhanced and details preserved output image. This mechanism enhances the contrast of the input image better than the existing contemporary HE methods. The performance of the proposed method is well supported by the contrast enhancement quantitative metrics such as discrete entropy, natural image quality evaluator, and absolute mean brightness error.

A standardised protocol for texture feature analysis of endoscopic images in gynaecological cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pattichis Marios S

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the development of tissue classification methods, classifiers rely on significant differences between texture features extracted from normal and abnormal regions. Yet, significant differences can arise due to variations in the image acquisition method. For endoscopic imaging of the endometrium, we propose a standardized image acquisition protocol to eliminate significant statistical differences due to variations in: (i the distance from the tissue (panoramic vs close up, (ii difference in viewing angles and (iii color correction. Methods We investigate texture feature variability for a variety of targets encountered in clinical endoscopy. All images were captured at clinically optimum illumination and focus using 720 × 576 pixels and 24 bits color for: (i a variety of testing targets from a color palette with a known color distribution, (ii different viewing angles, (iv two different distances from a calf endometrial and from a chicken cavity. Also, human images from the endometrium were captured and analysed. For texture feature analysis, three different sets were considered: (i Statistical Features (SF, (ii Spatial Gray Level Dependence Matrices (SGLDM, and (iii Gray Level Difference Statistics (GLDS. All images were gamma corrected and the extracted texture feature values were compared against the texture feature values extracted from the uncorrected images. Statistical tests were applied to compare images from different viewing conditions so as to determine any significant differences. Results For the proposed acquisition procedure, results indicate that there is no significant difference in texture features between the panoramic and close up views and between angles. For a calibrated target image, gamma correction provided an acquired image that was a significantly better approximation to the original target image. In turn, this implies that the texture features extracted from the corrected images provided for better

Differentiation of mass-forming focal pancreatitis from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: value of characterizing dynamic enhancement patterns on contrast-enhanced MR images by adding signal intensity color mapping

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Mimi [Hanyang University College of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Hanyang Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Jang, Kyung Mi [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jae-Hun; Jeong, Woo Kyoung; Kim, Seong Hyun; Kang, Tae Wook; Kim, Young Kon; Cha, Dong Ik [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Kyunga [Samsung Medical Center, Biostatics and Clinical Epidemiology Center, Research Institute for Future Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-04-15

To evaluate the value of dynamic enhancement patterns on contrast-enhanced MR images by adding signal intensity colour mapping (SICM) to differentiate mass-forming focal pancreatitis (MFFP) from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Forty-one clinicopathologically proven MFFPs and 144 surgically confirmed PDACs were enrolled. Laboratory and MR imaging parameters were used to differentiate MFFP from PDAC. In particular, enhancement patterns on MR images adding SICM were evaluated. By using classification tree analysis (CTA), we determined the predictors for the differentiation of MFFP from PDAC. In the CTA, with all parameters except enhancement pattern on SICM images, ductal obstruction grade and T1 hypointensity grade of the pancreatic lesion were the first and second splitting predictor for differentiation of MFFP from PDAC, in order. By adding an enhancement pattern on the SICM images to CTA, the enhancement pattern was the only splitting predictor to differentiate MFFP from PDAC. The CTA model including enhancement pattern on SICM images has sensitivity of 78.0 %, specificity of 99.3 %, and accuracy of 94.6 % for differentiating MFFP from PDAC. The characterization of enhancement pattern for pancreatic lesions on contrast-enhanced MR images adding SICM would be helpful to differentiate MFFP from PDAC. (orig.)

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of ring-enhancing intracerebral lesions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Youcheng; Li Jiance; Tian Wei; Li Zongfang

2005-01-01

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of diffusion-weighted echo-planar MR Imaging (DWI) in ring-enhancing intracerebral lesions. Methods: Magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted images of ninty-three patients presenting with ring-ehancing intracerebral lesions diagnosed by clinical or histopathologic findings were studied retrospectively, including 21 gliomas, 26 metastases, 13 pyogenic abscesses, 18 neurocysticercoses and 15 subacute intracerebral hematomas. The signal intensity ratio on diffusion-weighted images and exponential diffusion coefficient images was calculated respectively in ring walls, central contents, and perilesional edemas of ring-enhancing lesions, and normal contralateral cerebral parenchyma was used for comparison. ADC values of interest of lesions, contralateral cerebral parenchyma and CFS were calculated as well. Results: In pyogenic abscesses and subacute intracerebral hematomas, the central content was always extremely hyperintense on diffusion-weighted images, and showed low ADCs [(0.56 ± 0.20) x 10 -3 mm 2 /s, (0.69 ± 0.16) x 10 -3 mm 2 /s, respectively]. On the other hand the central content of gliomas, metastases and neurocysticercoses was hypointense, and showed high ADCs [(2.76 ± 0.41 ) x 10 -3 mm 2 /s, (2.31 ± 0.39 ) x 10 -3 mm 2 /s, (2.10 ± 0.32) x 10 -3 mm 2 /s, respectively]. The ADCs of the first two lesions were significantly lower than of the last three lesions (P 2 -weighted images should be reviewed in daily clinical practice. (authors)

Enhanced echolocation via robust statistics and super-resolution of sonar images

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kio

Echolocation is a process in which an animal uses acoustic signals to exchange information with environments. In a recent study, Neretti et al. have shown that the use of robust statistics can significantly improve the resiliency of echolocation against noise and enhance its accuracy by suppressing the development of sidelobes in the processing of an echo signal. In this research, the use of robust statistics is extended to problems in underwater explorations. The dissertation consists of two parts. Part I describes how robust statistics can enhance the identification of target objects, which in this case are cylindrical containers filled with four different liquids. Particularly, this work employs a variation of an existing robust estimator called an L-estimator, which was first suggested by Koenker and Bassett. As pointed out by Au et al.; a 'highlight interval' is an important feature, and it is closely related with many other important features that are known to be crucial for dolphin echolocation. A varied L-estimator described in this text is used to enhance the detection of highlight intervals, which eventually leads to a successful classification of echo signals. Part II extends the problem into 2 dimensions. Thanks to the advances in material and computer technology, various sonar imaging modalities are available on the market. By registering acoustic images from such video sequences, one can extract more information on the region of interest. Computer vision and image processing allowed application of robust statistics to the acoustic images produced by forward looking sonar systems, such as Dual-frequency Identification Sonar and ProViewer. The first use of robust statistics for sonar image enhancement in this text is in image registration. Random Sampling Consensus (RANSAC) is widely used for image registration. The registration algorithm using RANSAC is optimized for sonar image registration, and the performance is studied. The second use of robust

Importance of contrast-enhanced fluid-attenuated inversion reconvery magnetic resonance imaging in various intracranial pathologic conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Eun Kyoung; Lee, Eun Ja; Kim, Sung Won; Lee, Yong Seok [Dept. of Radiology, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang(Korea, Republic of)

2016-02-15

Intracranial lesions may show contrast enhancement through various mechanisms that are closely associated with the disease process. The preferred magnetic resonance sequence in contrast imaging is T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) at most institutions. However, lesion enhancement is occasionally inconspicuous on T1WI. Although fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequences are commonly considered as T2-weighted imaging with dark cerebrospinal fluid, they also show mild T1-weighted contrast, which is responsible for the contrast enhancement. For several years, FLAIR imaging has been successfully incorporated as a routine sequence at our institution for contrast-enhanced (CE) brain imaging in detecting various intracranial diseases. In this pictorial essay, we describe and illustrate the diagnostic importance of CE-FLAIR imaging in various intracranial pathologic conditions.

Troubleshooting arterial-phase MR images of gadoxetate disodium-enhanced liver

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huh, Ji Mi; Kim, So Yeon; Lee, Seung Soo; Kim, Kyoung Won [Dept. of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Yeh, Benjamin M.; Wang, Z. Jane [Dept. of Radiologyand Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco (United States); Wu, En Haw [Dept. of Medical Imaging and Intervention, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan (China); Zhao, Li Qin [Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing (China); Chang, Wei Chou [Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center, Taipei (China)

2015-12-15

Gadoxetate disodium is a widely used magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agent for liver MR imaging, and it provides both dynamic and hepatobiliary phase images. However, acquiring optimal arterial phase images at liver MR using gadoxetate disodium is more challenging than using conventional extracellular MR contrast agent because of the small volume administered, the gadolinium content of the agent, and the common occurrence of transient severe motion. In this article, we identify the challenges in obtaining high-quality arterial-phase images of gadoxetate disodium-enhanced liver MR imaging and present strategies for optimizing arterial-phase imaging based on the thorough review of recent research in this field.

Troubleshooting arterial-phase MR images of gadoxetate disodium-enhanced liver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huh, Ji Mi; Kim, So Yeon; Lee, Seung Soo; Kim, Kyoung Won; Yeh, Benjamin M.; Wang, Z. Jane; Wu, En Haw; Zhao, Li Qin; Chang, Wei Chou

2015-01-01

Gadoxetate disodium is a widely used magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agent for liver MR imaging, and it provides both dynamic and hepatobiliary phase images. However, acquiring optimal arterial phase images at liver MR using gadoxetate disodium is more challenging than using conventional extracellular MR contrast agent because of the small volume administered, the gadolinium content of the agent, and the common occurrence of transient severe motion. In this article, we identify the challenges in obtaining high-quality arterial-phase images of gadoxetate disodium-enhanced liver MR imaging and present strategies for optimizing arterial-phase imaging based on the thorough review of recent research in this field

Temporal contrast enhancement and parametric imaging for the visualisation of time patterns in dynamic scintigraphic imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deconinck, F.; Bossuyt, A.; Lepoudre, R.

1982-01-01

Image contrast, photon noise and sampling frequency limit the visual extraction of relevant temporal information in scintigraphic image series. When the Unitation is mainly due to low temporal contrast, temporal contrast enhancement will strongly improve the perceptibility of time patterns in the series. When the limitation is due to photon noise and limited temporal sampling, parametric imaging by means of the Hadamard transform can visualise temporal patterns. (WU)

A method for developing standardised interactive education for complex clinical guidelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vaughan Janet I

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although systematic use of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand internationally endorsed Clinical Practice Guideline for Perinatal Mortality (PSANZ-CPG improves health outcomes, implementation is inadequate. Its complexity is a feature known to be associated with non-compliance. Interactive education is effective as a guideline implementation strategy, but lacks an agreed definition. SCORPIO is an educational framework containing interactive and didactic teaching, but has not previously been used to implement guidelines. Our aim was to transform the PSANZ-CPG into an education workshop to develop quality standardised interactive education acceptable to participants for learning skills in collaborative interprofessional care. Methods The workshop was developed using the construct of an educational framework (SCORPIO, the PSANZ-CPG, a transformation process and tutor training. After a pilot workshop with key target and stakeholder groups, modifications were made to this and subsequent workshops based on multisource written observations from interprofessional participants, tutors and an independent educator. This participatory action research process was used to monitor acceptability and educational standards. Standardised interactive education was defined as the attainment of content and teaching standards. Quantitative analysis of positive expressed as a percentage of total feedback was used to derive a total quality score. Results Eight workshops were held with 181 participants and 15 different tutors. Five versions resulted from the action research methodology. Thematic analysis of multisource observations identified eight recurring education themes or quality domains used for standardisation. The two content domains were curriculum and alignment with the guideline and the six teaching domains; overload, timing, didacticism, relevance, reproducibility and participant engagement. Engagement was the most

Enhanced MR imaging of tenosynovitis of hand and wrist in inflammatory arthritis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tehranzadeh, J.; Ashilyan, O.; Anavim, A.; Tramma, S. [Univ. of California, Orange (United States). Dept. of Radiological Sciences

2006-11-15

The purpose of this study is to describe the appearance of tenosynovitis in various tendon groups in the wrist and hand and to compare MR enhanced and non-enhanced imaging evaluation of tenosynovitis of hand and wrist in inflammatory arthritis. We reviewed 72 MRI studies of hands and wrists, including coronal, axial and sagittal images in 30 consecutive patients with inflammatory arthritis and tenosynovitis. We compared the degree of synovitis on T2-weighted vs contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images, using a predetermined scale. We also measured the extent of tenosynovitis in three dimensions. The tendons were assigned to volar, dorsal, ulnar and radial groups in the wrist and to extensor, flexor and thumb groups in the hand. Degree of tenosynovitis (graded 0-3), cross-sectional area and volume of the inflamed synovium in various tendon groups were then compared by statistical analysis. Review of the medical records revealed the following diagnoses in our patient population: rheumatoid arthritis (n=16), unspecified inflammatory polyarthritis (n=9), psoriatic arthritis (n=2), CREST syndrome (n=1), systemic lupus erythematosus (n=1), paraneoplastic syndrome with arthritis (n=1). The average T2 brightness scores and post-gadolinium enhancement scores were 1.0 and 1.7 respectively (P<0.001) in the wrist studies. The average T2 brightness scores and post-gadolinium enhancement scores were 0.7 and 1.4, respectively (P<0.001) in the hand studies. The average sensitivity of T2-weighted imaging for detection of tenosynovitis was 40% in the hand and 67% in the wrist tendons, when contrast-enhanced images were used as a reference. Carpal tunnel flexor tendons were the most frequently affected tendons of the wrist. The most frequently affected tendons of the hand were second and third flexor tendons. The hand flexors demonstrated higher degrees of enhancement and larger volumes of the inflamed tenosynovium than did the hand extensors and tendons of the thumb.

Enhanced MR imaging of tenosynovitis of hand and wrist in inflammatory arthritis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tehranzadeh, J.; Ashilyan, O.; Anavim, A.; Tramma, S.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study is to describe the appearance of tenosynovitis in various tendon groups in the wrist and hand and to compare MR enhanced and non-enhanced imaging evaluation of tenosynovitis of hand and wrist in inflammatory arthritis. We reviewed 72 MRI studies of hands and wrists, including coronal, axial and sagittal images in 30 consecutive patients with inflammatory arthritis and tenosynovitis. We compared the degree of synovitis on T2-weighted vs contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images, using a predetermined scale. We also measured the extent of tenosynovitis in three dimensions. The tendons were assigned to volar, dorsal, ulnar and radial groups in the wrist and to extensor, flexor and thumb groups in the hand. Degree of tenosynovitis (graded 0-3), cross-sectional area and volume of the inflamed synovium in various tendon groups were then compared by statistical analysis. Review of the medical records revealed the following diagnoses in our patient population: rheumatoid arthritis (n=16), unspecified inflammatory polyarthritis (n=9), psoriatic arthritis (n=2), CREST syndrome (n=1), systemic lupus erythematosus (n=1), paraneoplastic syndrome with arthritis (n=1). The average T2 brightness scores and post-gadolinium enhancement scores were 1.0 and 1.7 respectively (P<0.001) in the wrist studies. The average T2 brightness scores and post-gadolinium enhancement scores were 0.7 and 1.4, respectively (P<0.001) in the hand studies. The average sensitivity of T2-weighted imaging for detection of tenosynovitis was 40% in the hand and 67% in the wrist tendons, when contrast-enhanced images were used as a reference. Carpal tunnel flexor tendons were the most frequently affected tendons of the wrist. The most frequently affected tendons of the hand were second and third flexor tendons. The hand flexors demonstrated higher degrees of enhancement and larger volumes of the inflamed tenosynovium than did the hand extensors and tendons of the thumb

Enhancement of spatial resolution of terahertz imaging systems based on terajet generation by dielectric cube

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai Huy Nguyen Pham

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The terahertz (THz, 0.1–10 THz region has been attracting tremendous research interest owing to its potential in practical applications such as biomedical, material inspection, and nondestructive imaging. Those applications require enhancing the spatial resolution at a specific frequency of interest. A variety of resolution-enhancement techniques have been proposed, such as near-field scanning probes, surface plasmons, and aspheric lenses. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that a mesoscale dielectric cube can be exploited as a novel resolution enhancer by simply placing it at the focused imaging point of a continuous wave THz imaging system. The operating principle of this enhancer is based on the generation—by the dielectric cuboid—of the so-called terajet, a photonic jet in the THz region. A subwavelength hotspot is obtained by placing a Teflon cube, with a 1.46 refractive index, at the imaging point of the imaging system, regardless of the numerical aperture (NA. The generated terajet at 125 GHz is experimentally characterized, using our unique THz-wave visualization system. The full width at half maximum (FWHM of the hotspot obtained by placing the enhancer at the focal point of a mirror with a measured NA of 0.55 is approximately 0.55λ, which is even better than the FWHM obtained by a conventional focusing device with the ideal maximum numerical aperture (NA = 1 in air. Nondestructive subwavelength-resolution imaging demonstrations of a Suica integrated circuit card, which is used as a common fare card for trains in Japan, and an aluminum plate with 0.63λ trenches are presented. The amplitude and phase images obtained with the enhancer at 125 GHz can clearly resolve both the air-trenches on the aluminum plate and the card’s inner electronic circuitry, whereas the images obtained without the enhancer are blurred because of insufficient resolution. An increase of the image contrast by a factor of 4.4 was also obtained using

Hypervascular hepatocellular carcinomas: detection with gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging and multiphasic multidetector CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Onishi, Hiromitsu; Kim, Tonsok; Hori, Masatoshi; Nakaya, Yasuhiro; Tsuboyama, Takahiro; Nakamoto, Atsushi; Tatsumi, Mitsuaki; Tomiyama, Noriyuki [Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Suita, Osaka (Japan); Imai, Yasuharu [Ikeda Municipal Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Ikeda, Osaka (Japan); Nagano, Hiroaki [Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Suita, Osaka (Japan); Kumano, Seishi; Okada, Masahiro; Murakami, Takamichi [Kinki University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Osakasayama, Osaka (Japan); Takamura, Manabu [Ikeda Municipal Hospital, Department of Radiology, Ikeda, Osaka (Japan); Wakasa, Kenichi [Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Osaka, Osaka (Japan)

2012-04-15

To retrospectively compare the accuracy of detection of hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by multiphasic multidetector CT and by gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging. After ethical approval, we analysed a total of 73 hypervascular HCC lesions from 31 patients suspected of having HCC, who underwent both gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging and multiphasic multidetector CT. Five blinded observers independently reviewed CT images, as well as dynamic MR images alone and combined with hepatobiliary phase MR images. Diagnostic accuracy (Az values), sensitivities and positive predictive values were compared by using the Scheffe post hoc test. The mean Az value for dynamic and hepatobiliary phase MR combined (0.81) or dynamic MR images alone (0.78) was significantly higher than that for CT images (0.67, P < 0.001, 0.005, respectively). The mean sensitivity of the combined MR images (0.67) was significantly higher than that of dynamic MR alone (0.52, P < 0.05) or CT images (0.44, P < 0.05). The mean positive predictive values were 0.96, 0.95 and 0.94, for CT, dynamic MR alone and combined MR images, respectively. Compared with multiphasic multidetector CT, gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MR imaging combining dynamic and hepatobiliary phase images results in significantly improved sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy for detection of hypervascular HCC. (orig.)

Elevational spatial compounding for enhancing image quality in echocardiography

OpenAIRE

Perperidis, Antonios; McDicken, Norman; MacGillivray, Tom; Anderson, Tom

2016-01-01

Introduction Echocardiography is commonly used in clinical practice for the real-time assessment of cardiac morphology and function. Nevertheless, due to the nature of the data acquisition, cardiac ultrasound images are often corrupted by a range of acoustic artefacts, including acoustic noise, speckle and shadowing. Spatial compounding techniques have long been recognised for their ability to suppress common ultrasound artefacts, enhancing the imaged cardiac structures. However, they require...

MR of normal pancreas : comparison of five pulse sequences and enhancing patterns on dynamic imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Hyun Jung; Kim, Tae Kyoung; Hong, Sung Hwan; Han, Joon Koo; Choi, Byung Ihn

1997-01-01

To compare T1-weighted FLASH and turbo spin echo (SE) T2-weighted sequences with conventional T1- and T2-weighted sequences in imaging normal pancreas and to describe the enhancing patterns on dynamic MR imging. Forty-four patients with presumed hepatic hemangiomas were studied at 1.0T or 1.5T by using conventional SE sequences (T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and heavily T2-weighted), turbo-SE T2-weighted sequences, and breath-hold T1-weighted FLASH sequences acquired before, immediately on, and at 1, 2, 3, and 5 or 10 minutes after injection of a bolus of gadopentetate dimeglumine. No patients had either a history or its clinical features of pancreatic disease. Images were quantitatively analyzed for signal-difference-to noise ratios (SD/Ns) between the pancreas and peripancreatic fat. Percentage enhancement of the pancreas was measured on each dynamic MR image. Conspicuity of the pancreatic border was qualitatively evaluated according to a consensus, reached by three radiologists. Turbo-SE T2-weighted images had a significantly higher SD/N ratio (p<0.001) and better conspicuity of the pancreatic border (p<0.001) than SE T2- and heavily T2-weighted images;T1-weighted SE images had a significantly higher SD/N ratio than T1-weighted FLASH images (p<0.001), but there was no significant difference between tham in qualitative analysis (p=0.346). Percentage enhancement immediately on and at 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 minutes after administration of contrast material was 39.9%, 44.5%, 42.9%, 40.8%, 36.3%, 29.9%, respectively, with peak enhancement at 1 minute. In MR imaging of normal pancreas, turbo-SE T2-weighted imaging is superior to SE T2- and heavily T2- weighted imaging, and SE T1-weighted imaging is superior to T1-weighted FLASH imaging. On serial gadolinium-enhanced FLASH imaging, normal pancreas shows peak enhancement at 1 minute

MR imaging of the early rheumatoid arthritis: usefulness of contrast enhanced fat suppressed SPGR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Sun Mi; Joo, Kyung Bin; Kim, Seong Tae; Hahm, Chang Kok [College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1995-06-15

To evaluate value of post-contrast 3-Dimensional fat suppressed Spoiled GRASS (FS SPGR) in detecting subtle bony erosion and tenosynovitis of hands and wrists due to early rheumatoid arthritis. Fourteen MR imagings of the hands and wrists were performed in 7 early rheumatoid arthritis without any abnormalities in plain radiography and in 7 healthy volunteers. All subjects underwent MR sequence of coronal 3D FS SPGR with and without contrast enhancement in 1.5T MR unit. We evaluated the number of the bony erosion and tenosynovitis respectively in pre-and post-contrast FS SPGR images. The abnormal enhancing areas were not demonstrated in 7 healthy volunteers. Seven patients had 25 bony erosions in pre-contrast FS SPGR and 52 bony erosions with tenosynovitis (n = 10) in post-contrast FS SPGR. Enhancing joint spaces were shown in 8 cases. Post-contrast FS SPGR was better than pre-contrast FS SPGR in the evaluation of early rheumatoid arthritis and is valuable as a baseline study.

MR imaging of the early rheumatoid arthritis: usefulness of contrast enhanced fat suppressed SPGR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Sun Mi; Joo, Kyung Bin; Kim, Seong Tae; Hahm, Chang Kok

1995-01-01

To evaluate value of post-contrast 3-Dimensional fat suppressed Spoiled GRASS (FS SPGR) in detecting subtle bony erosion and tenosynovitis of hands and wrists due to early rheumatoid arthritis. Fourteen MR imagings of the hands and wrists were performed in 7 early rheumatoid arthritis without any abnormalities in plain radiography and in 7 healthy volunteers. All subjects underwent MR sequence of coronal 3D FS SPGR with and without contrast enhancement in 1.5T MR unit. We evaluated the number of the bony erosion and tenosynovitis respectively in pre-and post-contrast FS SPGR images. The abnormal enhancing areas were not demonstrated in 7 healthy volunteers. Seven patients had 25 bony erosions in pre-contrast FS SPGR and 52 bony erosions with tenosynovitis (n = 10) in post-contrast FS SPGR. Enhancing joint spaces were shown in 8 cases. Post-contrast FS SPGR was better than pre-contrast FS SPGR in the evaluation of early rheumatoid arthritis and is valuable as a baseline study

Image enhancement using thermal-visible fusion for human detection

Science.gov (United States)

Zaihidee, Ezrinda Mohd; Hawari Ghazali, Kamarul; Zuki Saleh, Mohd

2017-09-01

An increased interest in detecting human beings in video surveillance system has emerged in recent years. Multisensory image fusion deserves more research attention due to the capability to improve the visual interpretability of an image. This study proposed fusion techniques for human detection based on multiscale transform using grayscale visual light and infrared images. The samples for this study were taken from online dataset. Both images captured by the two sensors were decomposed into high and low frequency coefficients using Stationary Wavelet Transform (SWT). Hence, the appropriate fusion rule was used to merge the coefficients and finally, the final fused image was obtained by using inverse SWT. From the qualitative and quantitative results, the proposed method is more superior than the two other methods in terms of enhancement of the target region and preservation of details information of the image.

Efficacy of gadolinium enhanced MR imaging for the diagnosis of Legg-Calve-Perthes disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jee Eun; Kim, Hyung Sik; Kim, Ji Hye

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of gadolinium enhanced MR imaging for making the diagnosis of Legg-Calve-Perthes (LCP) disease. We studied the gadolinium enhanced MR images of 14 hips in 12 children who had the diagnosis of LCP disease. We retrospectively analyzed the extent of necrosis, the epiphyseal revascularization pathways and the metaphyseal changes. The absence of enhancement on gadolinium enhanced MRI was noted in all cases of LCP disease. Diffuse absence of enhancement was observed in 9 femoral epiphyses. Two of them showed normal bone marrow signal intensity on the T1 and T1-weighted images. Focal absence of enhancement was observed in 5 femoral epiphyses. Enhanced MRI showed better epiphyseal revascularization in the lateral column (five cases), in the lateral and medial columns (four cases) and in the transphyseal pathway (three cases). Metaphyseal change was observed in two cases. Gadolinium enhanced MRI allows detection of LCP disease and an accurate analysis of the different revascularization patterns, and this helpful for predicting the prognosis