LPS-induced lung inflammation in marmoset monkeys - an acute model for anti-inflammatory drug testing.

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Sophie Seehase

Full Text Available Increasing incidence and substantial morbidity and mortality of respiratory diseases requires the development of new human-specific anti-inflammatory and disease-modifying therapeutics. Therefore, new predictive animal models that closely reflect human lung pathology are needed. In the current study, a tiered acute lipopolysaccharide (LPS-induced inflammation model was established in marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus to reflect crucial features of inflammatory lung diseases. Firstly, in an ex vivo approach marmoset and, for the purposes of comparison, human precision-cut lung slices (PCLS were stimulated with LPS in the presence or absence of the phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4 inhibitor roflumilast. Pro-inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 beta (MIP-1β were measured. The corticosteroid dexamethasone was used as treatment control. Secondly, in an in vivo approach marmosets were pre-treated with roflumilast or dexamethasone and unilaterally challenged with LPS. Ipsilateral bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL was conducted 18 hours after LPS challenge. BAL fluid was processed and analyzed for neutrophils, TNF-α, and MIP-1β. TNF-α release in marmoset PCLS correlated significantly with human PCLS. Roflumilast treatment significantly reduced TNF-α secretion ex vivo in both species, with comparable half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC(50. LPS instillation into marmoset lungs caused a profound inflammation as shown by neutrophilic influx and increased TNF-α and MIP-1β levels in BAL fluid. This inflammatory response was significantly suppressed by roflumilast and dexamethasone. The close similarity of marmoset and human lungs regarding LPS-induced inflammation and the significant anti-inflammatory effect of approved pharmaceuticals assess the suitability of marmoset monkeys to serve as a promising model for studying anti-inflammatory drugs.

Hypoxic vasoconstriction of partial muscular intra-acinar pulmonary arteries in murine precision cut lung slices

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Goldenberg Anna

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Acute alveolar hypoxia causes pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV which serves to match lung perfusion to ventilation. The underlying mechanisms are not fully resolved yet. The major vascular segment contributing to HPV, the intra-acinar artery, is mostly located in that part of the lung that cannot be selectively reached by the presently available techniques, e.g. hemodynamic studies of isolated perfused lungs, recordings from dissected proximal arterial segments or analysis of subpleural vessels. The aim of the present study was to establish a model which allows the investigation of HPV and its underlying mechanisms in small intra-acinar arteries. Methods Intra-acinar arteries of the mouse lung were studied in 200 μm thick precision-cut lung slices (PCLS. The organisation of the muscle coat of these vessels was characterized by α-smooth muscle actin immunohistochemistry. Basic features of intra-acinar HPV were characterized, and then the impact of reactive oxygen species (ROS scavengers, inhibitors of the respiratory chain and Krebs cycle metabolites was analysed. Results Intra-acinar arteries are equipped with a discontinuous spiral of α-smooth muscle actin-immunoreactive cells. They exhibit a monophasic HPV (medium gassed with 1% O2 that started to fade after 40 min and was lost after 80 min. This HPV, but not vasoconstriction induced by the thromboxane analogue U46619, was effectively blocked by nitro blue tetrazolium and diphenyleniodonium, indicating the involvement of ROS and flavoproteins. Inhibition of mitochondrial complexes II (3-nitropropionic acid, thenoyltrifluoroacetone and III (antimycin A specifically interfered with HPV, whereas blockade of complex IV (sodium azide unspecifically inhibited both HPV and U46619-induced constriction. Succinate blocked HPV whereas fumarate had minor effects on vasoconstriction. Conclusion This study establishes the first model for investigation of basic characteristics of HPV

Influenza A virus infection and cigarette smoke impair bronchodilator responsiveness to β-adrenoceptor agonists in mouse lung.

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Donovan, Chantal; Seow, Huei Jiunn; Bourke, Jane E; Vlahos, Ross

2016-05-01

β2-adrenoceptor agonists are the mainstay therapy for patients with asthma but their effectiveness in cigarette smoke (CS)-induced lung disease such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is limited. In addition, bronchodilator efficacy of β2-adrenoceptor agonists is decreased during acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD), caused by respiratory viruses including influenza A. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the effects of the β2-adrenoceptor agonist salbutamol (SALB) on small airway reactivity using mouse precision cut lung slices (PCLS) prepared from CS-exposed mice and from CS-exposed mice treated with influenza A virus (Mem71, H3N1). CS exposure alone reduced SALB potency and efficacy associated with decreased β2-adrenoceptor mRNA expression, and increased tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) expression. This impaired relaxation was restored by day 12 in the absence of further CS exposure. In PCLS prepared after Mem71 infection alone, responses to SALB were transient and were not well maintained. CS exposure prior to Mem71 infection almost completely abolished relaxation, although β2-adrenoceptor and TNFα and IL-1β expression were unaltered. The present study has shown decreased sensitivity to SALB after CS or a combination of CS and Mem71 occurs by different mechanisms. In addition, the PCLS technique and our models of CS and influenza infection provide a novel setting for assessment of alternative bronchodilators. © 2016 The Author(s).

The findings of bronchial artery change in lung cancer with 16-slice CT

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Zeng Qingsi; Wu Xiaomei; Cen Renli; Zhang Chaoliang; Chen Yongfu

2007-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the difference of internal diameter of bronchial artery in big lung cancer, small lung cancer, and normal lung with multiple slice CT. Methods: MSCT angiographies of 44 patients with lung cancer confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed, and 29 patients were with big lung cancer (≥3 cm) and 15 patients with small lung cancer (<3 cm). Contrast enhanced helical thin slice CT scan was performed in all patients. Three dimensional images of bronchial artery were processed on workstation. The internal diameter of bronchial artery was measured. Results: The diameter of bronchial artery was (1.9±0.4) mm in 15 small lung cancer and (2.5±0.5) mm in 29 big lung cancer, respectively. There was a significant difference in internal diameter of bronchial artery between big and small lung cancer (P<0.05). Conclusion: Bronchial artery in lung cancer is dilated, and the dilation of bronchial artery in big lung cancer is more prominent than in small lung cancer. (authors)

Tissue turnover of collagen type I, III and elastin is elevated in the PCLS model of IPF and can be restored back to vehicle levels using a phosphodiesterase inhibitor

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Hansen, Niels Ulrik Brandt; Karsdal, Morten Asser; Brockbank, Sarah

2016-01-01

.T., two days apart. The rats were euthanized fourteen days after the last dose. PCLS were made and cultured for 48 h in: medium, medium + 100 μM IBMX (PDE inhibitor), or medium + 10 μM GM6001 (MMP inhibitor). Turnover of type I collagen (P1NP, C1M), type III collagen (iP3NP, C3M) and elastin degradation...... to the culture medium (P ≤ 0.05 - P ≤ 0.0001). Sirius Red and Orcein staining confirmed the presence of collagen and elastin deposition in the lungs of the animals receiving BLM. Conclusions: The protein fingerprint technology allows the assessment of ECM remodeling markers in the BLM PCLS model. By combining...

Human precision-cut liver slices as a model to test antifibrotic drugs in the early onset of liver fibrosis

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Westra, Inge M.; Mutsaers, Henricus A. M.; Luangmonkong, Theerut; Hadi, Mackenzie; Oosterhuis, Dorenda; de Jong, Koert P.; Groothuis, Geny M. M.; Olinga, Peter

Liver fibrosis is the progressive accumulation of connective tissue ultimately resulting in loss of organ function. Currently, no effective antifibrotics are available due to a lack of reliable human models. Here we investigated the fibrotic process in human precision-cut liver slices (PCLS) and

Maintenance of drug metabolism and transport functions in human precision-cut liver slices during prolonged incubation for 5 days

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Starokozhko, Viktoriia; Vatakuti, Suresh; Schievink, Bauke; Merema, Marjolijn T.; Asplund, Annika; Synnergren, Jane; Aspegren, Anders; Groothuis, Geny M. M.

Human precision-cut liver slices (hPCLS) are a valuable ex vivo model that can be used in acute toxicity studies. However, a rapid decline in metabolic enzyme activity limits their use in studies that require a prolonged xenobiotic exposure. The aim of the study was to extend the viability and

Gene expression profiling in human precision cut liver slices in response to the FXR agonist obeticholic acid.

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Ijssennagger, Noortje; Janssen, Aafke W F; Milona, Alexandra; Ramos Pittol, José M; Hollman, Danielle A A; Mokry, Michal; Betzel, Bark; Berends, Frits J; Janssen, Ignace M; van Mil, Saskia W C; Kersten, Sander

2016-05-01

The bile acid-activated farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a nuclear receptor regulating bile acid, glucose and cholesterol homeostasis. Obeticholic acid (OCA), a promising drug for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and type 2 diabetes, activates FXR. Mouse studies demonstrated that FXR activation by OCA alters hepatic expression of many genes. However, no data are available on the effects of OCA in the human liver. Here we generated gene expression profiles in human precision cut liver slices (hPCLS) after treatment with OCA. hPCLS were incubated with OCA for 24 h. Wild-type or FXR(-/-) mice received OCA or vehicle by oral gavage for 7 days. Transcriptomic analysis showed that well-known FXR target genes, including NR0B2 (SHP), ABCB11 (BSEP), SLC51A (OSTα) and SLC51B (OSTβ), and ABCB4 (MDR3) are regulated by OCA in hPCLS. Ingenuity pathway analysis confirmed that 'FXR/RXR activation' is the most significantly changed pathway upon OCA treatment. Comparison of gene expression profiles in hPCLS and mouse livers identified 18 common potential FXR targets. ChIP-sequencing in mouse liver confirmed FXR binding to IR1 sequences of Akap13, Cgnl1, Dyrk3, Pdia5, Ppp1r3b and Tbx6. Our study shows that hPCLS respond to OCA treatment by upregulating well-known FXR target genes, demonstrating its suitability to study FXR-mediated gene regulation. We identified six novel bona-fide FXR target genes in both mouse and human liver. Finally, we discuss a possible explanation for changes in high or low density lipoprotein observed in NASH and primary biliary cholangitis patients treated with OCA based on the genomic expression profile in hPCLS. Copyright © 2016 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Proteomic profiling in incubation medium of mouse, rat and human precision-cut liver slices for biomarker detection regarding acute drug-induced liver injury

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van Swelm, Rachel P L; Hadi, Mackenzie; Laarakkers, Coby M M; Masereeuw, R.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/155644033; Groothuis, Geny M M; Russel, Frans G M

Drug-induced liver injury is one of the leading causes of drug withdrawal from the market. In this study, we investigated the applicability of protein profiling of the incubation medium of human, mouse and rat precision-cut liver slices (PCLS) exposed to liver injury-inducing drugs for biomarker

Protective effect of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic damage in precision-cut carp liver slices.

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Liu, Yingjuan; Zhang, Chunyun; Du, Jinliang; Jia, Rui; Cao, Liping; Jeney, Galina; Teraoka, Hiroki; Xu, Pao; Yin, Guojun

2017-10-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effects of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide (GLPS) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 )-induced hepatotoxicity in vitro in common carp. Precision-cut liver slices (PCLSs), which closely resemble the organ from which they are derived, were employed as an in vitro model system. GLPS (0.1, 0.3, and 0.6 mg/ml) was added to PCLS culture system before the exposure to 12 mM CCl 4 . The supernatants and slices were collected to detect molecular and biochemical responses to CCl 4 and PCLS treatments. The levels of CYP1A, CYP3A, and CYP2E1 were measured by ELISA; the mRNA expressions of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and iNOS were determined by RT-PCR; and the relative protein expressions of c-Rel and p65 were analyzed by western blotting. Results showed that GLPS inhibited the elevations of the marker enzymes (GOT, GPT, LDH) and MDA induced by CCl 4 ; it also enhanced the suppressed activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, GSH-Px, T-AOC). The treatment with GLPS resulted in significant downregulation of NF-κB and inflammatory cytokine mRNA levels and significant decreases in the hepatic protein levels of CYP1A, CYP3A, and CYP2E1. These results suggest that GLPS can protect CCl 4 -induced PCLS injury through inhibiting lipid peroxidation, elevating antioxidant enzyme activity, and suppressing immune inflammatory response.

Bronchoconstriction Induces TGF-β Release and Airway Remodelling in Guinea Pig Lung Slices.

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Tjitske A Oenema

Full Text Available Airway remodelling, including smooth muscle remodelling, is a primary cause of airflow limitation in asthma. Recent evidence links bronchoconstriction to airway remodelling in asthma. The mechanisms involved are poorly understood. A possible player is the multifunctional cytokine TGF-β, which plays an important role in airway remodelling. Guinea pig lung slices were used as an in vitro model to investigate mechanisms involved in bronchoconstriction-induced airway remodelling. To address this aim, mechanical effects of bronchoconstricting stimuli on contractile protein expression and TGF-β release were investigated. Lung slices were viable for at least 48 h. Both methacholine and TGF-β1 augmented the expression of contractile proteins (sm-α-actin, sm-myosin, calponin after 48 h. Confocal fluorescence microscopy showed that increased sm-myosin expression was enhanced in the peripheral airways and the central airways. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction mediated the release of biologically active TGF-β, which caused the increased contractile protein expression, as inhibition of actin polymerization (latrunculin A or TGF-β receptor kinase (SB431542 prevented the methacholine effects, whereas other bronchoconstricting agents (histamine and KCl mimicked the effects of methacholine. Collectively, bronchoconstriction promotes the release of TGF-β, which induces airway smooth muscle remodelling. This study shows that lung slices are a useful in vitro model to study mechanisms involved in airway remodelling.

Evaluation of classification method of lung lobe for multi-slice CT images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, Kousuke; Matsuhiro, Mikio; Saita, Shinsuke

2010-01-01

Recently, due to the introduction of multi-slice CT, to obtain a high resolution 3D CT image is possible in a short time. The temporal and spatial resolutions are high, so a highly accurate 3D image analysis is possible. To develop a structure analysis of the lung is needed and to be used as a fundamental technology for early detection of the disease. By separating the lung into lung lobes may provide important information for analysis, diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases. Therefore in this report, we adapt to abnormality example with the classification algorithms using the anatomical information of the bronchus, the pulmonary vein and interlobar fissure information, we evaluate the classification. (author)

The effects of drugs, other foreign compounds, and cigarette smoke on the synthesis of protein by lung slices

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Hellstern, K.; Curtis, C.G.; Powell, G.M.; Upshall, D.G.

1990-01-01

The incorporation of 14 C-leucine into rabbit lung slices was monitored in the absence and presence of selected drugs and chemicals relevant to the perturbation of lung function and the development of lung disease. Known inhibitors of protein synthesis (cycloheximide and ricin) inhibited the incorporation of 14 C-leucine. Marked inhibition was also recorded with the lung toxins paraquat and 4-ipomeanol. By contrast, orciprenaline, salbutamol, and terbutaline were without effect although some response was recorded with isoprenaline. The filtered gas phase of cigarette smoke and acrolein, one of its components, were inhibitory but protection was afforded by N-acetylcysteine. It is suggested that the inhibitory effects of cigarette smoke may be due to its acrolein content. It is further suggested that the use of lung slices and measurements of 14 C-leucine incorporation provide valuable means for monitoring potential pulmonary toxins

Precision-cut liver slices to investigate responsiveness of deep-sea fish to contaminants at high pressure.

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Lemaire, Benjamin; Debier, Cathy; Calderon, Pedro Buc; Thomé, Jean Pierre; Stegeman, John; Mork, Jarle; Rees, Jean François

2012-09-18

While deep-sea fish accumulate high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), the toxicity associated with this contamination remains unknown. Indeed, the recurrent collection of moribund individuals precludes experimental studies to investigate POP effects in this fauna. We show that precision-cut liver slices (PCLS), an in vitro tool commonly used in human and rodent toxicology, can overcome such limitation. This technology was applied to individuals of the deep-sea grenadier Coryphaenoides rupestris directly upon retrieval from 530-m depth in Trondheimsfjord (Norway). PCLS remained viable and functional for 15 h when maintained in an appropriate culture media at 4 °C. This allowed experimental exposure of liver slices to the model POP 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC; 25 μM) at levels of hydrostatic pressure mimicking shallow (0.1 megapascal or MPa) and deep-sea (5-15 MPa; representative of 500-1500 m depth) environments. As in shallow water fish, 3-MC induced the transcription of the detoxification enzyme cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A; a biomarker of exposure to POPs). This induction was diminished at elevated pressure, suggesting a limited responsiveness of C. rupestris toward POPs in its native environment. This very first in vitro toxicological investigation on a deep-sea fish opens the route for understanding pollutants effects in this highly exposed fauna.

Mouse precision-cut liver slices as an ex vivo model to study idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury.

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Hadi, Mackenzie; Chen, Yixi; Starokozhko, Viktoriia; Merema, Marjolijn T; Groothuis, Geny M M

2012-09-17

Idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (IDILI) has been the top reason for withdrawing drugs from the market or for black box warnings. IDILI may arise from the interaction of a drug's reactive metabolite with a mild inflammation that renders the liver more sensitive to injury resulting in increased toxicity (inflammatory stress hypothesis). Aiming to develop a robust ex vivo screening method to study inflammatory stress-related IDILI mechanisms and to find biomarkers that can detect or predict IDILI, mouse precision-cut liver slices (mPCLS) were coincubated for 24 h with IDILI-related drugs and lipopolysaccharide. Lipopolysaccharide exacerbated ketoconazole (15 μM) and clozapine (45 μM) toxicity but not their non-IDILI-related comparators, voriconazole (1500 μM) and olanzapine (45 μM). However, the other IDILI-related drugs tested [diclofenac (200 μM), carbamazepine (400 μM), and troglitazone (30 μM)] did not cause synergistic toxicity with lipopolysaccharide after 24 h of incubation. Lipopolysaccharide further decreased the reduced glutathione levels caused by ketoconazole or clozapine in mPCLS after 24 h of incubation, which was not the case for the other drugs. Lipopolysaccharide significantly increased nitric oxide (NO), cytokine, and chemokine release into the mPCLS media, while the treatment with the drugs alone did not cause any substantial change. All seven drugs drastically reduced lipopolysaccharide-induced NO production. Interestingly, only ketoconazole and clozapine increased the lipopolysaccharide-induced granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) release. Pilot experiments showed that diclofenac and troglitazone, but not carbamazepine, demonstrated synergistic toxicity with lipopolysaccharide after a longer incubation of 48 h in mPCLS. In conclusion, we have developed an ex vivo model to detect inflammatory stress-related liver toxicity and identified ketoconazole, clozapine

Evaluation of the precision-cut liver and lung slice systems for the study of induction of CYP1, epoxide hydrolase and glutathione S-transferase activities.

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Pushparajah, Daphnee S; Umachandran, Meera; Plant, Kathryn E; Plant, Nick; Ioannides, Costas

2007-02-28

The principal objective was to ascertain whether precision-cut tissue slices can be used to evaluate the potential of chemicals to induce CYP1, epoxide hydrolase and glutathione S-transferase activities, all being important enzymes involved in the metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Precision-cut rat liver and lung slices were incubated with a range of benzo[a]pyrene concentrations for various time periods. A rise in the O-deethylation of ethoxyresorufin was seen in both liver and lung slices exposed to benzo[a]pyrene, which was accompanied by increased CYP1A apoprotein levels. Pulmonary CYP1B1 apoprotein levels and hepatic mRNA levels were similarly enhanced. Elevated epoxide hydrolase and glutathione S-transferase activities were also observed in liver slices following incubation for 24h; similarly, a rise in apoprotein levels of both enzymes was evident, peak levels occurring at the same time point. When mRNA levels were monitored, a rise in the levels of both enzymes was seen as early as 4h after incubation, but maximum levels were attained at 24 h. In lung slices, induction of epoxide hydrolase by benzo[a]pyrene was observed after a 24-h incubation, and at a concentration of 1 microM; a rise in apoprotein levels was seen at this time point. Glutathione S-transferase activity was not inducible in lung slices by benzo[a]pyrene but a modest increase was observed in hepatic slices. Collectively, these studies confirmed CYP1A induction in rat liver slices and established that CYP1B1 expression, and epoxide hydrolase and glutathione S-transferase activities are inducible in precision-cut tissue slices.

Dosimetric variation due to CT inter-slice spacing in four-dimensional carbon beam lung therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumagai, Motoki; Mori, Shinichiro; Kandatsu, Susumu; Baba, Masayuki; Sharp, Gregory C; Asakura, Hiroshi; Endo, Masahiro

2009-01-01

When CT data with thick slice thickness are used in treatment planning, geometrical uncertainty may induce dosimetric errors. We evaluated carbon ion dose variations due to different CT slice thicknesses using a four-dimensional (4D) carbon ion beam dose calculation, and compared results between ungated and gated respiratory strategies. Seven lung patients were scanned in 4D mode with a 0.5 mm slice thickness using a 256-multi-slice CT scanner. CT images were averaged with various numbers of images to simulate reconstructed images with various slice thicknesses (0.5-5.0 mm). Two scenarios were studied (respiratory-ungated and -gated strategies). Range compensators were designed for each of the CT volumes with coarse inter-slice spacing to cover the internal target volume (ITV), as defined from 4DCT. Carbon ion dose distribution was computed for each resulting ITV on the 0.5 mm slice 4DCT data. The accumulated dose distribution was then calculated using deformable registration for 4D dose assessment. The magnitude of over- and under-dosage was found to be larger with the use of range compensators designed with a coarser inter-slice spacing than those obtained with a 0.5 mm slice thickness. Although no under-dosage was observed within the clinical target volume (CTV) region, D95 remained at over 97% of the prescribed dose for the ungated strategy and 95% for the gated strategy for all slice thicknesses. An inter-slice spacing of less than 3 mm may be able to minimize dose variation between the ungated and gated strategies. Although volumes with increased inter-slice spacing may reduce geometrical accuracy at a certain respiratory phase, this does not significantly affect delivery of the accumulated dose to the target during the treatment course.

Precision-Cut Liver Slices of Salmo salar as a tool to investigate the oxidative impact of CYP1A-mediated PCB 126 and 3-methylcholanthrene metabolism.

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Lemaire, Benjamin; Beck, Michaël; Jaspart, Mélanie; Debier, Cathy; Calderon, Pedro Buc; Thomé, Jean-Pierre; Rees, Jean-François

2011-02-01

Fish isolated cell systems have long been used to predict in vivo toxicity of man-made chemicals. In present study, we tested the suitability of Precision-Cut Liver Slices (PCLS) as an alternative to these models that allows the evaluation of a global tissue response to toxicants, to investigate oxidative stress response to cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) induction in fish liver. PCLS of Salmo salar were exposed for 21 h to increasing doses of 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) and Polychlorobiphenyl 126 (PCB 126). 3-MC (25 μM) strongly induced CYP1A transcription. In dose-response analysis (25-100 μM), EROD activity was strongly increased at intermediate 3-MC concentrations. We found the counter-intuitive decline of EROD at the highest 3-MC doses to result from reversible competition with ethoxyresorufin. No increases of H(2)O(2) production, antioxidant enzymes activities or oxidative damage to lipids were found with 3-MC treatments. PCLS subjected to PCB 126 (2-200 nM) showed increased contamination levels and a parallel increased CYP1A mRNA synthesis and EROD activity. H(2)O(2) production tended to increase but no oxidative damage to lipids was found. As antioxidant enzymes activities declined at the highest PCB 126 dose, it is suggested that longer incubation periods could be required to generate oxidative stress in PCLS. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthetic Secoisolariciresinol Diglucoside (LGM2605 Protects Human Lung in an Ex Vivo Model of Proton Radiation Damage

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Anastasia Velalopoulou

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Radiation therapy for the treatment of thoracic malignancies has improved significantly by directing of the proton beam in higher doses on the targeted tumor while normal tissues around the tumor receive much lower doses. Nevertheless, exposure of normal tissues to protons is known to pose a substantial risk in long-term survivors, as confirmed by our work in space-relevant exposures of murine lungs to proton radiation. Thus, radioprotective strategies are being sought. We established that LGM2605 is a potent protector from radiation-induced lung toxicity and aimed in the current study to extend the initial findings of space-relevant, proton radiation-associated late lung damage in mice by looking at acute changes in human lung. We used an ex vivo model of organ culture where tissue slices of donor living human lung were kept in culture and exposed to proton radiation. We exposed donor human lung precision-cut lung sections (huPCLS, pretreated with LGM2605, to 4 Gy proton radiation and evaluated them 30 min and 24 h later for gene expression changes relevant to inflammation, oxidative stress, and cell cycle arrest, and determined radiation-induced senescence, inflammation, and oxidative tissue damage. We identified an LGM2605-mediated reduction of proton radiation-induced cellular senescence and associated cell cycle changes, an associated proinflammatory phenotype, and associated oxidative tissue damage. This is a first report on the effects of proton radiation and of the radioprotective properties of LGM2605 on human lung.

Preliminary evaluation of lung care software of 16-slice helical CT in the study of pulmonary nodules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Wei; Jin Zhengyu; Yan Hongzhen; Wang Yun; Zhang Yunqing; Wang Linhui; Zhu Haifeng; Liang Jixiang; Qi Bing

2005-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the auxiliary diagnostic ability and applicability of the Lung Care software for the study of the pulmonary nodules. Methods: Fifty-six patients underwent low-dose CT scan with 1.5 mm collimation, 4 mm reconstruction interval, and 4 mm reconstruction slice in group A, and with 1.5 mm collimation, 2 mm reconstruction interval, and 2 mm reconstruction slice in group B. 12 patients underwent low-dose CT with 0.75 mm collimation, 0.75 mm reconstruction interval, and 0.75 mm reconstruction slice in group C. The nodules detected in groups A, B, and C were analyzed by r-MPR or VOI of the Lung Care software to distinguish the true pulmonary nodules from the vessels. The volume and density distribution of the true pulmonary nodules in groups A, B, and C were measured with the Lung Care software. Results: It was difficult to observe the diffuse pulmonary nodules by r-MPR or VOI of the Lung Care software. The images of each patient in group C were too many to be applied in the clinic. There was statistically consistent in the observation of pulmonary nodules between r-MPR and VOI, but the coincidence was not good (Kappa=0.369, P=0.002). There was statistically significant difference in showing faint nodules between r-MPR and VOI (P=0.001), r-MPR was better than VOI. There was statistically significant difference between group A and B in showing = 3.886, P=0.045), but no statistically significant difference in showing 5-10 mm nodules (χ 2 =0.170, P=0.680). The volume and density distribution of most 5 - ≤20 mm nodules were successfully measured with the Lung Care software, whereas those of most 2 =5.811, P=0.016) and 5-10 mm nodules (χ 2 =13.500, P 10 - ≤20 mm nodules (χ 2 =0.000, P=1.000). Conclusion: For distinguishing the true pulmonary nodules from others, the Lung Care software is suitable for the well-edged pulmonary nodules and most faint nodules, but not suitable for the nodules such as ground-glass opacity. For measuring the volume and

Diallylthiosulfinate (Allicin), a Volatile Antimicrobial from Garlic (Allium sativum), Kills Human Lung Pathogenic Bacteria, Including MDR Strains, as a Vapor.

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Reiter, Jana; Levina, Natalja; van der Linden, Mark; Gruhlke, Martin; Martin, Christian; Slusarenko, Alan J

2017-10-12

Garlic ( Allium sativum ) has potent antimicrobial activity due to allicin (diallylthiosulfinate) synthesized by enzyme catalysis in damaged garlic tissues. Allicin gives crushed garlic its characteristic odor and its volatility makes it potentially useful for combating lung infections. Allicin was synthesized (>98% pure) by oxidation of diallyl disulfide by H₂O₂ using formic acid as a catalyst and the growth inhibitory effect of allicin vapor and allicin in solution to clinical isolates of lung pathogenic bacteria from the genera Pseudomonas , Streptococcus , and Staphylococcus , including multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains, was demonstrated. Minimal inhibitory (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were determined and compared to clinical antibiotics using standard European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) procedures. The cytotoxicity of allicin to human lung and colon epithelial and murine fibroblast cells was tested in vitro and shown to be ameliorated by glutathione (GSH). Similarly, the sensitivity of rat precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) to allicin was decreased by raising the [GSH] to the approximate blood plasma level of 1 mM. Because allicin inhibited bacterial growth as a vapor, it could be used to combat bacterial lung infections via direct inhalation. Since there are no volatile antibiotics available to treat pulmonary infections, allicin, particularly at sublethal doses in combination with oral antibiotics, could make a valuable addition to currently available treatments.

Diallylthiosulfinate (Allicin, a Volatile Antimicrobial from Garlic (Allium sativum, Kills Human Lung Pathogenic Bacteria, Including MDR Strains, as a Vapor

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Jana Reiter

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Garlic (Allium sativum has potent antimicrobial activity due to allicin (diallylthiosulfinate synthesized by enzyme catalysis in damaged garlic tissues. Allicin gives crushed garlic its characteristic odor and its volatility makes it potentially useful for combating lung infections. Allicin was synthesized (>98% pure by oxidation of diallyl disulfide by H2O2 using formic acid as a catalyst and the growth inhibitory effect of allicin vapor and allicin in solution to clinical isolates of lung pathogenic bacteria from the genera Pseudomonas, Streptococcus, and Staphylococcus, including multi-drug resistant (MDR strains, was demonstrated. Minimal inhibitory (MIC and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC were determined and compared to clinical antibiotics using standard European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST procedures. The cytotoxicity of allicin to human lung and colon epithelial and murine fibroblast cells was tested in vitro and shown to be ameliorated by glutathione (GSH. Similarly, the sensitivity of rat precision-cut lung slices (PCLS to allicin was decreased by raising the [GSH] to the approximate blood plasma level of 1 mM. Because allicin inhibited bacterial growth as a vapor, it could be used to combat bacterial lung infections via direct inhalation. Since there are no volatile antibiotics available to treat pulmonary infections, allicin, particularly at sublethal doses in combination with oral antibiotics, could make a valuable addition to currently available treatments.

Stability of cytochromes P450 and phase II conjugation systems in precision-cut rat lung slices cultured up to 72 h.

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Umachandran, Meera; Ioannides, Costas

2006-07-05

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the stability of cytochrome P450 enzymes and of the conjugation enzyme systems epoxide hydrolase, glucuronosyl transferase, sulphotransferase and glutathione S-transferase in precision-cut rat lung slices incubated in RPMI media for different time periods up to 72 h. Moreover, the effect of culturing of lung slices on total glutathione levels and glutathione reductase was also investigated. Monitoring of cytochrome P450 activity was achieved using established diagnostic probes, but when activity in the lung was low the maintenance of the various enzymes in culture was determined immunologically using Western blotting. The dealkylation of pentoxyresorufin declined markedly during the first 4h of incubation but in the case of ethoxyresorufin loss of activity was more gradual and less severe. Western blot analysis revealed that the rate of decrease in cytochrome P450 apoprotein levels was isoform-specific with CYP2E1 being the most stable and CYP3A the least stable. Generally, phase II activities, especially cytosolic sulphotransferase, were relatively more stable throughout the incubation period compared with cytochromes P450. Finally, glutathione reductase activity and total glutathione levels were maintained throughout the 72 h incubation. The present studies indicate that xenobiotic-metabolising enzymes in precision-cut rat lung slices decline in culture, but the rate of loss differs and depends on the nature of the enzyme.

Seismic analysis of the safety related piping and PCLS of the WWER-440 NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berkovski, A.M.; Kostarev, V.V.; Schukin, A.J.; Boiadjiev, Z.; Kostov, M.

2001-01-01

This paper presents the results of seismic analysis of Safety Related Piping Systems of the typical WWER-440 NPP. The methodology of this analysis is based on WANO Terms of Reference and ASME BPVC. The different possibilities for seismic upgrading of Primary Coolant Loop System (PCLS) were considered. The first one is increasing of hydraulic snubber units and the second way is installation of limited number of High Viscous Dampers (HVD). (author)

Correlation between in vivo and in vitro pulmonary responses to jet propulsion fuel-8 using precision-cut lung slices and a dynamic organ culture system.

Science.gov (United States)

Hays, Allison M; Lantz, R Clark; Witten, Mark L

2003-01-01

In tissue slice models, interactions between the heterogeneous cell types comprising the lung parenchyma are maintained thus providing a controlled system for the study of pulmonary toxicology in vitro. However, validation of the model in vitro system must be affirmed. Previous reports, in in vivo systems, have demonstrated that Clara cells and alveolar type II cells are the targets following inhalation of JP-8 jet fuel. We have utilized the lung slice model to determine if cellular targets are similar following in vitro exposure to JP-8. Agar-filled adult rat lung explants were cored and precision cut, using the Brende/Vitron tissue slicer. Slices were cultured on titanium screens located as half-cylinders in cylindrical Teflon cradles that were loaded into standard scintillation vials and incubated at 37 degrees C. Slices were exposed to JP-8 jet fuel (0.5 mg/ml, 1.0 mg/ml, and 1.5 mg/ml in medium) for up to 24 hours. We determined ATP content using a luciferin-luciferase bioluminescent assay. No significant difference was found between the JP-8 jet fuel doses or time points, when compared to controls. Results were correlated with structural alterations following aerosol inhalation of JP-8. As a general observation, ultrastructural evaluation of alveolar type cells revealed an apparent increase in the number and size of surfactant secreting lamellar bodies that was JP-8 jet fuel-dose dependent. These results are similar to those observed following aerosol inhalation exposure. Thus, the lung tissue slice model appears to mimic in vivo effects of JP-8 and therefore is a useful model system for studying the mechanisms of lunginjury following JP-8 exposure.

Up-regulation of cytochrome P450 and phase II enzyme systems in rat precision-cut rat lung slices by the intact glucosinolates, glucoraphanin and glucoerucin.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdull Razis, Ahmad Faizal; Bagatta, Manuela; De Nicola, Gina Rosalinda; Iori, Renato; Ioannides, Costas

2011-03-01

It is believed that the chemopreventive activity of cruciferous vegetables in the lung and other tissues is exclusively the result of exposure to degradation products of glucosinolates, such as the isothiocyanates, and that the parent glucosinolates make no contribution. In the present study, evidence is presented for the first time that, in rat lung, the intact glucosinolates, glucoraphanin and glucoerucin, can modulate carcinogen-metabolising enzyme systems. The glucosinolates were isolated from cruciferous vegetables and incubated (1-25 μM) with precision-cut rat lung slices for 24h. Both glucosinolates, at concentrations as low as 1 μM, up-regulated the O-deethylation of ethoxyresorufin and the apoprotein levels of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1; supplementation of the incubation medium with myrosinase, the enzyme that converts glucosinolates to their corresponding isothiocyanates, abolished the rise in ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase activity. In contrast, neither glucosinolate, at the concentrations studied, influenced quinone reductase activity in the lung slices, but addition of myrosinase to the glucosinolate incubations led to a marked rise in activity. Glutathione S-transferase activity, monitored using 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene as the accepting substrate, was elevated in lung slices exposed to glucoraphanin. GSTα protein levels were increased by glucoraphanin and, to a much lesser extent, glucoerucin. It may be concluded that intact glucosinolates can modulate the activity of pulmonary carcinogen-metabolising enzyme systems, and can thus contribute to the documented chemopreventive activity of cruciferous vegetables in the lung. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigation of lung nodule detectability in low-dose 320-slice computed tomography

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Silverman, J. D.; Paul, N. S.; Siewerdsen, J. H. [Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2M9 (Canada); Department of Medical Imaging, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C6 (Canada); Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2M9 (Canada); Ontario Cancer Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2M9 (Canada) and Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2M9 (Canada)

2009-05-15

Low-dose imaging protocols in chest CT are important in the screening and surveillance of suspicious and indeterminate lung nodules. Techniques that maintain nodule detectability yet permit dose reduction, particularly for large body habitus, were investigated. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which radiation dose can be minimized while maintaining diagnostic performance through knowledgeable selection of reconstruction techniques. A 320-slice volumetric CT scanner (Aquilion ONE, Toshiba Medical Systems) was used to scan an anthropomorphic phantom at doses ranging from {approx}0.1 mGy up to that typical of low-dose CT (LDCT, {approx}5 mGy) and diagnostic CT ({approx}10 mGy). Radiation dose was measured via Farmer chamber and MOSFET dosimetry. The phantom presented simulated nodules of varying size and contrast within a heterogeneous background, and chest thickness was varied through addition of tissue-equivalent bolus about the chest. Detectability of a small solid lung nodule (3.2 mm diameter, -37 HU, typically the smallest nodule of clinical significance in screening and surveillance) was evaluated as a function of dose, patient size, reconstruction filter, and slice thickness by means of nine-alternative forced-choice (9AFC) observer tests to quantify nodule detectability. For a given reconstruction filter, nodule detectability decreased sharply below a threshold dose level due to increased image noise, especially for large body size. However, nodule detectability could be maintained at lower doses through knowledgeable selection of (smoother) reconstruction filters. For large body habitus, optimal filter selection reduced the dose required for nodule detection by up to a factor of {approx}3 (from {approx}3.3 mGy for sharp filters to {approx}1.0 mGy for the optimal filter). The results indicate that radiation dose can be reduced below the current low-dose (5 mGy) and ultralow-dose (1 mGy) levels with knowledgeable selection of

An evaluation of the feasibility of assessment of volume perfusion for the whole lung by 128-slice spiral CT

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Sun, Haitao [Imaging Center of Taian Central Hospital, Taian, Shandong (China); Gao, Fei; Li, Ning; Liu, Cheng [Shandong Univ., Shandong Medical Imaging Research Inst., CT Room, Shandong (China)], e-mail: liucheng491025@sina.com

2013-10-15

Background: Lung perfusion based on dynamic scanning cannot provide a quantitative assessment of the whole lung because of the limited coverage of the current computed tomography (CT) detector designs. Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of dynamic volume perfusion CT (VPCT) of the whole lung using a 128-slice CT for the quantitative assessment and visualization of pulmonary perfusion. Material and Methods: Imaging was performed in a control group of 17 subjects who had no signs of disturbance of pulmonary function or diffuse lung disease, and 15 patients (five patients with acute pulmonary embolism and 10 with emphysema) who constituted the abnormal lung group. Dynamic VPCT was performed in all subjects, and pulmonary blood flow (PBF), pulmonary blood volume (PBV), and mean transit time (MTT) were calculated from dynamic contrast images with a coverage of 20.7 cm. Regional and volumetric PBF, PBV, and MTT were statistically evaluated and comparisons were made between the normal and abnormal lung groups. Results: Regional PBF (94.2{+-}36.5, 161.8 {+-}29.6, 185.7 {+-}38.1 and 125.5 {+-}46.1, 161.9 {+-}31.4, 169.3 {+-}51.7), PBV (6.7 {+-}2.8, 10.9 {+-}3.0, 12.9 {+-}4.5 and 9.9 {+-}4.6, 10.3 {+-}2.9, 11.9 {+-}4.5), and MTT (5.8 {+-}2.4, 4.5 {+-}1.3, 4.7 {+-}2.1 and 5.6 {+-}2.3, 4.3 {+-}1.5, 4.9 {+-}1.5) demonstrated significant differences in the gravitational and isogravitational directions in the normal lung group (P < 0.05). The PBF (154.2 {+-}30.6 vs. 94.9 {+-}15.9) and PBV (11.1 {+-}4.0 vs. 6.6 {+-}1.7) by dynamic VPCT showed significant differences between normal and abnormal lungs (P < 0.05), notwithstanding the four large lungs that had coverage > 20.7 cm. Conclusion: Dynamic VPCT of the whole lung is feasible for the quantitative assessment of pulmonary perfusion by 128-slice CT, and may in future permit the evaluation of both morphological and functional features of the whole lung in a single examination.

Artifacts by marker enzyme adsorption on nanomaterials in cytotoxicity assays with tissue cultures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wohlleben, Wendel; Kolle, Susanne N; Hasenkamp, Laura-Carolin; Boeser, Alexander; Vogel, Sandra; Vacano, Bernhard von; Ravenzwaay, Ben van; Landsiedel, Robert

2011-01-01

We used precision cut lung slices (PCLS) to study the cytotoxicity of cobalt ferrite nanomaterials with and without bovine serum albumin (BSA) stabilization. Using mitochondrial activity as an indicator of cytotoxicity (WST-1 assay) increasing concentrations of cobalt ferrite nanomaterial caused increasing levels of cytotoxicity in PCLS irrespective of BSA stabilization. However, there was no increase in released lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels caused by BSA stabilized nanomaterial indicating concentration depended cytotoxictiy. Moreover, non-stabilized nanomaterial caused a decrease of background LDH levels in the PCLS culture supernatant confirmed by complementary methods. Direct characterization of the protein corona of extracted nanomaterial shows that the LDH decrease is due to adsorption of LDH onto the surface of the non-stabilized nanomaterial, correlated with strong agglomeration. Preincubation with serum protein blocks the adsorption of LDH and stabilizes the nanomaterial at low agglomeration. We have thus demonstrated the cytotoxicity of nanomaterials in PCLS does not correlate with disrupted membrane integrity followed by LDH release. Furthermore, we found that intracellular enzymes such as the marker enzyme LDH are able to bind onto surfaces of nanomaterial and thereby adulterate the detection of toxic effects. A replacement of BSA by LDH or a secondary LDH-on-BSA-corona were not observed, confirming earlier indications that the protein corona exchange rate are slow or vanishing on inorganic nanomaterial. Thus, the method(s) to assess nanomaterial-mediated effects have to be carefully chosen based on the cellular effect and possible nano-specific artifacts.

The MAGIC-5 CAD for nodule detection in low dose and thin slice lung CTs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cerello, Piergiorgio

2010-01-01

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in developed countries. Only 10-15% of all men and women diagnosed with lung cancer live 5 years after the diagnosis. However, the 5-year survival rate for patients diagnosed in the early asymptomatic stage of the disease can reach 70%. Early-stage lung cancers can be diagnosed by detecting non-calcified small pulmonary nodules with computed tomography (CT). Computer-aided detection (CAD) could support radiologists in the analysis of the large amount of noisy images generated in screening programs, where low-dose and thin-slice settings are used. The MAGIC-5 project, funded by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN, Italy) and Ministero dell'Universita e della Ricerca (MUR, Italy), developed a multi-method approach based on three CAD algorithms to be used in parallel with a merging of their results: the Channeler Ant Model (CAM), based on Virtual Ant Colonies, the Dot-Enhancement/Pleura Surface Normals/VBNA (DE-PSN-VBNA), and the Region Growing Volume Plateau (RGVP). Preliminary results show quite good performances, to be improved with the refining of the single algorithm and the added value of the results merging.

Development of a lung slice preparation for recording ion channel activity in alveolar epithelial type I cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Crandall Edward D

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Lung fluid balance in the healthy lung is dependent upon finely regulated vectorial transport of ions across the alveolar epithelium. Classically, the cellular locus of the major ion transport processes has been widely accepted to be the alveolar type II cell. Although evidence is now emerging to suggest that the alveolar type I cell might significantly contribute to the overall ion and fluid homeostasis of the lung, direct assessment of functional ion channels in type I cells has remained elusive. Methods Here we describe a development of a lung slice preparation that has allowed positive identification of alveolar type I cells within an intact and viable alveolar epithelium using living cell immunohistochemistry. Results This technique has allowed, for the first time, single ion channels of identified alveolar type I cells to be recorded using the cell-attached configuration of the patch-clamp technique. Conclusion This exciting new development should facilitate the ascription of function to alveolar type I cells and allow us to integrate this cell type into the general model of alveolar ion and fluid balance in health and disease.

The impact of slice-reduced computed tomography on histogram-based densitometry assessment of lung fibrosis in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen-Kim, Thi Dan Linh; Maurer, Britta; Suliman, Yossra A; Morsbach, Fabian; Distler, Oliver; Frauenfelder, Thomas

2018-04-01

To evaluate usability of slice-reduced sequential computed tomography (CT) compared to standard high-resolution CT (HRCT) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) for qualitative and quantitative assessment of interstitial lung disease (ILD) with respect to (I) detection of lung parenchymal abnormalities, (II) qualitative and semiquantitative visual assessment, (III) quantification of ILD by histograms and (IV) accuracy for the 20%-cut off discrimination. From standard chest HRCT of 60 SSc patients sequential 9-slice-computed tomography (reduced HRCT) was retrospectively reconstructed. ILD was assessed by visual scoring and quantitative histogram parameters. Results from standard and reduced HRCT were compared using non-parametric tests and analysed by univariate linear regression analyses. With respect to the detection of parenchymal abnormalities, only the detection of intrapulmonary bronchiectasis was significantly lower in reduced HRCT compared to standard HRCT (P=0.039). No differences were found comparing visual scores for fibrosis severity and extension from standard and reduced HRCT (P=0.051-0.073). All scores correlated significantly (Phistogram parameters derived from both, standard and reduced HRCT. Significant higher values of kurtosis and skewness for reduced HRCT were found (both Phistogram parameters from reduced HRCT showed significant discrimination at cut-off 20% fibrosis (sensitivity 88% kurtosis and skewness; specificity 81% kurtosis and 86% skewness; cut-off kurtosis ≤26, cut-off skewness ≤4; both Phistogram parameters derived from the approach of reduced HRCT could discriminate at a threshold of 20% lung fibrosis with high sensitivity and specificity. Hence it might be used to detect early disease progression of lung fibrosis in context of monitoring and treatment of SSc patients.

Applicability of rat precision-cut lung slices in evaluating nanomaterial cytotoxicity, apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sauer, Ursula G. [Scientific Consultancy — Animal Welfare, Neubiberg (Germany); Vogel, Sandra [Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany); Product Stewardship Water Solutions, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany); Aumann, Alexandra; Hess, Annemarie; Kolle, Susanne N.; Ma-Hock, Lan [Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany); Wohlleben, Wendel [Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany); Material Physics, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany); Dammann, Martina; Strauss, Volker; Treumann, Silke; Gröters, Sibylle [Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany); Wiench, Karin [Product Safety, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany); Ravenzwaay, Bennard van [Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany); Landsiedel, Robert, E-mail: robert.landsiedel@basf.com [Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany)

2014-04-01

The applicability of rat precision-cut lung slices (PCLuS) in detecting nanomaterial (NM) toxicity to the respiratory tract was investigated evaluating sixteen OECD reference NMs (TiO{sub 2}, ZnO, CeO{sub 2}, SiO{sub 2}, Ag, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)). Upon 24-hour test substance exposure, the PCLuS system was able to detect early events of NM toxicity: total protein, reduction in mitochondrial activity, caspase-3/-7 activation, glutathione depletion/increase, cytokine induction, and histopathological evaluation. Ion shedding NMS (ZnO and Ag) induced severe tissue destruction detected by the loss of total protein. Two anatase TiO{sub 2} NMs, CeO{sub 2} NMs, and two MWCNT caused significant (determined by trend analysis) cytotoxicity in the WST-1 assay. At non-cytotoxic concentrations, different TiO{sub 2} NMs and one MWCNT increased GSH levels, presumably a defense response to reactive oxygen species, and these substances further induced a variety of cytokines. One of the SiO{sub 2} NMs increased caspase-3/-7 activities at non-cytotoxic levels, and one rutile TiO{sub 2} only induced cytokines. Investigating these effects is, however, not sufficient to predict apical effects found in vivo. Reproducibility of test substance measurements was not fully satisfactory, especially in the GSH and cytokine assays. Effects were frequently observed in negative controls pointing to tissue slice vulnerability even though prepared and handled with utmost care. Comparisons of the effects observed in the PCLuS to in vivo effects reveal some concordances for the metal oxide NMs, but less so for the MWCNT. The highest effective dosages, however, exceeded those reported for rat short-term inhalation studies. To become applicable for NM testing, the PCLuS system requires test protocol optimization. - Highlights: • 16 OECD reference nanomaterials were tested in rat precision-cut lung slices. • Nanomaterial cytotoxicity, apoptose, oxidative stress, and inflammation were

Effects of intratracheal instillation of bleomycin on phospholipid synthesis in hamster lung tissue slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giri, S.N.

1987-01-01

Bleomycin, an antineoplastic drug, is known to produce interstitial pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). As a result, it is commonly employed in various species to produce animal models of fibrosis. We have examined the uptake of [ 14 C] acetate by lung slices and its incorporation into lipids in the slices at various times following intratracheal administration of a fibrogenic dose of bleomycin in hamsters. As compared to saline controls, bleomycin had no effect on [ 14 C] acetate uptake at 4 and 7 days but it increased the uptake at 2 and 14 days after treatment. The incorporation of [ 14 C] acetate into total lipid was significantly reduced to 44, 62, 62, and 75% of the control at 2, 4, 7, and 14 days after bleomycin treatment, respectively. The incorporation into lipid as a percentage of the uptake was 12.2 in control animals whereas in bleomycin-treated animals, it was 4.7, 8.0, 7.3, and 6.9 at the corresponding times. Separation of lipids into various fractions revealed that bleomycin treatment specifically inhibited the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine and neutral lipid at all times of the study. The synthesis of all other phospholipids except phosphatidylethanolamine was depressed at 2 days. The latter was, however, depressed at 7 and 14 days after bleomycin treatment. It was concluded from the present study that bleomycin treatment inhibits the synthesis of phospholipid and neutral lipid and this may eventually lead to decreased surfactant production

A study of the minimum number of slices required for quantification of pulmonary emphysema by computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hitsuda, Yutaka; Igishi, Tadashi; Kawasaki, Yuji

2000-01-01

We attempted to determine the minimum number of slices required for quantification of overall emphysema by computed tomography (CT). Forty-nine patients underwent CT scanning with a 15-mm slice interval, and 13 to 18 slices per patient were obtained. The percentage of low attenuation area (LAA%) per slice was measured with a method that we reported on previously, utilizing a CT program and NIH image. The average LAA% values for 1, 2, 3, and 6 slices evenly spaced through the lungs [LAA% (1), LAA% (2), LAA% (3), and LAA% (6)] were compared with those for all slices [LAA% (All)]. The correlation coefficients for LAA% (1), LAA% (2), LAA% (3), and LAA% (6) with LAA% (All) were 0.961, 0.981, 0.993, and 0.997, respectively. Mean differences ±SD were -3.20±4.21%, -2.32±3.00, -0.20±1.84, and -0.16±1.26, respectively. From these results, we concluded that overall emphysema can be quantified by using at least three slices: one each of the upper, middle, and lower lung. (author)

Multi-slice computed tomography assessment of bronchial compression with absent pulmonary valve

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Zhong, Yu-Min; Sun, Ai-Min; Wang, Qian; Zhu, Ming; Qiu, Hai-Sheng [Shanghai Children' s Medical Center and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Medical School, Department of Radiology, Shanghai (China); Jaffe, Richard B. [Primary Children' s Medical Center, Department of Medical Imaging, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Liu, Jin-Fen [Shanghai Children' s Medical Center, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Shanghai (China); Gao, Wei [Shanghai Children' s Medical Center and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Medical School, Department of Cardiology, Shanghai (China); Berdon, Walter E. [Children' s Hospital of New York, Department of Radiology, New York, NY (United States)

2014-07-15

Absent pulmonary valve is a rare cardiovascular anomaly that can result in profound tracheobronchial compression. To demonstrate the advantage of multi-slice CT in diagnosing tracheobronchial compression, its severity as related to the adjacent dilated pulmonary arteries, and associated lung and cardiac lesions. We included children with absent pulmonary valve who were reviewed by multi-slice CT during a 17-year period. The number and locations of stenoses and lung lesions were noted and the severity of stenosis was categorized. The diameter of the pulmonary artery was measured and associated cardiac defects were demonstrated. Thirty-one children (14 girls and 17 boys) were included. Of these, 29 had ventricular septal defect and 2 had an intact ventricular septum. Twenty-nine children (94%) had tracheobronchial compression, judged to be mild in nine children (31%), moderate in 10 (34%) and severe in 10 (34%). The different locations of the stenosis (carina, main bronchi, lobar and segmental bronchi) were observed. And the number and location of lung lesions demonstrated that the right middle and left upper and lower lobes were often affected. The diameter of the pulmonary artery in these children was well above normal published values, and Spearman rank correlation analysis showed a correlation between the size of the pulmonary artery and the severity of the tracheobronchial stenosis. Nineteen children (61%) underwent surgery and 4 of these children had a multi-slice CT post-operative follow-up study. Absent pulmonary valve can cause significant morbidity and mortality in children. Multi-slice CT can accurately depict areas of tracheobronchial compression, associated lung lesions and cardiac defects, helping to direct the surgeon. (orig.)

Slice sensitivity profiles and pixel noise of multi-slice CT in comparison with single-slice CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schorn, C.; Obenauer, S.; Funke, M.; Hermann, K.P.; Kopka, L.; Grabbe, E.

1999-01-01

Purpose: Presentation and evaluation of slice sensitivity profile and pixel noise of multi-slice CT in comparison to single-slice CT. Methods: Slice sensitivity profiles and pixel noise of a multi-slice CT equiped with a 2D matrix detector array and of a single-slice CT were evaluated in phantom studies. Results: For the single-slice CT the width of the slice sensitivity profiles increased with increasing pitch. In spite of a much higher table speed the slice sensitivity profiles of multi-slice CT were narrower and did not increase with higher pitch. Noise in single-slice CT was independent of pitch. For multi-slice CT noise increased with higher pitch and for the higher pitch decreased slightly with higher detector row collimation. Conclusions: Multi-slice CT provides superior z-resolution and higher volume coverage speed. These qualities fulfill one of the prerequisites for improvement of 3D postprocessing. (orig.) [de

Organ- and species-specific biological activity of rosmarinic acid

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Iswandana, R.; Pham, B.T.; van Haaften, W.T.; Luangmonkong, T.; Oosterhuis, D.; Mutsaers, H.A.M.; Olinga, P.

2016-01-01

Rosmarinic acid (RA), a compound found in several plant species, has beneficial properties, including anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. We investigated the toxicity, anti-inflammatory, and antifibrotic effects of RA using precision-cut liver slices (PCLS) and precision-cut intestinal

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2014-01-01

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

Peripheral pulmonary arteries: identification at multi-slice spiral CT with 3D reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coche, Emmanuel; Pawlak, Sebastien; Dechambre, Stephane; Maldague, Baudouin

2003-01-01

Our objective was to analyze the peripheral pulmonary arteries using thin-collimation multi-slice spiral CT. Twenty consecutive patients underwent enhanced-spiral multi-slice CT using 1-mm collimation. Two observers analyzed the pulmonary arteries by consensus on a workstation. Each artery was identified on axial and 3D shaded-surface display reconstruction images. Each subsegmental artery was measured at a mediastinal window setting and compared with anatomical classifications. The location and branching of every subsegmental artery was recorded. The number of well-visualized sub-subsegmental arteries at a mediastinal window setting was compared with those visualized at a lung window setting. Of 800 subsegmental arteries, 769 (96%) were correctly visualized and 123 accessory subsegmental arteries were identified using the mediastinal window setting. One thousand ninety-two of 2019 sub-subsegmental arteries (54%) identified using the lung window setting were correctly visualized using the mediastinal window setting. Enhanced multi-slice spiral CT with thin collimation can be used to analyze precisely the subsegmental pulmonary arteries and may identify even more distal pulmonary arteries. (orig.)

Quantitative study on lung volume and lung perfusion using SPECT and CT in thoracal tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beyer-Enke, S.A.; Goerich, J.; Strauss, L.G.

1988-01-01

22 patients with space occupying lesions in the thoracal region were investigated by computer tomography and by perfusion scintigraphy using SPECT. In order to evaluate the CT images quantitatively, the lung volume was determined using approximation method and compared with the perfusion in the SPECT study. For this, anatomically equivalent transaxial SPECT slices had been coordinated to the CT slices. Between the determined lung volumes and the activity in the ocrresponding layers, a statistically significant correlation was found. It could be shown that the stronger perfusion, frequently observed at the right side of the healthy lung, may be explained by an higher volume of the right pulmonary lobe. Whereas in benign displacing processes the relation activity to volume was similar to the one of the healthy lung, a strongly reduced perfusion together with inconspicuous lung volumes became apparent with malignant tumors. In addition to the great morphological evidence of CT and SPECT studies, additional informations regarding the dignity of displacing processes may be derived from the quantitative evaluation of both methods. (orig.) [de

Clinical chest CAD system for lung cancer, COPD, and osteoporosis based on MDCT images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuhiro, Mikio; Suzuki, Hidenobu; Saita, Shinsuke

2011-01-01

Lung cancer kills more people than any other cancer worldwide. Lung cancer screening using low-dose CT have been performed in many countries. Comparative reading of current and past CT images is important for evaluation of pulmonary nodules in lung cancer CT screening. However, primary problem in comparative reading is mismatch of slice and nodule positions caused by lung variation. It is hard for physicians to manually match slice positions, nodule positions, and evaluate the nodule's degree of change. A system to assist smooth comparative reading is necessary. We proposed a comparative reading system for lung cancer CT screening. A distinctive feature is highly accurate matching method of region of interest based on thoracic organs registration. Pulmonary blood vessels registration using analysis of the tree structure is performed. The system is evaluated by 1 mm and 2 mm slice thickness CT images obtained from lung cancer CT screening. We show how it is useful for lung cancer CT screening. (author)

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2014-01-01

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

Fourier analysis of heart SPECT slices: from remodelation to function?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zigman, M.; Prpic, H.; Lokner, V.

1994-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine character of the spatial distribution of marked erythrocytes in heart chambers, lungs and great blood vessels in relation to function of the left and right heart. Investigation included total of 142 subjects, 28 of which were without subjective and clinical signs of heart disease as well as 56 after myocardial infarction (30 of anterior localization, 26 of inferior infarction), 35 with predominant left heart disease (aortic valve disease, dilatative myocardiopathy, etc.) and 23 with predominant right heart disease (atrial septal defect, mitral valve disease). Radionuclide ventriculography (RNV) at rest, and thorax SPECT were performed in all subjects with 740 MBq Tc-99m after in vivo erythrocyte labelling with pyrophosphate. Ultrasound investigation was performed on all the subjects with heart disease and 87 of them underwent invasive cardiac investigation. RNV analysis revealed scintigraphic data on left and right ventricle: global ejection fraction (GEF), end-systolic volume (ESV), end-diastolic volume (EDV), fast tilling rate (FFR), fast emptying rate (FER) as well as regional wall motion shortening. Reconstruction of 64x64x8 SPECT images resulted in 3x64 slices (transversal, coronal and sagittal slices). Fourier analysis of 20-32 reconstructed slices in all three dimensions gave amplitude image of the intensity distribution of marked erythrocytes in heart chambers lungs and great blood vessels as well as phase display of spatial localization of regional amplitude values. Results of joint ROC curves constructed for detection, localization and character of heart disease in all subjects revealed significant clinical information content of SPECT data. Evaluation of RI retention using amplitude images in 3D provides insight in regional changes of volume, particular for atrial and lung involvement. (author)

Whole-lung densitometry versus visual assessment of emphysema

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cavigli, Edoardo; Orlandi, Ilaria; Grassi, Luca; Farfalla, Carmela; Mascalchi, Mario; Camiciottoli, Gianna; Meoni, Eleonora; Pistolesi, Massimo; Diciotti, Stefano; Spinelli, Cheti; Falaschi, Fabio

2009-01-01

We compared whole-lung densitometry with visual evaluation of pulmonary emphysema. Thirty patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease underwent multi-detector CT (150 mAs and 0.75 collimation) with double reconstruction: thick (5-mm) slices with smooth filter for whole-lung densitometry and thin (1 mm) slices with sharp filter for visual assessment (one of every ten slices). Densitometry and visual assessment were performed by three operators each, and the time required for assessment, the inter-observer agreement and the correlation with the results of the diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide (DL CO ) in the same patients were computed. The average time for densitometry (8.49 ± 0.13 min) was significantly longer (p CO with relative area at -960 and -970 Hounsfield units (HU) (both r = -0.66) and of the first percentile point of lung density (r = 0.66) were slightly stronger than that of the visual score (r = -0.62). Densitometry should be preferred to visual assessment because it enables a more reproducible evaluation of the extent of pulmonary emphysema, which can be carried out on the entire lung in a reasonable amount of time. (orig.)

Fetal lung volume measurement by MRI with high-speed imaging systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Osada, Hisao; Kaku, Kenshi [Chiba Univ. (Japan). Hospital

2002-08-01

Although ultrasonography is widely used for fetal morphologic observation, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has gained popularity as a new prenatal diagnostic method with recent introduction of high-speed imaging systems. Infants with lung hypoplasia affecting respiratory function require intensive management starting immediately after birth. Therefore, accurate prenatal differential diagnosis and severity evaluation are extremely important for these fetuses. The aim of this study is to measure fetal lung volume using a computer-based, three-dimensional MRI imaging system and to evaluate the possibility of clinical applications of this procedure. A total of 96 fetuses were evaluated, all were morphologically abnormal, and MRI was done for advanced assessment from 24 to 39 weeks gestation. Three-directional views of fetal chest were imaged by Signa Horizon, 1.5 Tesla, version 5.6 (General Electronics) with the following conditions; coil: TORSO coil, sequence: SSFSE (single shot fast spin echo), slice thickness: 5 mm, and imaging speed: 2 seconds/slice. To calculate the lung volume and create three-dimensional image, the lung area in each slice was traced out, then multiplied using computer image processing. Simultaneously, the volumes of all slices were summed to give the volume of each lung. Linear regression analysis and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used for statistical analyses. In all cases, clear images were obtained, and were adequate for three-dimensional evaluation of the fetal lung. Thirty-five fetuses had poor outcomes, such as intrauterine fetal death, neonatal death, and intensive respiratory care. Regression lines of lung volume versus gestational week were calculated for these fetuses with poor outcome and 61 other fetuses with good outcome. ANCOVA, with gestational week as a covariant, revealed a significant intergroup difference in the lung volume (p<0.001). Similarly, regression lines of lung volume versus fetal body weight estimated by

Differences in the definition of internal target volumes using slow CT alone or in combination with thin-slice CT under breath-holding conditions during the planning of stereotactic radiotherapy for lung cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seki, Satoshi; Kunieda, Etsuo; Takeda, Atsuya; Nagaoka, Tomoaki; Deloar, Hossain M.; Kawase, Takatsugu; Fukada, Junichi; Kawaguchi, Osamu; Uematsu, Minoru; Kubo, Atsushi

2007-01-01

Purpose: To investigate how the delineations of the internal target volume (ITV) made from 'slow' CT alter with reference to 'thin-slice' CT. Materials and methods: Thin-slice CT images taken under breath-holding conditions and slow CT images taken under shallow-breathing conditions (8 s/image) of 11 lung cancers were used for this study. Five radiation oncologists delineated ITV of the 11 lesions using slow CT images (ITV1), and then redefined them with reference to thin-slice CT images (ITV2). SD-images (standard deviation image) were created for all patients from ITV images in order to visualize the regional variation of the ITVs. Results: The mean value of ITV2 was smaller than that initially defined by ITV1. There was no significant change in ITV1 and ITV2 between operators with regard to standard deviation in volume. There was a significant difference in the distribution of the ratio of ITV1 to ITV2 obtained on thin-slice CTs between cases with and without ground glass opacity. In cases without ground glass opacity there was a tendency for ITV2 to have a smaller volume than ITV1. Conclusions: Combined use of slow CT and thin-slice CT in delineation of ITV contours appeared to be useful in making adjustments for obscured tumor images caused by respiratory movement

Measurement of slice sensitivity profile for a 64-slice spiral CT system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Chuanya; Qin Weichang; Wang Wei; Lu Chuanyou

2006-01-01

Objective: To measure and evaluate slice sensitivity profile (SSP) and the full width at half-maximum(FWHM) for a 64-slice spiral CT system. Methods: Using the same CT technique and body mode as those used for clinical CT, delta phantom was scanned with Somatom Sensation 64-slice spiral CT. SSPs and FWHM were measured both with reconstruction slice width of 0.6 mm at pitch=0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50 and with reconstruction slice width of 0.6, 1.0, 1.5 mm at pitch=1 respectively. Results: For normal slice width of 0. 6 mm, the measured FWHM, i.e. effective slice width, is 0.67, 0.67, 0.66, 0.69, 0.69 mm at different pitch. All the measured FWHM deviate less than 0.1 mm from the nominal slice width. The measured SSPs are symmetrical, bell-shaped curves without far-reaching tails, and show only slight variations as a function of the spiral pitch. When reconstruction slice width increase, relative SSP become wider. Conclusions: The variation of pitch hardly has effect all on SSP, effective slice width, and z-direction spatial resolution for Sensation 64-slice spiral CT system, which is helpful to optimize CT scanning protocol. (authors)

Evaluation of solitary pulmonary metastasis of extrathoracic tumor with thin-slice computed tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shiotani, Seiji; Yamada, Kouzo; Oshita, Fumihiro; Nomura, Ikuo; Noda, Kazumasa; Yamagata, Tatushi; Tajiri, Michihiko; Ishibashi, Makoto; Kameda, Youichi [Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama (Japan)

1995-10-01

Thin-slice computed tomography (CT) images were compared with pathological findings in 9 specimens of solitary pulmonary nodules, which had been pathologically diagnosed as pulmonary metastasis of extrathoracic tumor. The thin-slice CT images were 2 mm-thick images reconstructed using a TCT-900S, HELIX (Toshiba, Tokyo) and examined at two different window and level settings. In every case, the surgical specimens were sliced transversely to correlate with the CT images. According to the image findings, the internal structure was of the solid-density type in every case, and the margin showed spiculation in 22%, notching in 67% and pleural indentation in 89%. Regarding the relationship between the pulmonary vessels and tumors, plural vascular involvement was revealed in every case. Thus, it was difficult to distinguish solitary pulmonary metastasis of extrathoracic tumor from primary lung cancer based on the thin-slice CT images. For some solitary pulmonary metastasis of extrathoracic tumor, a comprehensive diagnostic approach taking both the anamnesis and pathological findings into consideration was required. (author).

Thick Slice and Thin Slice Teaching Evaluations

Science.gov (United States)

Tom, Gail; Tong, Stephanie Tom; Hesse, Charles

2010-01-01

Student-based teaching evaluations are an integral component to institutions of higher education. Previous work on student-based teaching evaluations suggest that evaluations of instructors based upon "thin slice" 30-s video clips of them in the classroom correlate strongly with their end of the term "thick slice" student evaluations. This study's…

Architectural slicing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Henrik Bærbak; Hansen, Klaus Marius

2013-01-01

Architectural prototyping is a widely used practice, con- cerned with taking architectural decisions through experiments with light- weight implementations. However, many architectural decisions are only taken when systems are already (partially) implemented. This is prob- lematic in the context...... of architectural prototyping since experiments with full systems are complex and expensive and thus architectural learn- ing is hindered. In this paper, we propose a novel technique for harvest- ing architectural prototypes from existing systems, \\architectural slic- ing", based on dynamic program slicing. Given...... a system and a slicing criterion, architectural slicing produces an architectural prototype that contain the elements in the architecture that are dependent on the ele- ments in the slicing criterion. Furthermore, we present an initial design and implementation of an architectural slicer for Java....

A method for smoothing segmented lung boundary in chest CT images

Science.gov (United States)

Yim, Yeny; Hong, Helen

2007-03-01

To segment low density lung regions in chest CT images, most of methods use the difference in gray-level value of pixels. However, radiodense pulmonary vessels and pleural nodules that contact with the surrounding anatomy are often excluded from the segmentation result. To smooth lung boundary segmented by gray-level processing in chest CT images, we propose a new method using scan line search. Our method consists of three main steps. First, lung boundary is extracted by our automatic segmentation method. Second, segmented lung contour is smoothed in each axial CT slice. We propose a scan line search to track the points on lung contour and find rapidly changing curvature efficiently. Finally, to provide consistent appearance between lung contours in adjacent axial slices, 2D closing in coronal plane is applied within pre-defined subvolume. Our method has been applied for performance evaluation with the aspects of visual inspection, accuracy and processing time. The results of our method show that the smoothness of lung contour was considerably increased by compensating for pulmonary vessels and pleural nodules.

Multislice spiral computed tomography to determine the effects of a recruitment maneuver in experimental lung injury

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Henzler, Dietrich; Rossaint, Rolf [University Hospital, RWTH Aachen, Anesthesiology Department, Aachen (Germany); Mahnken, Andreas H.; Wildberger, Joachim E.; Guenther, Rolf W. [University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Clinic of Diagnostic Radiology, Aachen (Germany); Kuhlen, Ralf [University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Operative Intensive Care Department, Aachen (Germany)

2006-06-15

Although recruitment of atelectatic lung is a common aim in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the effects of a recruitment maneuver have not been assessed quantitatively. By multislice spiral CT (MSCT), we analyzed the changes in lung volumes calculated from the changes in the CT values of hyperinflated (V{sub HYP}), normally (V{sub NORM}), poorly (V{sub POOR}) and nonaerated (V{sub NON}) lung in eight mechanically ventilated pigs with saline lavage-induced acute lung injury before and after a recruitment maneuver. This was compared to single slice analysis near the diaphragm. The increase in aerated lung was mainly for V{sub POOR} and the less in V{sub NORM}. Total lung volume and intrathoracic gas increased. No differences were found for tidal volumes measured by spirometry or determined by CT. The inspiratory-expiratory volume differences were not different after the recruitment maneuver in V{sub NON} (from 62{+-}18 ml to 43{+-}26 ml, P=0.114), and in V{sub NORM} (from 216{+-}51 ml to 251{+-}37 ml, P=0.102). Single slice analysis significantly underestimated the increase in normally and poorly aerated lung. Quantitative analysis of lung volumes by whole lung MSCT revealed the increase of poorly aerated lung as the main mechanism of a standard recruitment maneuver. MSCT can provide additional information as compared to single slice CT. (orig.)

Multislice spiral computed tomography to determine the effects of a recruitment maneuver in experimental lung injury

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henzler, Dietrich; Rossaint, Rolf; Mahnken, Andreas H.; Wildberger, Joachim E.; Guenther, Rolf W.; Kuhlen, Ralf

2006-01-01

Although recruitment of atelectatic lung is a common aim in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the effects of a recruitment maneuver have not been assessed quantitatively. By multislice spiral CT (MSCT), we analyzed the changes in lung volumes calculated from the changes in the CT values of hyperinflated (V HYP ), normally (V NORM ), poorly (V POOR ) and nonaerated (V NON ) lung in eight mechanically ventilated pigs with saline lavage-induced acute lung injury before and after a recruitment maneuver. This was compared to single slice analysis near the diaphragm. The increase in aerated lung was mainly for V POOR and the less in V NORM . Total lung volume and intrathoracic gas increased. No differences were found for tidal volumes measured by spirometry or determined by CT. The inspiratory-expiratory volume differences were not different after the recruitment maneuver in V NON (from 62±18 ml to 43±26 ml, P=0.114), and in V NORM (from 216±51 ml to 251±37 ml, P=0.102). Single slice analysis significantly underestimated the increase in normally and poorly aerated lung. Quantitative analysis of lung volumes by whole lung MSCT revealed the increase of poorly aerated lung as the main mechanism of a standard recruitment maneuver. MSCT can provide additional information as compared to single slice CT. (orig.)

Estimating intratidal nonlinearity of respiratory system mechanics: a model study using the enhanced gliding-SLICE method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schumann, Stefan; Burcza, Boris; Guttmann, Josef; Haberthür, Christoph; Lichtwarck-Aschoff, Michael

2009-01-01

In the clinical situation and in most research work, the analysis of respiratory system mechanics is limited to the estimation of single-value compliances during static or quasi-static conditions. In contrast, our SLICE method analyses intratidal nonlinearity under the dynamic conditions of mechanical ventilation by calculating compliance and resistance for six conjoined volume portions (slices) of the pressure–volume loop by multiple linear regression analysis. With the gliding-SLICE method we present a new approach to determine continuous intratidal nonlinear compliance. The performance of the gliding-SLICE method was tested both in computer simulations and in a physical model of the lung, both simulating different intratidal compliance profiles. Compared to the original SLICE method, the gliding-SLICE method resulted in smaller errors when calculating the compliance or pressure course (all p 2 O s L −1 to 0.8 ± 0.3 cmH 2 O s L −1 (mathematical model) and from 7.2 ± 3.9 cmH 2 O s L −1 to 0.4 ± 0.2 cmH 2 O s L −1 (physical model) (all p < 0.001). We conclude that the new gliding-SLICE method allows detailed assessment of intratidal nonlinear respiratory system mechanics without discontinuity error

Detection of the anatomic structure and pathology in animal lung specimens: comparison of micro CT and multi-detector row CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, Kun Young; Lee, Hyun Ju; Lee, Chang Hyun; Son, Kyu Ri; Goo, Jin Mo; Im, Jung Gi; Seo, Joon Beom

2006-01-01

We wanted to compare the capability of micro CT and the clinically available thin-slice multi-detector row CT (MDCT) for demonstrating fine anatomic structures and pathological lesions in formalin-fixed lung specimens. The porcine lung with shark liver oil-induced lipoid pneumonia and the canine lung with pulmonary paragonimiasis were fixed by ventilating them with formalin vapor, and they were then sliced into one-centimeter thick sections. Micro CT (section thickness, 18 micrometer) and MDCT (section thickness, 0.75 mm) images were acquired in four of the lung slices of the lipoid pneumonia specimen and in five of the lung slices of the paragonimiasis specimen. On 62 pairs of micro CT and MDCT images, 169 pairs of rectangular ROIs were manually drawn in the corresponding locations. Two chest radiologists recorded the detectability of three kinds of anatomic structures (lobular core structure, interlobular septum and small bronchiolar lumen) and two kinds of pathological lesions (ground-glass opacity and consolidation) with using a five-point scale. The statistical comparison was performed by using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Interobserver agreement was evaluated with kappa statistics. For all observers, all the kinds of anatomic structures and pathological lesions were detected better on the micro CT images than on the MDCT images (ρ < 0.01). Agreement was fair between two observers (κ = 0.38, ρ < 0.001). The fine anatomic structures and pathological lesions of the lung were more accurately demonstrated on micro CT than on thin-slice MDCT in the inflated and fixed lung specimens

Detection of the anatomic structure and pathology in animal lung specimens: comparison of micro CT and multi-detector row CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lim, Kun Young [National Cancer Center, Goyang (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Hyun Ju; Lee, Chang Hyun; Son, Kyu Ri; Goo, Jin Mo; Im, Jung Gi [Seoul National University Hospital and the Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Seo, Joon Beom [Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2006-05-15

We wanted to compare the capability of micro CT and the clinically available thin-slice multi-detector row CT (MDCT) for demonstrating fine anatomic structures and pathological lesions in formalin-fixed lung specimens. The porcine lung with shark liver oil-induced lipoid pneumonia and the canine lung with pulmonary paragonimiasis were fixed by ventilating them with formalin vapor, and they were then sliced into one-centimeter thick sections. Micro CT (section thickness, 18 micrometer) and MDCT (section thickness, 0.75 mm) images were acquired in four of the lung slices of the lipoid pneumonia specimen and in five of the lung slices of the paragonimiasis specimen. On 62 pairs of micro CT and MDCT images, 169 pairs of rectangular ROIs were manually drawn in the corresponding locations. Two chest radiologists recorded the detectability of three kinds of anatomic structures (lobular core structure, interlobular septum and small bronchiolar lumen) and two kinds of pathological lesions (ground-glass opacity and consolidation) with using a five-point scale. The statistical comparison was performed by using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Interobserver agreement was evaluated with kappa statistics. For all observers, all the kinds of anatomic structures and pathological lesions were detected better on the micro CT images than on the MDCT images ({rho} < 0.01). Agreement was fair between two observers ({kappa} = 0.38, {rho} < 0.001). The fine anatomic structures and pathological lesions of the lung were more accurately demonstrated on micro CT than on thin-slice MDCT in the inflated and fixed lung specimens.

Outline and handling manual of experimental data time slice monitoring software 'SLICE'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirai, Hiroshi; Hirayama, Toshio; Shimizu, Katsuhiro; Tani, Keiji; Azumi, Masafumi; Hirai, Ken-ichiro; Konno, Satoshi; Takase, Keizou.

1993-02-01

We have developed a software 'SLICE' which maps various kinds of plasma experimental data measured at the different geometrical position of JT-60U and JFT-2M onto the equilibrium magnetic configuration and treats them as a function of volume averaged minor radius ρ. Experimental data can be handled uniformly by using 'SLICE'. Plenty of commands of 'SLICE' make it easy to process the mapped data. The experimental data measured as line integrated values are also transformed by Abel inversion. The mapped data are fitted to a functional form and saved to the database 'MAPDB'. 'SLICE' can read the data from 'MAPDB' and re-display and transform them. Still more 'SLICE' creates run data of orbit following Monte-Carlo code 'OFMC' and tokamak predictive and interpretation code system 'TOPICS'. This report summarizes an outline and the usage of 'SLICE'. (author)

Milrinone relaxes pulmonary veins in guinea pigs and humans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annette D Rieg

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: The phosphodiesterase-III inhibitor milrinone improves ventricular contractility, relaxes pulmonary arteries and reduces right ventricular afterload. Thus, it is used to treat heart failure and pulmonary hypertension (PH. However, its action on pulmonary veins (PVs is not defined, although particularly PH due to left heart disease primarily affects the pulmonary venous bed. We examined milrinone-induced relaxation in PVs from guinea pigs (GPs and humans. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Precision-cut lung slices (PCLS were prepared from GPs or from patients undergoing lobectomy. Milrinone-induced relaxation was studied by videomicroscopy in naïve PVs and in PVs pre-constricted with the ETA-receptor agonist BP0104. Baseline luminal area was defined as 100%. Intracellular cAMP was measured by ELISA and milrinone-induced changes of segmental vascular resistances were studied in the GP isolated perfused lung (IPL. RESULTS: In the IPL (GP, milrinone (10 µM lowered the postcapillary resistance of pre-constricted vessels. In PCLS (GP, milrinone relaxed naïve and pre-constricted PVs (120% and this relaxation was attenuated by inhibition of protein kinase G (KT 5823, adenyl cyclase (SQ 22536 and protein kinase A (KT 5720, but not by inhibition of NO-synthesis (L-NAME. In addition, milrinone-induced relaxation was dependent on the activation of K ATP-, BK Ca (2+- and Kv-channels. Human PVs also relaxed to milrinone (121%, however only if pre-constricted. DISCUSSION: Milrinone relaxes PVs from GPs and humans. In GPs, milrinone-induced relaxation is based on K ATP-, BK Ca (2+- and Kv-channel-activation and on cAMP/PKA/PKG. The relaxant properties of milrinone on PVs lead to reduced postcapillary resistance and hydrostatic pressures. Hence they alleviate pulmonary edema and suggest beneficial effects of milrinone in PH due to left heart disease.

Milrinone relaxes pulmonary veins in guinea pigs and humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Rieg, Annette D; Suleiman, Said; Perez-Bouza, Alberto; Braunschweig, Till; Spillner, Jan W; Schröder, Thomas; Verjans, Eva; Schälte, Gereon; Rossaint, Rolf; Uhlig, Stefan; Martin, Christian

2014-01-01

The phosphodiesterase-III inhibitor milrinone improves ventricular contractility, relaxes pulmonary arteries and reduces right ventricular afterload. Thus, it is used to treat heart failure and pulmonary hypertension (PH). However, its action on pulmonary veins (PVs) is not defined, although particularly PH due to left heart disease primarily affects the pulmonary venous bed. We examined milrinone-induced relaxation in PVs from guinea pigs (GPs) and humans. Precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) were prepared from GPs or from patients undergoing lobectomy. Milrinone-induced relaxation was studied by videomicroscopy in naïve PVs and in PVs pre-constricted with the ETA-receptor agonist BP0104. Baseline luminal area was defined as 100%. Intracellular cAMP was measured by ELISA and milrinone-induced changes of segmental vascular resistances were studied in the GP isolated perfused lung (IPL). In the IPL (GP), milrinone (10 µM) lowered the postcapillary resistance of pre-constricted vessels. In PCLS (GP), milrinone relaxed naïve and pre-constricted PVs (120%) and this relaxation was attenuated by inhibition of protein kinase G (KT 5823), adenyl cyclase (SQ 22536) and protein kinase A (KT 5720), but not by inhibition of NO-synthesis (L-NAME). In addition, milrinone-induced relaxation was dependent on the activation of K ATP-, BK Ca (2+)- and Kv-channels. Human PVs also relaxed to milrinone (121%), however only if pre-constricted. Milrinone relaxes PVs from GPs and humans. In GPs, milrinone-induced relaxation is based on K ATP-, BK Ca (2+)- and Kv-channel-activation and on cAMP/PKA/PKG. The relaxant properties of milrinone on PVs lead to reduced postcapillary resistance and hydrostatic pressures. Hence they alleviate pulmonary edema and suggest beneficial effects of milrinone in PH due to left heart disease.

Multi-slice Fractional Ventilation Imaging in Large Animals with Hyperpolarized Gas MRI

Science.gov (United States)

Emami, Kiarash; Xu, Yinan; Hamedani, Hooman; Xin, Yi; Profka, Harrilla; Rajaei, Jennia; Kadlecek, Stephen; Ishii, Masaru; Rizi, Rahim R.

2012-01-01

Noninvasive assessment of regional lung ventilation is of critical importance in quantifying the severity of disease and evaluating response to therapy in many pulmonary diseases. This work presents for the first time the implementation of a hyperpolarized (HP) gas MRI technique for measuring whole-lung regional fractional ventilation (r) in Yorkshire pigs (n = 5) through the use of a gas mixing and delivery device in supine position. The proposed technique utilizes a series of back-to-back HP gas breaths with images acquired during short end-inspiratory breath-holds. In order to decouple the RF pulse decay effect from ventilatory signal build-up in the airways, regional distribution of flip angle (α) was estimated in the imaged slices by acquiring a series of back-to-back images with no inter-scan time delay during a breath-hold at the tail-end of the ventilation sequence. Analysis was performed to assess the multi-slice ventilation model sensitivity to noise, oxygen and number of flip angle images. The optimal α value was determined based on minimizing the error in r estimation; αopt = 5–6° for the set of acquisition parameters in pigs. The mean r values for the group of pigs were 0.27±0.09, 0.35±0.06, 0.40±0.04 for ventral, middle and dorsal slices, respectively, (excluding conductive airways r > 0.9). A positive gravitational (ventral-dorsal) ventilation gradient effect was present in all animals. The trachea and major conductive airways showed a uniform near-unity r value, with progressively smaller values corresponding to smaller diameter airways, and ultimately leading to lung parenchyma. Results demonstrate the feasibility of measurements of fractional ventilation in large species, and provides a platform to address technical challenges associated with long breathing time scales through the optimization of acquisition parameters in species with a pulmonary physiology very similar to that of human beings. PMID:22290603

Application of 2 mm thin-slice scanning with bone algorithm on conventional CT in diagnosis of the pulmonary diseases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xianheng; Li Xiuhua; Wang Fenghua

2004-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the value of 2 mm thin-slice conventional CT scan with bone algorithm in diagnosis and differential diagnosis in the pulmonary diseases. Methods: In total 135 cases of the pulmonary diseases were routinely scanned by conventional scan, 10 mm per slice, with standard algorithm, then the 2 mm thin-slice scan with bone algorithm was performed at the interested region of the lungs. Result: According to the comparative study of the CT signs between 10 mm slice scan with standard algorithm and 2 mm thin-slice scan with bone algorithm, the latter was better on displaying the pulmonary axial interstium, intralobular septum, subpleura lines, honeycombing, 2-5 mm nodulars and anomalies of bronchial wall. Conclusion: According to the study of 135 cases, 2 mm thin-slice scan with bone algorithm is superior to 10 mm slice scan with standard algorithm in demonstrating the pulmonary lesions. It has a similar value with high-resolution spiral CT in the diagnosis of the pulmonary solitary or diffuse nodules, pulmonary diffuse interstitial lesions and the lesions of the airway. It is practical and advisable in the community hospital

The effects of slice thickness and reconstructive parameters on VR image quality in multi-slice CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Zhenlong; Wang Qiang; Liu Caixia

2005-01-01

Objective: To explore the effects of slice thickness, reconstructive thickness and reconstructive interval on VR image quality in multi-slice CT, in order to select the best slice thickness and reconstructive parameters for the imaging. Methods: Multi-slice CT scan was applied on a rubber dinosaur model with different slice thickness. VR images were reconstructed with different reconstructive thickness and reconstructive interval. Five radiologists were invited to evaluate the quality of the images without knowing anything about the parameters. Results: The slice thickness, reconstructive thickness and reconstructive interval did have effects on VR image quality and the effective degree was different. The effective coefficients were V 1 =1413.033, V 2 =563.733, V 3 =390.533, respectively. The parameters interacted with the others (P<0.05). The smaller of those parameters, the better of the image quality. With a small slice thickness and a reconstructive slice equal to slice thickness, the image quality had no obvious difference when the reconstructive interval was 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 of the slice thickness. Conclusion: A relative small scan slice thickness, a reconstructive slice equal to slice thickness and a reconstructive interval 1/2 of the slice thickness should be selected for the best VR image quality. The image quality depends mostly on the slice thickness. (authors)

Comparative reading support system for lung cancer CT screening

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubo, Mitsuru; Saita, Shinsuke; Kawata, Yoshiki; Niki, Noboru; Suzuki, Hidenobu; Ohmatsu, Hironobu; Eguchi, Kenji; Kaneko, Masahiro; Moriyama, Noriyuki

2010-01-01

The comparative reading is performed using current and past images of the same case obtained from lung cancer CT screening. The result of this is useful for the early detection of lung cancer. Our paper describes the efficiency improvement of comparative reading using 10 mm slice thickness CT images by developing the system consists of slice registration method, pulmonary nodule registration method, and quantitative evaluation method of pulmonary nodule's degree of change. The proposed system is applied to CT images scanned for 1107 times of 85 cases with 198 pulmonary nodules and is evaluated by comparing it with the reading result of the doctors. We show the effectiveness of the system. (author)

The diagnostic value of multi-slice spiral CT virtual bronchoscopy in tracheal and bronchial disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han Ying; Ma Daqing

2006-01-01

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of multi-slice spiral CT virtual bronchoscopy (CTVB) in tracheal and bronchial disease. Methods: Forty-two patients including central lung cancer (n=35), endobronchial tuberculosis (n=3), intrabronchial benign tumor (n=3), and intrabronchial foreign body (n=1) were examined by using multi-slice spiral CT examinations. All the final diagnosis were proved by pathology except 1 patient with endoluminal foreign body was proved by clinic. All patients were scanned on GE Lightspeed 99 scanner, using 10 mm collimation, pitch of 1.35, and reconstructed at 1 mm intervals and 1.25 mm thickness. The chest images of transverse CT and virtual bronchoscopy were viewed by two separate radiologists who were familiar with the tracheal and bronchial anatomy. Results: Among the 42 patients, the tumor of trachea and bronchial lumen appeared as masses in 22 of 35 patients with central lung cancer and bronchial stenosis was found in 13 of 35 patients with central lung cancer, and bronchial wall thickening was revealed on transverse CT in all 35 cases. 3 patients of endobronchial tuberculosis showed bronchial lumen narrowing on CTVB, the bronchial wall thickening was revealed on transverse CT, and the length of the wall thickening was long. 3 patients with intrabronchial benign tumor showed nodules in trachea and bronchial lumen on CTVB, and without wall thickening on transverse CT. CTVB could detect the occlusion of bronchial lumen in 1 patient with intrabronchial foreign body and CTVB was able to visualize the areas beyond stenosis, and the bronchial wall was without thickening on transverse CT. Conclusion: Multi- slice spiral CTVB could reflect the morphology of tracheal and bronchial disease. Combined with transverse CT, it could provide diagnostic reference value for bronchial disease. (authors)

Table incremental slow injection CE-CT in lung cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Shoji; Maeda, Tomoho; Morita, Masaru

1988-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate tumor enhancement in lung cancer under the table incremental study with slow injection of contrast media. The early serial 8 sliced images during the slow injection (1.5 ml/sec) of contrant media were obtained. Following the early images, delayed 8 same sliced images were taken in 2 minutes later. Chacteristic enhanced patterns of the primary cancer and metastatic mediastinal lymphnode were recognized in this study. Enhancement of the primary lesion was classified in 4 patterns, irregular geographic pattern, heterogeneous pattern, homogeneous pattern and rim-enhanced pattern. In mediastinal metastatic lymphadenopathy, three enhanced patterns were obtained, heterogeneous, homogeneous and ring enhanced pattern. Some characteristic enhancement patterns according to the histopathological finding of the lung cancer were obtained. With using this incremental slow injection CE-CT, precise information about the relationship between lung cancer and adjacent mediastinal structure, and obvious staining patterns of the tumor and mediastinal lymphnode were recognized. (author)

Factors influencing the development of lung fibrosis after chemoradiation for small cell carcinoma of the lung: Evidence for inherent interindividual variation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geara, Fady B.; Komaki, Ritsuko; Tucker, Susan L.; Travis, Elizabeth L.; Cox, James D.

1998-01-01

Purpose: Clinical observations often reveal individual differences in the severity of lung fibrosis after definitive radiation therapy for lung cancer. Recent experimental studies suggest that the risk of developing lung fibrosis may be genetically controlled. The present study was undertaken to examine the magnitude of individual variation in the incidence and severity of lung fibrosis in a well-defined patient population treated by concurrent chemoradiation for limited small-cell lung carcinomas (LSCLC). Materials and Methods: Between 1989 and 1994, 56 patients with LSCLC were enrolled in one of two controlled prospective studies of concurrent chemotherapy and concomitant conventional (45 Gy in 25 fractions q.d. over 5 weeks) or accelerated (45 Gy in 30 fractions b.i.d. over 3 weeks) radiotherapy. Chemotherapy consisted of cisplatin and etoposide (PE) or PE plus ifosfamide and mesna (PIE). Of the 56, a group of 25 patients who had serial computerized tomography (CT) examinations of the chest and were deemed to have unequivocal radiographic complete responses were selected for this study. The severity of lung fibrosis was recorded for each patient from the CT images using an arbitrary scale (0 to 3) at 1 year after treatment. Radiographic fibrosis scores were recorded on 1-3 CT slices in 3 different dose-areas (20-30 Gy; 30-40 Gy; and >40 Gy) that were defined using the corresponding CT slices from the patient's CT treatment plan. Of these patients, 23 (92%) had at least 2 slices scored; 11 patients had all 3 slices scored. Results: Among the clinical and treatment parameters investigated (including type of chemotherapy), only total dose and fractionation schedule were identified as significant and independent determinants of lung fibrosis. Radiographic fibrosis scores were higher in high-dose areas and among patients treated with the accelerated schedule. Using a fit of the proportional odds (PO) model based on the total dose and fractionation schedule, fibrosis

Intercomparison of JAERI Torso Phantom lung sets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kramer, Gary H.; Hauck, Barry M.

2000-01-01

During the course of an IAEA sponsored In Vivo intercomparison using the JAERI phantom the Human Monitoring Laboratory was able to intercompare thirteen lung sets made by three suppliers. One set consisted of sliced lungs with planar inserts containing different radionuclides. The others consisted of whole lung sets with the activity homogeneously distributed throughout the tissue substitute material. Radionuclides in the study were: natural uranium, 3% enriched uranium, 241 Am, 238 Pu, 239 Pu, 152 Eu, and 232 Th Except for the 241 Am (59.5 keV) and occasionally one of the 232 Th (209 keV) photopeaks, the lung sets that had radioactivity homogeneously distributed throughout the tissue equivalent lung tissue material showed good agreement. The 241 Am lung set gave a counting efficiency that appeared 25% too high for all overlay plate configurations. This was observed by other participants. It exemplifies that the manufacture of tissue substitute lung sets is still something of a black art. Despite all precautions, this lung set is either inhomogeneous or has had the wrong activity added. Heterogeneity can lead to an error in the activity estimate of a factor of three if the activity was severely localised due to improper mixing. A factor of 1.25, which appears to be the discrepancy, could easily be explained in this way. It will not be known for some time, however, what the true reason is as the participants are still waiting for the destructive analysis of this lung set to determine the 'true' activity. The sliced lungs ( 241 Am, 152 Eu, and U-nat) manufactured by the Human Monitoring Laboratory are in excellent agreement with the other lung sets. The advantages of sliced lung sets and planar sources are manifold. Activity can be distributed in a known and reproducible manner to mimic either a homogeneous or heterogeneous distribution in the lung. Short lived radionuclides can be used. Cost is much less than purchasing or manufacturing lung sets that have the

Ripple artifact reduction using slice overlap in slice encoding for metal artifact correction.

Science.gov (United States)

den Harder, J Chiel; van Yperen, Gert H; Blume, Ulrike A; Bos, Clemens

2015-01-01

Multispectral imaging (MSI) significantly reduces metal artifacts. Yet, especially in techniques that use gradient selection, such as slice encoding for metal artifact correction (SEMAC), a residual ripple artifact may be prominent. Here, an analysis is presented of the ripple artifact and of slice overlap as an approach to reduce the artifact. The ripple artifact was analyzed theoretically to clarify its cause. Slice overlap, conceptually similar to spectral bin overlap in multi-acquisition with variable resonances image combination (MAVRIC), was achieved by reducing the selection gradient and, thus, increasing the slice profile width. Time domain simulations and phantom experiments were performed to validate the analyses and proposed solution. Discontinuities between slices are aggravated by signal displacement in the frequency encoding direction in areas with deviating B0. Specifically, it was demonstrated that ripple artifacts appear only where B0 varies both in-plane and through-plane. Simulations and phantom studies of metal implants confirmed the efficacy of slice overlap to reduce the artifact. The ripple artifact is an important limitation of gradient selection based MSI techniques, and can be understood using the presented simulations. At a scan-time penalty, slice overlap effectively addressed the artifact, thereby improving image quality near metal implants. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Can simulation measurements be used to predict the irradiated lung volume in the tangential fields in patients treated for breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bornstein, B.A.; Cheng, C.W.; Rhodes, L.M.; Rashid, H.; Stomper, P.C.; Siddon, R.L.; Harris, J.R.

1990-01-01

A simple method of estimating the amount of lung irradiated in patients with breast cancer would be of use in minimizing lung complications. To determine whether simple measurements taken at the time of simulation can be used to predict the lung volume in the radiation field, we performed CT scans as part of treatment planning in 40 cases undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer. Parameters measured from simulator films included: (a) the perpendicular distance from the posterior tangential field edge to the posterior part of the anterior chest wall at the center of the field (CLD); (b) the maximum perpendicular distance from the posterior tangential field edge to the posterior part of the anterior chest wall (MLD); and (c) the length of lung (L) as measured at the posterior tangential field edge on the simulator film. CT scans of the chest were performed with the patient in the treatment position with 1 cm slice intervals, covering lung apex to base. The ipsilateral total lung area and the lung area included within the treatment port were calculated for each CT scan slice, multiplied by the slice thickness, and then integrated over all CT scan slices to give the volumes. The best predictor of the percent of ipsilateral lung volume treated by the tangential fields was the CLD. Employing linear regression analysis, a coefficient of determination r2 = 0.799 was calculated between CLD and percent treated ipsilateral lung volume on CT scan. In comparison, the coefficients for the other parameters were r2 = 0.784 for the MLD, r2 = 0.071 for L, and r2 = 0.690 for CLD x L. A CLD of 1.5 cm predicted that about 6% of the ipsilateral lung would be included in the tangential field, a CLD of 2.5 cm about 16%, and a CLD of 3.5 cm about 26% of the ipsilateral lung, with a mean 90% prediction interval of +/- 7.1% of ipsilateral lung volume

Portable Device Slices Thermoplastic Prepregs

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Beverly A.; Boston, Morton W.; Wilson, Maywood L.

1993-01-01

Prepreg slitter designed to slit various widths rapidly by use of slicing bar holding several blades, each capable of slicing strip of preset width in single pass. Produces material evenly sliced and does not contain jagged edges. Used for various applications in such batch processes involving composite materials as press molding and autoclaving, and in such continuous processes as pultrusion. Useful to all manufacturers of thermoplastic composites, and in slicing B-staged thermoset composites.

Analysis of the static pressure volume curve of the lung in experimentally induced pulmonary damage by CT-densitometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

David, M.; Karmrodt, J.; Herwelling, A.; Bletz, C.; David, S.; Heussel, C.P.; Markstaller, K.

2005-01-01

Purpose: To study quantitative changes of lung density distributions when recording in- and expiratory static pressure-volume curves by single slice computed tomography (CT). Materials and Methods: Static in- and expiratory pressure volume curves (0 to 1000 ml, increments of 100 ml) were obtained in random order in 10 pigs after induction of lung damage by saline lavage. Simultaneously, CT acquisitions (slice thickness 1 mm, temporal increment 2 s) were performed in a single slice (3 cm below the carina). In each CT image lung segmentation and planimetry of defined density ranges were achieved. The lung density ranges were defined as: hyperinflated (-1024 to -910 HU), normal aerated (-910 to -600 HU), poorly aerated (-600 to -300 HU), and non aerated (-300 to 200 HU) lung. Fractional areas of defined density ranges in percentage of total lung area were compared to recorded volume increments and airway pressures (atmospheric pressure, lower inflection point (LIP), LIP*0.5, LIP*1.5, peak airway pressure) of in- and expiratory pressure-volume curves. Results: Quantitative analysis of defined density ranges showed no differences between in- and expiratory pressure-volume curves. The amount of poorly aerated lung decreased and normal aerated lung increased constantly when airway pressure and volume were increased during inspiratory pressure-volume curves and vice versa during expiratory pressure-volume loops. Conclusion: Recruitment and derecruitment of lung atelectasis during registration of static in- and expiratory pressure-volume loops occurred constantly, but not in a stepwise manner. CT was shown to be an appropriate method to analyse these recruitment process. (orig.)

4D Lung Reconstruction with Phase Optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyksborg, Mark; Paulsen, Rasmus; Brink, Carsten

2009-01-01

This paper investigates and demonstrates a 4D lung CT reconstruction/registration method which results in a complete volumetric model of the lung that deforms according to a respiratory motion field. The motion field is estimated iteratively between all available slice samples and a reference...... volume which is updated on the fly. The method is two part and the second part of the method aims to correct wrong phase information by employing another iterative optimizer. This two part iterative optimization allows for complete reconstruction at any phase and it will be demonstrated that it is better...... than using an optimization which does not correct for phase errors. Knowing how the lung and any tumors located within the lung deforms is relevant in planning the treatment of lung cancer....

Fresh Slice Self-Seeding and Fresh Slice Harmonic Lasing at LCLS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amann, J.W. [SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)

2018-04-01

We present results from the successful demonstration of fresh slice self-seeding at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).* The performance is compared with SASE and regular self-seeding at photon energy of 5.5 keV, resulting in a relative average brightness increase of a factor of 12 and a factor of 2 respectively. Following this proof-of-principle we discuss the forthcoming plans to use the same technique** for fresh slice harmonic lasing in an upcoming experiment. The demonstration of fresh slice harmonic lasing provides an attractive solution for future XFELs aiming to achieve high efficiency, high brightness X-ray pulses at high photon energies (>12 keV).***

Flat slices in Minkowski space

Science.gov (United States)

Murchadha, Niall Ó.; Xie, Naqing

2015-03-01

Minkowski space, flat spacetime, with a distance measure in natural units of d{{s}2}=-d{{t}2}+d{{x}2}+d{{y}2}+d{{z}2}, or equivalently, with spacetime metric diag(-1, +1, +1, +1), is recognized as a fundamental arena for physics. The Poincaré group, the set of all rigid spacetime rotations and translations, is the symmetry group of Minkowski space. The action of this group preserves the form of the spacetime metric. Each t = constant slice of each preferred coordinate system is flat. We show that there are also nontrivial non-singular representations of Minkowski space with complete flat slices. If the embedding of the flat slices decays appropriately at infinity, the only flat slices are the standard ones. However, if we remove the decay condition, we find non-trivial flat slices with non-vanishing extrinsic curvature. We write out explicitly the coordinate transformation to a frame with such slices.

Development and proof-of-concept of three-dimensional lung histology volumes

Science.gov (United States)

Mathew, Lindsay; Alabousi, Mostafa; Wheatley, Andrew; Aladl, Usaf; Slipetz, Deborah; Hogg, James C.; Fenster, Aaron; Parraga, Grace

2012-03-01

Most medical imaging is inherently three-dimensional (3D) but for validation of pathological findings, histopathology is commonly used and typically histopathology images are acquired as twodimensional slices with quantitative analysis performed in a single dimension. Histopathology is invasive, labour-intensive, and the analysis cannot be performed in real time, yet it remains the gold standard for the pathological diagnosis and validation of clinical or radiological diagnoses of disease. A major goal worldwide is to improve medical imaging resolution, sensitivity and specificity to better guide therapy and biopsy and to one day delay or replace biopsy. A key limitation however is the lack of tools to directly compare 3D macroscopic imaging acquired in patients with histopathology findings, typically provided in a single dimension (1D) or in two dimensions (2D). To directly address this, we developed methods for 2D histology slice visualization/registration to generate 3D volumes and quantified tissue components in the 3D volume for direct comparison to volumetric micro-CT and clinical CT. We used the elastase-instilled mouse emphysema lung model to evaluate our methods with murine lungs sectioned (5 μm thickness/10 μm gap) and digitized with 2μm in-plane resolution. 3D volumes were generated for wildtype and elastase mouse lung sections after semi-automated registration of all tissue slices. The 1D mean linear intercept (Lm) for wildtype (WT) (47.1 μm +/- 9.8 μm) and elastase mouse lung (64.5 μm +/- 14.0 μm) was significantly different (p<.001). We also generated 3D measurements based on tissue and airspace morphometry from the 3D volumes and all of these were significantly different (p<.0001) when comparing elastase and WT mouse lung. The ratio of the airspace-to-lung volume for the entire lung volume was also significantly and strongly correlated with Lm.

Effects of Temperature and Slice Thickness on Drying Kinetics of Pumpkin Slices

OpenAIRE

Kongdej LIMPAIBOON

2011-01-01

Dried pumpkin slice is an alternative crisp food product. In this study, the effects of temperature and slice thickness on the drying characteristics of pumpkin were studied in a lab-scale tray dryer, using hot air temperatures of 55, 60 and 65 °C and 2, 3 and 4 mm slice thickness at a constant air velocity of 1.5 m/s. The initial moisture content of the pumpkin samples was 900.5 % (wb). The drying process was carried out until the final moisture content of product was 100.5 % (wb). The resul...

The uptake and metabolism of cystamine and taurine by isolated, ventilated and perfused rat and rabbit lungs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, R.; Kodavanti, U.P.; Smith, L.L.; Mehendale, H.M.

1991-01-01

Cystamine has been reported to be taken up by the lung slices and metabolized to taurine via hypotaurine through enzymatic processes. The objective of these studies was to determine whether intact isolated, ventilated and perfused rat and rabbit lungs also posses similar characteristics. The lungs were isolated from male New Zealand white rabbits and S-D rats and perfused with 20 μM [ 14 C] cystamine (Sp. Act., 16.4 mCi/mmol) for 60 min and 30 min, respectively. Cystamine and its metabolites in lung as well as in perfusate were separated by TLC and quantitated using scintillation spectrometry. Similar experiments were also conducted with 20 μM taurine to investigate its fate in perfused lungs. Significant pulmonary uptake of cystamine and taurine occurred during perfusion. Cystamine was metabolized to [ 14 C] hypotaurine and [ 14 C] taurine. No further metabolism of taurine was evident in rat or rabbit lungs. Inclusion of 1 nM GSH did not significantly alter the ability of lungs to sequester cystamine, but the metabolism of hypotaurine to taurine was decreased. It was evident that cystamine was metabolized to taurine by perfused lungs in the same way as in lung slices

Accuracy of lung nodule density on HRCT: analysis by PSF-based image simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohno, Ken; Ohkubo, Masaki; Marasinghe, Janaka C; Murao, Kohei; Matsumoto, Toru; Wada, Shinichi

2012-11-08

A computed tomography (CT) image simulation technique based on the point spread function (PSF) was applied to analyze the accuracy of CT-based clinical evaluations of lung nodule density. The PSF of the CT system was measured and used to perform the lung nodule image simulation. Then, the simulated image was resampled at intervals equal to the pixel size and the slice interval found in clinical high-resolution CT (HRCT) images. On those images, the nodule density was measured by placing a region of interest (ROI) commonly used for routine clinical practice, and comparing the measured value with the true value (a known density of object function used in the image simulation). It was quantitatively determined that the measured nodule density depended on the nodule diameter and the image reconstruction parameters (kernel and slice thickness). In addition, the measured density fluctuated, depending on the offset between the nodule center and the image voxel center. This fluctuation was reduced by decreasing the slice interval (i.e., with the use of overlapping reconstruction), leading to a stable density evaluation. Our proposed method of PSF-based image simulation accompanied with resampling enables a quantitative analysis of the accuracy of CT-based evaluations of lung nodule density. These results could potentially reveal clinical misreadings in diagnosis, and lead to more accurate and precise density evaluations. They would also be of value for determining the optimum scan and reconstruction parameters, such as image reconstruction kernels and slice thicknesses/intervals.

The PDE4 inhibitor CHF-6001 and LAMAs inhibit bronchoconstriction-induced remodeling in lung slices.

Science.gov (United States)

Kistemaker, Loes E M; Oenema, Tjitske A; Baarsma, Hoeke A; Bos, I Sophie T; Schmidt, Martina; Facchinetti, Fabrizio; Civelli, Maurizio; Villetti, Gino; Gosens, Reinoud

2017-09-01

Combination therapy of PDE4 inhibitors and anticholinergics induces bronchoprotection in COPD. Mechanical forces that arise during bronchoconstriction may contribute to airway remodeling. Therefore, we investigated the impact of PDE4 inhibitors and anticholinergics on bronchoconstriction-induced remodeling. Because of the different mechanism of action of PDE4 inhibitors and anticholinergics, we hypothesized functional interactions of these two drug classes. Guinea pig precision-cut lung slices were preincubated with the PDE4 inhibitors CHF-6001 or roflumilast and/or the anticholinergics tiotropium or glycopyorrolate, followed by stimulation with methacholine (10 μM) or TGF-β 1 (2 ng/ml) for 48 h. The inhibitory effects on airway smooth muscle remodeling, airway contraction, and TGF-β release were investigated. Methacholine-induced protein expression of smooth muscle-myosin was fully inhibited by CHF-6001 (0.3-100 nM), whereas roflumilast (1 µM) had smaller effects. Tiotropium and glycopyrrolate fully inhibited methacholine-induced airway remodeling (0.1-30 nM). The combination of CHF-6001 and tiotropium or glycopyrrolate, in concentrations partially effective by themselves, fully inhibited methacholine-induced remodeling in combination. CHF-6001 did not affect airway closure and had limited effects on TGF-β 1 -induced remodeling, but rather, it inhibited methacholine-induced TGF-β release. The PDE4 inhibitor CHF-6001, and to a lesser extent roflumilast, and the LAMAs tiotropium and glycopyrrolate inhibit bronchoconstriction-induced remodeling. The combination of CHF-6001 and anticholinergics was more effective than the individual compounds. This cooperativity might be explained by the distinct mechanisms of action inhibiting TGF-β release and bronchoconstriction. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Multi-scale analysis of lung computed tomography images

CERN Document Server

Gori, I; Fantacci, M E; Preite Martinez, A; Retico, A; De Mitri, I; Donadio, S; Fulcheri, C

2007-01-01

A computer-aided detection (CAD) system for the identification of lung internal nodules in low-dose multi-detector helical Computed Tomography (CT) images was developed in the framework of the MAGIC-5 project. The three modules of our lung CAD system, a segmentation algorithm for lung internal region identification, a multi-scale dot-enhancement filter for nodule candidate selection and a multi-scale neural technique for false positive finding reduction, are described. The results obtained on a dataset of low-dose and thin-slice CT scans are shown in terms of free response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) curves and discussed.

Experimental demonstration of spectrum-sliced elastic optical path network (SLICE).

Science.gov (United States)

Kozicki, Bartłomiej; Takara, Hidehiko; Tsukishima, Yukio; Yoshimatsu, Toshihide; Yonenaga, Kazushige; Jinno, Masahiko

2010-10-11

We describe experimental demonstration of spectrum-sliced elastic optical path network (SLICE) architecture. We employ optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation format and bandwidth-variable optical cross-connects (OXC) to generate, transmit and receive optical paths with bandwidths of up to 1 Tb/s. We experimentally demonstrate elastic optical path setup and spectrally-efficient transmission of multiple channels with bit rates ranging from 40 to 140 Gb/s between six nodes of a mesh network. We show dynamic bandwidth scalability for optical paths with bit rates of 40 to 440 Gb/s. Moreover, we demonstrate multihop transmission of a 1 Tb/s optical path over 400 km of standard single-mode fiber (SMF). Finally, we investigate the filtering properties and the required guard band width for spectrally-efficient allocation of optical paths in SLICE.

On piecewise constant level-set (PCLS) methods for the identification of discontinuous parameters in ill-posed problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Cezaro, A; Leitão, A; Tai, X-C

2013-01-01

We investigate level-set-type methods for solving ill-posed problems with discontinuous (piecewise constant) coefficients. The goal is to identify the level sets as well as the level values of an unknown parameter function on a model described by a nonlinear ill-posed operator equation. The PCLS approach is used here to parametrize the solution of a given operator equation in terms of a L 2 level-set function, i.e. the level-set function itself is assumed to be a piecewise constant function. Two distinct methods are proposed for computing stable solutions of the resulting ill-posed problem: the first is based on Tikhonov regularization, while the second is based on the augmented Lagrangian approach with total variation penalization. Classical regularization results (Engl H W et al 1996 Mathematics and its Applications (Dordrecht: Kluwer)) are derived for the Tikhonov method. On the other hand, for the augmented Lagrangian method, we succeed in proving the existence of (generalized) Lagrangian multipliers in the sense of (Rockafellar R T and Wets R J-B 1998 Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften (Berlin: Springer)). Numerical experiments are performed for a 2D inverse potential problem (Hettlich F and Rundell W 1996 Inverse Problems 12 251–66), demonstrating the capabilities of both methods for solving this ill-posed problem in a stable way (complicated inclusions are recovered without any a priori geometrical information on the unknown parameter). (paper)

Differentiation of human-induced pluripotent stem cell under flow conditions to mature hepatocytes for liver tissue engineering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Starokozhko, Viktoriia; Hemmingsen, Mette; Larsen, Layla

2018-01-01

and to perform functional comparisons with fresh human precision-cut liver slices (hPCLS), an excellent benchmark for the human liver in vivo. The majority of the mRNA expression of CYP isoenzymes and transporters and the tested CYP activities, Phase II metabolism, and albumin, urea, and bile acid synthesis...... in the hiPSC-derived cells reached values that overlap those of hPCLS, which indicates a higher degree of hepatic differentiation than observed until now. Differentiation under flow compared with static conditions had a strong inducing effect on Phase II metabolism and suppressed AFP expression but resulted...... in slightly lower activity of some of the Phase I metabolism enzymes. Gene expression data indicate that hiPSCs differentiated into both hepatic and biliary directions. In conclusion, the hiPSC differentiated under flow conditions towards hepatocytes express a wide spectrum of liver functions at levels...

Differentiation of human-induced pluripotent stem cell under flow conditions to mature hepatocytes for liver tissue engineering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Starokozhko, Viktoriia; Hemmingsen, Mette; Larsen, Layla

2018-01-01

Hepatic differentiation of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) under flow conditions in a 3D scaffold is expected to be a major step forward for construction of bioartificial livers. The aims of this study were to induce hepatic differentiation of hiPSCs under perfusion conditions...... and to perform functional comparisons with fresh human precision-cut liver slices (hPCLS), an excellent benchmark for the human liver in vivo. The majority of the mRNA expression of CYP isoenzymes and transporters and the tested CYP activities, Phase II metabolism, and albumin, urea, and bile acid synthesis...... in the hiPSC-derived cells reached values that overlap those of hPCLS, which indicates a higher degree of hepatic differentiation than observed until now. Differentiation under flow compared with static conditions had a strong inducing effect on Phase II metabolism and suppressed AFP expression but resulted...

Clinical lymph node staging-Influence of slice thickness and reconstruction kernel on volumetry and RECIST measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fabel, M., E-mail: m.fabel@rad.uni-kiel.de [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Str. 3, Haus 23, D-24105 Kiel (Germany); Wulff, A., E-mail: a.wulff@rad.uni-kiel.de [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Str. 3, Haus 23, D-24105 Kiel (Germany); Heckel, F., E-mail: frank.heckel@mevis.fraunhofer.de [Fraunhofer MeVis, Universitaetsallee 29, 28359 Bremen (Germany); Bornemann, L., E-mail: lars.bornemann@mevis.fraunhofer.de [Fraunhofer MeVis, Universitaetsallee 29, 28359 Bremen (Germany); Freitag-Wolf, S., E-mail: freitag@medinfo.uni-kiel.de [Institute of Medical Informatics and Statistics, Brunswiker Strasse 10, 24105 Kiel (Germany); Heller, M., E-mail: martin.heller@rad.uni-kiel.de [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Str. 3, Haus 23, D-24105 Kiel (Germany); Biederer, J., E-mail: juergen.biederer@rad.uni-kiel.de [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Str. 3, Haus 23, D-24105 Kiel (Germany); Bolte, H., E-mail: hendrik.bolte@ukmuenster.de [Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Gebaeude A1, D-48149 Muenster (Germany)

2012-11-15

Purpose: Therapy response evaluation in oncological patient care requires reproducible and accurate image evaluation. Today, common standard in measurement of tumour growth or shrinkage is one-dimensional RECIST 1.1. A proposed alternative method for therapy monitoring is computer aided volumetric analysis. In lung metastases volumetry proved high reliability and accuracy in experimental studies. High reliability and accuracy of volumetry in lung metastases has been proven. However, other metastatic lesions such as enlarged lymph nodes are far more challenging. The aim of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of semi-automated volumetric analysis of lymph node metastases as a function of both slice thickness and reconstruction kernel. In addition, manual long axis diameters (LAD) as well as short axis diameters (SAD) were compared to automated RECIST measurements. Materials and methods: Multislice-CT of the chest, abdomen and pelvis of 15 patients with lymph node metastases of malignant melanoma were included. Raw data were reconstructed using different slice thicknesses (1-5 mm) and varying reconstruction kernels (B20f, B40f, B60f). Volume and RECIST measurements were performed for 85 lymph nodes between 10 and 60 mm using Oncology Prototype Software (Fraunhofer MEVIS, Siemens, Germany) and were compared to a defined reference volume and diameter by calculating absolute percentage errors (APE). Variability of the lymph node sizes was computed as relative measurement differences, precision of measurements was computed as relative measurement deviation. Results: Mean absolute percentage error (APE) for volumetric analysis varied between 3.95% and 13.8% and increased significantly with slice thickness. Differences between reconstruction kernels were not significant, however, a trend towards middle soft tissue kernel could be observed.. Between automated and manual short axis diameter (SAD, RECIST 1.1) and long axis diameter (LAD, RECIST 1.0) no

Clinical lymph node staging—Influence of slice thickness and reconstruction kernel on volumetry and RECIST measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fabel, M.; Wulff, A.; Heckel, F.; Bornemann, L.; Freitag-Wolf, S.; Heller, M.; Biederer, J.; Bolte, H.

2012-01-01

Purpose: Therapy response evaluation in oncological patient care requires reproducible and accurate image evaluation. Today, common standard in measurement of tumour growth or shrinkage is one-dimensional RECIST 1.1. A proposed alternative method for therapy monitoring is computer aided volumetric analysis. In lung metastases volumetry proved high reliability and accuracy in experimental studies. High reliability and accuracy of volumetry in lung metastases has been proven. However, other metastatic lesions such as enlarged lymph nodes are far more challenging. The aim of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of semi-automated volumetric analysis of lymph node metastases as a function of both slice thickness and reconstruction kernel. In addition, manual long axis diameters (LAD) as well as short axis diameters (SAD) were compared to automated RECIST measurements. Materials and methods: Multislice-CT of the chest, abdomen and pelvis of 15 patients with lymph node metastases of malignant melanoma were included. Raw data were reconstructed using different slice thicknesses (1–5 mm) and varying reconstruction kernels (B20f, B40f, B60f). Volume and RECIST measurements were performed for 85 lymph nodes between 10 and 60 mm using Oncology Prototype Software (Fraunhofer MEVIS, Siemens, Germany) and were compared to a defined reference volume and diameter by calculating absolute percentage errors (APE). Variability of the lymph node sizes was computed as relative measurement differences, precision of measurements was computed as relative measurement deviation. Results: Mean absolute percentage error (APE) for volumetric analysis varied between 3.95% and 13.8% and increased significantly with slice thickness. Differences between reconstruction kernels were not significant, however, a trend towards middle soft tissue kernel could be observed.. Between automated and manual short axis diameter (SAD, RECIST 1.1) and long axis diameter (LAD, RECIST 1.0) no

The virtual slice setup.

Science.gov (United States)

Lytton, William W; Neymotin, Samuel A; Hines, Michael L

2008-06-30

In an effort to design a simulation environment that is more similar to that of neurophysiology, we introduce a virtual slice setup in the NEURON simulator. The virtual slice setup runs continuously and permits parameter changes, including changes to synaptic weights and time course and to intrinsic cell properties. The virtual slice setup permits shocks to be applied at chosen locations and activity to be sampled intra- or extracellularly from chosen locations. By default, a summed population display is shown during a run to indicate the level of activity and no states are saved. Simulations can run for hours of model time, therefore it is not practical to save all of the state variables. These, in any case, are primarily of interest at discrete times when experiments are being run: the simulation can be stopped momentarily at such times to save activity patterns. The virtual slice setup maintains an automated notebook showing shocks and parameter changes as well as user comments. We demonstrate how interaction with a continuously running simulation encourages experimental prototyping and can suggest additional dynamical features such as ligand wash-in and wash-out-alternatives to typical instantaneous parameter change. The virtual slice setup currently uses event-driven cells and runs at approximately 2 min/h on a laptop.

Chest Fat Quantification via CT Based on Standardized Anatomy Space in Adult Lung Transplant Candidates.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yubing Tong

Full Text Available Overweight and underweight conditions are considered relative contraindications to lung transplantation due to their association with excess mortality. Yet, recent work suggests that body mass index (BMI does not accurately reflect adipose tissue mass in adults with advanced lung diseases. Alternative and more accurate measures of adiposity are needed. Chest fat estimation by routine computed tomography (CT imaging may therefore be important for identifying high-risk lung transplant candidates. In this paper, an approach to chest fat quantification and quality assessment based on a recently formulated concept of standardized anatomic space (SAS is presented. The goal of the paper is to seek answers to several key questions related to chest fat quantity and quality assessment based on a single slice CT (whether in the chest, abdomen, or thigh versus a volumetric CT, which have not been addressed in the literature.Unenhanced chest CT image data sets from 40 adult lung transplant candidates (age 58 ± 12 yrs and BMI 26.4 ± 4.3 kg/m2, 16 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 16 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF, and the remainder with other conditions were analyzed together with a single slice acquired for each patient at the L5 vertebral level and mid-thigh level. The thoracic body region and the interface between subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT and visceral adipose tissue (VAT in the chest were consistently defined in all patients and delineated using Live Wire tools. The SAT and VAT components of chest were then segmented guided by this interface. The SAS approach was used to identify the corresponding anatomic slices in each chest CT study, and SAT and VAT areas in each slice as well as their whole volumes were quantified. Similarly, the SAT and VAT components were segmented in the abdomen and thigh slices. Key parameters of the attenuation (Hounsfield unit (HU distributions were determined from each chest slice and from the

Induksi Ginogenesis melalui Kultur Multi Ovule Slice dan Kultur Ovary Slice Dianthus chinensis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suskandari Kartikaningrum

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Callus induction was studied in five genotypes of Dianthus chinensis using 2.4 D and NAA. Calluses can be obtainedfrom unfertilized ovule culture and ovary culture. The aim of the research was to study gynogenic potential and responseof Dianthus chinensis through ovule slice and ovary slice culture for obtaining haploid plants. Five genotypes of Dianthuschinensis and five media were used in ovule slice culture and two genotypes and three medium were used in ovary culture.Flower buds in the 7th stage were incubated for the purpose of dark pre-treatment at 4 oC for one day. Ovules and ovaries wereisolated and cultured in induction medium. Cultures were incubated for the purpose of dark pre-treatment at 4 oC for seven days, followed by 25 oC light incubation. The result showed that 2.4D was better than NAA in inducing callus. Percentage of regenerated calluses were produced in V11, V13 and V15 genotypes in M7 medium (MS + 2 mg L-1 2.4D + 1 mg L-1 BAP + 30 g L-1 sucrose and M10 medium (MS + 1 mg L-1 2.4D + 1 mg L-1 BAP + 20 g L-1 sucrose. All calluses originated from ovule and ovary cultures flowered prematurely. Double haploid (V11-34 were obtained from ovule slice culture based on PER (peroksidase and EST (esterase isoenzym marker.Keywords: ovule slice culture, ovary slice culture, callus, Dianthus sp., haploid

Reducing Radiation Doses in Female Breast and Lung during CT Examinations of Thorax: A new Technique in two Scanners

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Mehnati P.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Chest CT is a commonly used examination for the diagnosis of lung diseases, but a breast within the scanned field is nearly never the organ of interest. Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare the female breast and lung doses using split and standard protocols in chest CT scanning. Materials and Methods: The sliced chest and breast female phantoms were used. CT exams were performed using a single-slice (SS- and a 16 multi-slice (MS- CT scanner at 100 kVp and 120 kVp. Two different protocols, including standard and split protocols, were selected for scanning. The breast and lung doses were measured using thermo-luminescence dosimeters which were inserted into different layers of the chest and breast phantoms. The differences in breast and lung radiation doses in two protocols were studied in two scanners, analyzed by SPSS software and compared by t-test. Results: Breast dose by split scanning technique reduced 11% and 31% in SS- and MS- CT. Also, the radiation dose of lung tissue in this method decreased 18% and 54% in SS- and MS- CT, respectively. Moreover, there was a significant difference (p< 0.0001 in the breast and lung radiation doses between standard and split scanning protocols. Conclusion: The application of a split scan technique instead of standard protocol has a considerable potential to reduce breast and lung doses in SS- and MS- CT scanners. If split scanning protocol is associated with an optimum kV and MSCT, the maximum dose decline will be provided.

Evaluation of small peripheral pulmonary lesions with thin slice computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamada, Kouzo

1992-01-01

To evaluate the morphology of small peripheral pulmonary lesions, we studied thin-slice CT (TS-CT) images of 47 small peripheral pulmonary lesions (24 lung cancers, 23 benign lesions) in 47 patients. CT images were examined by two different window and level settings (window level; -600, window width; 1900 and window level; 50, window width; 300). In TS-CT images, findings of all lesions were classified into 3 different patterns (infiltrative type, solid with air-bronchogram type, homogeneous solid type) which were useful in diagnosing histology based on the growth pattern of the lesion. There was no lung cancer case in which calcification was diagnosed to be present on TS-CT. On the other hand, 5 of 9 inflammatory granulomas were recognized to contain calcium which was never seen on conventional CT. The results suggest that TS-CT may have a significant clinical role in diagnosing small peripheral pulmonary lesion by demonstrating macroscopic features and calcification. (author)

Initial experience with lung-MRI at 3.0 T: Comparison with CT and clinical data in the evaluation of interstitial lung disease activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lutterbey, G.; Grohe, C.; Gieseke, J.; Falkenhausen, M. von; Morakkabati, N.; Wattjes, M.P.; Manka, R.; Trog, D.; Schild, H.H.

2007-01-01

Objectives: We evaluated the feasibility of highfield lung-MRI at 3.0 T. A comparison with Computed Tomography (CT) and clinical data regarding the assessment of inflammatory activity in patients with diffuse lung disease was performed. Material and methods: Prospective evaluation of 21 patients (15 males, 6 females, 43-80 y) with diffuse lung diseases who underwent clinical work-up inclusive laboratory tests, lung-function tests and transbronchial biopsy. After routine helical CT (additional 12 HRCT) a lung-MRI (3.0 Intera, Philips Medical Systems, Best, The Netherlands) using a T2-weighted, cardiac and respiratory triggered Fast-Spinecho-Sequence (TE/TR = 80/1500-2500 ms, 22 transverse slices, 7/2 mm slice-thickness/-gap) was performed. A pneumologist classified the cases into two groups: A = temporary acute interstitial disease or chronic interstitial lung disease with acute episode or superimposed infection/B = burned out interstitial lung disease without activity. Two blinded CT-radiologists graded the cases in active/inactive disease on the basis of nine morphological criteria each. A third radiologist rated the MRI-cases as active/inactive, depending on the signal-intensities of lung tissues. Results: The pneumologist classified 14 patients into group A and 7 patients into group B. Using CT, 6 cases were classified as active, 15 cases as inactive disease. With MRI 12 cases were classified as active and 9 cases as inactive. In the complete group of 21 patients MRI decisions and CT decisions respectively were false positive/false negative/correct in 2/4/15 respectively 0/8/13 cases. Correct diagnoses were obtained in 72% (MRI) respectively 62% (CT). In the subgroup of 12 cases including HRCT, MRI respectively CT were false positive/false negative/correct in 2/1/9 respectively 0/5/7 cases. Correct diagnoses were obtained in 75% (MRI) respectively 58% (CT). Conclusion: Highfield MRI of the lung is feasible and performed slightly better compared to CT in the

Initial experience with lung-MRI at 3.0 T: Comparison with CT and clinical data in the evaluation of interstitial lung disease activity

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Lutterbey, G. [Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, D-53105 Bonn (Germany)]. E-mail: goetz.lutterbey@ukb.uni-bonn.de; Grohe, C. [Department of Internal Medicine, University of Bonn (Germany); Gieseke, J. [PHILIPS Medical Systems, Best (Netherlands); Falkenhausen, M. von [Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, D-53105 Bonn (Germany); Morakkabati, N. [Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, D-53105 Bonn (Germany); Wattjes, M.P. [Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, D-53105 Bonn (Germany); Manka, R. [Department of Internal Medicine, University of Bonn (Germany); Trog, D. [Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, D-53105 Bonn (Germany); Schild, H.H. [Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, D-53105 Bonn (Germany)

2007-02-15

Objectives: We evaluated the feasibility of highfield lung-MRI at 3.0 T. A comparison with Computed Tomography (CT) and clinical data regarding the assessment of inflammatory activity in patients with diffuse lung disease was performed. Material and methods: Prospective evaluation of 21 patients (15 males, 6 females, 43-80 y) with diffuse lung diseases who underwent clinical work-up inclusive laboratory tests, lung-function tests and transbronchial biopsy. After routine helical CT (additional 12 HRCT) a lung-MRI (3.0 Intera, Philips Medical Systems, Best, The Netherlands) using a T2-weighted, cardiac and respiratory triggered Fast-Spinecho-Sequence (TE/TR = 80/1500-2500 ms, 22 transverse slices, 7/2 mm slice-thickness/-gap) was performed. A pneumologist classified the cases into two groups: A = temporary acute interstitial disease or chronic interstitial lung disease with acute episode or superimposed infection/B = burned out interstitial lung disease without activity. Two blinded CT-radiologists graded the cases in active/inactive disease on the basis of nine morphological criteria each. A third radiologist rated the MRI-cases as active/inactive, depending on the signal-intensities of lung tissues. Results: The pneumologist classified 14 patients into group A and 7 patients into group B. Using CT, 6 cases were classified as active, 15 cases as inactive disease. With MRI 12 cases were classified as active and 9 cases as inactive. In the complete group of 21 patients MRI decisions and CT decisions respectively were false positive/false negative/correct in 2/4/15 respectively 0/8/13 cases. Correct diagnoses were obtained in 72% (MRI) respectively 62% (CT). In the subgroup of 12 cases including HRCT, MRI respectively CT were false positive/false negative/correct in 2/1/9 respectively 0/5/7 cases. Correct diagnoses were obtained in 75% (MRI) respectively 58% (CT). Conclusion: Highfield MRI of the lung is feasible and performed slightly better compared to CT in the

Demonstration of pulmonary perfusion heterogeneity induced by gravity and lung inflation using arterial spin labeling

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Fan Li [Department of Radiology, ChangZheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200003 (China)], E-mail: fanli0930@163.com; Liu Shiyuan [Department of Radiology, ChangZheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200003 (China)], E-mail: fanli7938@chinaren.com; Xiao Xiangsheng [Department of Radiology, ChangZheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200003 (China)], E-mail: lizhaobin79@163.com; Sun Fei [GE Healthcare (China)], E-mail: Fei.sun@med.ge.com

2010-02-15

Objective: To evaluate the effect of gravity and lung inflation on pulmonary perfusion heterogeneity in human lung using an arterial spin labeling (ASL) sequence called flow sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR). Materials and methods: Magnetic resonance imaging of lung perfusion using arterial spin labeling sequence was performed in supine position in ten healthy volunteers on a 1.5 T whole body scanner (GE Healthcare). Five coronal slices at an interval of 3 cm from dorsal to ventral (labeled as P3, P6, P9, P12, P15, sequently) were obtained when the volunteers performed breath holding on end expiration and the relative pulmonary blood flow (rPBF) was measured. Then, another coronal perfusion-weighted image of P3 slice was obtained on end inspiration. Tagging efficiency of pulmonary parenchyma with IR ({delta}SI), rPBF and area of the P3 slice were analyzed. Results: (1) Along the direction of gravity, a gradient was visually perceived as a vertical increase in rPBF. There were significant statistic differences in rPBF between any two coronal planes except that between P12 and P15. In supine position, regression coefficients of right and left lung were -4.98 and -5.16, respectively. This means that rPBF decreased 4.98 (right) and 5.16 (left) for each centimeter above the dorsal. No statistical difference was seen between ROIs placed along iso-gravitational plane. (2) For a same slice, there were significant statistic differences in {delta}SI, rPBF and area at different respiratory phases (P < 0.05). Greater {delta}SI and more perfusion were observed on end expiration than on end inspiration. The area was larger on end inspiration than on end expiration. Conclusion: Both gravity and respiratory phase are important determinants of pulmonary perfusion heterogeneity. FAIR is sensitive to demonstrate gravity- and respiratory phase-dependent differences in lung perfusion. Positioning the patient so that the area of interest is down-gravity and asking patient

Can multi-slice or navigator-gated R2* MRI replace single-slice breath-hold acquisition for hepatic iron quantification?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loeffler, Ralf B.; McCarville, M.B.; Song, Ruitian; Hillenbrand, Claudia M.; Wagstaff, Anne W.; Smeltzer, Matthew P.; Krafft, Axel J.; Hankins, Jane S.

2017-01-01

Liver R2* values calculated from multi-gradient echo (mGRE) magnetic resonance images (MRI) are strongly correlated with hepatic iron concentration (HIC) as shown in several independently derived biopsy calibration studies. These calibrations were established for axial single-slice breath-hold imaging at the location of the portal vein. Scanning in multi-slice mode makes the exam more efficient, since whole-liver coverage can be achieved with two breath-holds and the optimal slice can be selected afterward. Navigator echoes remove the need for breath-holds and allow use in sedated patients. To evaluate if the existing biopsy calibrations can be applied to multi-slice and navigator-controlled mGRE imaging in children with hepatic iron overload, by testing if there is a bias-free correlation between single-slice R2* and multi-slice or multi-slice navigator controlled R2*. This study included MRI data from 71 patients with transfusional iron overload, who received an MRI exam to estimate HIC using gradient echo sequences. Patient scans contained 2 or 3 of the following imaging methods used for analysis: single-slice images (n = 71), multi-slice images (n = 69) and navigator-controlled images (n = 17). Small and large blood corrected region of interests were selected on axial images of the liver to obtain R2* values for all data sets. Bland-Altman and linear regression analysis were used to compare R2* values from single-slice images to those of multi-slice images and navigator-controlled images. Bland-Altman analysis showed that all imaging method comparisons were strongly associated with each other and had high correlation coefficients (0.98 ≤ r ≤ 1.00) with P-values ≤0.0001. Linear regression yielded slopes that were close to 1. We found that navigator-gated or breath-held multi-slice R2* MRI for HIC determination measures R2* values comparable to the biopsy-validated single-slice, single breath-hold scan. We conclude that these three R2* methods can be

Can multi-slice or navigator-gated R2* MRI replace single-slice breath-hold acquisition for hepatic iron quantification?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loeffler, Ralf B.; McCarville, M.B.; Song, Ruitian; Hillenbrand, Claudia M. [St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Diagnostic Imaging, Memphis, TN (United States); Wagstaff, Anne W. [St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Diagnostic Imaging, Memphis, TN (United States); Rhodes College, Memphis, TN (United States); University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL (United States); Smeltzer, Matthew P. [St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Department of Biostatistics, Memphis, TN (United States); University of Memphis, Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Memphis, TN (United States); Krafft, Axel J. [St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Diagnostic Imaging, Memphis, TN (United States); University Hospital Center Freiburg, Department of Radiology, Freiburg (Germany); Hankins, Jane S. [St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Department of Hematology, Memphis, TN (United States)

2017-01-15

Liver R2* values calculated from multi-gradient echo (mGRE) magnetic resonance images (MRI) are strongly correlated with hepatic iron concentration (HIC) as shown in several independently derived biopsy calibration studies. These calibrations were established for axial single-slice breath-hold imaging at the location of the portal vein. Scanning in multi-slice mode makes the exam more efficient, since whole-liver coverage can be achieved with two breath-holds and the optimal slice can be selected afterward. Navigator echoes remove the need for breath-holds and allow use in sedated patients. To evaluate if the existing biopsy calibrations can be applied to multi-slice and navigator-controlled mGRE imaging in children with hepatic iron overload, by testing if there is a bias-free correlation between single-slice R2* and multi-slice or multi-slice navigator controlled R2*. This study included MRI data from 71 patients with transfusional iron overload, who received an MRI exam to estimate HIC using gradient echo sequences. Patient scans contained 2 or 3 of the following imaging methods used for analysis: single-slice images (n = 71), multi-slice images (n = 69) and navigator-controlled images (n = 17). Small and large blood corrected region of interests were selected on axial images of the liver to obtain R2* values for all data sets. Bland-Altman and linear regression analysis were used to compare R2* values from single-slice images to those of multi-slice images and navigator-controlled images. Bland-Altman analysis showed that all imaging method comparisons were strongly associated with each other and had high correlation coefficients (0.98 ≤ r ≤ 1.00) with P-values ≤0.0001. Linear regression yielded slopes that were close to 1. We found that navigator-gated or breath-held multi-slice R2* MRI for HIC determination measures R2* values comparable to the biopsy-validated single-slice, single breath-hold scan. We conclude that these three R2* methods can be

Comparison of 640-Slice Multidetector Computed Tomography Versus 32-Slice MDCT for Imaging of the Osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis Lamina.

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Joseph M; Kishikova, Lyudmila; Avadhanam, Venkata S; Koumellis, Panos; Francis, Ian S; Liu, Christopher S C

2015-08-01

To investigate the efficacy of 640-slice multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) for detecting osteo-odonto laminar resorption in the osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP) compared with the current standard 32-slice MDCT. Explanted OOKP laminae and bone-dentine fragments were scanned using 640-slice MDCT (Aquilion ONE; Toshiba) and 32-slice MDCT (LightSpeed Pro32; GE Healthcare). Pertinent comparisons including image quality, radiation dose, and scanning parameters were made. Benefits of 640-slice MDCT over 32-slice MDCT were shown. Key comparisons of 640-slice MDCT versus 32-slice MDCT included the following: percentage difference and correlation coefficient between radiological and anatomical measurements, 1.35% versus 3.67% and 0.9961 versus 0.9882, respectively; dose-length product, 63.50 versus 70.26; rotation time, 0.175 seconds versus 1.000 seconds; and detector coverage width, 16 cm versus 2 cm. Resorption of the osteo-odonto lamina after OOKP surgery can result in potentially sight-threatening complications, hence it warrants regular monitoring and timely intervention. MDCT remains the gold standard for radiological assessment of laminar resorption, which facilitates detection of subtle laminar changes earlier than the onset of clinical signs, thus indicating when preemptive measures can be taken. The 640-slice MDCT exhibits several advantages over traditional 32-slice MDCT. However, such benefits may not offset cost implications, except in rare cases, such as in young patients who might undergo years of radiation exposure.

Radiation exposure in multi-slice versus single-slice spiral CT: results of a nationwide survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brix, G.; Nagel, H.D.; Stamm, G.; Veit, R.; Lechel, U.; Griebel, J.; Galanski, M.

2003-01-01

Multi-slice (MS) technology increases the efficacy of CT procedures and offers new promising applications. The expanding use of MSCT, however, may result in an increase in both frequency of procedures and levels of patient exposure. It was, therefore, the aim of this study to gain an overview of MSCT examinations conducted in Germany in 2001. All MSCT facilities were requested to provide information about 14 standard examinations with respect to scan parameters and frequency. Based on this data, dosimetric quantities were estimated using an experimentally validated formalism. Results are compared with those of a previous survey for single-slice (SS) spiral CT scanners. According to the data provided for 39 dual- and 73 quad-slice systems, the average annual number of patients examined at MSCT is markedly higher than that examined at SSCT scanners (5500 vs 3500). The average effective dose to patients was changed from 7.4 mSv at single-slice to 5.5 mSv and 8.1 mSv at dual- and quad-slice scanners, respectively. There is a considerable potential for dose reduction at quad-slice systems by an optimisation of scan protocols and better education of the personnel. To avoid an increase in the collective effective dose from CT procedures, a clear medical justification is required in each case. (orig.)

Multi-slice CT for visualization of acute pulmonary embolism: single breath-hold subtraction technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wildberger, J.E.; Mahnken, A.H.; Spuentrup, E.; Guenther, R.W.; Klotz, E.; Ditt, H.

2005-01-01

Purpose: the purpose of our preliminary animal study was to evaluate the feasibility of a new subtraction technique for visualization of perfusion defects within the lung parenchyma in segmental and subsegmental pulmonary embolism (PE). Materials and methods: in three healthy pigs, PE were artificially induced by fresh human clot material. Within a single breath-hold, CT angiography (CTA) was performed on a 16-slice multi-slice CT scanner (SOMATOM Sensation 16; Siemens, Forchheim, Germany) before and after intravenous application of 80 mL of contrast-medium, followed by a saline chaser. Scan parameters were 120 kV and 100 mAs eff. , using a collimation of 16 x 1.5 mm and a table speed/rot. of 36 mm (pitch: 1.5; rotation time: 0.5 s). A new 3D subtraction technique was developed, which is based on automated segmentation, non-linear spatial filtering and non-rigid registration. Data were analysed using a color-encoded ''compound view'' of parenchymal enhancement and CTA information displayed in axial, coronal and sagittal orientation. Results: subtraction was technically feasible in all three data sets. The mean scan time for each series was 4.7 s, interscan delay was 14.7 s, respectively. Therefore, an average breath-hold of approximately 24 s was required for the overall scanning procedure. Downstream of occluded segmental and subsegmental arteries, perfusion defects were clearly assessable, showing lower or missing enhancement compared to normally perfused lung parenchyma. In all pigs, additional peripheral areas with triangular shaped perfusion defects were delineated, considered typical for PE. Conclusions: our initial results from the animal model studied slow that perfusion imaging of PE is feasible within a single breath-hold. It allows a comprehensive assessment of perfusion deficits as the direct proof of a pulmonary embolus, can be combined with an indirect visual quantification of the density changes in the adjacent lung tissue. (orig.)

Using Fractal And Morphological Criteria For Automatic Classification Of Lung Diseases

Science.gov (United States)

Vehel, Jacques Levy

1989-11-01

Medical Images are difficult to analyze by means of classical image processing tools because they are very complex and irregular. Such shapes are obtained for instance in Nuclear Medecine with the spatial distribution of activity for organs such as lungs, liver, and heart. We have tried to apply two different theories to these signals: - Fractal Geometry deals with the analysis of complex irregular shapes which cannot well be described by the classical Euclidean geometry. - Integral Geometry treats sets globally and allows to introduce robust measures. We have computed three parameters on three kinds of Lung's SPECT images: normal, pulmonary embolism and chronic desease: - The commonly used fractal dimension (FD), that gives a measurement of the irregularity of the 3D shape. - The generalized lacunarity dimension (GLD), defined as the variance of the ratio of the local activity by the mean activity, which is only sensitive to the distribution and the size of gaps in the surface. - The Favard length that gives an approximation of the surface of a 3-D shape. The results show that each slice of the lung, considered as a 3D surface, is fractal and that the fractal dimension is the same for each slice and for the three kind of lungs; as for the lacunarity and Favard length, they are clearly different for normal lungs, pulmonary embolisms and chronic diseases. These results indicate that automatic classification of Lung's SPECT can be achieved, and that a quantitative measurement of the evolution of the disease could be made.

The multi-slice CT perfusion imaging in evaluating the prevention and treatment by edaravone on lung ischemia-reperfusion injury after pulmonary thromboembolism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Jianjun; Zhai Renyou; Zhang Dongpo; Huang Qiang; Dai Dingke; Yu Ping; Bao Na

2008-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the multi-slice CT perfusion imaging in investigating whether edaravone can prevent and treat pulmonary thromboembolism ischemia-reperfusion injury (PTE-IRI). Methods: Twenty mongrel canines were included. A Swan-Ganz catheter was introduced into the right internal jugular vein using the Seldinger technique, and then was inserted into the pulmonary artery. Balloon occlusion of the right inferior lobe pulmonary artery for 4 h was followed by removing catheter and 4 h o reperfusion. Animals were divided into four groups of A (no edaravone during ischenmia and reperfusion), B (edaravone used only during ischemia), C (edaravone used during both ischemia and reperfusion) and D group (edaravone used only during reperfusion) (n=5 per group). Every group was divided into three time points including before ischemia, 4 h after ischemia and 4 h after reperfusion. CT scan and CT perfusion were performed at the three time points. The blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV) and mean transit time (MTT) of the bilateral inferior regional lung parenchyma were measured with the software of perfusion 3. Results: CT examination showed pulmonary edema in the right inferior lung lobe at 4 h after reperfusion. (1) The BF and MTT of A, B, C and D group were[(259.4±15.7)ml·min -1 ·100 g -1 , (293.7± 7.9) ml·min -1 ·100 g -1 , (379.4±14.5)ml·min -1 ·100 g -1 , (382.5±16.6)ml·min -1 ·. 100 g -1 ] and [(3.1±0.2)s, (2.6±0.2)s, (2.2±0.1)s, (1.9±0.2)s] respectively at 4 h after reperfusion. The BF and MTT were statistically different (P 0.05) at 4 h after reperfusion, but the BV was not statistically different between groups (P>0.05). (2) The BF [(397.2± 19.2)ml·min -1 ·100 g -1 and (259.4±15.7) ml·min -1 ·100 g -1 in group A, (393.2±16.1) ml· min -1 ·100 g -1 and (293.7±7.9) ml·min -1 ·100 g -1 in group B] and MTF [(1.8±0.1)s and (3.1±0.2) s in group A, (1.8±0.2) s and (2.6±0.2) s in group B] were statistically different (P 0.05) between groups

Demonstration of the pulmonary interlobar fissures on multiplanar reformatted images with 64-slices spiral CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yafei; Chen Yerong; Shan Xiuhong; Tang Zhiyang; Ni Enzhen; Huang Hao; Wu Shuchun

2009-01-01

Objective: To determine the optimal orientation and slice thickness of reformatted images to visualize the interlobar fissures on multiplanar reformation (MPR) images and to recommend MPR imaging protocal for visualizing interlobar fissures in clinical practise. Methods: 64-slices CT scans of chest were obtained in 300 patients without pulmonary diseases. Axial, sagittal and coronal images were reformatted at 1, 2, 3, 7 mm slice thickness respectively from the raw volume data. Three experienced radiologists evaluated all of the MPR images in the lung window and compared the differences in visualization of the interlohar fissures among the three reformatted orientations and at the different slice thicknesses with Fisher test and Friedman test. Results: Fissures on sagittal MPR images using 1, 2, 3, and 7 mm reformatted slice thickness appeared as a fine line and the preference value analysis showed the MPR images with a 3 mm reformatted slice thickness is the best for visualizing the interlobar fissure. Compared to the sagittal orientation, the coronal was not as good and the axial was the worst among the three orientations. The coronal images with a 3 mm reformatted slice thickness were slightly inferior to sagittal images. The right horizontal fissures were observed as a fine line in all coronal image in 94.0% (282)of cases and in some of the images in 6.0% (18) of cases, the right oblique fissures were displayed as a fine line in coronal images in 2.3% (7) of cases and in some images in 85.0% (255) of cases, the left oblique fissures were displayed as a fine line in some coronal images in 35.7% (107) of cases and displayed as a coarse line in 64.3% (193) of cases. On axial MPR images using 3 mm reformation slice thickness, the right oblique fissures and the left oblique fissures were displayed as a fine line in some axial images in 79.3% (238) and 81.0% (243) of cases respectively, none of the images showed horizontal fissures as a fine line. There was

[Lung protective ventilation - pathophysiology and diagnostics].

Science.gov (United States)

Uhlig, Stefan; Frerichs, Inéz

2008-06-01

Mechanical ventilation may lead to lung injury depending on the ventilatory settings (e.g. pressure amplitudes, endexpiratory pressures, frequency) and the length of mechanical ventilation. Particularly in the inhomogeneously injured lungs of ARDS patients, alveolar overextension results in volutrauma, cyclic opening and closure of alveolar units in atelectrauma. Particularly important appears to be the fact that these processes may also cause biotrauma, i.e. the ventilator-induced hyperactivation of inflammatory responses in the lung. These side effects are reduced, but not eliminated with the currently recommended ventilation strategy with a tidal volume of 6 ml/kg idealized body weight. It is our hope that in the future optimization of ventilator settings will be facilated by bedside monitoring of novel indices of respiratory mechanics such as the stress index or the Slice technique, and by innovative real-time imaging technologies such as electrical impedance tomography.

Measurement of lung tumor motion using respiration-correlated CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mageras, Gig S.; Pevsner, Alex; Yorke, Ellen D.; Rosenzweig, Kenneth E.; Ford, Eric C.; Hertanto, Agung; Larson, Steven M.; Lovelock, D. Michael; Erdi, Yusuf E.; Nehmeh, Sadek A.; Humm, John L.; Ling, C. Clifton

2004-01-01

Purpose: We investigate the characteristics of lung tumor motion measured with respiration-correlated computed tomography (RCCT) and examine the method's applicability to radiotherapy planning and treatment. Methods and materials: Six patients treated for non-small-cell lung carcinoma received a helical single-slice computed tomography (CT) scan with a slow couch movement (1 mm/s), while simultaneously respiration is recorded with an external position-sensitive monitor. Another 6 patients receive a 4-slice CT scan in a cine mode, in which sequential images are acquired for a complete respiratory cycle at each couch position while respiration is recorded. The images are retrospectively resorted into different respiration phases as measured with the external monitor (4-slice data) or patient surface displacement observed in the images (single-slice data). The gross tumor volume (GTV) in lung is delineated at one phase and serves as a visual guide for delineation at other phases. Interfractional GTV variation is estimated by scaling diaphragm position variations measured in gated radiographs at treatment with the ratio of GTV:diaphragm displacement observed in the RCCT data. Results: Seven out of 12 patients show GTV displacement with respiration of more than 1 cm, primarily in the superior-inferior (SI) direction; 2 patients show anterior-posterior displacement of more than 1 cm. In all cases, extremes in GTV position in the SI direction are consistent with externally measured extremes in respiration. Three patients show evidence of hysteresis in GTV motion, in which the tumor trajectory is displaced 0.2 to 0.5 cm anteriorly during expiration relative to inspiration. Significant (>1 cm) expansion of the GTV in the SI direction with respiration is observed in 1 patient. Estimated intrafractional GTV motion for gated treatment at end expiration is 0.6 cm or less in all cases; however; interfraction variation estimates (systematic plus random) are more than 1 cm in 3

CT analysis of lung density changes in patients undergoing total body irradiation prior to bone marrow transplantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, J.Y.; Shank, B.; Bonfiglio, P.; Reid, A.

1984-01-01

Sequential changes in lung density measured by CT are potentially sensitive and convenient monitors of lung abnormalities following total body irradiation (TBI). Methods have been developed to compare pre- and post-TBI CT of lung. The average local features of a cross-sectional lung slice are extracted from three peripheral regions of interest in the anterior, posterior, and lateral portions of the CT image. Also, density profiles across a specific region may be obtained. These may be compared first for verification of patient position and breathing status and then for changes between pre- and post-TBI. These may also be compared with radiation dose profiles through the lung. A preliminary study on 21 leukemia patients undergoing total body irradiation indicates the following: (a) Density gradients of patients' lungs in the antero-posterior direction show a marked heterogeneity before and after transplantation compared with normal lungs. The patients with departures from normal density gradients pre-TBI correlate with later pulmonary complications. (b) Measurements of average peripheral lung densities have demonstrated that the average lung density in the younger age group is substantially higher: pre-TBI, the average CT number (1,000 scale) is -638 +/- 39 Hounsfield unit (HU) for 0-10 years old and -739 +/- 53 HU for 21-40 years old. (c) Density profiles showed no post-TBI regional changes in lung density corresponding to the dose profile across the lung, so no differentiation of a radiation-specific effect has yet been possible. Computed tomographic density profiles in the antero-posterior direction are successfully used to verify positioning of the CT slice and the breathing level of the lung

Radiation sterilization and identification of gizzard slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, S.; Fu, C.; Jiang, W.; Yao, D.; Zhao, K.; Zhang, Y.

1998-01-01

An orthogonal test of 4 factors of radiation dose, storage temperature, storage time, and sanitation of cutting places was carried out to optimize the conditions for disinfection of gizzard slices. In the optimized condition, both the sanitary quality and the shelf-life of gizzard slices were improved. To identify irradiated gizzard slices, the sensory change, and the levels of water-soluble nitrogen, amino acid, total volatile basic nitrogen, peroxide value, vitamin C consumption and KMnO 4 consumption were determinated. No significant change was observed except for the color which was light brown on the surface of irradiated slices

Nodule management protocol of the NELSON randomised lung cancer screening trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xu, Dong Ming; Gietema, Hester; de Koning, Harry; Vernhout, Rene; Nackaerts, Kristiaan; Prokop, Mathias; Weenink, Carla; Lammers, Jan-Willem; Groen, Harry; Oudkerk, Matthijs; van Klaveren, Rob

In December 2003, the Dutch-Belgian NELSON trial, a Dutch acronym for "Nederlands-Leuvens Longkanker Screenings ONderzoek", has been launched. Primary objective of the NELSON trial is to investigate whether screening for lung cancer by 16-detector multi-slice CT with 16 mm x 0.75 mm collimation and

Slice hyperholomorphic Schur analysis

CERN Document Server

Alpay, Daniel; Sabadini, Irene

2016-01-01

This book defines and examines the counterpart of Schur functions and Schur analysis in the slice hyperholomorphic setting. It is organized into three parts: the first introduces readers to classical Schur analysis, while the second offers background material on quaternions, slice hyperholomorphic functions, and quaternionic functional analysis. The third part represents the core of the book and explores quaternionic Schur analysis and its various applications. The book includes previously unpublished results and provides the basis for new directions of research.

Application of machine learning methodology for pet-based definition of lung cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Kerhet, A.; Small, C.; Quon, H.; Riauka, T.; Schrader, L.; Greiner, R.; Yee, D.; McEwan, A.; Roa, W.

2010-01-01

We applied a learning methodology framework to assist in the threshold-based segmentation of non-small-cell lung cancer (nsclc) tumours in positron-emission tomography–computed tomography (pet–ct) imaging for use in radiotherapy planning. Gated and standard free-breathing studies of two patients were independently analysed (four studies in total). Each study had a pet–ct and a treatment-planning ct image. The reference gross tumour volume (gtv) was identified by two experienced radiation oncologists who also determined reference standardized uptake value (suv) thresholds that most closely approximated the gtv contour on each slice. A set of uptake distribution-related attributes was calculated for each pet slice. A machine learning algorithm was trained on a subset of the pet slices to cope with slice-to-slice variation in the optimal suv threshold: that is, to predict the most appropriate suv threshold from the calculated attributes for each slice. The algorithm’s performance was evaluated using the remainder of the pet slices. A high degree of geometric similarity was achieved between the areas outlined by the predicted and the reference suv thresholds (Jaccard index exceeding 0.82). No significant difference was found between the gated and the free-breathing results in the same patient. In this preliminary work, we demonstrated the potential applicability of a machine learning methodology as an auxiliary tool for radiation treatment planning in nsclc. PMID:20179802

Characterization of the relation between CT technical parameters and accuracy of quantification of lung attenuation on quantitative chest CT.

Science.gov (United States)

Trotta, Brian M; Stolin, Alexander V; Williams, Mark B; Gay, Spencer B; Brody, Alan S; Altes, Talissa A

2007-06-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the compromise between CT technical parameters and the accuracy of CT quantification of lung attenuation. Materials that simulate water (0 H), healthy lung (-650 H), borderline emphysematous lung (-820 H), and severely emphysematous lung (-1,000 H) were placed at both the base and the apex of the lung of an anthropomorphic phantom and outside the phantom. Transaxial CT images through the samples were obtained while the effective tube current was varied from 440 to 10 mAs, kilovoltage from 140 to 80 kVp, and slice thickness from 0.625 to 10 mm. Mean +/- SD attenuation within the samples and the standard quantitative chest CT measurements, the percentage of pixels with attenuation less than -910 H and 15th percentile of attenuation, were computed. Outside the phantom, variations in CT parameters produced less than 2.0% error in all measurements. Within the anthropomorphic phantom at 30 mAs, error in measurements was much larger, ranging from zero to 200%. Below approximately 80 mAs, mean attenuation became increasingly biased. The effects were most pronounced at the apex of the lungs. Mean attenuation of the borderline emphysematous sample of apex decreased 55 H as the tube current was decreased from 300 to 30 mAs. Both the 15th percentile of attenuation and percentage of pixels with less than -910 H attenuation were more sensitive to variations in effective tube current than was mean attenuation. For example, the -820 H sample should have 0% of pixels less than -910 H, which was true at 400 mA. At 30 mA in the lung apex, however, the measurement was highly inaccurate, 51% of pixels being below this value. Decreased kilovoltage and slice thickness had analogous, but lesser, effects. The accuracy of quantitative chest CT is determined by the CT acquisition parameters. There can be significant decreases in accuracy at less than 80 mAs for thin slices in an anthropomorphic phantom, the most pronounced effects occurring in the lung

Automated detection of lung nodules in low-dose computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cascio, D.; Cheran, S.C.; Chincarini, A.; De Nunzio, G.; Delogu, P.; Fantacci, M.E.; Gargano, G.; Gori, I.; Retico, A.; Masala, G.L.; Preite Martinez, A.; Santoro, M.; Spinelli, C.; Tarantino, T.

2007-01-01

A computer-aided detection (CAD) system for the identification of pulmonary nodules in low-dose multi-detector computed-tomography (CT) images has been developed in the framework of the MAGIC-5 Italian project. One of the main goals of this project is to build a distributed database of lung CT scans in order to enable automated image analysis through a data and cpu GRID infrastructure. The basic modules of our lung-CAD system, consisting in a 3D dot-enhancement filter for nodule detection and a neural classifier for false-positive finding reduction, are described. The system was designed and tested for both internal and sub-pleural nodules. The database used in this study consists of 17 low-dose CT scans reconstructed with thin slice thickness (∝300 slices/scan). The preliminary results are shown in terms of the FROC analysis reporting a good sensitivity (85% range) for both internal and sub-pleural nodules at an acceptable level of false positive findings (1-9 FP/scan); the sensitivity value remains very high (75% range) even at 1-6 FP/scan. (orig.)

Integrating interface slicing into software engineering processes

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Jon

1993-01-01

Interface slicing is a tool which was developed to facilitate software engineering. As previously presented, it was described in terms of its techniques and mechanisms. The integration of interface slicing into specific software engineering activities is considered by discussing a number of potential applications of interface slicing. The applications discussed specifically address the problems, issues, or concerns raised in a previous project. Because a complete interface slicer is still under development, these applications must be phrased in future tenses. Nonetheless, the interface slicing techniques which were presented can be implemented using current compiler and static analysis technology. Whether implemented as a standalone tool or as a module in an integrated development or reverse engineering environment, they require analysis no more complex than that required for current system development environments. By contrast, conventional slicing is a methodology which, while showing much promise and intuitive appeal, has yet to be fully implemented in a production language environment despite 12 years of development.

TH-EF-BRA-08: A Novel Technique for Estimating Volumetric Cine MRI (VC-MRI) From Multi-Slice Sparsely Sampled Cine Images Using Motion Modeling and Free Form Deformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harris, W; Yin, F; Wang, C; Chang, Z; Cai, J; Zhang, Y; Ren, L

2016-01-01

Purpose: To develop a technique to estimate on-board VC-MRI using multi-slice sparsely-sampled cine images, patient prior 4D-MRI, motion-modeling and free-form deformation for real-time 3D target verification of lung radiotherapy. Methods: A previous method has been developed to generate on-board VC-MRI by deforming prior MRI images based on a motion model(MM) extracted from prior 4D-MRI and a single-slice on-board 2D-cine image. In this study, free-form deformation(FD) was introduced to correct for errors in the MM when large anatomical changes exist. Multiple-slice sparsely-sampled on-board 2D-cine images located within the target are used to improve both the estimation accuracy and temporal resolution of VC-MRI. The on-board 2D-cine MRIs are acquired at 20–30frames/s by sampling only 10% of the k-space on Cartesian grid, with 85% of that taken at the central k-space. The method was evaluated using XCAT(computerized patient model) simulation of lung cancer patients with various anatomical and respirational changes from prior 4D-MRI to onboard volume. The accuracy was evaluated using Volume-Percent-Difference(VPD) and Center-of-Mass-Shift(COMS) of the estimated tumor volume. Effects of region-of-interest(ROI) selection, 2D-cine slice orientation, slice number and slice location on the estimation accuracy were evaluated. Results: VCMRI estimated using 10 sparsely-sampled sagittal 2D-cine MRIs achieved VPD/COMS of 9.07±3.54%/0.45±0.53mm among all scenarios based on estimation with ROI_MM-ROI_FD. The FD optimization improved estimation significantly for scenarios with anatomical changes. Using ROI-FD achieved better estimation than global-FD. Changing the multi-slice orientation to axial, coronal, and axial/sagittal orthogonal reduced the accuracy of VCMRI to VPD/COMS of 19.47±15.74%/1.57±2.54mm, 20.70±9.97%/2.34±0.92mm, and 16.02±13.79%/0.60±0.82mm, respectively. Reducing the number of cines to 8 enhanced temporal resolution of VC-MRI by 25% while

TH-EF-BRA-08: A Novel Technique for Estimating Volumetric Cine MRI (VC-MRI) From Multi-Slice Sparsely Sampled Cine Images Using Motion Modeling and Free Form Deformation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harris, W; Yin, F; Wang, C; Chang, Z; Cai, J; Zhang, Y; Ren, L [Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To develop a technique to estimate on-board VC-MRI using multi-slice sparsely-sampled cine images, patient prior 4D-MRI, motion-modeling and free-form deformation for real-time 3D target verification of lung radiotherapy. Methods: A previous method has been developed to generate on-board VC-MRI by deforming prior MRI images based on a motion model(MM) extracted from prior 4D-MRI and a single-slice on-board 2D-cine image. In this study, free-form deformation(FD) was introduced to correct for errors in the MM when large anatomical changes exist. Multiple-slice sparsely-sampled on-board 2D-cine images located within the target are used to improve both the estimation accuracy and temporal resolution of VC-MRI. The on-board 2D-cine MRIs are acquired at 20–30frames/s by sampling only 10% of the k-space on Cartesian grid, with 85% of that taken at the central k-space. The method was evaluated using XCAT(computerized patient model) simulation of lung cancer patients with various anatomical and respirational changes from prior 4D-MRI to onboard volume. The accuracy was evaluated using Volume-Percent-Difference(VPD) and Center-of-Mass-Shift(COMS) of the estimated tumor volume. Effects of region-of-interest(ROI) selection, 2D-cine slice orientation, slice number and slice location on the estimation accuracy were evaluated. Results: VCMRI estimated using 10 sparsely-sampled sagittal 2D-cine MRIs achieved VPD/COMS of 9.07±3.54%/0.45±0.53mm among all scenarios based on estimation with ROI-MM-ROI-FD. The FD optimization improved estimation significantly for scenarios with anatomical changes. Using ROI-FD achieved better estimation than global-FD. Changing the multi-slice orientation to axial, coronal, and axial/sagittal orthogonal reduced the accuracy of VCMRI to VPD/COMS of 19.47±15.74%/1.57±2.54mm, 20.70±9.97%/2.34±0.92mm, and 16.02±13.79%/0.60±0.82mm, respectively. Reducing the number of cines to 8 enhanced temporal resolution of VC-MRI by 25% while

A survey of program slicing for software engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Jon

1993-01-01

This research concerns program slicing which is used as a tool for program maintainence of software systems. Program slicing decreases the level of effort required to understand and maintain complex software systems. It was first designed as a debugging aid, but it has since been generalized into various tools and extended to include program comprehension, module cohesion estimation, requirements verification, dead code elimination, and maintainence of several software systems, including reverse engineering, parallelization, portability, and reuse component generation. This paper seeks to address and define terminology, theoretical concepts, program representation, different program graphs, developments in static slicing, dynamic slicing, and semantics and mathematical models. Applications for conventional slicing are presented, along with a prognosis of future work in this field.

Resolution enhancement of lung 4D-CT via group-sparsity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhavsar, Arnav; Wu, Guorong; Shen, Dinggang; Lian, Jun

2013-01-01

Purpose: 4D-CT typically delivers more accurate information about anatomical structures in the lung, over 3D-CT, due to its ability to capture visual information of the lung motion across different respiratory phases. This helps to better determine the dose during radiation therapy for lung cancer. However, a critical concern with 4D-CT that substantially compromises this advantage is the low superior-inferior resolution due to less number of acquired slices, in order to control the CT radiation dose. To address this limitation, the authors propose an approach to reconstruct missing intermediate slices, so as to improve the superior-inferior resolution.Methods: In this method the authors exploit the observation that sampling information across respiratory phases in 4D-CT can be complimentary due to lung motion. The authors’ approach uses this locally complimentary information across phases in a patch-based sparse-representation framework. Moreover, unlike some recent approaches that treat local patches independently, the authors’ approach employs the group-sparsity framework that imposes neighborhood and similarity constraints between patches. This helps in mitigating the trade-off between noise robustness and structure preservation, which is an important consideration in resolution enhancement. The authors discuss the regularizing ability of group-sparsity, which helps in reducing the effect of noise and enables better structural localization and enhancement.Results: The authors perform extensive experiments on the publicly available DIR-Lab Lung 4D-CT dataset [R. Castillo, E. Castillo, R. Guerra, V. Johnson, T. McPhail, A. Garg, and T. Guerrero, “A framework for evaluation of deformable image registration spatial accuracy using large landmark point sets,” Phys. Med. Biol. 54, 1849–1870 (2009)]. First, the authors carry out empirical parametric analysis of some important parameters in their approach. The authors then demonstrate, qualitatively as well as

Ground-glass opacity: High-resolution computed tomography and 64-multi-slice computed tomography findings comparison

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sergiacomi, Gianluigi; Ciccio, Carmelo; Boi, Luca; Velari, Luca; Crusco, Sonia; Orlacchio, Antonio; Simonetti, Giovanni

2010-01-01

Objective: Comparative evaluation of ground-glass opacity using conventional high-resolution computed tomography technique and volumetric computed tomography by 64-row multi-slice scanner, verifying advantage of volumetric acquisition and post-processing technique allowed by 64-row CT scanner. Methods: Thirty-four patients, in which was assessed ground-glass opacity pattern by previous high-resolution computed tomography during a clinical-radiological follow-up for their lung disease, were studied by means of 64-row multi-slice computed tomography. Comparative evaluation of image quality was done by both CT modalities. Results: It was reported good inter-observer agreement (k value 0.78-0.90) in detection of ground-glass opacity with high-resolution computed tomography technique and volumetric Computed Tomography acquisition with moderate increasing of intra-observer agreement (k value 0.46) using volumetric computed tomography than high-resolution computed tomography. Conclusions: In our experience, volumetric computed tomography with 64-row scanner shows good accuracy in detection of ground-glass opacity, providing a better spatial and temporal resolution and advanced post-processing technique than high-resolution computed tomography.

RF slice profile effects in magnetic resonance fingerprinting.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Taehwa; Han, Dongyeob; Kim, Min-Oh; Kim, Dong-Hyun

2017-09-01

The radio frequency (RF) slice profile effects on T1 and T2 estimation in magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) are investigated with respect to time-bandwidth product (TBW), flip angle (FA) level and field inhomogeneities. Signal evolutions are generated incorporating the non-ideal slice selective excitation process using Bloch simulation and matched to the original dictionary with and without the non-ideal slice profile taken into account. For validation, phantom and in vivo experiments are performed at 3T. Both simulations and experiments results show that T1 and T2 error from non-ideal slice profile increases with increasing FA level, off-resonance, and low TBW values. Therefore, RF slice profile effects should be compensated for accurate determination of the MR parameters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

NMR surprizes with thin slices and strong gradients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaedke, Achim; Kresse, Benjamin [Institute of Condensed Matter Physics, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt (Germany); Nestle, Nikolaus

2008-07-01

In the context of our work on diffusion-relaxation-coupling in thin excited slices, we perform NMR experiments in static magnetic field gradients up to 200 T/m. For slice thicknesses in the range of 10{mu}m, the frequency bandwidth of the excited slices becomes sufficiently narrow that free induction decays (FIDs) become observable despite the presence of the strong static gradient. The observed FIDs were also simulated using standard methods from MRI physics. Possible effects of diffusion during the FID duration are still minor at this slice thickness in water but might become dominant for smaller slices or more diffusive media. Furthermore, the detailed excitation structure of the RF pulses was studied in profiling experiments over the edge of a plane liquid cell. Side lobe effects to the slices will be discussed along with approaches to control them. The spatial resolution achieved in the profiling experiments furthermore allows the identification of thermal expansion phenomena in the NMR magnet. Measures to reduce the temperature drift problems are presented.

Region of interest-based versus whole-lung segmentation-based approach for MR lung perfusion quantification in 2-year-old children after congenital diaphragmatic hernia repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weis, M.; Sommer, V.; Hagelstein, C.; Schoenberg, S.O.; Neff, K.W.; Zoellner, F.G.; Zahn, K.; Schaible, T.

2016-01-01

With a region of interest (ROI)-based approach 2-year-old children after congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) show reduced MR lung perfusion values on the ipsilateral side compared to the contralateral. This study evaluates whether results can be reproduced by segmentation of whole-lung and whether there are differences between the ROI-based and whole-lung measurements. Using dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI, pulmonary blood flow (PBF), pulmonary blood volume (PBV) and mean transit time (MTT) were quantified in 30 children after CDH repair. Quantification results of an ROI-based (six cylindrical ROIs generated of five adjacent slices per lung-side) and a whole-lung segmentation approach were compared. In both approaches PBF and PBV were significantly reduced on the ipsilateral side (p always <0.0001). In ipsilateral lungs, PBF of the ROI-based and the whole-lung segmentation-based approach was equal (p=0.50). In contralateral lungs, the ROI-based approach significantly overestimated PBF in comparison to the whole-lung segmentation approach by approximately 9.5 % (p=0.0013). MR lung perfusion in 2-year-old children after CDH is significantly reduced ipsilaterally. In the contralateral lung, the ROI-based approach significantly overestimates perfusion, which can be explained by exclusion of the most ventral parts of the lung. Therefore whole-lung segmentation should be preferred. (orig.)

Region of interest-based versus whole-lung segmentation-based approach for MR lung perfusion quantification in 2-year-old children after congenital diaphragmatic hernia repair

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weis, M.; Sommer, V.; Hagelstein, C.; Schoenberg, S.O.; Neff, K.W. [Heidelberg University, Institute of Clinical Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim (Germany); Zoellner, F.G. [Heidelberg University, Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim (Germany); Zahn, K. [University of Heidelberg, Department of Paediatric Surgery, University Medical Center Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim (Germany); Schaible, T. [Heidelberg University, Department of Paediatrics, University Medical Center Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim (Germany)

2016-12-15

With a region of interest (ROI)-based approach 2-year-old children after congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) show reduced MR lung perfusion values on the ipsilateral side compared to the contralateral. This study evaluates whether results can be reproduced by segmentation of whole-lung and whether there are differences between the ROI-based and whole-lung measurements. Using dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI, pulmonary blood flow (PBF), pulmonary blood volume (PBV) and mean transit time (MTT) were quantified in 30 children after CDH repair. Quantification results of an ROI-based (six cylindrical ROIs generated of five adjacent slices per lung-side) and a whole-lung segmentation approach were compared. In both approaches PBF and PBV were significantly reduced on the ipsilateral side (p always <0.0001). In ipsilateral lungs, PBF of the ROI-based and the whole-lung segmentation-based approach was equal (p=0.50). In contralateral lungs, the ROI-based approach significantly overestimated PBF in comparison to the whole-lung segmentation approach by approximately 9.5 % (p=0.0013). MR lung perfusion in 2-year-old children after CDH is significantly reduced ipsilaterally. In the contralateral lung, the ROI-based approach significantly overestimates perfusion, which can be explained by exclusion of the most ventral parts of the lung. Therefore whole-lung segmentation should be preferred. (orig.)

The relationship between image quality and CT dose index of multi-slice low-dose chest CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Xiaohua; Shao Jiang; Shi Jingyun; You Zhengqian; Li Shijun; Xue Yongming

2003-01-01

Objective: To explore the rationality and possibility of multi-slice low-dose CT scan in the examination of the chest. Methods: (1) X-ray dose index measurement: 120 kV tube voltage, 0.75 s rotation, 8 mm and 3 mm slice thickness, and the tube current setting of 115.0, 40.0, 25.0, and 7.5 mAs were employed in every section. The X-ray radiation dose was measured and compared statistically. (2) phantom measurement of homogeneity and noise: The technical parameters were 120 kV, 0.75 s, 8 mm and 3 mm sections, and every slice was scanned using tube current of 115.0, 40.0, 25.0, and 7.5 mAs. Five same regions of interest were measured on every image. The homogeneity and noise level of CT were appraised. (3) The multi-slice low-dose CT in patients: 30 patients with mass and 30 with patch shadow in the lung were selected randomly. The technical parameters were 120 kV, 0.75 s, 8 mm and 3 mm slice thickness. 115.0, 40.0, 25.0, 15.0, and 7.5 mAs tube current were employed in each same slice. Otherwise, 15 cases with helical scan were examined using 190, 150, 40, 25, and 15 mAs tube current. The reconstruction images of MIP, MPR, CVR, HRCT, 3D, CT virtual endoscopy, and variety of interval reconstruction were compared. (4) Evaluation of image quality: CT images were evaluated by four doctors using single-blind method, and 3 degrees including normal image, image with few artifact, and image with excessive artifact, were employed and analyzed statistically. Results: (1) The CT dose index with 115.0 mAs tube current exceeded those of 40.0, 25.0, and 7.5 mAs by about 60%, 70%, and 85%, respectively. (2) The phantom measurement showed that the lower of CT dose the lower of homogeneity, the lower of CT dose the higher of noise level. (3) Result of image quality evaluation: The percentage of the normal image had no significant difference between 8 and 3 mm in 115, 40, and 25 mAs (P>0.05). Conclusion: Multi-slice low-dose chest CT technology may protect the patients and guarantee the

Pixel based statistical analysis of differences between lung SPECT images: methodological aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bendada, S.; Rocchisani, J.L.M.; Moretti, J.L.

2002-01-01

The statistical parametric mapping method is applied in Neurology for activation studies. We had adapted this powerful method on Lungs SPECT to help for the diagnosis and the follow-up of pulmonary embolism and other lung diseases. The SPECT slices of pairs of examination were normalized thanks to the total acquired counts, reconstruction background subtracted, smoothed and realigned. A parametric image of statistical differences was finally computed. We had thus obtained a 3D image showing regions of improved or altered region under treatment. A tuning of the various parameters could lead to more accurate image. This new approach of lung SPECT processing appears to be a promising useful tool for the physician. (author)

Thin slices of child personality: Perceptual, situational, and behavioral contributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Tackett, Jennifer L; Herzhoff, Kathrin; Kushner, Shauna C; Rule, Nicholas

2016-01-01

The present study examined whether thin-slice ratings of child personality serve as a resource-efficient and theoretically valid measurement of child personality traits. We extended theoretical work on the observability, perceptual accuracy, and situational consistency of childhood personality traits by examining intersource and interjudge agreement, cross-situational consistency, and convergent, divergent, and predictive validity of thin-slice ratings. Forty-five unacquainted independent coders rated 326 children's (ages 8-12) personality in 1 of 15 thin-slice behavioral scenarios (i.e., 3 raters per slice, for over 14,000 independent thin-slice ratings). Mothers, fathers, and children rated children's personality, psychopathology, and competence. We found robust evidence for correlations between thin-slice and mother/father ratings of child personality, within- and across-task consistency of thin-slice ratings, and convergent and divergent validity with psychopathology and competence. Surprisingly, thin-slice ratings were more consistent across situations in this child sample than previously found for adults. Taken together, these results suggest that thin slices are a valid and reliable measure to assess child personality, offering a useful method of measurement beyond questionnaires, helping to address novel questions of personality perception and consistency in childhood. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Slices

KAUST Repository

McCrae, James

2011-01-01

Minimalist object representations or shape-proxies that spark and inspire human perception of shape remain an incompletely understood, yet powerful aspect of visual communication. We explore the use of planar sections, i.e., the contours of intersection of planes with a 3D object, for creating shape abstractions, motivated by their popularity in art and engineering. We first perform a user study to show that humans do define consistent and similar planar section proxies for common objects. Interestingly, we observe a strong correlation between user-defined planes and geometric features of objects. Further we show that the problem of finding the minimum set of planes that capture a set of 3D geometric shape features is both NP-hard and not always the proxy a user would pick. Guided by the principles inferred from our user study, we present an algorithm that progressively selects planes to maximize feature coverage, which in turn influence the selection of subsequent planes. The algorithmic framework easily incorporates various shape features, while their relative importance values are computed and validated from the user study data. We use our algorithm to compute planar slices for various objects, validate their utility towards object abstraction using a second user study, and conclude showing the potential applications of the extracted planar slice shape proxies. © 2011 ACM.

Imaging skeletal anatomy of injured cervical spine specimens: comparison of single-slice vs multi-slice helical CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Obenauer, S.; Alamo, L.; Herold, T.; Funke, M.; Kopka, L.; Grabbe, E. [Department of Radiology, Georg August-University Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Strasse 40, 37075 Goettingen (Germany)

2002-08-01

Our objective was to compare a single-slice CT (SS-CT) scanner with a multi-slice CT (MS-CT) scanner in the depiction of osseous anatomic structures and fractures of the upper cervical spine. Two cervical spine specimens with artificial trauma were scanned with a SS-CT scanner (HighSpeed, CT/i, GE, Milwaukee, Wis.) by using various collimations (1, 3, 5 mm) and pitch factors (1, 1.5, 2, 3) and a four-slice helical CT scanner (LightSpeed, QX/i, GE, Milwaukee, Wis.) by using various table speeds ranging from 3.75 to 15 mm/rotation for a pitch of 0.75 and from 7.5 to 30 mm/rotation for a pitch of 1.5. Images were reconstructed with an interval of 1 mm. Sagittal and coronal multiplanar reconstructions of the primary and reconstructed data set were performed. For MS-CT a tube current resulting in equivalent image noise as with SS-CT was used. All images were judged by two observers using a 4-point scale. The best image quality for SS-CT was achieved with the smallest slice thickness (1 mm) and a pitch smaller than 2 resulting in a table speed of up to 2 mm per gantry rotation (4 points). A reduction of the slice thickness rather than of the table speed proved to be beneficial at MS-CT. Therefore, the optimal scan protocol in MS-CT included a slice thickness of 1.25 mm with a table speed of 7.5 mm/360 using a pitch of 1.5 (4 points), resulting in a faster scan time than when a pitch of 0.75 (4 points) was used. This study indicates that MS-CT could provide equivalent image quality at approximately four times the volume coverage speed of SS-CT. (orig.)

Correlation of NTD-silicon rod and slice resistivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolverton, W.M.

1984-01-01

Neutron transmutation doped silicon is an electronic material which presents an opportunity to explore a high level of resistivity characterization. This is due to its excellent uniformity of dopant concentration. Appropriate resistivity measurements on the ingot raw material can be used as a predictor of slice resistivity. Correlation of finished NTD rod (i.e. ingot) resistivity to as-cut slice resistivity (after the sawing process) is addressed in the scope of this paper. Empirical data show that the shift of slice-center resistivity compared to rod-end center resistivity is a function of a new kind of rod radial-resistivity gradient. This function has two domains, and most rods are in domain ''A''. Correlating equations show how to significantly improve the prediction of slice resistivity of rods in domain ''A''. The new rod resistivity specifications have resulted in manufacturing economies in the production of NTD silicon slices

Investigation of the slice sensitivity profile for step-and-shoot mode multi-slice computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsieh Jiang

2001-01-01

Multislice computed tomography (MCT) is one of the recent technology advancements in CT. Compared to single slice CT, MCT significantly improves examination time, x-ray tube efficiency, and contrast material utilization. Although the scan mode of MCT is predominately helical, step-and-shoot (axial) scans continue to be an important part of routine clinical protocols. In this paper, we present a detailed investigation on the slice sensitivity profile (SSP) of MCT in the step-and-shoot mode. Our investigation shows that, unlike single slice CT, the SSP for MCT exhibits multiple peaks and valleys resulting from intercell gaps between detector rows. To fully understand the characteristics of the SSP, we developed an analytical model to predict the behavior of MCT. We propose a simple experimental technique that can quickly and accurately measure SSP. The impact of the SSP on image artifacts and low contrast detectability is also investigated

Organotypic lung culture: A new model for studying ischemia and ex vivo perfusion in lung transplantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Baste, Jean-Marc; Gay, Arnaud; Smail, Hassiba; Noël, Romain; Bubenheim, Michael; Begueret, Hugues; Morin, Jean-Paul; Litzler, Pierre-Yves

2015-01-01

Donors after cardiac death (DCD) in lung transplantation is considered as a solution for organ shortage. However, it is characterized by warm ischemic period, which could be involved in severe Ischemia-Reperfusion lesion (IR) with early graft dysfunction. We describe a new hybrid model combining in vivo ischemia followed by in vitro reoxygenation using organ-specific culture. A hybrid model using in vivo ischemic period followed by in vitro lung slice reoxygenation was set up in rat to mimic DCD in lung transplantation with in vitro perfusion. Different markers (bioenergetics, oxidant stress assays, and histology) were measured to evaluate the viability of lung tissue after different ischemic times (I-0, I-1, I-2, I-4, I-15 hours) and reoxygenation times (R-0, R-1, R-4, R-24 hours). No differences were found in cell viability, ATP concentrations, extracellular LDH assays or histology, demonstrating extensive viability of up to 4 hours in lung tissue warm ischemia. We found oxidative stress mainly during the ischemic period with no burst at reoxygenation. Cytosolic anti-oxidant system was involved first (I-0,I-1,I-2) followed by mitochondrial anti-oxidant system for extensive ischemia (I-4). Histological features showed differences in this model of ischemia-reoxygenation between bronchial epithelium and lung parenchymal cells, with epithelium regeneration after 2 hours of warm ischemia and 24 hours of perfusion. The results of our hybrid model experiment suggest extensive lung viability of up to 4 hours ischemia. Our model could be an interesting tool to evaluate ex vivo reconditioning techniques after different in vivo lung insults.

Mathematical Modeling of Thin Layer Microwave Drying of Taro Slices

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Vivek; Sharma, H. K.; Singh, K.

2016-03-01

The present study investigated the drying kinetics of taro slices precooked in different medium viz water (WC), steam (SC) and Lemon Solution (LC) and dried at different microwave power 360, 540 and 720 W. Drying curves of all precooked slices at all microwave powers showed falling rate period along with a very short accelerating period at the beginning of the drying. At all microwave powers, higher drying rate was observed for LC slices as compared to WC and SC slices. To select a suitable drying curve, seven thin-layer drying models were fitted to the experimental data. The data revealed that the Page model was most adequate in describing the microwave drying behavior of taro slices precooked in different medium. The highest effective moisture diffusivity value of 2.11 × 10-8 m2/s was obtained for LC samples while the lowest 0.83 × 10-8 m2/s was obtained for WC taro slices. The activation energy (E a ) of LC taro slices was lower than the E a of WC and SC taro slices.

Distribution of latex particles in lung and lymph node tissues of rats and dogs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, H.L; Muggenburg, B.A.; Gillett, N.A.; Guilmette, R.A.

1988-01-01

The distribution of fluorescent poly sytrene microspheres in different lung compartments, with differing particle numbers within individual lung and lymph node cells was examined In methacrylate-embedded tissue slices. Rat tissues were analyzed at 1, 7 and 13 days after particle instillation, dog tissues at 7 and 13 days. A much higher fraction of particles was seen in the lung interstitium and in lung-associated lymph nodes in dogs than in rats. Particle concentrations in TBLN cells were generally very low in both species, but were high in free alveolar cells after high particle numbers were instilled, and increased from 1 to 13 days, suggesting that alveolar cells with few particles were cleared faster than those wth high ingested particle numbers. (author)

Lung studies with spiral CT. pitch 1 versus pitch 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sartoni Galloni, S.; Miceli, M.; Lipparino, M.; Burzi, M.; Gigli, F.; Rossi, M.S.; Santoli, G.; Guidarelli, G.

1999-01-01

In Spiral CT, the pitch is the ratio of the distance to tabletop travels per 360 degrees rotation to nominal slice width, expressed in mm. Performing Spiral CT examination with pitch 2 allows to reduce examination time, exposure and contrast dose, and X-ray tube overload. The authors investigated the yield of pitch 2 in lung parenchyma studies, particular relative to diagnostic image quality [it

Quantitation of the reconstruction quality of a four-dimensional computed tomography process for lung cancer patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Wei; Parikh, Parag J.; El Naqa, Issam M.; Nystrom, Michelle M.; Hubenschmidt, James P.; Wahab, Sasha H.; Mutic, Sasa; Singh, Anurag K.; Christensen, Gary E.; Bradley, Jeffrey D.; Low, Daniel A.

2005-01-01

We have developed a four-dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) technique for mapping breathing motion in radiotherapy treatment planning. A multislice CT scanner (1.5 mm slices) operated in cine mode was used to acquire 12 contiguous slices in each couch position for 15 consecutive scans (0.5 s rotation, 0.25 s between scans) while the patient underwent simultaneous quantitative spirometry measurements to provide a sorting metric. The spirometry-sorted scans were used to reconstruct a 4D data set. A critical factor for 4D CT is quantifying the reconstructed data set quality which we measure by correlating the metric used relative to internal-object motion. For this study, the internal air content within the lung was used as a surrogate for internal motion measurements. Thresholding and image morphological operations were applied to delineate the air-containing tissues (lungs, trachea) from each CT slice. The Hounsfield values were converted to the internal air content (V). The relationship between the air content and spirometer-measured tidal volume (ν) was found to be quite linear throughout the lungs and was used to estimate the overall accuracy and precision of tidal volume-sorted 4D CT. Inspection of the CT-scan air content as a function of tidal volume showed excellent correlations (typically r>0.99) throughout the lung volume. Because of the discovered linear relationship, the ratio of internal air content to tidal volume was indicative of the fraction of air change in each couch position. Theoretically, due to air density differences within the lung and in room, the sum of these ratios would equal 1.11. For 12 patients, the mean value was 1.08±0.06, indicating the high quality of spirometry-based image sorting. The residual of a first-order fit between ν and V was used to estimate the process precision. For all patients, the precision was better than 8%, with a mean value of 5.1%±1.9%. This quantitative analysis highlights the value of using spirometry

RETROSPECTIVE DETECTION OF INTERLEAVED SLICE ACQUISITION PARAMETERS FROM FMRI DATA

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, David; Rotival, Georges; Laine, Andrew; Razlighi, Qolamreza R.

2015-01-01

To minimize slice excitation leakage to adjacent slices, interleaved slice acquisition is nowadays performed regularly in fMRI scanners. In interleaved slice acquisition, the number of slices skipped between two consecutive slice acquisitions is often referred to as the ‘interleave parameter’; the loss of this parameter can be catastrophic for the analysis of fMRI data. In this article we present a method to retrospectively detect the interleave parameter and the axis in which it is applied. Our method relies on the smoothness of the temporal-distance correlation function, which becomes disrupted along the axis on which interleaved slice acquisition is applied. We examined this method on simulated and real data in the presence of fMRI artifacts such as physiological noise, motion, etc. We also examined the reliability of this method in detecting different types of interleave parameters and demonstrated an accuracy of about 94% in more than 1000 real fMRI scans. PMID:26161244

Water-activity of dehydrated guava slices sweeteners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayub, M.; Zeb, A.; Ullah, J.

2005-01-01

A study was carried out to investigate the individual and combined effect of caloric sweeteners (sucrose, glucose and fructose) and non-caloric sweeteners (saccharine, cyclamate and aspartame) along with antioxidants (citric acid and ascorbic acid) and chemical preservatives (potassium metabisulphite and potassium sorbate) on the water-activity (a/sub w/) of dehydrated guava slices. Different dilutions of caloric sweeteners (20, 30, 40 and 50 degree brix (bx) and non-caloric sweeteners (equivalent to sucrose sweetness) were used. Guava slices were osmotically dehydrated in these solutions and then dehydrated initially at 0 and then at 60 degree C to final moisture-content of 20-25%. Guava slices prepared with sucrose: glucose 7:3 potassium metabisulphite, ascorbic acid and citric acid produced best quality products, which have minimum (a/sub w/) and best overall sensory characteristics. The analysis showed that treatments and their various concentrations had a significant effect (p=0.05) on (a/sub w/) of dehydrated guava slices. (author)

Interactive Slice of the CMS detector

CERN Multimedia

Davis, Siona Ruth

2016-01-01

This slice shows a colorful cross-section of the CMS detector with all parts of the detector labelled. Viewers are invited to click on buttons associated with five types of particles to see what happens when each type interacts with the sections of the detector. The five types of particles users can select to send through the slice are muons, electrons, neutral hadrons, charged hadrons and photons. Supplementary information on each type of particles is given. Useful for inclusion into general talks on CMS etc. *Animated CMS "slice" for Powerpoint (Mac & PC) Original version - 2004 Updated version - July 2010 *Six slides required - first is a set of buttons; others are for each particle type (muon, electron, charged/neutral hadron, photon) Recommend putting slide 1 anywhere in your presentation and the rest at the end

Interactive lung segmentation in abnormal human and animal chest CT scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kockelkorn, Thessa T. J. P.; Viergever, Max A.; Schaefer-Prokop, Cornelia M.; Bozovic, Gracijela; Muñoz-Barrutia, Arrate; Rikxoort, Eva M. van; Brown, Matthew S.; Jong, Pim A. de; Ginneken, Bram van

2014-01-01

Purpose: Many medical image analysis systems require segmentation of the structures of interest as a first step. For scans with gross pathology, automatic segmentation methods may fail. The authors’ aim is to develop a versatile, fast, and reliable interactive system to segment anatomical structures. In this study, this system was used for segmenting lungs in challenging thoracic computed tomography (CT) scans. Methods: In volumetric thoracic CT scans, the chest is segmented and divided into 3D volumes of interest (VOIs), containing voxels with similar densities. These VOIs are automatically labeled as either lung tissue or nonlung tissue. The automatic labeling results can be corrected using an interactive or a supervised interactive approach. When using the supervised interactive system, the user is shown the classification results per slice, whereupon he/she can adjust incorrect labels. The system is retrained continuously, taking the corrections and approvals of the user into account. In this way, the system learns to make a better distinction between lung tissue and nonlung tissue. When using the interactive framework without supervised learning, the user corrects all incorrectly labeled VOIs manually. Both interactive segmentation tools were tested on 32 volumetric CT scans of pigs, mice and humans, containing pulmonary abnormalities. Results: On average, supervised interactive lung segmentation took under 9 min of user interaction. Algorithm computing time was 2 min on average, but can easily be reduced. On average, 2.0% of all VOIs in a scan had to be relabeled. Lung segmentation using the interactive segmentation method took on average 13 min and involved relabeling 3.0% of all VOIs on average. The resulting segmentations correspond well to manual delineations of eight axial slices per scan, with an average Dice similarity coefficient of 0.933. Conclusions: The authors have developed two fast and reliable methods for interactive lung segmentation in

Development of a bread slicing machine from locally sourced ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper presents the development of a bread slicing machine which is a mechanical device that is used for slicing bread instead of the crude cumbersome and unhygienic method of manual slicing of bread. In an attempt to facilitate the final processing of bread which is a common daily food requirement of most Nigerians ...

Cardiac tissue slices: preparation, handling, and successful optical mapping.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ken; Lee, Peter; Mirams, Gary R; Sarathchandra, Padmini; Borg, Thomas K; Gavaghan, David J; Kohl, Peter; Bollensdorff, Christian

2015-05-01

Cardiac tissue slices are becoming increasingly popular as a model system for cardiac electrophysiology and pharmacology research and development. Here, we describe in detail the preparation, handling, and optical mapping of transmembrane potential and intracellular free calcium concentration transients (CaT) in ventricular tissue slices from guinea pigs and rabbits. Slices cut in the epicardium-tangential plane contained well-aligned in-slice myocardial cell strands ("fibers") in subepicardial and midmyocardial sections. Cut with a high-precision slow-advancing microtome at a thickness of 350 to 400 μm, tissue slices preserved essential action potential (AP) properties of the precutting Langendorff-perfused heart. We identified the need for a postcutting recovery period of 36 min (guinea pig) and 63 min (rabbit) to reach 97.5% of final steady-state values for AP duration (APD) (identified by exponential fitting). There was no significant difference between the postcutting recovery dynamics in slices obtained using 2,3-butanedione 2-monoxime or blebistatin as electromechanical uncouplers during the cutting process. A rapid increase in APD, seen after cutting, was caused by exposure to ice-cold solution during the slicing procedure, not by tissue injury, differences in uncouplers, or pH-buffers (bicarbonate; HEPES). To characterize intrinsic patterns of CaT, AP, and conduction, a combination of multipoint and field stimulation should be used to avoid misinterpretation based on source-sink effects. In summary, we describe in detail the preparation, mapping, and data analysis approaches for reproducible cardiac tissue slice-based investigations into AP and CaT dynamics. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Geometry Processing of Conventionally Produced Mouse Brain Slice Images.

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Nitin; Xu, Xiangmin; Gopi, M

2018-04-21

Brain mapping research in most neuroanatomical laboratories relies on conventional processing techniques, which often introduce histological artifacts such as tissue tears and tissue loss. In this paper we present techniques and algorithms for automatic registration and 3D reconstruction of conventionally produced mouse brain slices in a standardized atlas space. This is achieved first by constructing a virtual 3D mouse brain model from annotated slices of Allen Reference Atlas (ARA). Virtual re-slicing of the reconstructed model generates ARA-based slice images corresponding to the microscopic images of histological brain sections. These image pairs are aligned using a geometric approach through contour images. Histological artifacts in the microscopic images are detected and removed using Constrained Delaunay Triangulation before performing global alignment. Finally, non-linear registration is performed by solving Laplace's equation with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Our methods provide significant improvements over previously reported registration techniques for the tested slices in 3D space, especially on slices with significant histological artifacts. Further, as one of the application we count the number of neurons in various anatomical regions using a dataset of 51 microscopic slices from a single mouse brain. To the best of our knowledge the presented work is the first that automatically registers both clean as well as highly damaged high-resolutions histological slices of mouse brain to a 3D annotated reference atlas space. This work represents a significant contribution to this subfield of neuroscience as it provides tools to neuroanatomist for analyzing and processing histological data. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Estimation of Radiation Exposure of 128-Slice 4D-Perfusion CT for the Assessment of Tumor Vascularity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ketelsen, Dominik; Horger, Marius; Buchgeister, Markus; Fenchel, Michael; Thomas, Christoph; Boehringer, Nadine; Schulze, Maximilian; Tsiflikas, Ilias; Claussen, Claus D.; Heuschmid, Martin [University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen (Germany)

2010-10-15

We aimed to estimate the effective dose of 4D-Perfusion-CT protocols of the lung, liver, and pelvis for the assessment of tumor vascularity. An Alderson-Rando phantom equipped with thermoluminescent dosimeters was used to determine the effective dose values of 4D Perfusion-CT. Phantom measurements were performed on a 128-slice single source scanner in adaptive 4D-spiral-mode with bidirectional table movement and a total scan range of 69 mm over a time period of nearly 120 seconds (26 scans). Perfusion measurements were simulated for the lung, liver, and pelvis under the following conditions: lung (80 kV, 60 mAs), liver (80 kV/80 mAs and 80 kV/120 mAs), pelvis (100 kV/80 mAs and 100 kV/120 mAs). Depending on gender, the evaluated body region and scan protocol, an effective whole-body dose between 2.9-12.2 mSv, was determined. The radiation exposure administered to gender-specific organs like the female breast tissue (lung perfusion) or to the ovaries (pelvic perfusion) led to an increase in the female specific dose by 86% and 100% in perfusion scans of the lung and the pelvis, respectively. Due to a significant radiation dose of 4D-perfusion-CT protocols, the responsible use of this new promising technique is mandatory. Gender- and organ-specific differences should be considered for indication and planning of tumor perfusion scans

Influence of γ-irradiation on drying of slice potato

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Jun; Chao Yan; Fu Junjie; Wang Jianping

2001-01-01

A new technology is introduced to dry food products by hot-air after pretreated by irradiation. The influence of different dosage of irradiation, temperature of hot air, thickness of the slice potato on the rate of dehydration temperature of irradiated potato were studied. A conclusion is reached that the 3 factors, irradiation dosage, hot-air temperature and thickness of slice potato, affect the rate of dehydration and temperature of slice potato. The higher the dosage is, the greater the rate of dehydration of potato becomes, and the higher the temperature of the slice potato gets. (authors)

Influence of the slice thickness in CT to clinical effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimura, Kazue; Katakura, Toshihiko; Ito, Masami; Okuaki, Okihisa; Suzuki, Kenji

1980-01-01

CT is a kind of tomography. Therefore, what thickness of tissue is being observed in the picture - this is important in the clinical application of CT. The influence of slice thickness on the pictures, especially its clinical effect, was examined. The apparatus used is EMI CT 5005. For varying the slice thickness, it cannot be any larger than the thickness essential to the apparatus. Therefore, to make it thinner than the essential 14 mm, collimators were specially prepared, which were used on the sides of an X-ray tube and a detector. As basic observation, the revelation ability of form owing to the difference of slice thickness using acryl pipes, and the revelation ability of slice face owing to the difference of slice thickness, were examined. About clinical observation, the results for certain cases of cancer were compared with the CT images for the slice thickness of 14 mm essential to EMI CT 5005 and the slice thickness of 7 mm achieved by means of the collimators. (J.P.N.)

The topology of large-scale structure. VI - Slices of the universe

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Changbom; Gott, J. R., III; Melott, Adrian L.; Karachentsev, I. D.

1992-03-01

Results of an investigation of the topology of large-scale structure in two observed slices of the universe are presented. Both slices pass through the Coma cluster and their depths are 100 and 230/h Mpc. The present topology study shows that the largest void in the CfA slice is divided into two smaller voids by a statistically significant line of galaxies. The topology of toy models like the white noise and bubble models is shown to be inconsistent with that of the observed slices. A large N-body simulation was made of the biased cloud dark matter model and the slices are simulated by matching them in selection functions and boundary conditions. The genus curves for these simulated slices are spongelike and have a small shift in the direction of a meatball topology like those of observed slices.

The topology of large-scale structure. VI - Slices of the universe

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Changbom; Gott, J. R., III; Melott, Adrian L.; Karachentsev, I. D.

1992-01-01

Results of an investigation of the topology of large-scale structure in two observed slices of the universe are presented. Both slices pass through the Coma cluster and their depths are 100 and 230/h Mpc. The present topology study shows that the largest void in the CfA slice is divided into two smaller voids by a statistically significant line of galaxies. The topology of toy models like the white noise and bubble models is shown to be inconsistent with that of the observed slices. A large N-body simulation was made of the biased cloud dark matter model and the slices are simulated by matching them in selection functions and boundary conditions. The genus curves for these simulated slices are spongelike and have a small shift in the direction of a meatball topology like those of observed slices.

High-resolution multi-slice PET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yasillo, N.J.; Chintu Chen; Ordonez, C.E.; Kapp, O.H.; Sosnowski, J.; Beck, R.N.

1992-01-01

This report evaluates the progress to test the feasibility and to initiate the design of a high resolution multi-slice PET system. The following specific areas were evaluated: detector development and testing; electronics configuration and design; mechanical design; and system simulation. The design and construction of a multiple-slice, high-resolution positron tomograph will provide substantial improvements in the accuracy and reproducibility of measurements of the distribution of activity concentrations in the brain. The range of functional brain research and our understanding of local brain function will be greatly extended when the development of this instrumentation is completed

Volumetric quantification of lung nodules in CT with iterative reconstruction (ASiR and MBIR).

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Baiyu; Barnhart, Huiman; Richard, Samuel; Robins, Marthony; Colsher, James; Samei, Ehsan

2013-11-01

Volume quantifications of lung nodules with multidetector computed tomography (CT) images provide useful information for monitoring nodule developments. The accuracy and precision of the volume quantification, however, can be impacted by imaging and reconstruction parameters. This study aimed to investigate the impact of iterative reconstruction algorithms on the accuracy and precision of volume quantification with dose and slice thickness as additional variables. Repeated CT images were acquired from an anthropomorphic chest phantom with synthetic nodules (9.5 and 4.8 mm) at six dose levels, and reconstructed with three reconstruction algorithms [filtered backprojection (FBP), adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR), and model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR)] into three slice thicknesses. The nodule volumes were measured with two clinical software (A: Lung VCAR, B: iNtuition), and analyzed for accuracy and precision. Precision was found to be generally comparable between FBP and iterative reconstruction with no statistically significant difference noted for different dose levels, slice thickness, and segmentation software. Accuracy was found to be more variable. For large nodules, the accuracy was significantly different between ASiR and FBP for all slice thicknesses with both software, and significantly different between MBIR and FBP for 0.625 mm slice thickness with Software A and for all slice thicknesses with Software B. For small nodules, the accuracy was more similar between FBP and iterative reconstruction, with the exception of ASIR vs FBP at 1.25 mm with Software A and MBIR vs FBP at 0.625 mm with Software A. The systematic difference between the accuracy of FBP and iterative reconstructions highlights the importance of extending current segmentation software to accommodate the image characteristics of iterative reconstructions. In addition, a calibration process may help reduce the dependency of accuracy on reconstruction algorithms

The multi-slice CT perfusion imaging in evaluating the prevention and treatment by edaravone on lung ischemia-reperfusion injury after pulmonary thromboembolism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jianjun, Li; Renyou, Zhai; Dongpo, Zhang; Qiang, Huang; Dingke, Dai; Ping, Yu; Na, Bao [Department of Radiology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical Univ., Beijing (China)

2008-10-15

Objective: To evaluate the multi-slice CT perfusion imaging in investigating whether edaravone can prevent and treat pulmonary thromboembolism ischemia-reperfusion injury (PTE-IRI). Methods: Twenty mongrel canines were included. A Swan-Ganz catheter was introduced into the right internal jugular vein using the Seldinger technique, and then was inserted into the pulmonary artery. Balloon occlusion of the right inferior lobe pulmonary artery for 4 h was followed by removing catheter and 4 h o reperfusion. Animals were divided into four groups of A (no edaravone during ischenmia and reperfusion), B (edaravone used only during ischemia), C (edaravone used during both ischemia and reperfusion) and D group (edaravone used only during reperfusion) (n=5 per group). Every group was divided into three time points including before ischemia, 4 h after ischemia and 4 h after reperfusion. CT scan and CT perfusion were performed at the three time points. The blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV) and mean transit time (MTT) of the bilateral inferior regional lung parenchyma were measured with the software of perfusion 3. Results: CT examination showed pulmonary edema in the right inferior lung lobe at 4 h after reperfusion. (1) The BF and MTT of A, B, C and D group were[(259.4{+-}15.7)ml{center_dot}min{sup -1{center_dot}}100 g{sup -1}, (293.7{+-} 7.9) ml{center_dot}min{sup -1{center_dot}}100 g {sup -1}, (379.4{+-}14.5)ml{center_dot}min{sup -1{center_dot}}100 g{sup -1}, (382.5{+-}16.6)ml{center_dot}min{sup -1{center_dot}}. 100 g{sup -1}] and [(3.1{+-}0.2)s, (2.6{+-}0.2)s, (2.2{+-}0.1)s, (1.9{+-}0.2)s] respectively at 4 h after reperfusion. The BF and MTT were statistically different (P<0.01) between groups (A and B, A and C, A and D, B and C, B and D) except between group C and D (the P value >0.05) at 4 h after reperfusion, but the BV was not statistically different between groups (P>0.05). (2) The BF [(397.2{+-} 19.2)ml{center_dot}min{sup -1{center_dot}}100 g{sup -1} and (259

Automated lung tumor segmentation for whole body PET volume based on novel downhill region growing

Science.gov (United States)

Ballangan, Cherry; Wang, Xiuying; Eberl, Stefan; Fulham, Michael; Feng, Dagan

2010-03-01

We propose an automated lung tumor segmentation method for whole body PET images based on a novel downhill region growing (DRG) technique, which regards homogeneous tumor hotspots as 3D monotonically decreasing functions. The method has three major steps: thoracic slice extraction with K-means clustering of the slice features; hotspot segmentation with DRG; and decision tree analysis based hotspot classification. To overcome the common problem of leakage into adjacent hotspots in automated lung tumor segmentation, DRG employs the tumors' SUV monotonicity features. DRG also uses gradient magnitude of tumors' SUV to improve tumor boundary definition. We used 14 PET volumes from patients with primary NSCLC for validation. The thoracic region extraction step achieved good and consistent results for all patients despite marked differences in size and shape of the lungs and the presence of large tumors. The DRG technique was able to avoid the problem of leakage into adjacent hotspots and produced a volumetric overlap fraction of 0.61 +/- 0.13 which outperformed four other methods where the overlap fraction varied from 0.40 +/- 0.24 to 0.59 +/- 0.14. Of the 18 tumors in 14 NSCLC studies, 15 lesions were classified correctly, 2 were false negative and 15 were false positive.

Microdosimetric approach for lung dose assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofmann, W.; Steinhausler, F.; Pohl, E.; Bernroider, G.

1980-01-01

In the macroscopic region the term ''organ dose'' is related to an uniform energy deposition within a homogeneous biological target. Considering the lung, inhaled radioactive nuclides, however, show a significant non-uniform distribution pattern throughout the respiratory tract. For the calculation of deposition and clearance of inhaled alpha-emitting radionuclides within different regions of this organ, a detailed compartment model, based on the Weibel model A was developed. Since biological effects (e.g. lung cancer initiation) are primarily caused at the cellular level, the interaction of alpha particles with different types of cells of the lung tissue was studied. The basic approach is to superimpose alpha particle tracks on magnified images of randomly selected tissue slices, simulating alpha emitting sources. Particle tracks are generated by means of a specially developed computer program and used as input data for an on-line electronic image analyzer (Quantimet-720). Using adaptive pattern recognition methods the different cells in the lung tissue can be identified and their distribution within the whole organ determined. This microdosimetric method is applied to soluble radon decay products as well as to insoluble, highly localized, plutonium particles. For a defined microdistribution of alpha emitters, the resulting dose, integrated over all cellular dose values, is compared to the compartmental doses of the ICRP lung model. Furthermore this methodology is also applicable to other organs and tissues of the human body for dose calculations in practical health physics. (author)

Introduction to bit slices and microprogramming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Dam, A.

1981-01-01

Bit-slice logic blocks are fourth-generation LSI components which are natural extensions of traditional mulitplexers, registers, decoders, counters, ALUs, etc. Their functionality is controlled by microprogramming, typically to implement CPUs and peripheral controllers where both speed and easy programmability are required for flexibility, ease of implementation and debugging, etc. Processors built from bit-slice logic give the designer an alternative for approaching the programmibility of traditional fixed-instruction-set microprocessors with a speed closer to that of hardwired random logic. (orig.)

Gravitational collapse of charged dust shell and maximal slicing condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maeda, Keiichi

1980-01-01

The maximal slicing condition is a good time coordinate condition qualitatively when pursuing the gravitational collapse by the numerical calculation. The analytic solution of the gravitational collapse under the maximal slicing condition is given in the case of a spherical charged dust shell and the behavior of time slices with this coordinate condition is investigated. It is concluded that under the maximal slicing condition we can pursue the gravitational collapse until the radius of the shell decreases to about 0.7 x (the radius of the event horizon). (author)

Preservation of low slice emittance in bunch compressors

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S. Bettoni

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Minimizing the dilution of the electron beam emittance is crucial for the performance of accelerators, in particular for free electron laser facilities, where the length of the machine and the efficiency of the lasing process depend on it. Measurements performed at the SwissFEL Injector Test Facility revealed an increase in slice emittance after compressing the bunch even for moderate compression factors. The phenomenon was experimentally studied by characterizing the dependence of the effect on beam and machine parameters relevant for the bunch compression. The reproduction of these measurements in simulation required the use of a 3D beam dynamics model along the bunch compressor that includes coherent synchrotron radiation. Our investigations identified transverse effects, such as coherent synchrotron radiation and transverse space charge as the sources of the observed emittance dilution, excluding other effects, such as chromatic effects on single slices or spurious dispersion. We also present studies, both experimental and simulation based, on the effect of the optics mismatch of the slices on the variation of the slice emittance along the bunch. After a corresponding reoptimization of the beam optics in the test facility we reached slice emittances below 200 nm for the central slices along the longitudinal dimension with a moderate increase up to 300 nm in the head and tail for a compression factor of 7.5 and a bunch charge of 200 pC, equivalent to a final current of 150 A, at about 230 MeV energy.

Tumor Slice Culture: A New Avatar in Personalized Oncology

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-16-1-0149 TITLE: Tumor Slice Culture: A New Avatar in Personalized Oncology PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Raymond Yeung...CONTRACT NUMBER Tumor Slice Culture: A New Avatar in Personalized Oncology 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-16-1-0149 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S...10 Annual Report 2017: Tumor Slice Culture: A new avatar for personalized oncology 1. INTRODUCTION: The goal of this research is to advance our

Elastin Cables Define the Axial Connective Tissue System in the Murine Lung.

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Wagner, Willi; Bennett, Robert D; Ackermann, Maximilian; Ysasi, Alexandra B; Belle, Janeil; Valenzuela, Cristian D; Pabst, Andreas; Tsuda, Akira; Konerding, Moritz A; Mentzer, Steven J

2015-11-01

The axial connective tissue system is a fiber continuum of the lung that maintains alveolar surface area during changes in lung volume. Although the molecular anatomy of the axial system remains undefined, the fiber continuum of the lung is central to contemporary models of lung micromechanics and alveolar regeneration. To provide a detailed molecular structure of the axial connective tissue system, we examined the extracellular matrix of murine lungs. The lungs were decellularized using a 24 hr detergent treatment protocol. Systematic evaluation of the decellularized lungs demonstrated no residual cellular debris; morphometry demonstrated a mean 39 ± 7% reduction in lung dimensions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrated an intact structural hierarchy within the decellularized lung. Light, fluorescence, and SEM of precision-cut lung slices demonstrated that alveolar duct structure was defined by a cable line element encased in basement membrane. The cable line element arose in the distal airways, passed through septal tips and inserted into neighboring blood vessels and visceral pleura. The ropelike appearance, collagenase resistance and anti-elastin immunostaining indicated that the cable was an elastin macromolecule. Our results indicate that the helical line element of the axial connective tissue system is composed of an elastin cable that not only defines the structure of the alveolar duct, but also integrates the axial connective tissue system into visceral pleura and peripheral blood vessels. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Estimation of Radiation Exposure of 128-Slice 4D-Perfusion CT for the Assessment of Tumor Vascularity

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Horger, Marius; Buchgeister, Markus; Fenchel, Michael; Thomas, Christoph; Boehringer, Nadine; Schulze, Maximilian; Tsiflikas, Ilias; Claussen, Claus D.; Heuschmid, Martin

2010-01-01

Objective We aimed to estimate the effective dose of 4D-Perfusion-CT protocols of the lung, liver, and pelvis for the assessment of tumor vascularity. Materials and Methods An Alderson-Rando phantom equipped with thermoluminescent dosimeters was used to determine the effective dose values of 4D-Perfusion-CT. Phantom measurements were performed on a 128-slice single-source scanner in adaptive 4D-spiral-mode with bidirectional table movement and a total scan range of 69 mm over a time period of nearly 120 seconds (26 scans). Perfusion measurements were simulated for the lung, liver, and pelvis under the following conditions: lung (80 kV, 60 mAs), liver (80 kV/80 mAs and 80 kV/120 mAs), pelvis (100 kV/80 mAs and 100 kV/120 mAs). Results Depending on gender, the evaluated body region and scan protocol, an effective whole-body dose between 2.9-12.2 mSv, was determined. The radiation exposure administered to gender-specific organs like the female breast tissue (lung perfusion) or to the ovaries (pelvic perfusion) led to an increase in the female specific dose by 86% and 100% in perfusion scans of the lung and the pelvis, respectively. Conclusion Due to a significant radiation dose of 4D-perfusion-CT protocols, the responsible use of this new promising technique is mandatory. Gender- and organ-specific differences should be considered for indication and planning of tumor perfusion scans. PMID:20808699

Visual assessment of functional lungs parenchyma on HRCT and 3He-MRI in patients after single lung transplantation: comparison with quantitative volumetric results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaporozhan, J.; Ley, S.; Gast, K.K.; Heussel, C.P.; Thelen, M.; Biedermann, A.; Eberle, B.; Mayer, E.; Kauczor, H.U.

2005-01-01

Purpose: Visual assessment of the ventilation using HRCT and 3 He-MRI in patients after single lung transplantation (SLTX). Analysis of specific ventilation defects found with 3 He-MRI and morphological changes found with HRCT. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 8 male patients (54±6 years) suffering from emphysema and six patients (3 males and 3 females, 58±9.5 years) suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) after SLTX. The morphological changes at HRCT were classified and localized. In 3 He-MRI (2D FLASH), 10 to 14 slices (slice thickness 10 mm, gap 5 mm) were acquired in coronal orientation to cover the whole lung. Ventilation defects were localized and characterized. The visually estimated ventilation was recorded on a 5-point scoring system. A double threshold technique was applied to volumetric quantification in 3 He-MRI to serve as internal reference. Results: We found no correlation between morphological changes in HRCT and ventilation defects in 3 He-MRI. The visual assessment of ventilation in 3 He-MRI was sufficient in patients with emphysema, but this was not confirmed in patients with IPF. The visual assessment in HRCT did not correlate with the volumetric evaluation in both conditions. Conclusion: The various ventilation defects were not linked to specific morphological changes. For the visually assessed ventilation in patients with emphysema, 3 He-MRI is superior to HRCT. (orig.)

Contour Propagation Using Feature-Based Deformable Registration for Lung Cancer

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Yuhan Yang

2013-01-01

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

Expression and activation of the oxytocin receptor in airway smooth muscle cells: Regulation by TNFα and IL-13

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Siddiqui Salman

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background During pregnancy asthma may remain stable, improve or worsen. The factors underlying the deleterious effect of pregnancy on asthma remain unknown. Oxytocin is a neurohypophyseal protein that regulates a number of central and peripheral responses such as uterine contractions and milk ejection. Additional evidence suggests that oxytocin regulates inflammatory processes in other tissues given the ubiquitous expression of the oxytocin receptor. The purpose of this study was to define the role of oxytocin in modulating human airway smooth muscle (HASMCs function in the presence and absence of IL-13 and TNFα, cytokines known to be important in asthma. Method Expression of oxytocin receptor in cultured HASMCs was performed by real time PCR and flow cytomery assays. Responses to oxytocin was assessed by fluorimetry to detect calcium signals while isolated tracheal rings and precision cut lung slices (PCLS were used to measure contractile responses. Finally, ELISA was used to compare oxytocin levels in the bronchoalveloar lavage (BAL samples from healthy subjects and those with asthma. Results PCR analysis demonstrates that OXTR is expressed in HASMCs under basal conditions and that both interleukin (IL-13 and tumor necrosis factor (TNFα stimulate a time-dependent increase in OXTR expression at 6 and 18 hr. Additionally, oxytocin increases cytosolic calcium levels in fura-2-loaded HASMCs that were enhanced in cells treated for 24 hr with IL-13. Interestingly, TNFα had little effect on oxytocin-induced calcium response despite increasing receptor expression. Using isolated murine tracheal rings and PCLS, oxytocin also promoted force generation and airway narrowing. Further, oxytocin levels are detectable in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL fluid derived from healthy subjects as well as from those with asthma. Conclusion Taken together, we show that cytokines modulate the expression of functional oxytocin receptors in HASMCs suggesting a

Serelaxin Elicits Bronchodilation and Enhances β-Adrenoceptor-mediated Airway Relaxation

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Maggie Lam

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Treatment with β-adrenoceptor agonists does not fully overcome the symptoms associated with severe asthma. Serelaxin elicits potent uterine and vascular relaxation via its cognate receptor, RXFP1, and nitric oxide (NO signaling, and is being clinically evaluated for the treatment of acute heart failure. However, its direct bronchodilator efficacy has yet to be explored. Tracheal rings were prepared from male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-350g and tricolor guinea pigs, and precision cut lung slices (PCLS containing intrapulmonary airways were prepared from rats only. Recombinant human serelaxin (rhRLX alone and in combination with rosiglitazone (PPARγ agonist; recently described as a novel dilator or β-adrenoceptor agonists (isoprenaline, salbutamol were added either to pre-contracted airways, or before contraction with methacholine or endothelin-1. Regulation of rhRLX responses by epithelial removal, indomethacin (cyclooxygenase inhibitor, L-NAME (nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, SQ22536 (adenylate cyclase inhibitor and ODQ (guanylate cyclase inhibitor were also evaluated. Immunohistochemistry was used to localize RXFP1 to airway epithelium and smooth muscle. rhRLX elicited relaxation in rat trachea and PCLS, more slowly than rosiglitazone or isoprenaline, but potentiated relaxation to both these dilators. It markedly increased β-adrenoceptor agonist potency in guinea pig trachea. rhRLX, rosiglitazone and isoprenaline pretreatment also inhibited the development of rat tracheal contraction. Bronchoprotection by rhRLX increased with longer pre-incubation time, and was partially reduced by epithelial removal, indomethacin and/or L-NAME. SQ22536 and ODQ also partially inhibited rhRLX-mediated relaxation in both intact and epithelial-denuded trachea. RXFP1 expression in airway was at higher levels in epithelium than smooth muscle.In summary, rhRLX elicits large and small airway relaxation via epithelial-dependent and -independent mechanisms, likely

A simple method for multiday imaging of slice cultures.

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Seidl, Armin H; Rubel, Edwin W

2010-01-01

The organotypic slice culture (Stoppini et al. A simple method for organotypic cultures of nervous tissue. 1991;37:173-182) has become the method of choice to answer a variety of questions in neuroscience. For many experiments, however, it would be beneficial to image or manipulate a slice culture repeatedly, for example, over the course of many days. We prepared organotypic slice cultures of the auditory brainstem of P3 and P4 mice and kept them in vitro for up to 4 weeks. Single cells in the auditory brainstem were transfected with plasmids expressing fluorescent proteins by way of electroporation (Haas et al. Single-cell electroporation for gene transfer in vivo. 2001;29:583-591). The culture was then placed in a chamber perfused with oxygenated ACSF and the labeled cell imaged with an inverted wide-field microscope repeatedly for multiple days, recording several time-points per day, before returning the slice to the incubator. We describe a simple method to image a slice culture preparation during the course of multiple days and over many continuous hours, without noticeable damage to the tissue or photobleaching. Our method uses a simple, inexpensive custom-built insulator constructed around the microscope to maintain controlled temperature and uses a perfusion chamber as used for in vitro slice recordings. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Endogenous 24S-hydroxycholesterol modulates NMDAR-mediated function in hippocampal slices.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Min-Yu; Izumi, Yukitoshi; Benz, Ann; Zorumski, Charles F; Mennerick, Steven

2016-03-01

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), a major subtype of glutamate receptors mediating excitatory transmission throughout the central nervous system (CNS), play critical roles in governing brain function and cognition. Because NMDAR dysfunction contributes to the etiology of neurological and psychiatric disorders including stroke and schizophrenia, NMDAR modulators are potential drug candidates. Our group recently demonstrated that the major brain cholesterol metabolite, 24S-hydroxycholesterol (24S-HC), positively modulates NMDARs when exogenously administered. Here, we studied whether endogenous 24S-HC regulates NMDAR activity in hippocampal slices. In CYP46A1(-/-) (knockout; KO) slices where endogenous 24S-HC is greatly reduced, NMDAR tone, measured as NMDAR-to-α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) ratio, was reduced. This difference translated into more NMDAR-driven spiking in wild-type (WT) slices compared with KO slices. Application of SGE-301, a 24S-HC analog, had comparable potentiating effects on NMDAR EPSCs in both WT and KO slices, suggesting that endogenous 24S-HC does not saturate its NMDAR modulatory site in ex vivo slices. KO slices did not differ from WT slices in either spontaneous neurotransmission or in neuronal intrinsic excitability, and exhibited LTP indistinguishable from WT slices. However, KO slices exhibited higher resistance to persistent NMDAR-dependent depression of synaptic transmission induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD), an effect restored by SGE-301. Together, our results suggest that loss of positive NMDAR tone does not elicit compensatory changes in excitability or transmission, but it protects transmission against NMDAR-mediated dysfunction. We expect that manipulating this endogenous NMDAR modulator may offer new treatment strategies for neuropsychiatric dysfunction. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Relationship of radiation dose and spiral pitch for multi-slice CT system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Shaojuan; Wang Wei; Liu Chuanya

2006-01-01

Objective: To study the relations of radiation dose and spiral pitch for multi-slice CT system. Methods: 16 mm dose phantom with solidose 300/400 pen-style ion chamber inserted into each of five holes in turn was scanned with different spiral pitch by LightSpeed 16-slice CT and Sensation 16-slice and 64-slice CT and radiation dose. Results: CTDI vol of axial scan and spiral scan for the three types of CT system are: (1) LightSpeed 16-slice CT: 28.9 (axial), 51.4 (pitch 0.562), 30.8 (pitch 0.938) and 16.5 ( pitch 1.75 ); (2) Sensation 16-slice CT: 41.2(axial) and 40.3(pitch 0.5) ,41.5(pitch 1) and 43.2(pitch 1.5); (3) Sensation 64- slice CT: 41.2(axial) and 40.3(pitch 0.5),41.5(pitch 1),43.2(pitch 1.5). Conclusions: For LightSpeed 16-slice CT, the measured radiation dose decreased with the increase of spiral pitch, the image quality could keep constant only if we increase mAs. While for Sensation 16-slice and 64-slice CT system, the measured radiation dose was identical for different pitch, and the image quality was identical because of the use of mAs auto control technique The mAs should be adjusted in different way according to the type of CT system when the pitch is changed in daily operation. (authors)

Comparative biology of decellularized lung matrix: Implications of species mismatch in regenerative medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Balestrini, Jenna L; Gard, Ashley L; Gerhold, Kristin A; Wilcox, Elise C; Liu, Angela; Schwan, Jonas; Le, Andrew V; Baevova, Pavlina; Dimitrievska, Sashka; Zhao, Liping; Sundaram, Sumati; Sun, Huanxing; Rittié, Laure; Dyal, Rachel; Broekelmann, Tom J; Mecham, Robert P; Schwartz, Martin A; Niklason, Laura E; White, Eric S

2016-09-01

Lung engineering is a promising technology, relying on re-seeding of either human or xenographic decellularized matrices with patient-derived pulmonary cells. Little is known about the species-specificity of decellularization in various models of lung regeneration, or if species dependent cell-matrix interactions exist within these systems. Therefore decellularized scaffolds were produced from rat, pig, primate and human lungs, and assessed by measuring residual DNA, mechanical properties, and key matrix proteins (collagen, elastin, glycosaminoglycans). To study intrinsic matrix biologic cues, human endothelial cells were seeded onto acellular slices and analyzed for markers of cell health and inflammation. Despite similar levels of collagen after decellularization, human and primate lungs were stiffer, contained more elastin, and retained fewer glycosaminoglycans than pig or rat lung scaffolds. Human endothelial cells seeded onto human and primate lung tissue demonstrated less expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule and activation of nuclear factor-κB compared to those seeded onto rodent or porcine tissue. Adhesion of endothelial cells was markedly enhanced on human and primate tissues. Our work suggests that species-dependent biologic cues intrinsic to lung extracellular matrix could have profound effects on attempts at lung regeneration. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic segmentation of tumor-laden lung volumes from the LIDC database

Science.gov (United States)

O'Dell, Walter G.

2012-03-01

The segmentation of the lung parenchyma is often a critical pre-processing step prior to application of computer-aided detection of lung nodules. Segmentation of the lung volume can dramatically decrease computation time and reduce the number of false positive detections by excluding from consideration extra-pulmonary tissue. However, while many algorithms are capable of adequately segmenting the healthy lung, none have been demonstrated to work reliably well on tumor-laden lungs. Of particular challenge is to preserve tumorous masses attached to the chest wall, mediastinum or major vessels. In this role, lung volume segmentation comprises an important computational step that can adversely affect the performance of the overall CAD algorithm. An automated lung volume segmentation algorithm has been developed with the goals to maximally exclude extra-pulmonary tissue while retaining all true nodules. The algorithm comprises a series of tasks including intensity thresholding, 2-D and 3-D morphological operations, 2-D and 3-D floodfilling, and snake-based clipping of nodules attached to the chest wall. It features the ability to (1) exclude trachea and bowels, (2) snip large attached nodules using snakes, (3) snip small attached nodules using dilation, (4) preserve large masses fully internal to lung volume, (5) account for basal aspects of the lung where in a 2-D slice the lower sections appear to be disconnected from main lung, and (6) achieve separation of the right and left hemi-lungs. The algorithm was developed and trained to on the first 100 datasets of the LIDC image database.

Generalized Fourier slice theorem for cone-beam image reconstruction.

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Zhao, Shuang-Ren; Jiang, Dazong; Yang, Kevin; Yang, Kang

2015-01-01

The cone-beam reconstruction theory has been proposed by Kirillov in 1961, Tuy in 1983, Feldkamp in 1984, Smith in 1985, Pierre Grangeat in 1990. The Fourier slice theorem is proposed by Bracewell 1956, which leads to the Fourier image reconstruction method for parallel-beam geometry. The Fourier slice theorem is extended to fan-beam geometry by Zhao in 1993 and 1995. By combining the above mentioned cone-beam image reconstruction theory and the above mentioned Fourier slice theory of fan-beam geometry, the Fourier slice theorem in cone-beam geometry is proposed by Zhao 1995 in short conference publication. This article offers the details of the derivation and implementation of this Fourier slice theorem for cone-beam geometry. Especially the problem of the reconstruction from Fourier domain has been overcome, which is that the value of in the origin of Fourier space is 0/0. The 0/0 type of limit is proper handled. As examples, the implementation results for the single circle and two perpendicular circle source orbits are shown. In the cone-beam reconstruction if a interpolation process is considered, the number of the calculations for the generalized Fourier slice theorem algorithm is O(N^4), which is close to the filtered back-projection method, here N is the image size of 1-dimension. However the interpolation process can be avoid, in that case the number of the calculations is O(N5).

Continuous Slice Functional Calculus in Quaternionic Hilbert Spaces

Science.gov (United States)

Ghiloni, Riccardo; Moretti, Valter; Perotti, Alessandro

2013-04-01

The aim of this work is to define a continuous functional calculus in quaternionic Hilbert spaces, starting from basic issues regarding the notion of spherical spectrum of a normal operator. As properties of the spherical spectrum suggest, the class of continuous functions to consider in this setting is the one of slice quaternionic functions. Slice functions generalize the concept of slice regular function, which comprises power series with quaternionic coefficients on one side and that can be seen as an effective generalization to quaternions of holomorphic functions of one complex variable. The notion of slice function allows to introduce suitable classes of real, complex and quaternionic C*-algebras and to define, on each of these C*-algebras, a functional calculus for quaternionic normal operators. In particular, we establish several versions of the spectral map theorem. Some of the results are proved also for unbounded operators. However, the mentioned continuous functional calculi are defined only for bounded normal operators. Some comments on the physical significance of our work are included.

Thermoluminescence results on slices from a Hiroshima tile UHFSFT03

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoneham, Doreen

1987-01-01

As was reported at the May 1984 Utah thermoluminescence (TL) workshop, high fired tiles and porcelain fragments can be sliced into 200 μm sections with constant surface area. When conventional pre-dose measurements were carried out on these slices the doses evaluated were in good agreement with results obtained by other workers using conventional quartz separation techniques. There are several advantages in using slices. First, less sample is needed as about 50 consecutive slices can be cut from a block measuring typically 1 cm 2 cross section and 2 cm in length. There are no problems with securing grains to the plate or loss of grains during measurement. Hypothetically there is less damage to the grains when they are cut slowly under cold water than when they are crushed. The disadvantage is that other minerals besides quartz are present in the slice and the signal is weaker than that obtained using quartz inclusions

Modeling and Realization of a Bearingless Flux-Switching Slice Motor

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Wolfgang Gruber

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This work introduces a novel bearingless slice motor design: the bearingless flux-switching slice motor. In contrast to state-of-the-art bearingless slice motors, the rotor in this new design does not include any permanent rotor magnets. This offers advantages for disposable devices, such as those used in the medical industry, and extends the range of bearingless slice motors toward high-temperature applications. In this study, our focus is on the analytical modeling of the suspension force torque generation of a single coil and the bearingless motor. We assessed motor performance in relation to motor topology by applying performance factors. A prototype motor was optimized, designed, and manufactured. We also presented the state-of-the-art nonlinear feedback control scheme used. The motor was operated, and both static and dynamic measurements were taken on a test bench, thus successfully demonstrating the functionality and applicability of the novel bearingless slice motor concept.

Volumetric quantification of lung nodules in CT with iterative reconstruction (ASiR and MBIR)

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Chen, Baiyu [Medical Physics Graduate Program, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 and Carl E. Ravin Advanced Imaging Laboratories, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States); Barnhart, Huiman [Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States); Richard, Samuel [Carl E. Ravin Advanced Imaging Laboratories, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 and Department of Radiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States); Robins, Marthony [Medical Physics Graduate Program, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States); Colsher, James [Department of Radiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States); Samei, Ehsan [Medical Physics Graduate Program, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States); Carl E. Ravin Advanced Imaging Laboratories, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States); Department of Radiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States); Department of Physics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705 (United States)

2013-11-15

Purpose: Volume quantifications of lung nodules with multidetector computed tomography (CT) images provide useful information for monitoring nodule developments. The accuracy and precision of the volume quantification, however, can be impacted by imaging and reconstruction parameters. This study aimed to investigate the impact of iterative reconstruction algorithms on the accuracy and precision of volume quantification with dose and slice thickness as additional variables.Methods: Repeated CT images were acquired from an anthropomorphic chest phantom with synthetic nodules (9.5 and 4.8 mm) at six dose levels, and reconstructed with three reconstruction algorithms [filtered backprojection (FBP), adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR), and model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR)] into three slice thicknesses. The nodule volumes were measured with two clinical software (A: Lung VCAR, B: iNtuition), and analyzed for accuracy and precision.Results: Precision was found to be generally comparable between FBP and iterative reconstruction with no statistically significant difference noted for different dose levels, slice thickness, and segmentation software. Accuracy was found to be more variable. For large nodules, the accuracy was significantly different between ASiR and FBP for all slice thicknesses with both software, and significantly different between MBIR and FBP for 0.625 mm slice thickness with Software A and for all slice thicknesses with Software B. For small nodules, the accuracy was more similar between FBP and iterative reconstruction, with the exception of ASIR vs FBP at 1.25 mm with Software A and MBIR vs FBP at 0.625 mm with Software A.Conclusions: The systematic difference between the accuracy of FBP and iterative reconstructions highlights the importance of extending current segmentation software to accommodate the image characteristics of iterative reconstructions. In addition, a calibration process may help reduce the dependency of

Volumetric quantification of lung nodules in CT with iterative reconstruction (ASiR and MBIR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Baiyu; Barnhart, Huiman; Richard, Samuel; Robins, Marthony; Colsher, James; Samei, Ehsan

2013-01-01

Purpose: Volume quantifications of lung nodules with multidetector computed tomography (CT) images provide useful information for monitoring nodule developments. The accuracy and precision of the volume quantification, however, can be impacted by imaging and reconstruction parameters. This study aimed to investigate the impact of iterative reconstruction algorithms on the accuracy and precision of volume quantification with dose and slice thickness as additional variables.Methods: Repeated CT images were acquired from an anthropomorphic chest phantom with synthetic nodules (9.5 and 4.8 mm) at six dose levels, and reconstructed with three reconstruction algorithms [filtered backprojection (FBP), adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR), and model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR)] into three slice thicknesses. The nodule volumes were measured with two clinical software (A: Lung VCAR, B: iNtuition), and analyzed for accuracy and precision.Results: Precision was found to be generally comparable between FBP and iterative reconstruction with no statistically significant difference noted for different dose levels, slice thickness, and segmentation software. Accuracy was found to be more variable. For large nodules, the accuracy was significantly different between ASiR and FBP for all slice thicknesses with both software, and significantly different between MBIR and FBP for 0.625 mm slice thickness with Software A and for all slice thicknesses with Software B. For small nodules, the accuracy was more similar between FBP and iterative reconstruction, with the exception of ASIR vs FBP at 1.25 mm with Software A and MBIR vs FBP at 0.625 mm with Software A.Conclusions: The systematic difference between the accuracy of FBP and iterative reconstructions highlights the importance of extending current segmentation software to accommodate the image characteristics of iterative reconstructions. In addition, a calibration process may help reduce the dependency of

Design and Development of a tomato Slicing Machine

OpenAIRE

Kamaldeen Oladimeji Salaudeen; Awagu E. F.

2012-01-01

Principle of slicing was reviewed and tomato slicing machine was developed based on appropriate technology. Locally available materials like wood, stainless steel and mild steel were used in the fabrication. The machine was made to cut tomatoes in 2cm thickness. The capacity of the machine is 540.09g per minute and its performance efficiency is 70%.

Sugar uptake and starch biosynthesis by slices of developing maize endosperm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Felker, F.C.; Liu, Kangchien; Shannon, J.C.

1990-01-01

14 C-Sugar uptake and incorporation into starch by slices of developing maize (Zea mays L.) endosperm were examined and compared with sugar uptake by maize endosperm-derived suspension cultures. Rates of sucrose, fructose, and D- and L-glucose uptake by slices were similar, whereas uptake rates for these sugars differed greatly in suspension cultures. Concentration dependence of sucrose, fructose, and D-glucose uptake was biphasic (consisting of linear plus saturable components) with suspension cultures but linear with slices. These and other differences suggest that endosperm slices are freely permeable to sugars. After diffusion into the slices, sugars were metabolized and incorporated into starch. Starch synthesis, but not sugar accumulation, was greatly reduced by 2.5 millimolar p-chloromercuribenzenesulfonic acid and 0.1 millimolar carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone. Starch synthesis was dependent on kernel age and incubation temperature, but not on external pH (5 through 8). Competing sugars generally did not affect the distribution of 14 C among the soluble sugars extracted from endosperm slices incubated in 14 C-sugars. Competing hexoses reduced the incorporation of 14 C into starch, but competing sucrose did not, suggesting that sucrose is not a necessary intermediate in starch biosynthesis. The bidirectional permeability of endosperm slices to sugars makes the characterization of sugar transport into endosperm slices impossible, however the model system is useful for experiments dealing with starch biosynthesis which occurs in the metabolically active tissue

Quantitative parameters to compare image quality of non-invasive coronary angiography with 16-slice, 64-slice and dual-source computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgstahler, Christof; Reimann, Anja; Brodoefel, Harald; Tsiflikas, Ilias; Thomas, Christoph; Heuschmid, Martin; Daferner, Ulrike; Drosch, Tanja; Schroeder, Stephen; Herberts, Tina

2009-01-01

Multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) is a non-invasive modality to visualize coronary arteries with an overall good image quality. Improved spatial and temporal resolution of 64-slice and dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) scanners are supposed to have a positive impact on diagnostic accuracy and image quality. However, quantitative parameters to compare image quality of 16-slice, 64-slice MSCT and DSCT are missing. A total of 256 CT examinations were evaluated (Siemens, Sensation 16: n=90; Siemens Sensation 64: n=91; Siemens Definition: n=75). Mean Hounsfield units (HU) were measured in the cavum of the left ventricle (LV), the ascending aorta (Ao), the left ventricular myocardium (My) and the proximal part of the left main (LM), the left anterior descending artery (LAD), the right coronary artery (RCA) and the circumflex artery (CX). Moreover, the ratio of intraluminal attenuation (HU) to myocardial attenuation was assessed for all coronary arteries. Clinical data [body mass index (BMI), gender, heart rate] were accessible for all patients. Mean attenuation (CA) of the coronary arteries was significantly higher for DSCT in comparison to 64- and 16-slice MSCT within the RCA [347±13 vs. 254±14 (64-MSCT) vs. 233±11 (16-MSCT) HU], LM (362±11/275 ± 12/262±9), LAD (332±17/248±19/219±14) and LCX (310±12/210±13/221±10, all p<0.05), whereas there was no significant difference between DSCT and 64-MSCT for the LV, the Ao and My. Heart rate had a significant impact on CA ratio in 16-slice and 64-slice CT only (p<0.05). BMI had no impact on the CA ratio in DSCT only (p<0.001). Improved spatial and temporal resolution of dual-source CT is associated with better opacification of the coronary arteries and a better contrast with the myocardium, which is independent of heart rate. In comparison to MSCT, opacification of the coronary arteries at DSCT is not affected by BMI. The main advantage of DSCT lies with the heart rate independency, which might have a

Visual grading of emphysema severity in candidates for lung volume reduction surgery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cederlund, K.; Bergstrand, L.; Hoegberg, S.; Rasmussen, E.; Svane, B.; Aspelin, P.

2002-01-01

Purpose: To investigate which of three types of CT imaging yielded the best results in estimating the degree of emphysema in patients undergoing evaluation for lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS), whether there was any difference in this regard between the cranial and caudal part of the lung, and whether the degree of emphysema had an impact on the estimation. Material and Methods: Four radiologists visually classified different degrees of emphysema on three different types of CT images into four groups. The degree of emphysema was calculated by a computer. The three types of images were as follows: HRCT images (2-mm slice thickness); spiral CT images (10-mm slice thickness); and density-masked images (spiral CT images printed with pixels below 960 HU, depicted in white). Results: The conventionally presented images from HRCT and spiral CT yielded the same results (60% respective 62% correct classifications) in assessing the degree of emphysema irrespective of localisation. Significantly improved results were obtained when the spiral CT images were presented as density-masked images (74%). Conclusion: There was no difference between HRCT and spiral CT in assessing the degree of emphysema in candidates for LVRS. Improvement can be achieved by the use of density-masked images

Quantifying parenchymal tethering in a finite element simulation of a human lung slice under bronchoconstriction.

Science.gov (United States)

Breen, Barbara J; Donovan, Graham M; Sneyd, James; Tawhai, Merryn H

2012-08-15

Airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR), a hallmark of asthma, is a highly complex phenomenon characterised by multiple processes manifesting over a large range of length and time scales. Multiscale computational models have been derived to embody the experimental understanding of AHR. While current models differ in their derivation, a common assumption is that the increase in parenchymal tethering pressure P(teth) during airway constriction can be described using the model proposed by Lai-Fook (1979), which is based on intact lung experimental data for elastic moduli over a range of inflation pressures. Here we reexamine this relationship for consistency with a nonlinear elastic material law that has been parameterised to the pressure-volume behaviour of the intact lung. We show that the nonlinear law and Lai-Fook's relationship are consistent for small constrictions, but diverge when the constriction becomes large. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improved biochemical preservation of heart slices during cold storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, D A; Reid, B B; Connors, R C; Albanil, A; Stringham, J C; Karwande, S V

2000-01-01

Development of myocardial preservation solutions requires the use of whole organ models which are animal and labor intensive. These models rely on physiologic rather than biochemical endpoints, making accurate comparison of the relative efficacy of individual solution components difficult. We hypothesized that myocardial slices could be used to assess preservation of biochemical function during cold storage. Whole rat hearts were precision cut into slices with a thickness of 200 microm and preserved at 4 degrees C in one of the following solutions: Columbia University (CU), University of Wisconsin (UW), D5 0.2% normal saline with 20 meq/l KCL (QNS), normal saline (NS), or a novel cardiac preservation solution (NPS) developed using this model. Myocardial biochemical function was assessed by ATP content (etamoles ATP/mg wet weight) and capacity for protein synthesis (counts per minute (cpm)/mg protein) immediately following slicing (0 hours), and at 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours of cold storage. Six slices were assayed at each time point for each solution. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance and are presented as the mean +/- standard deviation. ATP content was higher in the heart slices stored in the NPS compared to all other solutions at 6, 12, 18 and 24 hours of cold storage (p cold storage (p cold storage.

Pyrethroid insecticides evoke neurotransmitter release from rabbit striatal slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eells, J.T.; Dubocovich, M.L.

1988-01-01

The effects of the synthetic pyrethroid insecticide fenvalerate ([R,S]-alpha-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl[R,S]-2-(4-chlorophenyl)-3- methylbutyrate) on neurotransmitter release in rabbit brain slices were investigated. Fenvalerate evoked a calcium-dependent release of [ 3 H]dopamine and [ 3 H]acetylcholine from rabbit striatal slices that was concentration-dependent and specific for the toxic stereoisomer of the insecticide. The release of [ 3 H]dopamine and [ 3 H]acetylcholine by fenvalerate was modulated by D2 dopamine receptor activation and antagonized completely by the sodium channel blocker, tetrodotoxin. These findings are consistent with an action of fenvalerate on the voltage-dependent sodium channels of the presynaptic membrane resulting in membrane depolarization, and the release of dopamine and acetylcholine by a calcium-dependent exocytotic process. In contrast to results obtained in striatal slices, fenvalerate did not elicit the release of [ 3 H]norepinephrine or [ 3 H]acetylcholine from rabbit hippocampal slices indicative of regional differences in sensitivity to type II pyrethroid actions

Assessment of immunotoxicity using precision-cut tissue slices

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

1. When the immune system encounters incoming infectious agents, this generally leads to immunity. The evoked immune response is usually robust, but can be severely perturbed by potentially harmful environmental agents such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals and allergens. 2. Immunosuppression, hypersensitivity and autoimmunity may occur due to changed immune activity. Evaluation of the immunotoxic potency of agents as part of risk assessment is currently established in vivo with animal models and in vitro with cell lines or primary cells. 3. Although in vivo testing is usually the most relevant situation for many agents, more and more in vitro models are being developed for assessment of immunotoxicity. In this context, hypersensitivity and immunosuppression are considered to be a primary focus for developing in vitro methods. Three-dimensional organotypic tissue models are also part of current research in immunotoxicology. 4. In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in organotypic tissue models. In the context of immunotoxicity testing, precision-cut lung slices in particular have been intensively studied. Therefore, this review is very much focused on pulmonary immunotoxicology. Respiratory hypersensitivity and inflammation are further highlighted aspects of this review. Immunotoxicity assessment currently is of limited use in other tissue models, which are therefore described only briefly within this review. PMID:23199366

Experimental data suggesting that inflammation mediated rat liver mitochondrial dysfunction results from secondary hypoxia rather than from direct effects of inflammatory mediators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adelheid eWeidinger

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Systemic inflammatory response (SIR comprises direct effects of inflammatory mediators (IM and indirect effects, such as secondary circulatory failure which results in tissue hypoxia (HOX. These two key components, SIR and HOX, cause multiple organ failure (MOF. Since HOX and IM occur and interact simultaneously in vivo, it is difficult to clarify their individual pathological impact. To eliminate this interaction, precision cut liver slices (PCLS were used in this study aiming to dissect the effects of HOX and IM on mitochondrial function, integrity of cellular membrane and the expression of genes associated with inflammation. HOX was induced by incubating PCLS or rat liver mitochondria at pO2<1% followed by reoxygenation (HOX/ROX model. Inflammatory injury was stimulated by incubating PCLS with IM (IM model. We found upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS expression only in the IM model, while heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1 expression was upregulated only in the HOX/ROX model. Elevated expression of interleukin 6 (IL-6 was found in both models reflecting converging pathways regulating the expression of this gene. Both models caused damage to hepatocytes resulting in the release of alanine aminotransferase (ALT. The leakage of aspartate aminotransferase (AST was observed only during the hypoxic phase in the HOX/ROX model. The reoxygenation phase of HOX, but not IM, drastically impaired mitochondrial electron supply via complex I and II. Additional experiments performed with isolated mitochondria showed that free iron, released during HOX, is likely a key prerequisite of mitochondrial dysfunction induced during the reoxygenation phase. Our data suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction, previously observed in in vivo SIR-models is the result of secondary circulatory failure inducing HOX rather than the result of a direct interaction of IM with liver cells.

Integrated cardio-thoracic imaging with ECG-Gated 64-slice multidetector-row CT: initial findings in 133 patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salem, Randa; Remy-Jardin, Martine; Delhaye, Damien; Khalil, Chadi; Teisseire, Antoine; Remy, Jacques; Delannoy-Deken, Valerie; Duhamel, Alain

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of assessing the underlying respiratory disease as well as cardiac function during ECG-gated CT angiography of the chest with 64-slice multidetector-row CT (MDCT). One hundred thirty-three consecutive patients in sinus rhythm with known or suspected ventricular dysfunction underwent an ECG-gated CT angiographic examination of the chest without β-blockers using the following parameters: (1) collimation: 32 x 0.6 mm with z-flying focal spot for the acquisition of 64 overlapping 0.6-mm slices (Sensation 64; Siemens); rotation time: 0.33 s; pitch: 0.3; 120 kV; 200 mAs; ECG-controlled dose modulation (ECG-pulsing) and (2) 120 ml of a 35% contrast agent. Data were reconstructed: (1) to evaluate the underlying respiratory disease (1-mm thick lung and mediastinal scans reconstructed at 55% of the R-R interval; i.e., ''morphologic scans'') and (2) to determine right (RVEF) and left (LVEF) ventricular ejection fractions (short-axis systolic and diastolic images; Argus software; i.e., ''functional scans''). The mean heart rate was 73 bpm (range: 42-120) and the mean scan time was 18.11±2.67 s (range: 10-27). A total of 123 examinations (92%) had both lung and mediastinal images rated as diagnostic scans, whereas 10 examinations (8%) had non-diagnostic images altered by the presence of respiratory-motion artifacts (n=4) or cyclic artifacts related to the use of a pitch value of 0.3 in patients with a very low heart rate during data acquisition (n=6). Assessment of right and left ventricular function was achievable in 124 patients (93%, 95% CI: 88-97%). For these 124 examinations, the mean RVEF was 46.10% (±9.5; range: 20-72) and the mean LVEF was 58.23% (±10.88; range: 20-83). In the remaining nine patients, an imprecise segmentation of the right and left ventricular cavities was considered as a limiting factor for precise calculation of end-systolic and end-diastolic ventricular volumes. The mean (±SD) DLP

Role of inflammatory cells and adenosine in lung ischemia reoxygenation injury using a model of lung donation after cardiac death.

Science.gov (United States)

Smail, Hassiba; Baste, Jean-Marc; Gay, Arnaud; Begueret, Hugues; Noël, Romain; Morin, Jean-Paul; Litzler, Pierre-Yves

2016-04-01

The objective of this study is to analyze the role of inflammation in the lung ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury and determine the protective role of adenosine in an in vitro lung transplantation model. We used a hybrid model of lung donor after cardiac death, with warm ischemia in corpo of varying duration (2 h, 4 h) followed by in vitro lung slices culture for reoxygenation (1 h, 4 h and 24 h), in the presence or not of lymphocytes and of adenosine. To quantify the inflammatory lesions, we performed TNFα, IL2 assays, and histological analysis. In this model of a nonblood perfused system, the addition of lymphocytes during reoxygenation lead to higher rates of TNFα and IL2 after 4 h than after 2 h of warm ischemia (P < .05). These levels increased with the duration of reoxygenation and were maximum at 24 h (P < .05). In the presence of adenosine TNFα and IL2 decreased. After 2 h of warm ischemia, we observed a significant inflammatory infiltration, alveolar thickening and a necrosis of the bronchiolar cells. After 4 h of warm ischemia, alveolar cells necrosis was associated. This model showed that lymphocytes increased the inflammatory response and the histological lesions after 4 h of warm ischemia and that adenosine could have an anti-inflammatory role with potential reconditioning action when used in the pneumoplegia solution.

System for automatic detection of lung nodules exhibiting growth

Science.gov (United States)

Novak, Carol L.; Shen, Hong; Odry, Benjamin L.; Ko, Jane P.; Naidich, David P.

2004-05-01

Lung nodules that exhibit growth over time are considered highly suspicious for malignancy. We present a completely automated system for detection of growing lung nodules, using initial and follow-up multi-slice CT studies. The system begins with automatic detection of lung nodules in the later CT study, generating a preliminary list of candidate nodules. Next an automatic system for registering locations in two studies matches each candidate in the later study to its corresponding position in the earlier study. Then a method for automatic segmentation of lung nodules is applied to each candidate and its matching location, and the computed volumes are compared. The output of the system is a list of nodule candidates that are new or have exhibited volumetric growth since the previous scan. In a preliminary test of 10 patients examined by two radiologists, the automatic system identified 18 candidates as growing nodules. 7 (39%) of these corresponded to validated nodules or other focal abnormalities that exhibited growth. 4 of the 7 true detections had not been identified by either of the radiologists during their initial examinations of the studies. This technique represents a powerful method of surveillance that may reduce the probability of missing subtle or early malignant disease.

Resource slicing in virtual wireless networks: a survey

OpenAIRE

Richart, Matias; Baliosian De Lazzari, Javier Ernesto; Serrat Fernández, Juan; Gorricho Moreno, Juan Luis

2016-01-01

New architectural and design approaches for radio access networks have appeared with the introduction of network virtualization in the wireless domain. One of these approaches splits the wireless network infrastructure into isolated virtual slices under their own management, requirements, and characteristics. Despite the advances in wireless virtualization, there are still many open issues regarding the resource allocation and isolation of wireless slices. Because of the dynamics and share...

Verification-Driven Slicing of UML/OCL Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shaikh, Asadullah; Clarisó Viladrosa, Robert; Wiil, Uffe Kock

2010-01-01

computational complexity can limit their scalability. In this paper, we consider a specific static model (UML class diagrams annotated with unrestricted OCL constraints) and a specific property to verify (satisfiability, i.e., “is it possible to create objects without violating any constraint?”). Current...... approaches to this problem have an exponential worst-case runtime. We propose a technique to improve their scalability by partitioning the original model into submodels (slices) which can be verified independently and where irrelevant information has been abstracted. The definition of the slicing procedure...

Slice through an LHC bending magnet

CERN Multimedia

Slice through an LHC superconducting dipole (bending) magnet. The slice includes a cut through the magnet wiring (niobium titanium), the beampipe and the steel magnet yokes. Particle beams in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have the same energy as a high-speed train, squeezed ready for collision into a space narrower than a human hair. Huge forces are needed to control them. Dipole magnets (2 poles) are used to bend the paths of the protons around the 27 km ring. Quadrupole magnets (4 poles) focus the proton beams and squeeze them so that more particles collide when the beams’ paths cross. There are 1232 15m long dipole magnets in the LHC.

Preparation of positional renal slices for study of cell-specific toxicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruegg, C E; Gandolfi, A J; Nagle, R B; Krumdieck, C L; Brendel, K

1987-04-01

To reduce structural complexity, rabbit kidneys were sliced perpendicular to their cortical-papillary axis to isolate four distinct cell groupings. This positional orientation allows identification of each renal cell type based on its location within the slice. A mechanical slicer was used to make several precision-cut slices rapidly from an oriented cylindrical core of renal tissue, with minimal tissue trauma. Slices were then submerged under a gently circulating oxygenated media in a fritted glass support system that maintains viability (intracellular K+/DNA ratio) and structural integrity (histology) for at least 30 h. A high dose of mercuric chloride (10(-3) M) was used to demonstrate the structural and biochemical changes of intoxicated slices. This method provides a controlled subchronic in vitro system for the study of the individual cell types involved in cell-specific renal toxicities and may also be a useful tool for addressing other pharmacological and physiological research questions.

An overview of 5G network slicing architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Qiang; Wang, Xiaolei; Lv, Yingying

2018-05-01

With the development of mobile communication technology, the traditional single network model has been unable to meet the needs of users, and the demand for differentiated services is increasing. In order to solve this problem, the fifth generation of mobile communication technology came into being, and as one of the key technologies of 5G, network slice is the core technology of network virtualization and software defined network, enabling network slices to flexibly provide one or more network services according to users' needs[1]. Each slice can independently tailor the network functions according to the requirements of the business scene and the traffic model and manage the layout of the corresponding network resources, to improve the flexibility of network services and the utilization of resources, and enhance the robustness and reliability of the whole network [2].

Equilibrium initial data for moving puncture simulations: the stationary 1 + log slicing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baumgarte, T W; Matera, K; Etienne, Z B; Liu, Y T; Shapiro, S L; Taniguchi, K; Murchadha, N O

2009-01-01

We discuss a 'stationary 1 + log' slicing condition for the construction of solutions to Einstein's constraint equations. For stationary spacetimes, these initial data give a stationary foliation when evolved with 'moving puncture' gauge conditions that are often used in black hole evolutions. The resulting slicing is time independent and agrees with the slicing generated by being dragged along a timelike Killing vector of the spacetime. When these initial data are evolved with moving puncture gauge conditions, numerical errors arising from coordinate evolution should be minimized. While these properties appear very promising, suggesting that this slicing condition should be an attractive alternative to, for example, maximal slicing, we demonstrate in this paper that solutions can be constructed only for a small class of problems. For binary black hole initial data, in particular, it is often assumed that there exists an approximate helical Killing vector that generates the binary's orbit. We show that 1 + log slices that are stationary with respect to such a helical Killing vector cannot be asymptotically flat, unless the spacetime possesses an additional axial Killing vector.

Electron slicing for the generation of tunable femtosecond soft x-ray pulses from a free electron laser and slice diagnostics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Di Mitri

2013-04-01

Full Text Available We present the experimental results of femtosecond slicing an ultrarelativistic, high brightness electron beam with a collimator. In contrast to some qualitative considerations reported in Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 074801 (2004PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.92.074801, we first demonstrate that the collimation process preserves the slice beam quality, in agreement with our theoretical expectations, and that the collimation is compatible with the operation of a linear accelerator in terms of beam transport, radiation dose, and collimator heating. Accordingly, the collimated beam can be used for the generation of stable femtosecond soft x-ray pulses of tunable duration, from either a self-amplified spontaneous emission or an externally seeded free electron laser. The proposed method also turns out to be a more compact and cheaper solution for electron slice diagnostics than the commonly used radio frequency deflecting cavities and has minimal impact on the machine design.

Exploring intra- and inter-reader variability in uni-dimensional, bi-dimensional, and volumetric measurements of solid tumors on CT scans reconstructed at different slice intervals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Binsheng; Tan, Yongqiang; Bell, Daniel J.; Marley, Sarah E.; Guo, Pingzhen; Mann, Helen; Scott, Marietta L.J.; Schwartz, Lawrence H.; Ghiorghiu, Dana C.

2013-01-01

Objective: Understanding magnitudes of variability when measuring tumor size may be valuable in improving detection of tumor change and thus evaluating tumor response to therapy in clinical trials and care. Our study explored intra- and inter-reader variability of tumor uni-dimensional (1D), bi-dimensional (2D), and volumetric (VOL) measurements using manual and computer-aided methods (CAM) on CT scans reconstructed at different slice intervals. Materials and methods: Raw CT data from 30 patients enrolled in oncology clinical trials was reconstructed at 5, 2.5, and 1.25 mm slice intervals. 118 lesions in the lungs, liver, and lymph nodes were analyzed. For each lesion, two independent radiologists manually and, separately, using computer software, measured the maximum diameter (1D), maximum perpendicular diameter, and volume (CAM only). One of them blindly repeated the measurements. Intra- and inter-reader variability for the manual method and CAM were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models and Bland–Altman method. Results: For the three slice intervals, the maximum coefficients of variation for manual intra-/inter-reader variability were 6.9%/9.0% (1D) and 12.3%/18.0% (2D), and for CAM were 5.4%/9.3% (1D), 11.3%/18.8% (2D) and 9.3%/18.0% (VOL). Maximal 95% reference ranges for the percentage difference in intra-reader measurements for manual 1D and 2D, and CAM VOL were (−15.5%, 25.8%), (−27.1%, 51.6%), and (−22.3%, 33.6%), respectively. Conclusions: Variability in measuring the diameter and volume of solid tumors, manually and by CAM, is affected by CT slice interval. The 2.5 mm slice interval provides the least measurement variability. Among the three techniques, 2D has the greatest measurement variability compared to 1D and 3D

(Non)perturbative gravity, nonlocality, and nice slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giddings, Steven B.

2006-01-01

Perturbative dynamics of gravity is investigated for high-energy scattering and in black hole backgrounds. In the latter case, a straightforward perturbative analysis fails, in a close parallel to the failure of the former when the impact parameter reaches the Schwarzschild radius. This suggests a flaw in a semiclassical description of physics on spatial slices that intersect both outgoing Hawking radiation and matter that has carried information into a black hole; such slices are instrumental in a general argument for black hole information loss. This indicates a possible role for the proposal that nonperturbative gravitational physics is intrinsically nonlocal

The clinical efficacy of 1 mm-slice CT of the middle ear

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noda, Kazuhiro; Noiri, Teruhisa; Doi, Katsumi; Koizuka, Izumi; Tanaka, Hisashi; Mishiro, Yasuo; Okumura, Shin-ichi; Kubo, Takeshi

2000-01-01

The efficacy of the preoperative 1 mm-slice CT for evaluating the condition of the ossicular chain and the facial canal was assessed. CT findings were compared with the operative findings of middle ears in 120 cases of chronic otitis media or cholesteatoma that underwent tympanoplasty. The reliability of 1 mm-slice CT in detecting any defect of the ossicular chain was much superior to those of 2 mm-slice CT previously reported, and the difference between them is essential for preoperative information. On the other hand, thinner slice than 1 mm may be unnecessary, especially in routine use. (author)

The clinical efficacy of 1 mm-slice CT of the middle ear

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noda, Kazuhiro; Noiri, Teruhisa [Kawanishi Municipal Hospital, Hyogo (Japan); Doi, Katsumi; Koizuka, Izumi; Tanaka, Hisashi; Mishiro, Yasuo; Okumura, Shin-ichi; Kubo, Takeshi

2000-02-01

The efficacy of the preoperative 1 mm-slice CT for evaluating the condition of the ossicular chain and the facial canal was assessed. CT findings were compared with the operative findings of middle ears in 120 cases of chronic otitis media or cholesteatoma that underwent tympanoplasty. The reliability of 1 mm-slice CT in detecting any defect of the ossicular chain was much superior to those of 2 mm-slice CT previously reported, and the difference between them is essential for preoperative information. On the other hand, thinner slice than 1 mm may be unnecessary, especially in routine use. (author)

Slice through an LHC focusing magnet

CERN Multimedia

Slice through an LHC superconducting quadrupole (focusing) magnet. The slice includes a cut through the magnet wiring (niobium titanium), the beampipe and the steel magnet yokes. Particle beams in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have the same energy as a high-speed train, squeezed ready for collision into a space narrower than a human hair. Huge forces are needed to control them. Dipole magnets (2 poles) are used to bend the paths of the protons around the 27 km ring. Quadrupole magnets (4 poles) focus the proton beams and squeeze them so that more particles collide when the beams’ paths cross. Bringing beams into collision requires a precision comparable to making two knitting needles collide, launched from either side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Feasibility study of 2D thick-slice MR digital subtraction angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishimori, Yoshiyuki; Takeuchi, Miho; Higashimura, Kyouji; Komuro, Hiroyuki

2000-01-01

Conditions required to perform contrast MR digital subtraction angiography using a two-dimensional thick-slice high-speed gradient echo were investigated. The conditions in the phantom experiment included: slice profile, flip angle, imaging matrix, fat suppression, duration of IR pulse and frequency selectivity, flip angle of IR pulse and inversion time. Based on the results of the experiment, 2D thick-slice MRDSA was performed in volunteers. Under TR/TE=5.3-9/1.3-1.8 ms conditions, the requirements were a slice thick enough to include the target region, a flip angle of 10 degrees, and a phase matrix of 96 or more. Fat suppression was required for adipose-tissue-rich regions, such as the abdomen. The optimal conditions for applying the IR preparation pulse of the IR prepped fast gradient recalled echo as spectrally selective inversion recovery appeared to be: duration of IR pulse =20 ms, flip angle =100 degrees, and inversion time =40 ms. The authors concluded that it was feasible to perform 2D thick-slice MRDSA with time resolution within 1 second. (K.H.)

Free-breathing cardiac MR stress perfusion with real-time slice tracking.

Science.gov (United States)

Basha, Tamer A; Roujol, Sébastien; Kissinger, Kraig V; Goddu, Beth; Berg, Sophie; Manning, Warren J; Nezafat, Reza

2014-09-01

To develop a free-breathing cardiac MR perfusion sequence with slice tracking for use after physical exercise. We propose to use a leading navigator, placed immediately before each 2D slice acquisition, for tracking the respiratory motion and updating the slice location in real-time. The proposed sequence was used to acquire CMR perfusion datasets in 12 healthy adult subjects and 8 patients. Images were compared with the conventional perfusion (i.e., without slice tracking) results from the same subjects. The location and geometry of the myocardium were quantitatively analyzed, and the perfusion signal curves were calculated from both sequences to show the efficacy of the proposed sequence. The proposed sequence was significantly better compared with the conventional perfusion sequence in terms of qualitative image scores. Changes in the myocardial location and geometry decreased by 50% in the slice tracking sequence. Furthermore, the proposed sequence had signal curves that are smoother and less noisy. The proposed sequence significantly reduces the effect of the respiratory motion on the image acquisition in both rest and stress perfusion scans. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Study of Energy Consumption of Potato Slices During Drying Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hafezi Negar

2015-06-01

Full Text Available One of the new methods of food drying using infrared heating under vacuum is to increase the drying rate and maintain the quality of dried product. In this study, potato slices were dried using vacuum-infrared drying. Experiments were performed with the infrared lamp power levels 100, 150 and 200 W, absolute pressure levels 20, 80, 140 and 760 mmHg, and with three thicknesses of slices 1, 2 and 3 mm, in three repetitions. The results showed that the infrared lamp power, absolute pressure and slice thickness have important effects on the drying of potato. With increasing the radiation power, reducing the absolute pressure (acts of vacuum in the dryer chamber and also reducing the thickness of potato slices, drying time and the amount of energy consumed is reduced. In relation to thermal utilization efficiency, results indicated that with increasing the infrared radiation power and decreasing the absolute pressure, thermal efficiency increased.

Comparison of quantitative regional ventilation-weighted fourier decomposition MRI with dynamic fluorinated gas washout MRI and lung function testing in COPD patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaireit, Till F; Gutberlet, Marcel; Voskrebenzev, Andreas; Freise, Julia; Welte, Tobias; Hohlfeld, Jens M; Wacker, Frank; Vogel-Claussen, Jens

2018-06-01

Ventilation-weighted Fourier decomposition-MRI (FD-MRI) has matured as a reliable technique for quantitative measures of regional lung ventilation in recent years, but has yet not been validated in COPD patients. To compare regional fractional lung ventilation obtained by ventilation-weighted FD-MRI with dynamic fluorinated gas washout MRI ( 19 F-MRI) and lung function test parameters. Prospective study. Twenty-seven patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, median age 61 [54-67] years) were included. For FD-MRI and for 19 F-MRI a spoiled gradient echo sequence was used at 1.5T. FD-MRI coronal slices were acquired in free breathing. Dynamic 19 F-MRI was performed after inhalation of 25-30 L of a mixture of 79% fluorinated gas (C 3 F 8 ) and 21% oxygen via a closed face mask tubing using a dedicated coil tuned to 59.9 MHz. 19 F washout times in numbers of breaths ( 19 F-n breaths ) as well as fractional ventilation maps for both methods (FD-FV, 19 F-FV) were calculated. Slices were matched using a landmark driven algorithm, and only corresponding slices with an overlap of >90% were coregistered for evaluation. The obtained parameters were correlated with each other using Spearman's correlation coefficient (r). FD-FV strongly correlated with 19 F-n breaths on a global (r = -0.72, P Fourier decomposition-MRI is a promising noninvasive, radiation-free tool for quantification of regional ventilation in COPD patients. 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;47:1534-1541. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Concentration of (+/-)-propranolol in isolated, perfused lungs of rat.

Science.gov (United States)

Dollery, C T; Junod, A F

1976-01-01

1 The metabolism and the accumulation of (+/-)-propranolol have been studied in isolated lungs of the rat, perfused with an artificial medium. 2 Little or no metabolism took place during the perfusion periods (up to 10 minutes). 3 Accumulation was observed with high tissue/medium ratios for substrate concentrations of 0.2 muM to 1 mM; there was evidence for saturability, but no real plateau could be seen. The presence of two binding sites with different affinities was established. 4 Cold greatly inhibited the accumulation process at low substrate concentrations, but had no effect at 1 mM propranolol. 5 Inhibition of accumulation was measured in the presence of imipramine, desmethylimipramine, nortryptiline, chlorpromazine and of Na+-free medium. Cocaine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and noradrenaline had no effect. Lidocaine enhanced the accumulation process. Release of previously bound propranolol was accelerated in the presence of propranolol and imipramine, unaffected by a Na+-free medium and decreased by cold and by lidocaine. 6 Experiments on lung tissue slices yielded qualitatively similar results to those obtained with perfused lungs. Ouabain and KCN had no or little effect on propranolol accumulation. PMID:1276542

Excitatory and inhibitory pathways modulate kainate excitotoxicity in hippocampal slice cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Casaccia-Bonnefil, P; Benedikz, Eirikur; Rai, R

1993-01-01

In organotypic hippocampal slice cultures, kainate (KA) specifically induces cell loss in the CA3 region while N-methyl-D-aspartate induces cell loss in the CA1 region. The sensitivity of slice cultures to KA toxicity appears only after 2 weeks in vitro which parallels the appearance of mossy...... fibers. KA toxicity is potentiated by co-application with the GABA-A antagonist, picrotoxin. These data suggest that the excitotoxicity of KA in slice cultures is modulated by both excitatory and inhibitory synapses....

Multiphoton microscopy based cryo-imaging of inflated frozen human lung sections at -60°C in healthy and COPD lungs

Science.gov (United States)

Abraham, Thomas; Kayra, Damian; Zhang, Angela; Suzuki, Masaru; McDonough, John; Elliott, W. M.; Cooper, Joel D.; Hogg, James C.

2013-02-01

Lung is a complex gas exchanger with interfacial area (where the gas exchange takes place) is about the size of a tennis court. Respiratory function is linked to the biomechanical stability of the gas exchange or alveolar regions which directly depends on the spatial distributions of the extracellular matrix fibers such fibrillar collagens and elastin fibers. It is very important to visualize and quantify these fibers at their native and inflated conditions to have correct morphometric information on differences between control and diseased states. This can be only achieved in the ex vivo states by imaging directly frozen lung specimens inflated to total lung capacity. Multiphoton microscopy, which uses ultra-short infrared laser pulses as the excitation source, produces multiphoton excitation fluorescence (MPEF) signals from endogenously fluorescent proteins (e.g. elastin) and induces specific second harmonic generation (SHG) signals from non-centrosymmetric proteins such as fibrillar collagens in fresh human lung tissues [J. Struct. Biol. (2010)171,189-196]. Here we report for the first time 3D image data obtained directly from thick frozen inflated lung specimens (~0.7- 1.0 millimeter thick) visualized at -60°C without prior fixation or staining in healthy and diseased states. Lung specimens donated for transplantation and released for research when no appropriate recipient was identified served as controls, and diseased lung specimens donated for research by patients receiving lung transplantation for very severe COPD (n=4) were prepared as previously described [N. Engl. J. Med. (2011) 201, 1567]. Lung slices evenly spaced between apex and base were examined using multiphoton microscopy while maintained at -60°C using a temperature controlled cold stage with a temperature resolution of 0.1°C. Infrared femto-second laser pulses tuned to 880nm, dry microscopic objectives, and non-de-scanned detectors/spectrophotometer located in the reflection geometry were

Cochlear Implant Electrode Localization Using an Ultra-High Resolution Scan Mode on Conventional 64-Slice and New Generation 192-Slice Multi-Detector Computed Tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlson, Matthew L; Leng, Shuai; Diehn, Felix E; Witte, Robert J; Krecke, Karl N; Grimes, Josh; Koeller, Kelly K; Bruesewitz, Michael R; McCollough, Cynthia H; Lane, John I

2017-08-01

A new generation 192-slice multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) clinical scanner provides enhanced image quality and superior electrode localization over conventional MDCT. Currently, accurate and reliable cochlear implant electrode localization using conventional MDCT scanners remains elusive. Eight fresh-frozen cadaveric temporal bones were implanted with full-length cochlear implant electrodes. Specimens were subsequently scanned with conventional 64-slice and new generation 192-slice MDCT scanners utilizing ultra-high resolution modes. Additionally, all specimens were scanned with micro-CT to provide a reference criterion for electrode position. Images were reconstructed according to routine temporal bone clinical protocols. Three neuroradiologists, blinded to scanner type, reviewed images independently to assess resolution of individual electrodes, scalar localization, and severity of image artifact. Serving as the reference standard, micro-CT identified scalar crossover in one specimen; imaging of all remaining cochleae demonstrated complete scala tympani insertions. The 192-slice MDCT scanner exhibited improved resolution of individual electrodes (p implant imaging compared with conventional MDCT. This technology provides important feedback regarding electrode position and course, which may help in future optimization of surgical technique and electrode design.

The visibility of mandibular canal on orthoradial and oblique CBCT slices at molar implant sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alkhader, Mustafa; Jarab, Fadi; Shaweesh, Ashraf; Hudieb, Malik

2016-01-01

The aim of the present study was to compare visibility of the mandibular canal on cone beam computed tomography (CBCT)-based orthoradial and oblique slices at molar implant sites. CBCT images for 132 mandibular molar implant sites were selected for the study. After generating orthoradial and oblique slices, two observers evaluated the visibility of the mandibular canal using three-point scoring scale (1-3, good to excellent). Wilcoxon signed-rank test compared the visibility scores of the two slices. Both orthoradial and oblique slices obtained from CBCT had only very good to excellent mandibular canal visibility scores. At 114 mandibular molar implant sites, the visibility score was equal on both orthoradial and oblique slices. Although the visibility score was higher on orthoradial slices for 12 implant sites, the visibility score was higher for six implant sites on oblique slices and the difference was not significant. Therefore, the visibility of the mandibular canal was excellent and comparable on most of orthoradial and oblique slices obtained from CBCT images

Magnetohydrodynamics of unsteady viscous fluid on boundary layer past a sliced sphere

Science.gov (United States)

Nursalim, Rahmat; Widodo, Basuki; Imron, Chairul

2017-10-01

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is important study in engineering and industrial fields. By study on MHD, we can reach the fluid flow characteristics that can be used to minimize its negative effect to an object. In decades, MHD has been widely studied in various geometry forms and fluid types. The sliced sphere is a geometry form that has not been investigated. In this paper we study magnetohydrodynamics of unsteady viscous fluid on boundary layer past a sliced sphere. Assumed that the fluid is incompressible, there is no magnetic field, there is no electrical voltage, the sliced sphere is fix and there is no barrier around the object. In this paper we focus on velocity profile at stagnation point (x = 0°). Mathematical model is governed by continuity and momentum equation. It is converted to non-dimensional, stream function, and similarity equation. Solution of the mathematical model is obtained by using Keller-Box numerical method. By giving various of slicing angle and various of magnetic parameter we get the simulation results. The simulation results show that increasing the slicing angle causes the velocity profile be steeper. Also, increasing the value of magnetic parameter causes the velocity profile be steeper. On the large slicing angle there is no significant effect of magnetic parameter to velocity profile, and on the high the value of magnetic parameter there is no significant effect of slicing angle to velocity profile.

On the way to isotopic spatial resolution: technical principles and applications of 16-slice CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flohr, T.; Ohnesorge, B.; Stierstorfer, K.

2005-01-01

The broad introduction of multi-slice CT by all major vendors in 1998 was a milestone with regard to extended volume coverage, improved axial resolution and better utilization of the tube output. New clinical applications such as CT-examinations of the heart and the coronary arteries became possible. Despite all promising advances, some limitations remain for 4-slice CT systems. They come close to isotropic resolution, but do not fully reach it in routine clinical applications. Cardiac CT-examinations require careful patient selection. The new generation of multi-slice CT-systems offer simultaneous acquisition of up to 16 sub-millimeter slices and improved temporal resolution for cardiac examinations by means of reduced gantry rotation time (0.4 s). In this overview article we present the basic technical principles and potential applications of 16-slice technology for the example of a 16-slice CT-system (SOMATOM Sensation 16, Siemens AG, Forchheim). We discuss detector design and dose efficiency as well as spiral scan- and reconstruction techniques. At comparable slice thickness, 16-slice CT-systems have a better dose efficiency than 4-slice CT-systems. The cone-beam geometry of the measurement rays requires new reconstruction approaches, an example is the adaptive multiple plane reconstruction, AMPR. First clinical experience indicates that sub-millimeter slice width in combination with reduced gantry rotation-time improves the clinical stability of cardiac examinations and expands the spectrum of patients accessible to cardiac CT. 16-slice CT-systems have the potential to cover even large scan ranges with sub-millimeter slices at considerably reduced examination times, thus approaching the goal of routine isotropic imaging [de

[Standardization of production of process Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix slices].

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Zhen-Yang; Wang, Ying-Zi; Nie, Rui-Jie; Zhang, Jing-Zhen; Wang, Si-Yu

2017-12-01

Notopterol, isoimperatorin, volatile oil and extract （water and ethanol) were used as the research objects in this study to investigate the effects of different softening method, slice thickness and drying methods on the quality of Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix slices, and the experimental data were analyzed by homogeneous distance evaluation method. The results showed that different softening, cutting and drying processes could affect the content of five components in Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix incisum. The best processing technology of Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix slices was as follows: non-medicinal parts were removed; mildewed and rot as well as moth-eaten parts were removed; washed by the flowing drinking water; stacked in the drug pool; moistening method was used for softening, where 1/8 volume of water was sprayed for every 1 kg of herbs every 2 h; upper part of herbs covered with clean and moist cotton, and cut into thick slices (2-4 mm) after 12 h moistening until appropriate softness, then received blast drying for 4 h at 50 ℃, and turned over for 2 times during the drying. The process is practical and provides the experimental basis for the standardization of the processing of Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix, with great significance to improve the quality of Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix slices. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Slice image pretreatment for cone-beam computed tomography based on adaptive filter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Kuidong; Zhang Dinghua; Jin Yanfang

2009-01-01

According to the noise properties and the serial slice image characteristics in Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) system, a slice image pretreatment for CBCT based on adaptive filter was proposed. The judging criterion for the noise is established firstly. All pixels are classified into two classes: adaptive center weighted modified trimmed mean (ACWMTM) filter is used for the pixels corrupted by Gauss noise and adaptive median (AM) filter is used for the pixels corrupted by impulse noise. In ACWMTM filtering algorithm, the estimated Gauss noise standard deviation in the current slice image with offset window is replaced by the estimated standard deviation in the adjacent slice image to the current with the corresponding window, so the filtering accuracy of the serial images is improved. The pretreatment experiment on CBCT slice images of wax model of hollow turbine blade shows that the method makes a good performance both on eliminating noises and on protecting details. (authors)

Drying characteristics of pumpkin ( Cucurbita moschata) slices in convective and freeze dryer

Science.gov (United States)

Caliskan, Gulsah; Dirim, Safiye Nur

2017-06-01

This study was intended to determine the drying and rehydration kinetics of convective and freeze dried pumpkin slices (0.5 × 3.5 × 0.5 cm). A pilot scale tray drier (at 80 ± 2 °C inlet temperature, 1 m s-1 air velocity) and freeze drier (13.33 kPa absolute pressure, condenser temperature of -48 ± 2 °C) were used for the drying experiments. Drying curves were fitted to six well-known thin layer drying models. Nonlinear regression analysis was used to evaluate the parameters of the selected models by using statistical software SPSS 16.0 (SPSS Inc., USA). For the convective and freeze drying processes of pumpkin slices, the highest R2 values, and the lowest RMSE as well as χ2 values were obtained from Page model. The effective moisture diffusivity (Deff) of the convective and freeze dried pumpkin slices were obtained from the Fick's diffusion model, and they were found to be 2.233 × 10-7 and 3.040 × 10-9 m2s-1, respectively. Specific moisture extraction rate, moisture extraction rate, and specific energy consumption values were almost twice in freeze drying process. Depending on the results, moisture contents and water activity values of pumpkin slices were in acceptable limits for safe storage of products. The rehydration behaviour of [at 18 ± 2 and 100 ± 2 °C for 1:25, 1:50, 1:75, 1:100, and 1:125 solid:liquid ratios (w:w)] dried pumpkin slices was determined by Peleg's model with the highest R2. The highest total soluble solid loss of pumpkin slices was observed for the rehydration experiment which performed at 1:25 solid: liquid ratio (w:w). Rehydration ratio of freeze dried slices was found 2-3 times higher than convective dried slices.

A shape-based statistical method to retrieve 2D TRUS-MR slice correspondence for prostate biopsy

Science.gov (United States)

Mitra, Jhimli; Srikantha, Abhilash; Sidibé, Désiré; Martí, Robert; Oliver, Arnau; Lladó, Xavier; Ghose, Soumya; Vilanova, Joan C.; Comet, Josep; Meriaudeau, Fabrice

2012-02-01

This paper presents a method based on shape-context and statistical measures to match interventional 2D Trans Rectal Ultrasound (TRUS) slice during prostate biopsy to a 2D Magnetic Resonance (MR) slice of a pre-acquired prostate volume. Accurate biopsy tissue sampling requires translation of the MR slice information on the TRUS guided biopsy slice. However, this translation or fusion requires the knowledge of the spatial position of the TRUS slice and this is only possible with the use of an electro-magnetic (EM) tracker attached to the TRUS probe. Since, the use of EM tracker is not common in clinical practice and 3D TRUS is not used during biopsy, we propose to perform an analysis based on shape and information theory to reach close enough to the actual MR slice as validated by experts. The Bhattacharyya distance is used to find point correspondences between shape-context representations of the prostate contours. Thereafter, Chi-square distance is used to find out those MR slices where the prostates closely match with that of the TRUS slice. Normalized Mutual Information (NMI) values of the TRUS slice with each of the axial MR slices are computed after rigid alignment and consecutively a strategic elimination based on a set of rules between the Chi-square distances and the NMI leads to the required MR slice. We validated our method for TRUS axial slices of 15 patients, of which 11 results matched at least one experts validation and the remaining 4 are at most one slice away from the expert validations.

Deep neural network convolution (NNC) for three-class classification of diffuse lung disease opacities in high-resolution CT (HRCT): consolidation, ground-glass opacity (GGO), and normal opacity

Science.gov (United States)

Hashimoto, Noriaki; Suzuki, Kenji; Liu, Junchi; Hirano, Yasushi; MacMahon, Heber; Kido, Shoji

2018-02-01

Consolidation and ground-glass opacity (GGO) are two major types of opacities associated with diffuse lung diseases. Accurate detection and classification of such opacities are crucially important in the diagnosis of lung diseases, but the process is subjective, and suffers from interobserver variability. Our study purpose was to develop a deep neural network convolution (NNC) system for distinguishing among consolidation, GGO, and normal lung tissue in high-resolution CT (HRCT). We developed ensemble of two deep NNC models, each of which was composed of neural network regression (NNR) with an input layer, a convolution layer, a fully-connected hidden layer, and a fully-connected output layer followed by a thresholding layer. The output layer of each NNC provided a map for the likelihood of being each corresponding lung opacity of interest. The two NNC models in the ensemble were connected in a class-selection layer. We trained our NNC ensemble with pairs of input 2D axial slices and "teaching" probability maps for the corresponding lung opacity, which were obtained by combining three radiologists' annotations. We randomly selected 10 and 40 slices from HRCT scans of 172 patients for each class as a training and test set, respectively. Our NNC ensemble achieved an area under the receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of 0.981 and 0.958 in distinction of consolidation and GGO, respectively, from normal opacity, yielding a classification accuracy of 93.3% among 3 classes. Thus, our deep-NNC-based system for classifying diffuse lung diseases achieved high accuracies for classification of consolidation, GGO, and normal opacity.

Development and evaluation of bevacizumab-modified pegylated cationic liposomes using cellular and in vivo models of human pancreatic cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Kuesters, Geoffrey M.

Targeting the tumor vascular supply in a homogenous manner is a difficult task to achieve with the use of pegylated cationic liposomes (PCLs) alone. Our formulation consisting of bevacizumab conjugated to the distal end of PEG on PCLs was thus developed in an effort to eliminate some of this heterogeneity as well as to increase tumor targeting overall. This study focuses on pancreatic cancer, which has the poorest five-year survival rate of all cancers because of its late diagnosis. The addition of bevacizumab will target tumor areas because it binds to VEGF which is secreted by tumors in high levels. In vitro, we showed that pancreatic cancer cells (Capan-1, HPAF-II and PANC-1) all secrete VEGF into media at different levels, with Capan-1 producing the most and HPAF-II producing the least. A murine endothelial cell line, MS1-VEGF, produces and secretes the most VEGF. A human microvascular endothelial cell line (HMEC-1) was grown in two different conditions, with and without VEGF in the media. Modifying PCLs with bevacizumab enhanced the binding and uptake of PCLs by some pancreatic and endothelial cells in vitro, particularly the cells that had or secreted the most significant amount of VEGF in the media. This translated into enhanced tumor targeting in a biodistribution study using a Capan-1 subcutaneous pancreatic tumor model. This also showed enhanced blood retention compared to the unmodified PCLs while it diminished uptake by the spleen and increased uptake by the kidney. To test the therapeutic benefit of this enhanced uptake and targeting, an anti-angiogenic agent, 2-methoxyestradiol was incorporated into the formulation with 20% incorporation efficiency. Both the unmodified and modified drug-loaded PCLs were the least efficacious against Capan-1, moderately effective against HPAF-II, PANC-1, MS1-VEGF and HMEC-1 grown without VEGF in the media and most efficacious against HMEC-1 grown with VEGF which had the most VEGF present in the media. Multiple in vivo

A comparative risk assessment for Listeria monocytogenes in prepackaged versus retail-sliced deli meat.

Science.gov (United States)

Endrikat, Sarah; Gallagher, Daniel; Pouillot, Régis; Hicks Quesenberry, Heather; Labarre, David; Schroeder, Carl M; Kause, Janell

2010-04-01

Deli meat was ranked as the highest-risk ready-to-eat food vehicle of Listeria monocytogenes within the 2003 U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service risk assessment. The comparative risk of L. monocytogenes in retail-sliced versus prepackaged deli meats was evaluated with a modified version of this model. Other research has found that retail-sliced deli meats have both higher prevalence and levels of L. monocytogenes than have product sliced and packaged at the manufacturer level. The updated risk assessment model considered slicing location as well as the use of growth inhibitors. The per annum comparative risk ratio for the number of deaths from retail-sliced versus prepackaged deli meats was found to be 4.89, and the per-serving comparative risk ratio was 4.27. There was a significant interaction between the use of growth inhibitors and slicing location. Almost 70% of the estimated deaths occurred from retail-sliced product that did not possess a growth inhibitor. A sensitivity analysis, assessing the effect of the model's consumer storage time and shelf life assumptions, found that even if retail-sliced deli meats were stored for a quarter of the time prepackaged deli meats were stored, retail-sliced product is 1.7 times more likely to result in death from listeriosis. Sensitivity analysis also showed that the shelf life assumption had little effect on the comparative risk ratio.

Scanning and contrast enhancement protocols for multi-slice CT in evaluation of the upper abdomen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awai, Kazuo; Onishi, Hiromitsu; Takada, Koichi; Yamaguchi, Yasuo; Eguchi, Nobuko; Hiraishi, Kumiko; Hori, Shinichi

2000-01-01

The advent of multi-slice CT is one of the quantum leaps in computed tomography since the introduction of helical CT. Multi-slice CT can rapidly scan a large longitudinal (z-axis) volume with high longitudinal resolution and low image artifacts. The rapid volume coverage speed of multi-slice CT can increase the difficulty in optimizing the delay time between the beginning of contrast material injection and the acquisition of images and we need accurate knowledge about optimal temporal window for adequate contrast enhancement. High z-axis resolution of multi-slice can improve the quality of three-dimensional images and MPR images and we must select adequate slice thickness and slice intervals in each case. We discuss basic considerations for adequate contrast enhancement and scanning protocols by multi-slice CT scanner in the upper abdomen. (author)

Fluidic system for long-term in vitro culturing and monitoring of organotypic brain slices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bakmand, Tanya; Troels-Smith, Ane R.; Dimaki, Maria

2015-01-01

Brain slice preparations cultured in vitro have long been used as a simplified model for studying brain development, electrophysiology, neurodegeneration and neuroprotection. In this paper an open fluidic system developed for improved long term culturing of organotypic brain slices is presented....... The positive effect of continuous flow of growth medium, and thus stability of the glucose concentration and waste removal, is simulated and compared to the effect of stagnant medium that is most often used in tissue culturing. Furthermore, placement of the tissue slices in the developed device was studied...... by numerical simulations in order to optimize the nutrient distribution. The device was tested by culturing transverse hippocampal slices from 7 days old NMRI mice for a duration of 14 days. The slices were inspected visually and the slices cultured in the fluidic system appeared to have preserved...

Brain slice on a chip: opportunities and challenges of applying microfluidic technology to intact tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yu; Williams, Justin C; Johnson, Stephen M

2012-06-21

Isolated brain tissue, especially brain slices, are valuable experimental tools for studying neuronal function at the network, cellular, synaptic, and single channel levels. Neuroscientists have refined the methods for preserving brain slice viability and function and converged on principles that strongly resemble the approach taken by engineers in developing microfluidic devices. With respect to brain slices, microfluidic technology may 1) overcome the traditional limitations of conventional interface and submerged slice chambers and improve oxygen/nutrient penetration into slices, 2) provide better spatiotemporal control over solution flow/drug delivery to specific slice regions, and 3) permit successful integration with modern optical and electrophysiological techniques. In this review, we highlight the unique advantages of microfluidic devices for in vitro brain slice research, describe recent advances in the integration of microfluidic devices with optical and electrophysiological instrumentation, and discuss clinical applications of microfluidic technology as applied to brain slices and other non-neuronal tissues. We hope that this review will serve as an interdisciplinary guide for both neuroscientists studying brain tissue in vitro and engineers as they further develop microfluidic chamber technology for neuroscience research.

Normal mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes evaluated by 5 mm slice bolus injection CT scan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Takako; Tsukada, Hiroshi; Koizumi, Naoya; Akita, Shinichi; Oda, Junichi; Sakai, Kunio

1995-01-01

We evaluated the number and size of normal mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes by 5 mm slice bolus injection CT (12 patients), compared with 10 mm slice CT (12 patients). More lymph nodes were clearly demonstrated by 5 mm slice CT than by 10 mm slice CT. Especially left-sided tracheobronchial (no.4), subaortic (no.5), subcarinal (no.7) and hilar lymph nodes were clearly visible. We concluded 5 mm slice bolus injection CT was useful to evaluate mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes. (author)

Extension of shelf-life of Chickoo slices using hurdle technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirodkar, S.; Behere, A.G.; Padwal-Desai, S.R.; Lele, S.S.; Pai, J.S.

2001-01-01

An attempt has been made to evolve a protocol to prepare shelf-stable high moisture chickoo slices using Hurdle Technology. The process is based on a slight reduction of water activity (0.98?0.94) by osmosis with a 70 deg Brix sucrose syrup, lowering of pH (5.75 to 4.46) by addition of citric acid, addition of KMS and then subjecting the resulting slices to different doses of gamma radiation ranging from 0.25-1 kGy. Radiation processed chickoo slices remained acceptable for 8 weeks at sub-room temperature (10 ± 2 degC) and for 3 weeks at ambient temperature (28 ± 2 degC) when evaluated by a taste-test panel. (author)

Thin-Slice Perception Develops Slowly

Science.gov (United States)

Balas, Benjamin; Kanwisher, Nancy; Saxe, Rebecca

2012-01-01

Body language and facial gesture provide sufficient visual information to support high-level social inferences from "thin slices" of behavior. Given short movies of nonverbal behavior, adults make reliable judgments in a large number of tasks. Here we find that the high precision of adults' nonverbal social perception depends on the slow…

A z-gradient array for simultaneous multi-slice excitation with a single-band RF pulse.

Science.gov (United States)

Ertan, Koray; Taraghinia, Soheil; Sadeghi, Alireza; Atalar, Ergin

2018-07-01

Multi-slice radiofrequency (RF) pulses have higher specific absorption rates, more peak RF power, and longer pulse durations than single-slice RF pulses. Gradient field design techniques using a z-gradient array are investigated for exciting multiple slices with a single-band RF pulse. Two different field design methods are formulated to solve for the required current values of the gradient array elements for the given slice locations. The method requirements are specified, optimization problems are formulated for the minimum current norm and an analytical solution is provided. A 9-channel z-gradient coil array driven by independent, custom-designed gradient amplifiers is used to validate the theory. Performance measures such as normalized slice thickness error, gradient strength per unit norm current, power dissipation, and maximum amplitude of the magnetic field are provided for various slice locations and numbers of slices. Two and 3 slices are excited by a single-band RF pulse in simulations and phantom experiments. The possibility of multi-slice excitation with a single-band RF pulse using a z-gradient array is validated in simulations and phantom experiments. Magn Reson Med 80:400-412, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Lung and heart dose volume analyses with CT simulator in radiation treatment of breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Das, Indra J.; Cheng, Elizabeth C.; Freedman, Gary; Fowble, Barbara

1998-01-01

Purpose: Radiation pneumonitis and cardiac effects are directly related to the irradiated lung and heart volumes in the treatment fields. The central lung distance (CLD) from a tangential breast radiograph is shown to be a significant indicator of ipsilateral irradiated lung volume. Retrospective analysis of the pattern of dose volume of lung and heart with actual volume data from a CT simulator in the treatment of breast cancer is presented with respect to CLD. Methods and Materials: The heart and lung volumes in the tangential treatment fields were analyzed in 108 consecutive cases (52 left and 56 right breast) referred for CT simulation. All patients in this study were immobilized and placed on an inclined breast board in actual treatment setup. Both arms were stretched over head to avoid collision with the scanner aperture. Radiopaque marks were placed on the medial and lateral borders of the tangential fields. All patients were scanned in spiral mode with slice width and thickness of 3 mm each, respectively. The lung and heart structures as well as irradiated areas were delineated on each slice and respective volumes were accurately measured. The treatment beam parameters were recorded and the digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) were generated for the measurement of the CLD and analysis. Results: Using CT data the mean volume and standard deviation of left and right lungs were 1307.7 ± 297.7 cm 3 and 1529.6 ± 298.5 cm 3 , respectively. The magnitude of irradiated volume in left and right lung is nearly equal for the same CLD that produces different percent irradiated volumes (PIV). The left and right PIV lungs are 8.3 ± 4.7% and 6.6 ± 3.7%, respectively. The PIV data have shown to correlate with CLD with second- and third-degree polynomials; however, in this study a simple straight line regression is used to provide better confidence than the higher order polynomials. The regression lines for the left and right breasts are very different based on

A rapid and simple method for cryopreservation of human liver slices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Kanter, R; Olinga, Peter; Hof, I.H; de Jager, M.H; Verwillegen, W.A; Slooff, M.JH; Meijer, D.K F; Groothuis, Geny; Koster, H

1. Precision-cut liver slices represent a suitable and convenient in vitro preparation for studying metabolism and toxicity mechanisms of drugs and toxic chemicals. Particularly in the case of human liver slices, cryopreservation would enable more efficient utilization of this scarce and irregularly

Organotypic hippocampal slice cultures for studies of brain damage, neuroprotection and neurorepair

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Noraberg, Jens; Poulsen, Frantz Rom; Blaabjerg, Morten

2005-01-01

Slices of developing brain tissue can be grown for several weeks as so-called organotypic slice cultures. Here we summarize and review studies using hippocampal slice cultures to investigate mechanisms and treatment strategies for the neurodegenerative disorders like stroke (cerebral ischemia......), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and epilepsia. Studies of non-excitotoxic neurotoxic compounds and the experimental use of slice cultures in studies of HIV neurotoxicity, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and neurogenesis are included. For cerebral ischemia, experimental models with oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD......) and exposure to glutamate receptor agonists (excitotoxins) are reviewed. For epilepsia, focus is on induction of seizures with effects on neuronal loss, axonal sprouting and neurogenesis. For Alzheimer's disease, the review centers on the use of beta-amyloid (Abeta) in different models, while the section...

Adaptive SLICE method: an enhanced method to determine nonlinear dynamic respiratory system mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Zhanqi; Möller, Knut; Guttmann, Josef

2012-01-01

The objective of this paper is to introduce and evaluate the adaptive SLICE method (ASM) for continuous determination of intratidal nonlinear dynamic compliance and resistance. The tidal volume is subdivided into a series of volume intervals called slices. For each slice, one compliance and one resistance are calculated by applying a least-squares-fit method. The volume window (width) covered by each slice is determined based on the confidence interval of the parameter estimation. The method was compared to the original SLICE method and evaluated using simulation and animal data. The ASM was also challenged with separate analysis of dynamic compliance during inspiration. If the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the respiratory data decreased from +∞ to 10 dB, the relative errors of compliance increased from 0.1% to 22% for the ASM and from 0.2% to 227% for the SLICE method. Fewer differences were found in resistance. When the SNR was larger than 40 dB, the ASM delivered over 40 parameter estimates (42.2 ± 1.3). When analyzing the compliance during inspiration separately, the estimates calculated with the ASM were more stable. The adaptive determination of slice bounds results in consistent and reliable parameter values. Online analysis of nonlinear respiratory mechanics will profit from such an adaptive selection of interval size. (paper)

Lysosome stabilization in slices of rat liver when incubated with vitamin A excess

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morre, D.M.; Morre, D.J.; Bowen, S.; Reutter, W.

1986-01-01

An organ culture of slices of livers from adult rats was used to study effect of vitamin A (all-trans retinol) on lysosome stability. Lysosomes were purified by centrifugation in Percoll gradients. Preparations were monitored by electron microscopy and evaluated by morphometry and assays of marker enzymes. Enrichments relative to homogenates and crude pellets were estimated from latent (triton X-100) acid p-nitrophenylphosphatase specific activities. Lysosomes prepared from unincubated slices were enriched 50-fold in latent acid phosphatase relative to homogenates. In contrast, lysosomes prepared from slices incubated for 30 min in PBS alone were enriched only 20-fold. When 25 μg/ml retinol was included in the incubation medium, enrichments of 40-fold were obtained. The integrity of the slices was monitored by electron microscopy and their viability was confirmed by a sustained uptake and incorporation of [ 3 H]leucine into protein (up to 2 h in culture). The loss of lysosomes from homogenates of slices incubated in the absence of retinol was accompanied by a loss of acid phosphatase from the lysosomal pellet to the supernatant during purification. Addition of retinol to slices just prior to homogenization was without effect. The results demonstrate a stabilizing influence of vitamin A on lysosomes during incubation of licer slices. The findings contrast earlier reports of retinol-induced lysosome fragility in other in vitro systems

Adrenaline stimulates the proliferation and migration of mesenchymal stem cells towards the LPS-induced lung injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiaodan; Wang, Zhiming; Qian, Mengjia; Wang, Lingyan; Bai, Chunxue; Wang, Xiangdong

2014-08-01

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) could modulate inflammation in experimental lung injury. On the other hand, adrenergic receptor agonists could increase DNA synthesis of stem cells. Therefore, we investigated the therapeutic role of adrenaline-stimulated BMSCs on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung injury. BMSCs were cultured with adrenergic receptor agonists or antagonists. Suspensions of lung cells or sliced lung tissue from animals with or without LPS-induced injury were co-cultured with BMSCs. LPS-stimulated alveolar macrophages were co-cultured with BMSCs (with adrenaline stimulation or not) in Transwell for 6 hrs. A preliminary animal experiment was conducted to validate the findings in ex vivo study. We found that adrenaline at 10 μM enhanced proliferation of BMSCs through both α- and β-adrenergic receptors. Adrenaline promoted the migration of BMSCs towards LPS-injured lung cells or lung tissue. Adrenaline-stimulated BMSCs decreased the inflammation of LPS-stimulated macrophages, probably through the expression and secretion of several paracrine factors. Adrenaline reduced the extent of injury in LPS-injured rats. Our data indicate that adrenaline-stimulated BMSCs might contribute to the prevention from acute lung injury through the activation of adrenergic receptors, promotion of proliferation and migration towards injured lung, and modulation of inflammation. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

Target recognition of ladar range images using slice image: comparison of four improved algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Wenze; Han, Shaokun; Cao, Jingya; Wang, Liang; Zhai, Yu; Cheng, Yang

2017-07-01

Compared with traditional 3-D shape data, ladar range images possess properties of strong noise, shape degeneracy, and sparsity, which make feature extraction and representation difficult. The slice image is an effective feature descriptor to resolve this problem. We propose four improved algorithms on target recognition of ladar range images using slice image. In order to improve resolution invariance of the slice image, mean value detection instead of maximum value detection is applied in these four improved algorithms. In order to improve rotation invariance of the slice image, three new improved feature descriptors-which are feature slice image, slice-Zernike moments, and slice-Fourier moments-are applied to the last three improved algorithms, respectively. Backpropagation neural networks are used as feature classifiers in the last two improved algorithms. The performance of these four improved recognition systems is analyzed comprehensively in the aspects of the three invariances, recognition rate, and execution time. The final experiment results show that the improvements for these four algorithms reach the desired effect, the three invariances of feature descriptors are not directly related to the final recognition performance of recognition systems, and these four improved recognition systems have different performances under different conditions.

Color changes and acrylamide formation in fried potato slices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedreschi, Franco; Moyano, Pedro; Kaack, Karl

2005-01-01

The objective of this work was to study the kinetics of browning during deep-fat frying of blanched and unblanched potato chips by using the dynamic method and to find a relationship between browning development and acrylamide formation. Prior to frying, potato slices were blanched in hot water...... at 85degreesC for 3.5 min. Unblanched slices were used as the control. Control and blanched potato slices (Panda variety, diameter: 37 mm, width: 2.2 mm) were fried at 120, 150 and 180degreesC until reaching moisture contents of similar to1.8% (total basis) and their acrylamide content and final color...... were measured. Color changes were recorded at different sampling times during frying at the three mentioned temperatures using the chromatic redness parameter a(*). Experimental data of surface temperature, moisture content and color change in potato chips during frying were fit to empirical...

Thin slices and Sherlock Holmes

African Journals Online (AJOL)

based on very little information, and often in a matter of seconds. This is partly based on very narrow slices of our experience, and involves pattern recognition, as well as the memory banks of our senses. It is also partly a heuristic process whereby one rapidly discards ideas or notions, or promotes other hypotheses, as one.

Holistic segmentation of the lung in cine MRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Kovacs, William; Hsieh, Nathan; Roth, Holger; Nnamdi-Emeratom, Chioma; Bandettini, W Patricia; Arai, Andrew; Mankodi, Ami; Summers, Ronald M; Yao, Jianhua

2017-10-01

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a childhood-onset neuromuscular disease that results in the degeneration of muscle, starting in the extremities, before progressing to more vital areas, such as the lungs. Respiratory failure and pneumonia due to respiratory muscle weakness lead to hospitalization and early mortality. However, tracking the disease in this region can be difficult, as current methods are based on breathing tests and are incapable of distinguishing between muscle involvements. Cine MRI scans give insight into respiratory muscle movements, but the images suffer due to low spatial resolution and poor signal-to-noise ratio. Thus, a robust lung segmentation method is required for accurate analysis of the lung and respiratory muscle movement. We deployed a deep learning approach that utilizes sequence-specific prior information to assist the segmentation of lung in cine MRI. More specifically, we adopt a holistically nested network to conduct image-to-image holistic training and prediction. One frame of the cine MRI is used in the training and applied to the remainder of the sequence ([Formula: see text] frames). We applied this method to cine MRIs of the lung in the axial, sagittal, and coronal planes. Characteristic lung motion patterns during the breathing cycle were then derived from the segmentations and used for diagnosis. Our data set consisted of 31 young boys, age [Formula: see text] years, 15 of whom suffered from DMD. The remaining 16 subjects were age-matched healthy volunteers. For validation, slices from inspiratory and expiratory cycles were manually segmented and compared with results obtained from our method. The Dice similarity coefficient for the deep learning-based method was [Formula: see text] for the sagittal view, [Formula: see text] for the axial view, and [Formula: see text] for the coronal view. The holistic neural network approach was compared with an approach using Demon's registration and showed superior performance. These

Structural-functional lung imaging using a combined CT-EIT and a Discrete Cosine Transformation reconstruction method.

Science.gov (United States)

Schullcke, Benjamin; Gong, Bo; Krueger-Ziolek, Sabine; Soleimani, Manuchehr; Mueller-Lisse, Ullrich; Moeller, Knut

2016-05-16

Lung EIT is a functional imaging method that utilizes electrical currents to reconstruct images of conductivity changes inside the thorax. This technique is radiation free and applicable at the bedside, but lacks of spatial resolution compared to morphological imaging methods such as X-ray computed tomography (CT). In this article we describe an approach for EIT image reconstruction using morphologic information obtained from other structural imaging modalities. This leads to recon- structed images of lung ventilation that can easily be superimposed with structural CT or MRI images, which facilitates image interpretation. The approach is based on a Discrete Cosine Transformation (DCT) of an image of the considered transversal thorax slice. The use of DCT enables reduction of the dimensionality of the reconstruction and ensures that only conductivity changes of the lungs are reconstructed and displayed. The DCT based approach is well suited to fuse morphological image information with functional lung imaging at low computational costs. Results on simulated data indicate that this approach preserves the morphological structures of the lungs and avoids blurring of the solution. Images from patient measurements reveal the capabilities of the method and demonstrate benefits in possible applications.

Time efficient whole-brain coverage with MR Fingerprinting using slice-interleaved echo-planar-imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Rieger, Benedikt; Akçakaya, Mehmet; Pariente, José C; Llufriu, Sara; Martinez-Heras, Eloy; Weingärtner, Sebastian; Schad, Lothar R

2018-04-27

Magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) is a promising method for fast simultaneous quantification of multiple tissue parameters. The objective of this study is to improve the coverage of MRF based on echo-planar imaging (MRF-EPI) by using a slice-interleaved acquisition scheme. For this, the MRF-EPI is modified to acquire several slices in a randomized interleaved manner, increasing the effective repetition time of the spoiled gradient echo readout acquisition in each slice. Per-slice matching of the signal-trace to a precomputed dictionary allows the generation of T 1 and T 2 * maps with integrated B 1 + correction. Subsequent compensation for the coil sensitivity profile and normalization to the cerebrospinal fluid additionally allows for quantitative proton density (PD) mapping. Numerical simulations are performed to optimize the number of interleaved slices. Quantification accuracy is validated in phantom scans and feasibility is demonstrated in-vivo. Numerical simulations suggest the acquisition of four slices as a trade-off between quantification precision and scan-time. Phantom results indicate good agreement with reference measurements (Difference T 1 : -2.4 ± 1.1%, T 2 *: -0.5 ± 2.5%, PD: -0.5 ± 7.2%). In-vivo whole-brain coverage of T 1 , T 2 * and PD with 32 slices was acquired within 3:36 minutes, resulting in parameter maps of high visual quality and comparable performance with single-slice MRF-EPI at 4-fold scan-time reduction.

Rat brain sagittal organotypic slice cultures as an ex vivo dopamine cell loss system.

Science.gov (United States)

McCaughey-Chapman, Amy; Connor, Bronwen

2017-02-01

Organotypic brain slice cultures are a useful tool to study neurological function as they provide a more complex, 3-dimensional system than standard 2-dimensional in vitro cell cultures. Building on a previously developed mouse brain slice culture protocol, we have developed a rat sagittal brain slice culture system as an ex vivo model of dopamine cell loss. We show that rat brain organotypic slice cultures remain viable for up to 6 weeks in culture. Using Fluoro-Gold axonal tracing, we demonstrate that the slice 3-dimensional cytoarchitecture is maintained over a 4 week culturing period, with particular focus on the nigrostriatal pathway. Treatment of the cultures with 6-hydroxydopamine and desipramine induces a progressive loss of Fluoro-Gold-positive nigral cells with a sustained loss of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive nigral cells. This recapitulates the pattern of dopaminergic degeneration observed in the rat partial 6-hydroxydopamine lesion model and, most importantly, the progressive pathology of Parkinson's disease. Our slice culture platform provides an advance over other systems, as we demonstrate for the first time 3-dimensional cytoarchitecture maintenance of rat nigrostriatal sagittal slices for up to 6 weeks. Our ex vivo organotypic slice culture system provides a long term cellular platform to model Parkinson's disease, allowing for the elucidation of mechanisms involved in dopaminergic neuron degeneration and the capability to study cellular integration and plasticity ex vivo. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lesion removal and lesion addition algorithms in lung volumetric data sets for perception studies

Science.gov (United States)

Madsen, Mark T.; Berbaum, Kevin S.; Ellingson, Andrew; Thompson, Brad H.; Mullan, Brian F.

2006-03-01

Image perception studies of medical images provide important information about how radiologists interpret images and insights for reducing reading errors. In the past, perception studies have been difficult to perform using clinical imaging studies because of the problems associated with obtaining images demonstrating proven abnormalities and appropriate normal control images. We developed and evaluated interactive software that allows the seamless removal of abnormal areas from CT lung image sets. We have also developed interactive software for capturing lung lesions in a database where they can be added to lung CT studies. The efficacy of the software to remove abnormal areas of lung CT studies was evaluated psychophysically by having radiologists select the one altered image from a display of four. The software for adding lesions was evaluated by having radiologists classify displayed CT slices with lesions as real or artificial scaled to 3 levels of confidence. The results of these experiments demonstrated that the radiologist had difficulty in distinguishing the raw clinical images from those that had been altered. We conclude that this software can be used to create experimental normal control and "proven" lesion data sets for volumetric CT of the lung fields. We also note that this software can be easily adapted to work with other tissue besides lung and that it can be adapted to other digital imaging modalities.

Aerosolized gadolinium-DTPA for demonstration of pulmonary ventilation in MR imaging of the lung

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haage, P.; Adam, G.; Karaagac, S.; Pfeffer, J.G.; Glowinski, A.; Doehmen, S.; Guenther, R.W.; Misselwitz, B.; Tacke, J.

2000-01-01

Purpose: Magnetic resonance assessment of lung ventilation with aerosolized Gd-DTPA. Methods: Eleven experimental procedures were carried out in a domestic pig model. The intubated pigs were aerosolized for 30 minutes with an aqueous formulation of Gd-DTPA. The contrast agent aerosol was generated by a small particle aerosol generator. Imaging was performed on a 1.5 T MR imager using a T 1 -weighted turbo spin echo sequence with respiratory gating (T R 141 ms, T E 8.5 ms, 6 averages, slice thickness 10 mm). Pulmonary signal intensities before and after ventilation were measured in peripheral portions of both lungs. Results: Immediately after ventilation with aerosolized Gd-DTPA, the signal intensity in both lungs increased significantly in all animals with values up to 237% above baseline (mean 139%±48%), but within some cases considerable regional intra- and interindividual intensity differences. Distinctive parenchymal enhancement was readily visualized in all eleven cases with good spatial resolution. Conclusion: The presented data indicate that Gd-DTPA in aerosolized form can be used to demonstrate pulmonary ventilation in large animals with lung volumes comparable to man. Further experimental trials are necessary to improve reproducibility and to define the scope of this method for depicting lung disease. (orig.) [de

Evaluation of spinal cord vessels using multi-slice CT angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Shuang; Zhu Ruijiang; Feng Xiaoyuan

2006-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the value of Multi-slice spiral CT angiography for spinal cord vessels. Methods: 11 adult subjects with suspected of myelopathy were performed with Multi-slice spiral CT angiography, An iodine contrast agent was injected at 3.5 ml/s, for total 100 ml. The parameters were axial 16 slice mode, 0.625 mm slice thickness, 0.8 s rotation, delay time depending on smartprep(15-25 s), multi-phase scan. The coronal and sagittal MPR and SSD were generated on a workstation compared with spinal digital subtraction angiography (DSA) to analyze normal or abnormal spinal cord vessels. Results: Normal findings at spinal CTA and digital subtraction angiography in six adult normal subjects and spinal cord vascular malformations (1 intradural extramedullary AVF, 4 dural AVFs) in five cases, Recognizable intradural vessels corresponding to anterior median (midline) veins and/or anterior spinal arteries were show in six adult normal subjects. Abnormal intradural vessels were detected in all five spinal cord vascular malformation with CT angiography, in comparison with digital subtraction angiography these vessels were primarily enlarged veins of the coronal venous plexus on the cord surface, radiculomedullary-dural arteries could not be clearly shown in four dural AVF, only one anterior spinal artery was detected in one patient with intradural medullary AVF, which direct shunt between anterior spinal artery and perimedullary vein with tortuous draining vessel. Conclusion: Multi-slice CT angiography is able to visualize the normal or abnormal spinal cord vessels. It could be used as a noninvasive method to screen the spinal cord vascular disease. (authors)

Organ slices as an in vitro test system for drug metabolism in human liver, lung and kidney

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Olinga, Peter; de Jager, M.H; Meijer, D.K F; Groothuis, Geny; Merema, M.T.

1999-01-01

Metabolism of xenobiotics occurs mainly in the liver, but in addition, the lungs and kidneys may contribute considerably. The choice of the animal species during drug development as a predictive model for the human condition is often inadequate due to large interspecies differences. Therefore, a

Automated detection of lung nodules in multidetector CT: influence of different reconstruction protocols on performance of a software prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gurung, J.; Maataoui, A.; Khan, M.; Wetter, A.; Harth, M.; Jacobi, V.; Vogl, T.J.

2006-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of software for computer-aided detection (CAD) of lung nodules using different reconstruction slice thickness protocols in multidetector CT. Materials and Methods: Raw image data sets for 15 patients who had undergone 16-row multidetector CT (MDCT) for known pulmonary nodules were reconstructed at a reconstruction thickness of 5.0, 2.0 and 1.0 mm with a reconstruction increment of 1.5, 1.0 and 0.5 mm, respectively. The ''Nodule Enhanced Viewing'' (NEV) tool of LungCare for computer-aided detection of lung nodules was applied to the reconstructed images. The reconstructed images were also blinded and then evaluated by 2 radiologists (A and B). Data from the evaluating radiologists and CAD was then compared to an independent reference standard established using the consensus of 2 independent experienced chest radiologists. The eligible nodules were grouped according to their size (diameter >10, 5 - 10, <5 mm) for assessment. Statistical analysis was performed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, t-test and two-rater Cohen's Kappa co-efficient. Results: A total of 103 nodules were included in the reference standard by the consensus panel. The performance of CAD was marginally lower than that of readers at a 5.0-mm reconstruction thickness (AUC = 0.522, 0.517 and 0.497 for A, B and CAD, respectively). In the case of 2.0-mm reconstruction slices, the performance of CAD was better than that of the readers (AUC = 0.524, 0.524 and 0.614 for A, B and CAD, respectively). CAD was found to be significantly superior to radiologists in the case of 1.0-mm reconstruction slices (AUC = 0.537, 0.531 and 0.675 for A, B and CAD, respectively). The sensitivity at a reconstruction thickness of 1.0 mm was determined to be 66.99%, 68.93% and 80.58% for A, B and CAD, respectively. The time required for detection was shortest for CAD at reconstruction slices of 1.0 mm (mean t = 4 min). The performance of radiologists was greatly

Volume-controlled histographic analysis of pulmonary parenchyma in normal and diffuse parenchymal lung disease: a pilot study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Hyo Yong; Lee, Jongmin; Kim, Jong Seob; Won, Chyl Ho; Kang, Duk Sik; Kim, Myoung Nam

2000-01-01

To evaluate the clinical usefulness of a home-made histographic analysis system using a lung volume controller. Our study involved ten healthy volunteers, ten emphysema patients, and two idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients. Using a home-made lung volume controller, images were obtained in the upper, middle, and lower lung zones at 70%, 50%, and 20% of vital capacity. Electron beam tomography was used and scanning parameters were single slice mode, 10-mm slice thickness, 0.4-second scan time, and 35-cm field of view. Usinga home-made semi-automated program, pulmonary parenchyma was isolated and a histogrm then obtained. Seven histographic parameters, namely mean density (MD), density at maximal frequency (DMF), maximal ascending gradient (MAG),maximal ascending gradient density (MAGD), maximal sescending gradient (MDG), maximal descending gradient density (MDGD), and full width at half maximum (FWHM) were derived from the histogram. We compared normal controls with abnormal groups including emphysema and IPF patients at the same respiration levels. A normal histographic zone with ± 1 standard deviation was obtained. Histographic curves of normal controls shifted toward the high density level, and the width of the normal zone increased as the level of inspiration decreased. In ten normal controls, MD, DMF, MAG, MAGD, MDG, MDGD, and FWHM readings at a 70% inspiration level were lower than those at 20% (p less than0.05). At the same level of inspiration, histograms of emphysema patients were locatedat a lower density area than those of normal controls. As inspiration status decreased, histograms of emphysema patients showed diminished shift compared with those of normal controls. At 50% and 20% inspiration levels, the MD, DMF, and MAGD readings of emphysema patients were significantly lower than those of normal controls (p less than 0.05). Compared with those of normal controls, histogrms of the two IPF patients obtained at three inspiration levels were

Volume-controlled histographic analysis of pulmonary parenchyma in normal and diffuse parenchymal lung disease: a pilot study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Hyo Yong; Lee, Jongmin; Kim, Jong Seob; Won, Chyl Ho; Kang, Duk Sik [School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Taegu (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Myoung Nam [The University of Iowa (United States)

2000-06-01

To evaluate the clinical usefulness of a home-made histographic analysis system using a lung volume controller. Our study involved ten healthy volunteers, ten emphysema patients, and two idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients. Using a home-made lung volume controller, images were obtained in the upper, middle, and lower lung zones at 70%, 50%, and 20% of vital capacity. Electron beam tomography was used and scanning parameters were single slice mode, 10-mm slice thickness, 0.4-second scan time, and 35-cm field of view. Usinga home-made semi-automated program, pulmonary parenchyma was isolated and a histogrm then obtained. Seven histographic parameters, namely mean density (MD), density at maximal frequency (DMF), maximal ascending gradient (MAG),maximal ascending gradient density (MAGD), maximal sescending gradient (MDG), maximal descending gradient density (MDGD), and full width at half maximum (FWHM) were derived from the histogram. We compared normal controls with abnormal groups including emphysema and IPF patients at the same respiration levels. A normal histographic zone with {+-} 1 standard deviation was obtained. Histographic curves of normal controls shifted toward the high density level, and the width of the normal zone increased as the level of inspiration decreased. In ten normal controls, MD, DMF, MAG, MAGD, MDG, MDGD, and FWHM readings at a 70% inspiration level were lower than those at 20% (p less than0.05). At the same level of inspiration, histograms of emphysema patients were locatedat a lower density area than those of normal controls. As inspiration status decreased, histograms of emphysema patients showed diminished shift compared with those of normal controls. At 50% and 20% inspiration levels, the MD, DMF, and MAGD readings of emphysema patients were significantly lower than those of normal controls (p less than 0.05). Compared with those of normal controls, histogrms of the two IPF patients obtained at three inspiration levels were

Development of an electrically operated cassava slicing machine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. S. Aji

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Labor input in manual cassava chips processing is very high and product quality is low. This paper presents the design and construction of an electrically operated cassava slicing machine that requires only one person to operate. Efficiency, portability, ease of operation, corrosion prevention of slicing component of the machine, force required to slice a cassava tuber, capacity of 10 kg/min and uniformity in the size of the cassava chips were considered in the design and fabrication of the machine. The performance of the machine was evaluated with cassava of average length and diameter of 253 mm and 60 mm respectively at an average speed of 154 rpm. The machine produced 5.3 kg of chips of 10 mm length and 60 mm diameter in 1 minute. The efficiency of the machine was 95.6% with respect to the quantity of the input cassava. The chips were found to be well chipped to the designed thickness, shape and of generally similar size. Galvanized steel sheets were used in the cutting section to avoid corrosion of components. The machine is portable and easy to operate which can be adopted for cassava processing in a medium size industry.

Novel culturing platform for brain slices and neuronal cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Winnie Edith; Al Atraktchi, Fatima Al-Zahraa; Bakmand, Tanya

2015-01-01

In this paper we demonstrate a novel culturing system for brain slices and neuronal cells, which can control the concentration of nutrients and the waste removal from the culture by adjusting the fluid flow within the device. The entire system can be placed in an incubator. The system has been...... tested successfully with brain slices and PC12 cells. The culture substrate can be modified using metal electrodes and/or nanostructures for conducting electrical measurements while culturing and for better mimicking the in vivo conditions....

Pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis: Analysis of disease manifestation by region-based quantification of lung parenchyma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Theilig, D., E-mail: dorothea.theilig@charite.de [Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Radiology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin (Germany); Doellinger, F. [Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Radiology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin (Germany); Kuhnigk, J.M. [Fraunhofer MEVIS, Universitaetsallee 29, 28359 Bremen (Germany); Temmesfeld-Wollbrueck, B.; Huebner, R.H. [Charité, Department of Pneumology, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin (Germany); Schreiter, N.; Poellinger, A. [Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Radiology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin (Germany)

2015-04-15

Highlights: •The distribution of cystic lesions in LAM was evaluated with quantitative CT. •There were more cystic lesions in the central lung compared to peripheral areas. •Cystic changes were more frequent in apical two thirds compared to lower third. •Results might help to obviate the need for biopsy in more cases. -- Abstract: Purpose: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is characterized by proliferation of smooth muscle tissue that causes bronchial obstruction and secondary cystic destruction of lung parenchyma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the typical distribution of cystic defects in LAM with quantitative volumetric chest computed tomography (CT). Materials and methods: CT examinations of 20 patients with confirmed LAM were evaluated with region-based quantification of lung parenchyma. Additionally, 10 consecutive patients were identified who had recently undergone CT imaging of the lung at our institution, in which no pathologies of the lung were found, to serve as a control group. Each lung was divided into three regions (upper, middle and lower thirds) with identical number of slices. In addition, we defined a “peel” and “core” of the lung comprising the 2 cm subpleural space and the remaining inner lung area. Computerized detection of lung volume and relative emphysema was performed with the PULMO 3D software (v3.42, Fraunhofer MEVIS, Bremen, Germany). This software package enables the quantification of emphysematous lung parenchyma by calculating the pixel index, which is defined as the ratio of lung voxels with a density <−950 HU to the total number of voxels in the lung. Results: Cystic changes accounted for 0.1–39.1% of the total lung volume in patients with LAM. Disease manifestation in the central lung was significantly higher than in peripheral areas (peel median: 15.1%, core median: 20.5%; p = 0.001). Lower thirds of lung parenchyma showed significantly less cystic changes than upper and middle lung areas combined (lower

Radiation dose and cancer risk from pediatric CT examinations on 64-slice CT: A phantom study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Shiting; Law, Martin Wai-Ming; Huang Bingsheng; Ng, Sherry; Li Ziping; Meng Quanfei; Khong, Pek-Lan

2010-01-01

Objective: To measure the radiation dose from CT scans in an anthropomorphic phantom using a 64-slice MDCT, and to estimate the associated cancer risk. Materials and methods: Organ doses were measured with a 5-year-old phantom and thermoluminescent dosimeters. Four protocols; head CT, thorax CT, abdomen CT and pelvis CT were studied. Cancer risks, in the form of lifetime attributable risk (LAR) of cancer incidence, were estimated by linear extrapolation using the organ radiation doses and the LAR data. Results: The effective doses for head, thorax, abdomen and pelvis CT, were 0.7 mSv, 3.5 mSv, 3.0 mSv, 1.3 mSv respectively. The organs with the highest dose were; for head CT, salivary gland (22.33 mGy); for thorax CT, breast (7.89 mGy); for abdomen CT, colon (6.62 mGy); for pelvis CT, bladder (4.28 mGy). The corresponding LARs for boys and girls were 0.015-0.053% and 0.034-0.155% respectively. The organs with highest LARs were; for head CT, thyroid gland (0.003% for boys, 0.015% for girls); for thorax CT, lung for boys (0.014%) and breast for girls (0.069%); for abdomen CT, colon for boys (0.017%) and lung for girls (0.016%); for pelvis CT, bladder for both boys and girls (0.008%). Conclusion: The effective doses from these common pediatric CT examinations ranged from 0.7 mSv to 3.5 mSv and the associated lifetime cancer risks were found to be up to 0.16%, with some organs of higher radiosensitivity including breast, thyroid gland, colon and lungs.

Intersection Based Motion Correction of Multi-Slice MRI for 3D in utero Fetal Brain Image Formation

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kio; Habas, Piotr A.; Rousseau, Francois; Glenn, Orit A.; Barkovich, Anthony J.; Studholme, Colin

2012-01-01

In recent years post-processing of fast multi-slice MR imaging to correct fetal motion has provided the first true 3D MR images of the developing human brain in utero. Early approaches have used reconstruction based algorithms, employing a two step iterative process, where slices from the acquired data are re-aligned to an approximate 3D reconstruction of the fetal brain, which is then refined further using the improved slice alignment. This two step slice-to-volume process, although powerful, is computationally expensive in needing a 3D reconstruction, and is limited in its ability to recover sub-voxel alignment. Here, we describe an alternative approach which we term slice intersection motion correction (SIMC), that seeks to directly co-align multiple slice stacks by considering the matching structure along all intersecting slice pairs in all orthogonally planned slices that are acquired in clinical imaging studies. A collective update scheme for all slices is then derived, to simultaneously drive slices into a consistent match along their lines of intersection. We then describe a 3D reconstruction algorithm that, using the final motion corrected slice locations, suppresses through-plane partial volume effects to provide a single high isotropic resolution 3D image. The method is tested on simulated data with known motions and is applied to retrospectively reconstruct 3D images from a range of clinically acquired imaging studies. The quantitative evaluation of the registration accuracy for the simulated data sets demonstrated a significant improvement over previous approaches. An initial application of the technique to studying clinical pathology is included, where the proposed method recovered up to 15 mm of translation and 30 degrees of rotation for individual slices, and produced full 3D reconstructions containing clinically useful additional information not visible in the original 2D slices. PMID:19744911

A fourth gradient to overcome slice dependent phase effects of voxel-sized coils in planar arrays.

Science.gov (United States)

Bosshard, John C; Eigenbrodt, Edwin P; McDougall, Mary P; Wright, Steven M

2010-01-01

The signals from an array of densely spaced long and narrow receive coils for MRI are complicated when the voxel size is of comparable dimension to the coil size. The RF coil causes a phase gradient across each voxel, which is dependent on the distance from the coil, resulting in a slice dependent shift of k-space. A fourth gradient coil has been implemented and used with the system's gradient set to create a gradient field which varies with slice. The gradients are pulsed together to impart a slice dependent phase gradient to compensate for the slice dependent phase due to the RF coils. However the non-linearity in the fourth gradient which creates the desired slice dependency also results in a through-slice phase ramp, which disturbs normal slice refocusing and leads to additional signal cancelation and reduced field of view. This paper discusses the benefits and limitations of using a fourth gradient coil to compensate for the phase due to RF coils.

Impact of Different CT Slice Thickness on Clinical Target Volume for 3D Conformal Radiation Therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prabhakar, Ramachandran; Ganesh, Tharmar; Rath, Goura K.; Julka, Pramod K.; Sridhar, Pappiah S.; Joshi, Rakesh C.; Thulkar, Sanjay

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to present the variation of clinical target volume (CTV) with different computed tomography (CT) slice thicknesses and the impact of CT slice thickness on 3-dimensional (3D) conformal radiotherapy treatment planning. Fifty patients with brain tumors were selected and CT scans with 2.5-, 5-, and 10-mm slice thicknesses were performed with non-ionic contrast enhancement. The patients were selected with tumor volume ranging from 2.54 cc to 222 cc. Three-dimensional treatment planning was performed for all three CT datasets. The target coverage and the isocenter shift between the treatment plans for different slice thickness were correlated with the tumor volume. An important observation from our study revealed that for volume 25 cc, the target underdosage was less than 6.7% for 5-mm slice thickness and 8% for 10-mm slice thickness. For 3D conformal radiotherapy treatment planning (3DCRT), a CT slice thickness of 2.5 mm is optimum for tumor volume 25 cc

Lung surgery assisted by multidetector-row computed tomographic simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oizumi, Hiroyuki; Endoh, Makoto; Ota, Hiroshi; Takeda, Shinichi; Suzuki, Jun; Fukaya, Ken; Chiba, Masato; Sadahiro, Mitsuaki

2009-01-01

We describe the benefits of lung resection simulation using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Since 2004, the 1.0-mm slice digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) server has been used for storing data obtained using 64-row MDCT. We observed that an abnormality could not be visualized from the pleural surface in 10 nodules of 18 lesions undergoing wedge lung resection. These 10 nodules were resected through simulation using a three-dimensional (3D) volume-rendering method by considering parameters such as the position, depth, or distance from the interlobar abnormalities, etc., without the need for any marking methods. For lung lobectomy, identification of the branching structures, diameter, and length of the arteries is useful in selecting the procedure for blood vessel treatment. However, in the initial 10 patients of this series, the preoperative identification of 2 small arterial branches was unsuccessful when this method was used. Therefore, it is important to carefully examine the original data in all 3 views, id est (i.e.), axial, sagittal, and coronal views. The visualization of venous branches in affected segments and intersegmental veins has facilitated the preoperative determination of the anatomical intersegmental plane. We divided the cases of thoracoscopic lung segmentectomy into 3 groups (level 1: simple, level 2: intermediate, and level 3: complex) on the basis of the technical complexity. Only level 1 segmentectomies were performed without MDCT simulation. Further, level 2 and 3 segmentectomies could be successfully performed because of the introduction of MDCT simulation in 25 of 35 patients. Thus, this simulation technique may be useful during a thoracoscopic procedure for lung surgery. (author)

Unsupervised motion-compensation of multi-slice cardiac perfusion MRI

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stegmann, Mikkel Bille; Ólafsdóttir, Hildur; Larsson, Henrik B. W.

2005-01-01

This paper presents a novel method for registration of single and multi-slice cardiac perfusion MRI. Utilising computer intensive analyses of variance and clustering in an annotated training set off-line, the presented method is capable of providing registration without any manual interaction...... in less than a second per frame. Changes in image intensity during the bolus passage are modelled by a slice-coupled active appearance model, which is augmented with a cluster analysis of the training set. Landmark correspondences are optimised using the MDL framework due to Davies et al. Image search...

Fan beam image reconstruction with generalized Fourier slice theorem.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Shuangren; Yang, Kang; Yang, Kevin

2014-01-01

For parallel beam geometry the Fourier reconstruction works via the Fourier slice theorem (or central slice theorem, projection slice theorem). For fan beam situation, Fourier slice can be extended to a generalized Fourier slice theorem (GFST) for fan-beam image reconstruction. We have briefly introduced this method in a conference. This paper reintroduces the GFST method for fan beam geometry in details. The GFST method can be described as following: the Fourier plane is filled by adding up the contributions from all fanbeam projections individually; thereby the values in the Fourier plane are directly calculated for Cartesian coordinates such avoiding the interpolation from polar to Cartesian coordinates in the Fourier domain; inverse fast Fourier transform is applied to the image in Fourier plane and leads to a reconstructed image in spacial domain. The reconstructed image is compared between the result of the GFST method and the result from the filtered backprojection (FBP) method. The major differences of the GFST and the FBP methods are: (1) The interpolation process are at different data sets. The interpolation of the GFST method is at projection data. The interpolation of the FBP method is at filtered projection data. (2) The filtering process are done in different places. The filtering process of the GFST is at Fourier domain. The filtering process of the FBP method is the ramp filter which is done at projections. The resolution of ramp filter is variable with different location but the filter in the Fourier domain lead to resolution invariable with location. One advantage of the GFST method over the FBP method is in short scan situation, an exact solution can be obtained with the GFST method, but it can not be obtained with the FBP method. The calculation of both the GFST and the FBP methods are at O(N^3), where N is the number of pixel in one dimension.

Relationship between moisture content and electrical impedance of carrot slices during drying

Science.gov (United States)

Kertész, Ákos; Hlaváčová, Zuzana; Vozáry, Eszter; Staroňová, Lenka

2015-01-01

Electrical properties of food materials can give information about the inner structure and physiological state of biological tissues. Generally, the process of drying of fruits and vegetables is followed by weight loss. The aim of this study was to measure the impedance spectra of carrot slices during drying and to correlate impedance parameters to moisture content in different drying periods. Cylindrical slices were cut out from the carrot root along the axis. The slices were dried in a Venticell 111 air oven at 50°C. The weight of the slices was measured with a Denver SI-603 electronic analytical and precision balance. The weighing of the samples was performed every 30 min at the beginning of drying and every 60 min after the process. The moisture content of the samples was calculated on wet basis. The magnitude and phase angle of electrical impedance of the slices were measured with HP 4284A and 4285A precision LCR meters in the frequency range from 30 Hz to 1 MHz and from 75 kHz to 30 MHz, respectively, at voltage 1 V. The impedance measurement was performed after weighting. The change in the magnitude of impedance during drying showed a good correlation with the change in the moisture content.

Multi-phase simultaneous segmentation of tumor in lung 4D-CT data with context information.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengwen Shen

Full Text Available Lung 4D computed tomography (4D-CT plays an important role in high-precision radiotherapy because it characterizes respiratory motion, which is crucial for accurate target definition. However, the manual segmentation of a lung tumor is a heavy workload for doctors because of the large number of lung 4D-CT data slices. Meanwhile, tumor segmentation is still a notoriously challenging problem in computer-aided diagnosis. In this paper, we propose a new method based on an improved graph cut algorithm with context information constraint to find a convenient and robust approach of lung 4D-CT tumor segmentation. We combine all phases of the lung 4D-CT into a global graph, and construct a global energy function accordingly. The sub-graph is first constructed for each phase. A context cost term is enforced to achieve segmentation results in every phase by adding a context constraint between neighboring phases. A global energy function is finally constructed by combining all cost terms. The optimization is achieved by solving a max-flow/min-cut problem, which leads to simultaneous and robust segmentation of the tumor in all the lung 4D-CT phases. The effectiveness of our approach is validated through experiments on 10 different lung 4D-CT cases. The comparison with the graph cut without context constraint, the level set method and the graph cut with star shape prior demonstrates that the proposed method obtains more accurate and robust segmentation results.

Multi-slice ultrasound image calibration of an intelligent skin-marker for soft tissue artefact compensation.

Science.gov (United States)

Masum, M A; Pickering, M R; Lambert, A J; Scarvell, J M; Smith, P N

2017-09-06

In this paper, a novel multi-slice ultrasound (US) image calibration of an intelligent skin-marker used for soft tissue artefact compensation is proposed to align and orient image slices in an exact H-shaped pattern. Multi-slice calibration is complex, however, in the proposed method, a phantom based visual alignment followed by transform parameters estimation greatly reduces the complexity and provides sufficient accuracy. In this approach, the Hough Transform (HT) is used to further enhance the image features which originate from the image feature enhancing elements integrated into the physical phantom model, thus reducing feature detection uncertainty. In this framework, slice by slice image alignment and calibration are carried out and this provides manual ease and convenience. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Real-time slicing algorithm for Stereolithography (STL) CAD model applied in additive manufacturing industry

Science.gov (United States)

Adnan, F. A.; Romlay, F. R. M.; Shafiq, M.

2018-04-01

Owing to the advent of the industrial revolution 4.0, the need for further evaluating processes applied in the additive manufacturing application particularly the computational process for slicing is non-trivial. This paper evaluates a real-time slicing algorithm for slicing an STL formatted computer-aided design (CAD). A line-plane intersection equation was applied to perform the slicing procedure at any given height. The application of this algorithm has found to provide a better computational time regardless the number of facet in the STL model. The performance of this algorithm is evaluated by comparing the results of the computational time for different geometry.

Antibrowning and antimicrobial properties of sodium acid sulfate in apple slices.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Xuetong; Sokorai, Kimberly J B; Liao, Ching-Hsing; Cooke, Peter; Zhang, Howard Q

2009-01-01

There are few available compounds that can both control browning and enhance microbial safety of fresh-cut fruits. In the present study, the antibrowning ability of sodium acid sulfate (SAS) on "Granny Smith" apple slices was first investigated in terms of optimum concentration and treatment time. In a separate experiment, the apple slices were treated with water or 3% of SAS, calcium ascorbate, citric acid, or acidified calcium sulfate for 5 min. Total plate count, color, firmness, and tissue damage were assessed during a 21-d storage at 4 degrees C. Results showed that the efficacy of SAS in inhibiting browning of apple slices increased with increasing concentration. A minimum 3% of SAS was needed to achieve 14 d of shelf life. Firmness was not significantly affected by SAS at 3% or lower concentrations. Antibrowning potential of SAS was similar for all treatment times ranging from 2 to 10 min. However, SAS caused some skin discoloration of apple slices. When cut surface of apple slices were stained with a fluorescein diacetate solution, tissue damage could be observed under a microscope even though visual damage was not evident. Among the antibrowning agents tested, SAS was the most effective in inhibiting browning and microbial growth for the first 14 d. Total plate count of samples treated with 3% SAS was significantly lower than those treated with calcium ascorbate, a commonly used antibrowning agent. Our results suggested that it is possible to use SAS to control browning while inhibiting the growth of microorganisms on the apple slices if the skin damage can be minimized. Practical Application: Fresh-cut apples have emerged as one of the popular products in restaurants, schools, and food service establishments as more consumers demand fresh, convenient, and nutritious foods. Processing of fresh-cut apples induces mechanical damage to the fruit and exposes apple tissue to air, resulting in the development of undesirable tissue browning. The fresh

Concept and development of measurement method of time sensitivity profile (TSP) in X-ray CT. Comparison of non-helical, single-slice helical, and multi-slice helical scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsujioka, Katsumi; Ida, Yoshihiro; Ohtsubo, Hironori; Takahashi, Yasukata; Niwa, Masayoshi

2000-01-01

We focused on the time element contained in a single CT image, and devised the concept of a time-sensitivity profile (TSP) describing how the time element is translated into an image. We calculated the data collection time range when the helical pitch is changed in non helical scans, single slice helical scans, and multi slice helical scans. We then calculated the time sensitivity profile (TSP) from the weighting applied when the data collection time range is translated into an image. TSP was also measured for each scanning method using our self-made moving phantom. TSPs obtained from the calculation and the experiments were very close. TSP showed interesting characteristics with each scanning method, especially in the case of multi slice helical scanning, in which TSP became shorter as helical pitch increased. We referred to the TSP's FWHM as the effective scanning time. When we conducted multi slice helical scanning at helical pitch 3, the effective scanning time increased to about 24% longer than that of a non helical scan. When we conducted multi slice helical scanning at helical pitch 5 or 6, the effective scanning time was about half that of a non helical scan. The time sensitivity profile (TSP) is a totally new concept that we consider an important element in discussing the time resolution of a CT scanner. The results of this review will provide significant data in determining the scanning parameters when scanning a moving object. (author)

Microbiological quality of sliced and block mozzarella cheese

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana Fontanetti Marinheiro

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to verify the microbiological quality of mozzarella cheese sold in retail markets of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Forty samples of mozzarella cheese were analyzed, comprising 20 samples of block cheese and 20 of sliced cheese. The cheese samples were analyzed for thermotolerant coliform counts and coagulase positive staphylococci counts, and presence of Salmonella spp and Listeria monocytogenes. The percentage of 12,5% and 5% of the sliced and block cheese samples analyzed, respectively, exceeded the microbiological standards accepted by Brazilian legislation. These results indicate the need for a better product monitoring and more concern with hygiene and sanitary practices during industrial process.

Trafficking of astrocytic vesicles in hippocampal slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potokar, Maja; Kreft, Marko; Lee, So-Young; Takano, Hajime; Haydon, Philip G.; Zorec, Robert

2009-01-01

The increasingly appreciated role of astrocytes in neurophysiology dictates a thorough understanding of the mechanisms underlying the communication between astrocytes and neurons. In particular, the uptake and release of signaling substances into/from astrocytes is considered as crucial. The release of different gliotransmitters involves regulated exocytosis, consisting of the fusion between the vesicle and the plasma membranes. After fusion with the plasma membrane vesicles may be retrieved into the cytoplasm and may continue to recycle. To study the mobility implicated in the retrieval of secretory vesicles, these structures have been previously efficiently and specifically labeled in cultured astrocytes, by exposing live cells to primary and secondary antibodies. Since the vesicle labeling and the vesicle mobility properties may be an artifact of cell culture conditions, we here asked whether the retrieving exocytotic vesicles can be labeled in brain tissue slices and whether their mobility differs to that observed in cell cultures. We labeled astrocytic vesicles and recorded their mobility with two-photon microscopy in hippocampal slices from transgenic mice with fluorescently tagged astrocytes (GFP mice) and in wild-type mice with astrocytes labeled by Fluo4 fluorescence indicator. Glutamatergic vesicles and peptidergic granules were labeled by the anti-vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (vGlut1) and anti-atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) antibodies, respectively. We report that the vesicle mobility parameters (velocity, maximal displacement and track length) recorded in astrocytes from tissue slices are similar to those reported previously in cultured astrocytes.

CT Fluoroscopy-Guided Lung Biopsy with Novel Steerable Biopsy Canula: Ex-Vivo Evaluation in Ventilated Porcine Lung Explants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaefer, Philipp J.; Fabel, Michael; Bolte, Hendrik; Schaefer, Fritz K. W.; Jahnke, Thomas; Heller, Martin; Lammer, Johannes; Biederer, Juergen

2010-01-01

The purpose was to evaluate ex-vivo a prototype of a novel biopsy canula under CT fluoroscopy-guidance in ventilated porcine lung explants in respiratory motion simulations. Using an established chest phantom for porcine lung explants, n = 24 artificial lesions consisting of a fat-wax-Lipiodol mixture (approx. 70HU) were placed adjacent to sensible structures such as aorta, pericardium, diaphragm, bronchus and pulmonary artery. A piston pump connected to a reservoir beneath a flexible silicone reconstruction of a diaphragm simulated respiratory motion by rhythmic inflation and deflation of 1.5 L water. As biopsy device an 18-gauge prototype biopsy canula with a lancet-like, helically bended cutting edge was used. The artificial lesions were punctured under CT fluoroscopy-guidance (SOMATOM Sensation 64, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany; 30mAs/120 kV/5 mm slice thickness) implementing a dedicated protocol for CT fluoroscopy-guided lung biopsy. The mean-diameter of the artificial lesions was 8.3 ± 2.6 mm, and the mean-distance of the phantom wall to the lesions was 54.1 ± 13.5 mm. The mean-displacement of the lesions by respiratory motion was 14.1 ± 4.0 mm. The mean-duration of CT fluoroscopy was 9.6 ± 5.1 s. On a 4-point scale (1 = central; 2 = peripheral; 3 = marginal; 4 = off target), the mean-targeted precision was 1.9 ± 0.9. No misplacement of the biopsy canula affecting adjacent structures could be detected. The novel steerable biopsy canula proved to be efficient in the ex-vivo set-up. The chest phantom enabling respiratory motion and the steerable biopsy canula offer a feasible ex-vivo system for evaluating and training CT fluoroscopy-guided lung biopsy adapted to respiratory motion.

Pre-sliced fruit in school cafeterias: children's selection and intake.

Science.gov (United States)

Wansink, Brian; Just, David R; Hanks, Andrew S; Smith, Laura E

2013-05-01

It is often assumed that children avoid fruit in school cafeterias because of higher relative prices and preferences for other foods. Interviews with children reveal that eating whole fresh fruit can be difficult for those with small mouths or braces. Older girls find whole fruits messy and unattractive to eat. To determine the effect of offering pre-sliced fruit in schools on selection and intake. Three of six schools were assigned randomly to serve apples in slices. Three control schools served apples whole. Selection, consumption, and waste of apples were measured prior to and during treatment. Cafeterias in six public middle schools in Wayne County NY in 2011. Participants included all students who purchased lunch on days when data were collected. Treatment schools were provided with a standard commercial fruit slicer, and cafeteria staff members were instructed to use it when students requested apples. Trained researchers recorded how much of each apple was consumed and how much was wasted in both control and treatment schools. Daily apple sales, percentage of an apple serving consumed per student, and percentage of an apple serving wasted per student. Data were analyzed in 2012. Schools that used fruit slicers to pre-slice fruit increased average daily apple sales by 71% compared to control schools (papples and ate more than half increased by 73% (p=0.02) at schools that served pre-sliced fruit, and the percentage that wasted half or more decreased by 48% (p=0.03). Sliced fruit is more appealing to children than whole fruit because it is easier and tidier to eat. This study applies the principle of convenience from behavioral economics and provides an example of a scalable, low-cost environmental change that promotes healthy eating and decreases waste. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The effect of inspiration on airway dimensions measured in CT images from the Danish Lung Cancer Screening Trial

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Jens; Wille, Mathilde; Thomsen, Laura

2013-01-01

of the same subject using image registration. Mixed effect models were used to predict the relative change in lumen diameter (LD) and wall thickness (WT) in airways of generation 0 (trachea) to 6 based on relative changes in the segmented total lung volume (TLV). Results: On average, 1.0, 2.0, 3.9, 7.6, 15...... and Materials: We selected from the Danish Lung Cancer Screening Trial 978 subjects without COPD who were scanned annually for 5 years with low-dose multi-slice CT. Using in-house developed software, the lungs and airways were automatically segmented and corresponding airway branches were found in all scans......Purpose: Airway dimensions measured from CT are increasingly being used to investigate diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, we investigate the effect of differences in inspiration level on such measurements in voluntary inspiration breathhold scans. Methods...

Influence of image slice thickness on rectal dose–response relationships following radiotherapy of prostate cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsson, C; Thor, M; Apte, A; Deasy, J O; Liu, M; Moissenko, V; Petersen, S E; Høyer, M

2014-01-01

When pooling retrospective data from different cohorts, slice thicknesses of acquired computed tomography (CT) images used for treatment planning may vary between cohorts. It is, however, not known if varying slice thickness influences derived dose–response relationships. We investigated this for rectal bleeding using dose–volume histograms (DVHs) of the rectum and rectal wall for dose distributions superimposed on images with varying CT slice thicknesses. We used dose and endpoint data from two prostate cancer cohorts treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy to either 74 Gy (N = 159) or 78 Gy (N = 159) at 2 Gy per fraction. The rectum was defined as the whole organ with content, and the morbidity cut-off was Grade ≥2 late rectal bleeding. Rectal walls were defined as 3 mm inner margins added to the rectum. DVHs for simulated slice thicknesses from 3 to 13 mm were compared to DVHs for the originally acquired slice thicknesses at 3 and 5 mm. Volumes, mean, and maximum doses were assessed from the DVHs, and generalized equivalent uniform dose (gEUD) values were calculated. For each organ and each of the simulated slice thicknesses, we performed predictive modeling of late rectal bleeding using the Lyman–Kutcher–Burman (LKB) model. For the most coarse slice thickness, rectal volumes increased (≤18%), whereas maximum and mean doses decreased (≤0.8 and ≤4.2 Gy, respectively). For all a values, the gEUD for the simulated DVHs were ≤1.9 Gy different than the gEUD for the original DVHs. The best-fitting LKB model parameter values with 95% CIs were consistent between all DVHs. In conclusion, we found that the investigated slice thickness variations had minimal impact on rectal dose–response estimations. From the perspective of predictive modeling, our results suggest that variations within 10 mm in slice thickness between cohorts are unlikely to be a limiting factor when pooling multi-institutional rectal dose data that include slice

Dried fruit breadfruit slices by Refractive Window™ technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego F. Tirado

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A large amount of products are dried due several reasons as preservation, weight reduction and improvement of stability. However, on the market are not offered low-cost and high quality products simultaneously. Although there are effective methods of dehydrating foods such as freeze drying, which preserves the flavor, color and vitamins, they are poor accessibility technologies. Therefore, alternative processes are required to be efficient and economical. The aim of this research was compare drying kinetics of sliced of breadfruit (Artocarpus communis using the technique of Refractive Window® (VR with the tray drying. To carry out this study, sliced of 1 and 2 mm thick were used. Refractive window drying was performed with the water bath temperature to 92 °C; and tray drying at 62 °C and an air velocity of 0.52 m/s. During the Refractive window drying technique, the moisture content reached the lower than tray drying levels. Similarly it happened with samples of 1 mm, which, having a smaller diameter reached lower moisture levels than samples 2 mm. The higher diffusivities were obtained during drying sliced VR 1 and 2 mm with coefficients of 6.13 and 3.90*10-9 m2/s respectively.

Computer-assisted lung nodule volumetry from multi-detector row CT: Influence of image reconstruction parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Honda, Osamu; Sumikawa, Hiromitsu; Johkoh, Takeshi; Tomiyama, Noriyuki; Mihara, Naoki; Inoue, Atsuo; Tsubamoto, Mitsuko; Natsag, Javzandulam; Hamada, Seiki; Nakamura, Hironobu

2007-01-01

Purpose: To investigate differences in volumetric measurement of pulmonary nodules caused by changing the reconstruction parameters for multi-detector row CT. Materials and methods: Thirty-nine pulmonary nodules less than 2 cm in diameter were examined by multi-slice CT. All nodules were solid, and located in the peripheral part of the lungs. The resultant 48 parameters images were reconstructed by changing slice thickness (1.25, 2.5, 3.75, or 5 mm), field of view (FOV: 10, 20, or 30 cm), algorithm (high-spatial frequency algorithm or low-spatial frequency algorithm) and reconstruction interval (reconstruction with 50% overlapping of the reconstructed slices or non-overlapping reconstruction). Volumetric measurements were calculated using commercially available software. The differences between nodule volumes were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks test. Results: The diameter of the nodules was 8.7 ± 2.7 mm on average, ranging from 4.3 to 16.4 mm. Pulmonary nodule volume did not change significantly with changes in slice thickness or FOV (p > 0.05), but was significantly larger with the high-spatial frequency algorithm than the low-spatial frequency algorithm (p < 0.05), except for one reconstruction parameter. The volumes determined by non-overlapping reconstruction were significantly larger than those of overlapping reconstruction (p < 0.05), except for a 1.25 mm thickness with 10 cm FOV with the high-spatial frequency algorithm, and 5 mm thickness. The maximum difference in measured volume was 16% on average between the 1.25 mm slice thickness/10 cm FOV/high-spatial frequency algorithm parameters and overlapping reconstruction. Conclusion: Volumetric measurements of pulmonary nodules differ with changes in the reconstruction parameters, with a tendency toward larger volumes in high-spatial frequency algorithm and non-overlapping reconstruction compared to the low-spatial frequency algorithm and overlapping reconstruction

Blanching, salting and sun drying of different pumpkin fruit slices.

Science.gov (United States)

Workneh, T S; Zinash, A; Woldetsadik, K

2014-11-01

The study was aimed at assessing the quality of pumpkin (Cucuribita Spp.) slices that were subjected to pre-drying treatments and drying using two drying methods (uncontrolled sun and oven) fruit accessions. Pre-drying had significant (P ≤ 0.05) effect on the quality of dried pumpkin slices. 10 % salt solution dipped pumpkin fruit slices had good chemical quality. The two-way interaction between drying methods and pre-drying treatments had significant (P ≤ 0.05) effect on chemical qualities. Pumpkin subjected to salt solution dipping treatment and oven dried had higher chemical concentrations. Among the pumpkin fruit accessions, pumpkin accession 8007 had the superior TSS, total sugar and sugar to acid ratio after drying. Among the three pre-drying treatment, salt solution dipping treatment had significant (P ≤ 0.05) effect and the most efficient pre-drying treatment to retain the quality of dried pumpkin fruits without significant chemical quality deterioration. Salt dipping treatment combined with low temperature (60 °C) oven air circulation drying is recommended to maintain quality of dried pumpkin slices. However, since direct sun drying needs extended drying time due to fluctuation in temperature, it is recommended to develop or select best successful solar dryer for use in combination with pre-drying salt dipping or blanching treatments.

Adaptive slices for acquisition of anisotropic BRDF

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vávra, Radomír; Filip, Jiří

(2018) ISSN 2096-0433 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA17-18407S Institutional support: RVO:67985556 Keywords : anisotropic BRDF * slice * sampling Subject RIV: BD - Theory of Information http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2018/RO/vavra-0486116.pdf

Lung metastases detection in CT images using 3D template matching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Peng; DeNunzio, Andrea; Okunieff, Paul; O'Dell, Walter G.

2007-01-01

The aim of this study is to demonstrate a novel, fully automatic computer detection method applicable to metastatic tumors to the lung with a diameter of 4-20 mm in high-risk patients using typical computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest. Three-dimensional (3D) spherical tumor appearance models (templates) of various sizes were created to match representative CT imaging parameters and to incorporate partial volume effects. Taking into account the variability in the location of CT sampling planes cut through the spherical models, three offsetting template models were created for each appearance model size. Lung volumes were automatically extracted from computed tomography images and the correlation coefficients between the subregions around each voxel in the lung volume and the set of appearance models were calculated using a fast frequency domain algorithm. To determine optimal parameters for the templates, simulated tumors of varying sizes and eccentricities were generated and superposed onto a representative human chest image dataset. The method was applied to real image sets from 12 patients with known metastatic disease to the lung. A total of 752 slices and 47 identifiable tumors were studied. Spherical templates of three sizes (6, 8, and 10 mm in diameter) were used on the patient image sets; all 47 true tumors were detected with the inclusion of only 21 false positives. This study demonstrates that an automatic and straightforward 3D template-matching method, without any complex training or postprocessing, can be used to detect small lung metastases quickly and reliably in the clinical setting

Shape determinative slice localization for patient-specific masseter modeling using shape-based interpolation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ng, H.P. [NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering (Singapore); Biomedical Imaging Lab., Agency for Science Technology and Research (Singapore); Foong, K.W.C. [NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering (Singapore); Dept. of Preventive Dentistry, National Univ. of Singapore (Singapore); Ong, S.H. [Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Univ. of Singapore (Singapore); Div. of Bioengineering, National Univ. of Singapore (Singapore); Liu, J.; Nowinski, W.L. [Biomedical Imaging Lab., Agency for Science Technology and Research (Singapore); Goh, P.S. [Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, National Univ. of Singapore (Singapore)

2007-06-15

The masseter plays a critical role in the mastication system. A hybrid method to shape-based interpolation is used to build the masseter model from magnetic resonance (MR) data sets. The main contribution here is the localizing of determinative slices in the data sets where clinicians are required to perform manual segmentations in order for an accurate model to be built. Shape-based criteria were used to locate the candidates for determinative slices and fuzzy-c-means (FCM) clustering technique was used to establish the determinative slices. Five masseter models were built in our work and the average overlap indices ({kappa}) achieved is 85.2%. This indicates that there is good agreement between the models and the manual contour tracings. In addition, the time taken, as compared to manually segmenting all the slices, is significantly lesser. (orig.)

Shape determinative slice localization for patient-specific masseter modeling using shape-based interpolation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ng, H.P.; Foong, K.W.C.; Ong, S.H.; Liu, J.; Nowinski, W.L.; Goh, P.S.

2007-01-01

The masseter plays a critical role in the mastication system. A hybrid method to shape-based interpolation is used to build the masseter model from magnetic resonance (MR) data sets. The main contribution here is the localizing of determinative slices in the data sets where clinicians are required to perform manual segmentations in order for an accurate model to be built. Shape-based criteria were used to locate the candidates for determinative slices and fuzzy-c-means (FCM) clustering technique was used to establish the determinative slices. Five masseter models were built in our work and the average overlap indices (κ) achieved is 85.2%. This indicates that there is good agreement between the models and the manual contour tracings. In addition, the time taken, as compared to manually segmenting all the slices, is significantly lesser. (orig.)

Organotypic slice cultures containing the preBötzinger complex generate respiratory-like rhythms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Phillips, Wiktor S; Herly, Mikkel; Del Negro, Christopher A

2016-01-01

containing the preBötzinger complex (preBötC), the core inspiratory rhythm generator of the ventrolateral brainstem. We measured bilateral synchronous network oscillations, using calcium-sensitive fluorescent dyes, in both ventrolateral (presumably the preBötC) and dorsomedial regions of 7-43 days in vitro......Acute brainstem slice preparations in vitro have advanced understanding of the cellular and synaptic mechanisms of respiratory rhythm generation, but their inherent limitations preclude long-term manipulation and recording experiments. Here, we developed an organotypic slice culture preparation...... of the brainstem displayed up to 193% faster burst frequency (22.4 ± 8.3 bursts/min) and higher signal amplitude (340%) compared to acute slices. We conclude that preBötC-containing slice cultures retain inspiratory-like rhythmic function and therefore may facilitate lines of experimentation that involve extended...

14C glucose uptake and turnover, a biomarker in benzo(a)pyrene induced lung carcinogenesis: role of curcumin and resveratrol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malhotra, Anshoo; Nair, P.; Dhawan, D.K.

2010-01-01

Full text: The aim of the present study was to explore the synergistic potential of curcumin and resveratrol in modulation of glucose metabolism by studying 14 C glucose uptake, turnover in the lung slices and ultra-histoarchitectural changes during benzo(a)pyrene (BP) induced lung carcinogenesis in mice. The mice were segregated into five treatment groups which included group I (normal control), group II (BP treated), group III (BP+curcumin treated), group IV (BP+resveratrol treated) and group V (BP+curcumin+resveratrol treated). Animals in Group II were given a single intraperitoneal injection of Benzo(a)pyrene in corn oil at a dose level of 100mg/Kg body weight. Group III animals were given curcumin orally in drinking water at a dose level of 60 mg /Kg/ body weight, thrice a week. Animals in Group IV were given resveratrol orally at a dose level of 5.7 microgram/ml drinking water, thrice a week. Animals in group V were given a combined treatment of curcumin and resveratrol in a similar manner as was given to group III and group IV animals, respectively. All the animals had free access to the diet and water and the treatments continued for a total duration of 22 weeks. The morphological and ultra-histoachitectural analyses confirmed lung carcinogenesis, in the BP treated mice. Tumor incidence and tumor multiplicity were observed to be 88% and 1.75 respectively in the BP treated mice. A statistically significant increase in the uptake of 14 C glucose was observed in the lung slices of BP treated mice. Further, radiorespirometric analyses of 14 C turnover also showed a significant increase in the lung slices of BP treated mice. The ultra-histoarchitecture of the BP treated mice revealed disruption in cellular integrity along with nuclear deformation. Mitochondria were swollen and cytoplasm appeared granular along with extensive vacuolization. Further, spaces between the endothelium, epithelium and basement membrane indicative of lung injury and edema were observed

Evaluation of registration strategies for multi-modality images of rat brain slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palm, Christoph; Vieten, Andrea; Salber, Dagmar; Pietrzyk, Uwe

2009-01-01

In neuroscience, small-animal studies frequently involve dealing with series of images from multiple modalities such as histology and autoradiography. The consistent and bias-free restacking of multi-modality image series is obligatory as a starting point for subsequent non-rigid registration procedures and for quantitative comparisons with positron emission tomography (PET) and other in vivo data. Up to now, consistency between 2D slices without cross validation using an inherent 3D modality is frequently presumed to be close to the true morphology due to the smooth appearance of the contours of anatomical structures. However, in multi-modality stacks consistency is difficult to assess. In this work, consistency is defined in terms of smoothness of neighboring slices within a single modality and between different modalities. Registration bias denotes the distortion of the registered stack in comparison to the true 3D morphology and shape. Based on these metrics, different restacking strategies of multi-modality rat brain slices are experimentally evaluated. Experiments based on MRI-simulated and real dual-tracer autoradiograms reveal a clear bias of the restacked volume despite quantitatively high consistency and qualitatively smooth brain structures. However, different registration strategies yield different inter-consistency metrics. If no genuine 3D modality is available, the use of the so-called SOP (slice-order preferred) or MOSOP (modality-and-slice-order preferred) strategy is recommended.

Imaging by the SSFSE single slice method at different viscosities of bile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubo, Hiroya; Usui, Motoki; Fukunaga, Kenichi; Yamamoto, Naruto; Ikegami, Toshimi

2001-01-01

The single shot fast spin echo single thick slice method (single slice method) is a technique that visualizes the water component alone using a heavy T 2 . However, this method is considered to be markedly affected by changes in the viscosity of the material because a very long TE is used, and changes in the T 2 value, which are related to viscosity, directly affect imaging. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between the effects of TE and the T 2 value of bile in the single slice method and also examined the relationship between the signal intensity of bile on T 1 - and T 2 -weighted images and imaging by MR cholangiography (MRC). It was difficult to image bile with high viscosities at a usual effective TE level of 700-1,500 ms. With regard to the relationship between the signal intensity of bile and MRC imaging, all T 2 values of the bile samples showing relatively high signal intensities on the T 1 -weighted images suggested high viscosities, and MRC imaging of these bile samples was poor. In conclusion, MRC imaging of bile with high viscosities was poor with the single slice method. Imaging by the single slice method alone of bile showing a relatively high signal intensity on T 1 -weighted images should be avoided, and combination with other MRC sequences should be used. (author)

Cryopreservation of Precision-cut Tissue Slices for Application in Drug Metabolism Research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Graaf, Inge Anne Maria de

2002-01-01

The research described in this thesis had two important aims. The first was to determine whether tissue slices could be used as an in vitro tool to predict the in vivo metabolism of new drugs. The second aim was to find a manner to store tissue slices for longer time periods by cryopreservation.

Velocity slice imaging for dissociative electron attachment

Science.gov (United States)

Nandi, Dhananjay; Prabhudesai, Vaibhav S.; Krishnakumar, E.; Chatterjee, A.

2005-05-01

A velocity slice imaging method is developed for measuring the angular distribution of fragment negative ions arising from dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to molecules. A low energy pulsed electron gun, a pulsed field ion extraction, and a two-dimensional position sensitive detector consisting of microchannel plates and a wedge-and-strip anode are used for this purpose. Detection and storage of each ion separately for its position and flight time allows analysis of the data offline for any given time slice, without resorting to pulsing the detector bias. The performance of the system is evaluated by measuring the angular distribution of O- from O2 and comparing it with existing data obtained using conventional technique. The capability of this technique in obtaining forward and backward angular distribution data is shown to have helped in resolving one of the existing problems in the electron scattering on O2.

Binocular stereo-navigation for three-dimensional thoracoscopic lung resection.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanzaki, Masato; Isaka, Tamami; Kikkawa, Takuma; Sakamoto, Kei; Yoshiya, Takehito; Mitsuboshi, Shota; Oyama, Kunihiro; Murasugi, Masahide; Onuki, Takamasa

2015-05-08

This study investigated the efficacy of binocular stereo-navigation during three-dimensional (3-D) thoracoscopic sublobar resection (TSLR). From July 2001, the authors' department began to use a virtual 3-D pulmonary model on a personal computer (PC) for preoperative simulation before thoracoscopic lung resection and for intraoperative navigation during operation. From 120 of 1-mm thin-sliced high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT)-scan images of tumor and hilum, homemade software CTTRY allowed sugeons to mark pulmonary arteries, veins, bronchi, and tumor on the HRCT images manually. The location and thickness of pulmonary vessels and bronchi were rendered as diverse size cylinders. With the resulting numerical data, a 3-D image was reconstructed by Metasequoia shareware. Subsequently, the data of reconstructed 3-D images were converted to Autodesk data, which appeared on a stereoscopic-vision display. Surgeons wearing 3-D polarized glasses performed 3-D TSLR. The patients consisted of 5 men and 5 women, ranging in age from 65 to 84 years. The clinical diagnoses were a primary lung cancer in 6 cases and a solitary metastatic lung tumor in 4 cases. Eight single segmentectomies, one bi-segmentectomy, and one bi-subsegmentectomy were performed. Hilar lymphadenectomy with mediastinal lymph node sampling has been performed in 6 primary lung cancers, but four patients with metastatic lung tumors were performed without lymphadenectomy. The operation time and estimated blood loss ranged from 125 to 333 min and from 5 to 187 g, respectively. There were no intraoperative complications and no conversion to open thoracotomy and lobectomy. Postoperative courses of eight patients were uneventful, and another two patients had a prolonged lung air leak. The drainage duration and hospital stay ranged from 2 to 13 days and from 8 to 19 days, respectively. The tumor histology of primary lung cancer showed 5 adenocarcinoma and 1 squamous cell carcinoma. All primary lung

Live cell imaging of cytosolic NADH/NAD+ ratio in hepatocytes and liver slices.

Science.gov (United States)

Masia, Ricard; McCarty, William J; Lahmann, Carolina; Luther, Jay; Chung, Raymond T; Yarmush, Martin L; Yellen, Gary

2018-01-01

Fatty liver disease (FLD), the most common chronic liver disease in the United States, may be caused by alcohol or the metabolic syndrome. Alcohol is oxidized in the cytosol of hepatocytes by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), which generates NADH and increases cytosolic NADH/NAD + ratio. The increased ratio may be important for development of FLD, but our ability to examine this question is hindered by methodological limitations. To address this, we used the genetically encoded fluorescent sensor Peredox to obtain dynamic, real-time measurements of cytosolic NADH/NAD + ratio in living hepatocytes. Peredox was expressed in dissociated rat hepatocytes and HepG2 cells by transfection, and in mouse liver slices by tail-vein injection of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-encoded sensor. Under control conditions, hepatocytes and liver slices exhibit a relatively low (oxidized) cytosolic NADH/NAD + ratio as reported by Peredox. The ratio responds rapidly and reversibly to substrates of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH). Ethanol causes a robust dose-dependent increase in cytosolic NADH/NAD + ratio, and this increase is mitigated by the presence of NAD + -generating substrates of LDH or SDH. In contrast to hepatocytes and slices, HepG2 cells exhibit a relatively high (reduced) ratio and show minimal responses to substrates of ADH and SDH. In slices, we show that comparable results are obtained with epifluorescence imaging and two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging (2p-FLIM). Live cell imaging with Peredox is a promising new approach to investigate cytosolic NADH/NAD + ratio in hepatocytes. Imaging in liver slices is particularly attractive because it allows preservation of liver microanatomy and metabolic zonation of hepatocytes. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We describe and validate a new approach for measuring free cytosolic NADH/NAD + ratio in hepatocytes and liver slices: live cell imaging with the fluorescent biosensor Peredox. This approach yields dynamic, real

Analysis of aliasing artifacts in 16-slice helical CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Wei; Liu Jingkang; Ou Xiaoguang; Li Wenzheng; Liao Weihua; Yan Ang

2006-01-01

Objective: To recognize the features of aliasing artifacts on CT images, and to investigate the effects of imaging parameters on the magnitude of this artifacts. Methods: An adult dry skull was placed in a plastic water-filled container and scanned with a PHILIPS 16-slice helical CT. All the acquired transaxial images by using several different acquisition or reconstruction parameters were examined for comparative assessment of the aliasing artifacts. Results: The aliasing artifacts could be seen in most instances and characterized as the spokewise patterns emanating from the edges of high contrast structure as its radius varies sharply in the longitudinal direction. The images that scanned with pitch of 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9, respectively, showed aliasing artifacts, and its severities increased with pitches escalated (detector combination 16 x 1.5, reconstruction thickness 2 mm); There were more significant aliasing artifacts on the images reconstructed with 0.8 mm slice width compared with 1-mm slice width, and no aliasing artifacts were observed on the images reconstructed with 2-mm slice width (detector combination 16 x 0.75, pitch 0.6); No artifacts were perceived on the images scanned with detector combination 16 x 0.75, while presented evidently with the use of detector combination 16 x 1.5 (pitch 0.6, reconstruction thickness 2 mm); The degrees of aliasing artifacts were unaltered when reconstruction interval and tube current changed. Conclusions: Aliasing artifacts are caused by undersampling. When the operator choose the thinner sampling thickness, lower pitch and a much wider reconstruction thickness judiciously, aliasing artifacts could be effectively mitigated or suppressed. (authors)

Influence of image slice thickness on rectal dose-response relationships following radiotherapy of prostate cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Olsson, C.; Thor, M.; Liu, M.; Moissenko, V.; Petersen, S. E.; Høyer, M.; Apte, A.; Deasy, J. O.

2014-07-01

When pooling retrospective data from different cohorts, slice thicknesses of acquired computed tomography (CT) images used for treatment planning may vary between cohorts. It is, however, not known if varying slice thickness influences derived dose-response relationships. We investigated this for rectal bleeding using dose-volume histograms (DVHs) of the rectum and rectal wall for dose distributions superimposed on images with varying CT slice thicknesses. We used dose and endpoint data from two prostate cancer cohorts treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy to either 74 Gy (N = 159) or 78 Gy (N = 159) at 2 Gy per fraction. The rectum was defined as the whole organ with content, and the morbidity cut-off was Grade ≥2 late rectal bleeding. Rectal walls were defined as 3 mm inner margins added to the rectum. DVHs for simulated slice thicknesses from 3 to 13 mm were compared to DVHs for the originally acquired slice thicknesses at 3 and 5 mm. Volumes, mean, and maximum doses were assessed from the DVHs, and generalized equivalent uniform dose (gEUD) values were calculated. For each organ and each of the simulated slice thicknesses, we performed predictive modeling of late rectal bleeding using the Lyman-Kutcher-Burman (LKB) model. For the most coarse slice thickness, rectal volumes increased (≤18%), whereas maximum and mean doses decreased (≤0.8 and ≤4.2 Gy, respectively). For all a values, the gEUD for the simulated DVHs were ≤1.9 Gy different than the gEUD for the original DVHs. The best-fitting LKB model parameter values with 95% CIs were consistent between all DVHs. In conclusion, we found that the investigated slice thickness variations had minimal impact on rectal dose-response estimations. From the perspective of predictive modeling, our results suggest that variations within 10 mm in slice thickness between cohorts are unlikely to be a limiting factor when pooling multi-institutional rectal dose data that include slice thickness

Impact of whey protein coating incorporated with Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus on sliced ham properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Odila Pereira, Joana; Soares, José; J P Monteiro, Maria; Gomes, Ana; Pintado, Manuela

2018-05-01

Edible coatings/films with functional ingredients may be a solution to consumers' demands for high-quality food products and an extended shelf-life. The aim of this work was to evaluate the antimicrobial efficiency of edible coatings incorporated with probiotics on sliced ham preservation. Coatings was developed based on whey protein isolates with incorporation of Bifidobacterium animalis Bb-12® or Lactobacillus casei-01. The physicochemical analyses showed that coating decreased water and weight loss on the ham. Furthermore, color analysis showed that coated sliced ham, exhibited no color change, comparatively to uncoated slices. The edible coatings incorporating the probiotic strains inhibited detectable growth of Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacteriaceae and yeasts/molds, at least, for 45days of storage at 4°C. The sensory evaluation demonstrated that there was a preference for the sliced coated ham. Probiotic bacteria viable cell numbers were maintained at ca. 10 8 CFU/g throughout storage time, enabling the slice of ham to act as a suitable carrier for the beneficial bacteria. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pitch dependence of longitudinal sampling and aliasing effects in multi-slice helical computed tomography (CT)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

La Riviere, Patrick J.; Pan Xiaochuan

2002-01-01

In this work, we investigate longitudinal sampling and aliasing effects in multi-slice helical CT. We demonstrate that longitudinal aliasing can be a significant, complicated, and potentially detrimental effect in multi-slice helical CT reconstructions. Multi-slice helical CT scans are generally undersampled longitudinally for all pitches of clinical interest, and the resulting aliasing effects are spatially variant. As in the single-slice case, aliasing is shown to be negligible at the isocentre for circularly symmetric objects due to a fortuitous aliasing cancellation phenomenon. However, away from the isocentre, aliasing effects can be significant, spatially variant, and highly pitch dependent. This implies that measures more sophisticated than isocentre slice sensitivity profiles are needed to characterize longitudinal properties of multi-slice helical CT systems. Such measures are particularly important in assessing the question of whether there are preferred pitches in helical CT. Previous analyses have generally focused only on isocentre sampling patterns, and our more global analysis leads to somewhat different conclusions than have been reached before, suggesting that pitches 3, 4, 5, and 6 are favourable, and that half-integer pitches are somewhat suboptimal. (author)

Adaptation of Microplate-based Respirometry for Hippocampal Slices and Analysis of Respiratory Capacity

Science.gov (United States)

Schuh, Rosemary A.; Clerc, Pascaline; Hwang, Hyehyun; Mehrabian, Zara; Bittman, Kevin; Chen, Hegang; Polster, Brian M.

2011-01-01

Multiple neurodegenerative disorders are associated with altered mitochondrial bioenergetics. Although mitochondrial O2 consumption is frequently measured in isolated mitochondria, isolated synaptic nerve terminals (synaptosomes), or cultured cells, the absence of mature brain circuitry is a remaining limitation. Here we describe the development of a method that adapts the Seahorse Extracellular Flux Analyzer (XF24) for the microplate-based measurement of hippocampal slice O2 consumption. As a first evaluation of the technique, we compared whole slice bioenergetics to previous measurements made with synaptosomes or cultured neurons. We found that mitochondrial respiratory capacity and O2 consumption coupled to ATP synthesis could be estimated in cultured or acute hippocampal slices with preserved neural architecture. Mouse organotypic hippocampal slices oxidizing glucose displayed mitochondrial O2 consumption that was well-coupled, as determined by the sensitivity to the ATP synthase inhibitor oligomycin. However stimulation of respiration by uncoupler was modest (<120% of basal respiration) compared to previous measurements in cells or synaptosomes, although enhanced slightly (to ~150% of basal respiration) by the acute addition of the mitochondrial complex I-linked substrate pyruvate. These findings suggest a high basal utilization of respiratory capacity in slices and a limitation of glucose-derived substrate for maximal respiration. The improved throughput of microplate-based hippocampal respirometry over traditional O2 electrode-based methods is conducive to neuroprotective drug screening. When coupled with cell type-specific pharmacology or genetic manipulations, the ability to efficiently measure O2 consumption from whole slices should advance our understanding of mitochondrial roles in physiology and neuropathology. PMID:21520220

Slicing Method for curved façade and window extraction from point clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Iman Zolanvari, S. M.; Laefer, Debra F.

2016-09-01

Laser scanning technology is a fast and reliable method to survey structures. However, the automatic conversion of such data into solid models for computation remains a major challenge, especially where non-rectilinear features are present. Since, openings and the overall dimensions of the buildings are the most critical elements in computational models for structural analysis, this article introduces the Slicing Method as a new, computationally-efficient method for extracting overall façade and window boundary points for reconstructing a façade into a geometry compatible for computational modelling. After finding a principal plane, the technique slices a façade into limited portions, with each slice representing a unique, imaginary section passing through a building. This is done along a façade's principal axes to segregate window and door openings from structural portions of the load-bearing masonry walls. The method detects each opening area's boundaries, as well as the overall boundary of the façade, in part, by using a one-dimensional projection to accelerate processing. Slices were optimised as 14.3 slices per vertical metre of building and 25 slices per horizontal metre of building, irrespective of building configuration or complexity. The proposed procedure was validated by its application to three highly decorative, historic brick buildings. Accuracy in excess of 93% was achieved with no manual intervention on highly complex buildings and nearly 100% on simple ones. Furthermore, computational times were less than 3 sec for data sets up to 2.6 million points, while similar existing approaches required more than 16 hr for such datasets.

Reduction of acrylamide formation in potato slices during frying

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedreschi, Franco; Kaack, K.; Granby, Kit

2004-01-01

and 40 min; 90degreesC for 2 and 9 min); (iii) immersed in citric acid solutions of different concentrations (10 and 20 g/l) for half an hour. Glucose and asparagine concentration was determined in potato slices before frying, whereas acrylamide content was determined in the resultant fried potato chips...... on average 76% and 68% of the glucose and asparagine content compared to the control. Potato slices blanched at 50degreesC for 70 min surprisingly had a very low acrylamide content (28 mum/kg) even when they were fried at 190degreesC. Potato immersion in citric acid solutions of 10 and 20 g/l reduced...

HUMAN LIVER SLICES EXPRESS THE SAME LIDOCAINE BIOTRANSFORMATION RATE AS ISOLATED HUMAN HEPATOCYTES

NARCIS (Netherlands)

OLINGA, P; MEIJER, DKF; SLOOFF, MJH; GROOTHUIS, GMM; Merema, M.T.

1993-01-01

In order to investigate whether liver slices are a valuable tool for the assessment of drug metabolism in human liver, we compared the phase I metabolism of lidocaine in human liver slices and hepatocytes prepared from three human livers. Lidocaine is mainly metabolised to monoethylglycinexylidide

Lung and heart dose volume analyses with CT simulator in tangential field irradiation of breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Das, Indra J.; Cheng, Elizabeth C.; Fowble, Barbara

1997-01-01

Objective: Radiation pneumonitis and cardiac effects are directly related to the irradiated lung and heart volumes in the treatment fields. The central lung distance (CLD) from a tangential breast radiograph is shown to be a significant indicator of ipsilateral irradiated lung volume based on empirically derived functions which accuracy depends on the actual measured volume in treatment position. A simple and accurate linear relationship with CLD and retrospective analysis of the pattern of dose volume of lung and heart is presented with actual volume data from a CT simulator in the treatment of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: The heart and lung volumes in the tangential treatment fields were analyzed in 45 consecutive (22 left and 23 right breast) patients referred for CT simulation of the cone down treatment. All patients in this study were immobilized and placed on an inclined breast board in actual treatment setup. Both arms were stretched over head uniformly to avoid collision with the scanner aperture. Radiopaque marks were placed on the medial and lateral borders of the tangential fields. All patients were scanned in spiral mode with slice width and thickness of 3 mm each, respectively. The lung and heart structures as well as irradiated areas were delineated on each slice and respective volumes were accurately measured. The treatment beam parameters were recorded and the digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) were generated for the CLD and analysis. Results: Table 1 shows the volume statistics of patients in this study. There is a large variation in the lung and heart volumes among patients. Due to differences in the shape of right and left lungs the percent irradiated volume (PIV) are different. The PIV data have shown to correlate with CLD with 2nd and 3rd degree polynomials; however, in this study a simple straight line regression is used to provide better confidence than the higher order polynomial. The regression lines for the left and right

Does slice thickness affect diagnostic performance of 64-slice CT coronary angiography in stable and unstable angina patients with a positive calcium score?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meijs, Matthijs F.L.; Vos, Alexander M. de; Cramer, Maarten J.; Doevendans, Pieter A.; Vries, Jan J.J. de; Rutten, Annemarieke; Budde, Ricardo P.J.; Prokop, Mathias (Dept. of Radiology, Univ. Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht (Netherlands)), e-mail: m.meijs@umcutrecht.nl; Meijboom, W. Bob; Feyter, Pim J. de (Dept. of Cardiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam (Netherlands))

2010-05-15

Background: Coronary calcification can lead to over-estimation of the degree of coronary stenosis. Purpose: To evaluate whether thinner reconstruction thickness improves the diagnostic performance of 64-slice CT coronary angiography (CTCA) in angina patients with a positive calcium score. Material and Methods: We selected 20 scans from a clinical study comparing CTCA to conventional coronary angiography (CCA) in stable and unstable angina patients based on a low number of motion artifacts and a positive calcium score. All images were acquired at 64 x 0.625 mm and each CTCA scan was reconstructed at slice thickness/increment 0.67 mm/0.33 mm, 0.9 mm/0.45 mm, and 1.4 mm/0.7 mm. Two reviewers blinded for CCA results independently evaluated the scans for the presence of significant coronary artery disease (CAD) in three randomly composed series, with =2 weeks in between series. The diagnostic performance of CTCA was compared for the different slice thicknesses using a pooled analysis of both reviewers. Significant CAD was defined as >50% diameter narrowing on quantitative CCA. Image noise (standard deviation of CT numbers) was measured in all scans. Inter-observer variability was assessed with kappa. Results: Significant CAD was present in 8% of 304 available segments. Median total Agatston calcium score was 181.8 (interquartile range 34.9-815.6). Sensitivity at 0.67 mm, 0.9 mm, and 1.4 mm slice thickness was 70% (95% confidence interval 57-83%), 74% (62-86%), and 70% (57-83%), respectively. Specificity was 85% (82-88%), 84% (81-87%), and 84% (81-87%), respectively. The positive predictive value was 30 (21-38%), 29 (21-37%), and 28 (20-36%), respectively. The negative predictive value was 97% (95-98%), 97% (96-99%), and 97% (96-99%), respectively. Kappa for inter-observer agreement was 0.56, 0.58, and 0.59. Noise decreased from 32.9 HU at 0.67 mm, to 23.2 HU at 1.4 mm (P<0.001). Conclusion: Diagnostic performance of CTCA in angina patients with a positive calcium score

In vitro imaging of coronary artery stents: Are there differences between 16- and 64-slice CT scanners?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolf, Florian; Feuchtner, Gudrun M.; Homolka, Peter; Langenberger, Herbert; Stadler, Alfred; Bader, Till R.; Weber, Michael; Lammer, Johannes; Loewe, Christian

2008-01-01

Purpose: To compare the performance of 64-slice with 16-slice CT scanners for the in vitro evaluation of coronary artery stents. Methods and materials: Twelve different coronary artery stents were placed in the drillings of a combined heart and chest phantom, which was scanned with a 16- and 64-slice CT scanner. Coronal reformations were evaluated for artificial lumen narrowing, intraluminal attenuation values, and false widening of the outer stent diameter as an indicator of artifacts outside the stent. Results: Mean artificial lumen narrowing was not significantly different between the 16- and 64-slice CT scanner (44% versus 39%; p = 0.408). The differences between the Hounsfield Units (HU) measurements inside and outside the stents were significantly lower (p = 0.001) with 64- compared to 16-slice CT. The standard deviation of the HU measurements inside the stents was significantly (p = 0.002) lower with 64- than with 16-slice CT. Artifacts outside the stents were not significantly different between the scanners (p = 0.866). Conclusion: Visualization of the in-stent lumen is improved with 64-slice CT when compared with 16-slice CT as quantified by significantly lesser intraluminal image noise and less artificial rise in intraluminal HU measurement, which is the most important parameter for the evaluation of stent patency in vivo

Imaging by the SSFSE single slice method at different viscosities of bile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kubo, Hiroya; Usui, Motoki; Fukunaga, Kenichi; Yamamoto, Naruto; Ikegami, Toshimi [Kawasaki Hospital, Kobe (Japan)

2001-11-01

The single shot fast spin echo single thick slice method (single slice method) is a technique that visualizes the water component alone using a heavy T{sub 2}. However, this method is considered to be markedly affected by changes in the viscosity of the material because a very long TE is used, and changes in the T{sub 2} value, which are related to viscosity, directly affect imaging. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between the effects of TE and the T{sub 2} value of bile in the single slice method and also examined the relationship between the signal intensity of bile on T{sub 1}- and T{sub 2}-weighted images and imaging by MR cholangiography (MRC). It was difficult to image bile with high viscosities at a usual effective TE level of 700-1,500 ms. With regard to the relationship between the signal intensity of bile and MRC imaging, all T{sub 2} values of the bile samples showing relatively high signal intensities on the T{sub 1}-weighted images suggested high viscosities, and MRC imaging of these bile samples was poor. In conclusion, MRC imaging of bile with high viscosities was poor with the single slice method. Imaging by the single slice method alone of bile showing a relatively high signal intensity on T{sub 1}-weighted images should be avoided, and combination with other MRC sequences should be used. (author)

Organotypic brain slice cultures of adult transgenic P301S mice--a model for tauopathy studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agneta Mewes

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Organotypic brain slice cultures represent an excellent compromise between single cell cultures and complete animal studies, in this way replacing and reducing the number of animal experiments. Organotypic brain slices are widely applied to model neuronal development and regeneration as well as neuronal pathology concerning stroke, epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease (AD. AD is characterized by two protein alterations, namely tau hyperphosphorylation and excessive amyloid β deposition, both causing microglia and astrocyte activation. Deposits of hyperphosphorylated tau, called neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs, surrounded by activated glia are modeled in transgenic mice, e.g. the tauopathy model P301S. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study we explore the benefits and limitations of organotypic brain slice cultures made of mature adult transgenic mice as a potential model system for the multifactorial phenotype of AD. First, neonatal (P1 and adult organotypic brain slice cultures from 7- to 10-month-old transgenic P301S mice have been compared with regard to vitality, which was monitored with the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH- and the MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assays over 15 days. Neonatal slices displayed a constant high vitality level, while the vitality of adult slice cultures decreased significantly upon cultivation. Various preparation and cultivation conditions were tested to augment the vitality of adult slices and improvements were achieved with a reduced slice thickness, a mild hypothermic cultivation temperature and a cultivation CO(2 concentration of 5%. Furthermore, we present a substantial immunohistochemical characterization analyzing the morphology of neurons, astrocytes and microglia in comparison to neonatal tissue. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Until now only adolescent animals with a maximum age of two months have been used to prepare organotypic brain slices. The current study

kV x-ray dual digital tomosynthesis for image guided lung SBRT

Science.gov (United States)

Partain, Larry; Boyd, Douglas; Kim, Namho; Hernandez, Andrew; Daly, Megan; Boone, John

2016-03-01

Two simulated sets of digital tomosynthesis images of the lungs, each acquired at a 90 degree angle from the other, with 19 projection images used for each set and SART iterative reconstructed, gives dual tomosynthesis slice image quality approaching that of spiral CT, and with a data acquisition time that is 3% of that of cone beam CT. This fast kV acquisition, should allow near real time tracking of lung tumors in patients receiving SBRT, based on a novel TumoTrakTM multi-source X-ray tube design. Until this TumoTrakTM prototype is completed over the next year, its projected performance was simulated from the DRR images created from a spiral CT data set from a lung cancer patient. The resulting dual digital tomosynthesis reconstructed images of the lung tumor were exceptional and approached that of the gold standard Feldkamp CT reconstruction of breath hold, diagnostic, spiral, multirow, CT data. The relative dose at 46 mAs was less than 10% of what it would have been if the digital tomosynthesis had been done at the 472 mAs of the CT data set. This is for a 0.77 fps imaging rate sufficient to resolve respiratory motion in many free breathing patients during SBRT. Such image guidance could decrease the magnitudes of targeting error margins by as much as 20 mm or more in the craniocaudal direction for lower lobe lesions while markedly reducing dose to normal lung, heart and other critical structures. These initial results suggest a wide range of topics for future work.

Performance evaluation of a 64-slice CT system with z-flying focal spot.

Science.gov (United States)

Flohr, T; Stierstorfer, K; Raupach, R; Ulzheimer, S; Bruder, H

2004-12-01

The meanwhile established generation of 16-slice CT systems enables routine sub-millimeter imaging at short breath-hold times. Clinical progress in the development of multidetector row CT (MDCT) technology beyond 16 slices can more likely be expected from further improvement in spatial and temporal resolution rather than from a mere increase in the speed of volume coverage. We present an evaluation of a recently introduced 64-slice CT system (SOMATOM Sensation 64, Siemens AG, Forchheim, Germany), which uses a periodic motion of the focal spot in longitudinal direction (z-flying focal spot) to double the number of simultaneously acquired slices. This technique acquires 64 overlapping 0.6 mm slices per rotation. The sampling scheme corresponds to that of a 64 x 0.3 mm detector, with the goal of improved longitudinal resolution and reduced spiral artifacts. After an introduction to the detector design, we discuss the basics of z-flying focal spot technology (z-Sharp). We present phantom and specimen scans for performance evaluation. The measured full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the thinnest spiral slice is 0.65 mm. All spiral slice widths are almost independent of the pitch, with deviations of less than 0.1 mm from the nominal value. Using a high-resolution bar pattern phantom (CATPHAN, Phantom Laboratories, Salem, NY), the longitudinal resolution can be demonstrated to be up to 15 lp/cm at the isocenter independent of the pitch, corresponding to a bar diameter of 0.33 mm. Longitudinal resolution is only slightly degraded for off-center locations. At a distance of 100 mm from the isocenter, 14 lp/cm can be resolved in the z-direction, corresponding to a bar diameter of 0.36 mm. Spiral "windmill" artifacts presenting as hyper- and hypodense structures around osseous edges are effectively reduced by the z-flying focal spot technique. Cardiac scanning benefits from the short gantry rotation time of 0.33 s, providing up to 83 ms temporal resolution with 2-segment ECG

Thin-Slice Measurement of Wisdom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao S. Hu

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Objective Measurement of Wisdom within a short period of time is vital for both the public interest (e.g., understanding a presidential election and research (e.g., testing factors that facilitate wisdom development. A measurement of emotion associated with wisdom would be especially informative; therefore, a novel Thin-Slice measurement of wisdom was developed based on the Berlin Paradigm. For about 2 min, participants imagined the lens of a camera as the eyes of their friend/teacher whom they advised about a life dilemma. Verbal response and facial expression were both recorded by a camera: verbal responses were then rated on both the Berlin Wisdom criteria and newly developed Chinese wisdom criteria; facial expressions were analyzed by the software iMotion FACET module. Results showed acceptable inter-rater and inter-item reliability for this novel paradigm. Moreover, both wisdom ratings were not significantly correlated with Social desirability, and the Berlin wisdom rating was significantly negatively correlated with Neuroticism; feeling of surprise was significantly positively correlated with both wisdom criteria ratings. Our results provide the first evidence of this Thin-slice Wisdom Paradigm’s reliability, its immunity to social desirability, and its validity for assessing candidates’ wisdom within a short timeframe. Although still awaiting further development, this novel Paradigm contributes to an emerging Universal Wisdom Paradigm applicable across cultures.

Automatic slice identification in 3D medical images with a ConvNet regressor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Vos, Bob D.; Viergever, Max A.; de Jong, Pim A.; Išgum, Ivana

2016-01-01

Identification of anatomical regions of interest is a prerequisite in many medical image analysis tasks. We propose a method that automatically identifies a slice of interest (SOI) in 3D images with a convolutional neural network (ConvNet) regressor. In 150 chest CT scans two reference slices were

CT image construction of a totally deflated lung using deformable model extrapolation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sadeghi Naini, Ali; Pierce, Greg; Lee, Ting-Yim

2011-01-01

intensity mean absolute difference between these two images was calculated to be at 1%. Tumor center as well as a number of anatomical fiducial markers were traced in different corresponding slices of the two images. The average misalignment obtained for the constructed CT image was (0.64, 0.39, 0.11) mm, which indicates a very desirable accuracy for lung brachytherapy applications. Conclusions: The image construction accuracy obtained in this research is suitable for intraoperative tasks; e.g., tumor localization and fusing with real time navigation data in lung brachytherapy. These applications involve image registration with intraoperative U.S. images in order to enhance their poor quality. The proposed technique is also useful for preoperative tasks such as planning of lung brachytherapy treatment.

Fluidized bed drying characteristics and modeling of ginger ( zingiber officinale) slices

Science.gov (United States)

Parlak, Nezaket

2015-08-01

In this study fluidized bed drying characteristics of ginger have been investigated. The effects of the fluidizing air temperature, velocity, humidity and bed height on the drying performance of ginger slices have been found. The experimental moisture loss data of ginger slices has been fitted to the eight thin layer drying models. Two-term model drying model has shown a better fit to the experimental data with R2 of 0.998 as compared to others.

Drying of carrot slices in a triple pass solar dryer

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Seshachalam Kesavan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An indirect triple pass forced convection solar dryer was developed and its performance was evaluated for drying of carrot slices. The drying experiments were carried out under the meteorological conditions of Coimbatore city in India during the year 2016. The experimental set-up consists of a blower, triple pass packed bed air collector (using sand with wire mesh absorber plate, and a drying chamber. The air mass flow rate was optimized to 0.062 kg/s. The initial moisture content of the carrot slices was reduced from 87.5% (on wet basis to the final moisture content of 10% (wet basis in 6 h duration. The thin layer drying characteristics were analyzed using twelve mathematical models available in open literature. The results showed that the pick-up efficiency of the dryer was varied in the range between 14 and 43% with an average air collector thermal efficiency of 44% during the experimentation. The drying characteristics of carrot slices was predicted with good degree of accuracy using Wang and Singh drying model.

AUTOMATIC LUNG NODULE SEGMENTATION USING AUTOSEED REGION GROWING WITH MORPHOLOGICAL MASKING (ARGMM AND FEATURE EX-TRACTION THROUGH COMPLETE LOCAL BINARY PATTERN AND MICROSCOPIC INFORMATION PATTERN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Senthil Kumar

2015-04-01

Full Text Available An efficient Autoseed Region Growing with Morphological Masking(ARGMM is imple-mented in this paper on the Lung CT Slice to segment the 'Lung Nodules',which may be the potential indicator for the Lung Cancer. The segmentation of lung nodules car-ried out in this paper through Multi-Thresholding, ARGMM and Level Set Evolution. ARGMM takes twice the time compared to Level Set, but still the number of suspected segmented nodules are doubled, which make sure that no potential cancerous nodules go unnoticed at the earlier stages of diagnosis. It is very important not to panic the patient by finding the presence of nodules from Lung CT scan. Only 40 percent of nod-ules can be cancerous. Hence, in this paper an efficient Shape and Texture analysis is computed to quantitatively describe the segmented lung nodules. The Frequency spectrum of the lung nodules is developed and its frequency domain features are com-puted. The Complete Local binary pattern of lung nodules is computed in this paper by constructing the combine histogram of Sign and Magnitude Local Binary Patterns. Lo-cal Configuration Pattern is also determined in this work for lung nodules to numeri-cally model the microscopic information of nodules pattern.

Percutaneous chemical lumbar sympathectomy for buerger's disease: Results in 147 patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reena Kothari

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and clinical outcome of percutaneous chemical lumbar sympathectomy (PCLS in Buerger's disease (thromboangiitis obliterans [TAO]. Design: This was a retrospective comparative study. Methods: TAO patients who underwent PCLS in surgery department of a teaching hospital in Central India. Diagnosis of TAO was made on clinical grounds and color Doppler study. PCLS was done under image guidance after amputation of gangrene or before if a clear line of demarcation was lacking. After PCLS, patients were followed up on next day and after 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Outcome monitored were improvement in rest pain (using visual analog scale and healing of ischemic ulcers. Results: All patients were males, chronic bidi smokers, mostly in the third decade of life. All had involvement of lower limbs either ischemic rest pain or ischemic ulcers or gangrene of toes/forefoot. A total of 167 PCLS (20 bilateral were performed on 147 TAO patients from June 2008 to January 2016. Imaging modalities were computed tomography scan (n = 67, digital X-ray (n = 50, and C-arm fluoroscopy (n = 50. Success rate for chemical neurolysis was > 82%. Excellent long-lasting rest pain relief was obtained in > 80% patients. Ulcer healing was seen in majority of patients. Large number of limbs (103/167 had gangrene of toe/multiple toes/part of forefoot. Those with patent popliteal artery fared better. Conclusions: PCLS can provide safe and efficient treatment for rest pain and healing of ischemic ulcers in TAO.

Measures of large-scale structure in the CfA redshift survey slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Lapparent, V.; Geller, M.J.; Huchra, J.P.

1991-01-01

Variations of the counts-in-cells with cell size are used here to define two statistical measures of large-scale clustering in three 6 deg slices of the CfA redshift survey. A percolation criterion is used to estimate the filling factor which measures the fraction of the total volume in the survey occupied by the large-scale structures. For the full 18 deg slice of the CfA redshift survey, f is about 0.25 + or - 0.05. After removing groups with more than five members from two of the slices, variations of the counts in occupied cells with cell size have a power-law behavior with a slope beta about 2.2 on scales from 1-10/h Mpc. Application of both this statistic and the percolation analysis to simulations suggests that a network of two-dimensional structures is a better description of the geometry of the clustering in the CfA slices than a network of one-dimensional structures. Counts-in-cells are also used to estimate at 0.3 galaxy h-squared/Mpc the average galaxy surface density in sheets like the Great Wall. 46 refs

The physiology of rodent beta-cells in pancreas slices.

Science.gov (United States)

Rupnik, M

2009-01-01

Beta-cells in pancreatic islets form complex syncytia. Sufficient cell-to-cell electrical coupling seems to ensure coordinated depolarization pattern and insulin release that can be further modulated by rich innervation. The complex structure and coordinated action develop after birth during fast proliferation of the endocrine tissue. These emergent properties can be lost due to various reasons later in life and can lead to glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus. Pancreas slice is a novel method of choice to study the physiology of beta-cells still embedded in their normal cellulo-social context. I present major advantages, list drawbacks and provide an overview on recent advances in our understanding of the physiology of beta-cells using the pancreas slice approach.

Mis-estimation and bias of hyperpolarized apparent diffusion coefficient measurements due to slice profile effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Jeremy W; Milshteyn, Eugene; Marco-Rius, Irene; Ohliger, Michael; Vigneron, Daniel B; Larson, Peder E Z

2017-09-01

The purpose of this work was to explore the impact of slice profile effects on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) mapping of hyperpolarized (HP) substrates. Slice profile effects were simulated using a Gaussian radiofrequency (RF) pulse with a variety of flip angle schedules and b-value ordering schemes. A long T 1 water phantom was used to validate the simulation results, and ADC mapping of HP [ 13 C, 15 N 2 ]urea was performed on the murine liver to assess these effects in vivo. Slice profile effects result in excess signal after repeated RF pulses, causing bias in HP measurements. The largest error occurs for metabolites with small ADCs, resulting in up to 10-fold overestimation for metabolites that are in more-restricted environments. A mixed b-value scheme substantially reduces this bias, whereas scaling the slice-select gradient can mitigate it completely. In vivo, the liver ADC of hyperpolarized [ 13 C, 15 N 2 ]urea is nearly 70% lower (0.99 ± 0.22 vs 1.69 ± 0.21 × 10 -3 mm 2 /s) when slice-select gradient scaling is used. Slice profile effects can lead to bias in HP ADC measurements. A mixed b-value ordering scheme can reduce this bias compared to sequential b-value ordering. Slice-select gradient scaling can also correct for this deviation, minimizing bias and providing more-precise ADC measurements of HP substrates. Magn Reson Med 78:1087-1092, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Effect of simultaneous infrared dry-blanching and dehydration on quality characteristics of carrot slices

Science.gov (United States)

This study investigated the effects of various processing parameters on carrot slices exposed to infrared (IR) radiation heating for achieving simultaneous infrared dry-blanching and dehydration (SIRDBD). The investigated parameters were product surface temperature, slice thickness and processing ti...

Virtual bronchoscopy-guided transbronchial biopsy for aiding the diagnosis of peripheral lung cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iwano, Shingo, E-mail: iwano45@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp [Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Shouwa-ku, Nagoya 4668550, Aichi (Japan); Imaizumi, Kazuyoshi [Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Shouwa-ku, Nagoya 4668550 (Japan); Okada, Tohru [Research Center for Charged Particle Therapy, National Institute of Radiological Science, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba 2638555 (Japan); Hasegawa, Yoshinori [Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Shouwa-ku, Nagoya 4668550 (Japan); Naganawa, Shinji [Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Shouwa-ku, Nagoya 4668550, Aichi (Japan)

2011-07-15

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical value of virtual bronchoscopy (VB) in aiding diagnosis of peripheral lung cancer by transbronchial biopsy (TBB). In addition, we sought to systematically analyze the factors that affect the diagnostic sensitivity of VB-guided TBB for the evaluation of peripheral lung cancers. Materials and methods: A hundred and twenty-two peripheral lung cancers from 122 patients (82 men and 40 women, 38-84 years; median 68.5 years) who were performed VB-guided TBB were evaluated retrospectively. VB was reconstructed from 1- or 0.5-mm slice thickness images of multi-detector CT (MDCT). Experienced pulmonologists inserted the conventional and ultrathin bronchoscopes into the target bronchus under direct vision following the VB image. Results: A definitive diagnosis was established by VB-guided TBB in 96 lesions (79%). The diagnostic sensitivity of small pulmonary lesions {<=}30 mm in maximal diameter (71%) was significantly lower than that of lesions >30 mm (91%, p = 0.008). For small pulmonary lesions {<=}30 mm (n = 76), internal opacity of the lesion was the independent predictor of diagnostic sensitivity by VB-guided TBB, and the non-solid type lung cancers were significantly lower than the solid type and part-solid type lung cancers for diagnostic sensitivity (odds ratio = 0.161; 95% confidence interval = 0.033-0.780; p = 0.023). Conclusion: Use of an ultrathin bronchoscope and simulation with VB reconstructed by high quality MDCT images is thought to improve pathological diagnosis of peripheral lung cancers, especially for solid and partly solid types. For small pulmonary lesions {<=}30 mm, the lesion internal opacity is a significant factor for predicting the diagnostic sensitivity, and the sensitivity was low for small non-solid type of lung cancers.

Approximations of noise covariance in multi-slice helical CT scans: impact on lung nodule size estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Rongping; Petrick, Nicholas; Gavrielides, Marios A; Myers, Kyle J

2011-10-07

Multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) scanners have become popular volumetric imaging tools. Deterministic and random properties of the resulting CT scans have been studied in the literature. Due to the large number of voxels in the three-dimensional (3D) volumetric dataset, full characterization of the noise covariance in MSCT scans is difficult to tackle. However, as usage of such datasets for quantitative disease diagnosis grows, so does the importance of understanding the noise properties because of their effect on the accuracy of the clinical outcome. The goal of this work is to study noise covariance in the helical MSCT volumetric dataset. We explore possible approximations to the noise covariance matrix with reduced degrees of freedom, including voxel-based variance, one-dimensional (1D) correlation, two-dimensional (2D) in-plane correlation and the noise power spectrum (NPS). We further examine the effect of various noise covariance models on the accuracy of a prewhitening matched filter nodule size estimation strategy. Our simulation results suggest that the 1D longitudinal, 2D in-plane and NPS prewhitening approaches can improve the performance of nodule size estimation algorithms. When taking into account computational costs in determining noise characterizations, the NPS model may be the most efficient approximation to the MSCT noise covariance matrix.

Mathematical modeling of hot air/electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying kinetics of mushroom slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taghian Dinani, Somayeh; Hamdami, Nasser; Shahedi, Mohammad; Havet, Michel

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Hot air/EHD drying behavior of thin layer mushroom slices was evaluated. • A new empirical model was proposed for drying kinetics modeling of mushroom slices. • The new model presents excellent predictions for hot air/EHD drying of mushroom. - Abstract: Researches about mathematical modeling of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying are rare. In this study, hot air combined with electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying behavior of thin layer mushroom slices was evaluated in a laboratory scale dryer at voltages of 17, 19, and 21 kV and electrode gaps of 5, 6, and 7 cm. The drying curves were fitted to ten different mathematical models (Newton, Page, Modified Page, Henderson and Pabis, Logarithmic, Two-term exponential, Midilli and Kucuk, Wang and Singh, Weibull and Parabolic models) and a proposed new empirical model to select a suitable drying equation for drying mushroom slices in a hot air combined with EHD dryer. Coefficients of the models were determined by non-linear regression analysis and the models were compared based on their coefficient of determination (R 2 ), sum of square errors (SSE) and root mean square error (RMSE) between experimental and predicted moisture ratios. According to the results, the proposed model that contains only three parameters provided the best fit with the experimental data. It was closely followed by the Midilli and Kucuk model that contains four parameters. Therefore, the proposed model can present comfortable usage and excellent predictions for the moisture content changes of mushroom slices in the hot air combined with EHD drying system

Brain Slice Staining and Preparation for Three-Dimensional Super-Resolution Microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

German, Christopher L.; Gudheti, Manasa V.; Fleckenstein, Annette E.; Jorgensen, Erik M.

2018-01-01

Localization microscopy techniques – such as photoactivation localization microscopy (PALM), fluorescent PALM (FPALM), ground state depletion (GSD), and stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) – provide the highest precision for single molecule localization currently available. However, localization microscopy has been largely limited to cell cultures due to the difficulties that arise in imaging thicker tissue sections. Sample fixation and antibody staining, background fluorescence, fluorophore photoinstability, light scattering in thick sections, and sample movement create significant challenges for imaging intact tissue. We have developed a sample preparation and image acquisition protocol to address these challenges in rat brain slices. The sample preparation combined multiple fixation steps, saponin permeabilization, and tissue clarification. Together, these preserve intracellular structures, promote antibody penetration, reduce background fluorescence and light scattering, and allow acquisition of images deep in a 30 μm thick slice. Image acquisition challenges were resolved by overlaying samples with a permeable agarose pad and custom-built stainless steel imaging adapter, and sealing the imaging chamber. This approach kept slices flat, immobile, bathed in imaging buffer, and prevented buffer oxidation during imaging. Using this protocol, we consistently obtained single molecule localizations of synaptic vesicle and active zone proteins in three-dimensions within individual synaptic terminals of the striatum in rat brain slices. These techniques may be easily adapted to the preparation and imaging of other tissues, substantially broadening the application of super-resolution imaging. PMID:28924666

Prolonged life of human acute hippocampal slices from temporal lobe epilepsy surgery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wickham, J; Brödjegård, N G; Vighagen, R

2018-01-01

Resected hippocampal tissue from patients with drug-resistant epilepsy presents a unique possibility to test novel treatment strategies directly in target tissue. The post-resection time for testing and analysis however is normally limited. Acute tissue slices allow for electrophysiological...... granule whole-cell recordings, can be consistently induced in these slices, underlying the usefulness of this methodology for testing and/or validating novel treatment strategies for epilepsy....

Reproducible simulation of respiratory motion in porcine lung explants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Biederer, J. [Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, Univ. Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel (Germany); Dept. of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg (Germany); Plathow, C. [Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, Eberhard-Karls-Univ. Tuebingen (Germany); Dept. of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg (Germany); Schoebinger, M.; Meinzer, H.P. [Dept. of Medical and Biological Informatics, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg (Germany); Tetzlaff, R.; Puderbach, M.; Zaporozhan, J.; Kauczor, H.U. [Dept. of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg (Germany); Bolte, H.; Heller, M. [Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, Univ. Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel (Germany)

2006-11-15

Purpose: To develop a model for exactly reproducible respiration motion simulations of animal lung explants inside an MR-compatible chest phantom. Materials and Methods: The materials included a piston pump and a flexible silicone reconstruction of a porcine diaphragm and were used in combination with an established MR-compatible chest phantom for porcine heart-lung preparations. The rhythmic inflation and deflation of the diaphragm at the bottom of the artificial thorax with water (1-1.5 L) induced lung tissue displacement resembling diaphragmatic breathing. This system was tested on five porcine heart-lung preparations using 1.5T MRI with transverse and coronal 3D-GRE (TR/TE=3.63/1.58, 256 x 256 matrix, 350 mm FOV, 4 mm slices) and half Fourier T2-FSE (TR/TE=545/29, 256 x 192, 350 mm, 6 mm) as well as multiple row detector CT (16 x 1 mm collimation, pitch 1.5, FOV 400 mm, 120 mAs) acquired at five fixed inspiration levels. Dynamic CT scans and coronal MRI with dynamic 2D-GRE and 2D-SS-GRE sequences (image frequencies of 10/sec and 3/sec, respectively) were acquired during continuous 'breathing' (7/minute). The position of the piston pump was visually correlated with the respiratory motion visible through the transparent wall of the phantom and with dynamic displays of CT and MR images. An elastic body splines analysis of the respiratory motion was performed using CT data. Results: Visual evaluation of MRI and CT showed three-dimensional movement of the lung tissue throughout the respiration cycle. Local tissue displacement inside the lung explants was documented with motion maps calculated from CT. The maximum displacement at the top of the diaphragm (mean 26.26 [SD 1.9] mm on CT and 27.16 [SD 1.5] mm on MRI, respectively [p=0.25; Wilcoxon test]) was in the range of tidal breathing in human patients. Conclusion: The chest phantom with a diaphragmatic pump is a promising platform for multi-modality imaging studies of the effects of respiratory lung

Reproducible simulation of respiratory motion in porcine lung explants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biederer, J.; Plathow, C.; Schoebinger, M.; Meinzer, H.P.; Tetzlaff, R.; Puderbach, M.; Zaporozhan, J.; Kauczor, H.U.; Bolte, H.; Heller, M.

2006-01-01

Purpose: To develop a model for exactly reproducible respiration motion simulations of animal lung explants inside an MR-compatible chest phantom. Materials and Methods: The materials included a piston pump and a flexible silicone reconstruction of a porcine diaphragm and were used in combination with an established MR-compatible chest phantom for porcine heart-lung preparations. The rhythmic inflation and deflation of the diaphragm at the bottom of the artificial thorax with water (1-1.5 L) induced lung tissue displacement resembling diaphragmatic breathing. This system was tested on five porcine heart-lung preparations using 1.5T MRI with transverse and coronal 3D-GRE (TR/TE=3.63/1.58, 256 x 256 matrix, 350 mm FOV, 4 mm slices) and half Fourier T2-FSE (TR/TE=545/29, 256 x 192, 350 mm, 6 mm) as well as multiple row detector CT (16 x 1 mm collimation, pitch 1.5, FOV 400 mm, 120 mAs) acquired at five fixed inspiration levels. Dynamic CT scans and coronal MRI with dynamic 2D-GRE and 2D-SS-GRE sequences (image frequencies of 10/sec and 3/sec, respectively) were acquired during continuous 'breathing' (7/minute). The position of the piston pump was visually correlated with the respiratory motion visible through the transparent wall of the phantom and with dynamic displays of CT and MR images. An elastic body splines analysis of the respiratory motion was performed using CT data. Results: Visual evaluation of MRI and CT showed three-dimensional movement of the lung tissue throughout the respiration cycle. Local tissue displacement inside the lung explants was documented with motion maps calculated from CT. The maximum displacement at the top of the diaphragm (mean 26.26 [SD 1.9] mm on CT and 27.16 [SD 1.5] mm on MRI, respectively [p=0.25; Wilcoxon test]) was in the range of tidal breathing in human patients. Conclusion: The chest phantom with a diaphragmatic pump is a promising platform for multi-modality imaging studies of the effects of respiratory lung motion. (orig.)

Time-space modal logic for verification of bit-slice circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Hiraishi, Hiromi

1996-03-01

The major goal of this paper is to propose a new modal logic aiming at formal verification of bit-slice circuits. The new logic is called as time-space modal logic and its major feature is that it can handle two transition relations: one for time transition and the other for space transition. As for a verification algorithm, a symbolic model checking algorithm of the new logic is shown. This could be applicable to verification of bit-slice microprocessor of infinite bit width and 1D systolic array of infinite length. A simple benchmark result shows the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Excitotoxic effects of non-NMDA receptor agonists in organotypic corticostriatal slice cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, B W; Noraberg, J; Jakobsen, B

1999-01-01

of the cytosolic enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) into the culture medium and loss of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activity in the tissue. Histological sections were also stained by the fluorescent dye Fluoro-Jade (FJ), for degenerating neurons and by immunocytochemical staining for gamma-aminobutyric acid...... density of Fluoro-Jade staining, (3) loss of GAD-activity in tissue homogenates, and (4) loss of GABA-immunostained neurons. We conclude that both differences between compounds (AMPA vs. KA) and brain areas (striatum vs. cortex) can be demonstrated in corticostriatal slice cultures, which in conjunction...... in corticostriatal slice cultures. The purpose was to examine the feasibility of these cultures for excitotoxic studies, and to demonstrate possible differential excitotoxic effects of KA and AMPA on striatal and cortical neurons. Slices of dorsolateral striatum with overlying neocortex were obtained from neonatal...

Biocompatibility of silicon-based arrays of electrodes coupled to organotypic hippocampal brain slice cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Bjarne Winther; Noraberg, J; Thiébaud, P

2001-01-01

by Nissl staining, Timm sulphide silver-staining, microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunostaining, the slice cultures grown on chips did not differ from conventionally grown slice cultures. Neither were there any signs of astrogliosis or neurodegeneration...

A brain slice bath for physiology and compound microscopy, with dual-sided perifusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Heyward, P M

2010-12-01

Contemporary in vitro brain slice studies can employ compound microscopes to identify individual neurons or their processes for physiological recording or imaging. This requires that the bath used to maintain the tissue fits within the working distances of a water-dipping objective and microscope condenser. A common means of achieving this is to maintain thin tissue slices on the glass floor of a recording bath, exposing only one surface of the tissue to oxygenated bathing medium. Emerging evidence suggests that physiology can be compromised by this approach. Flowing medium past both sides of submerged brain slices is optimal, but recording baths utilizing this principle are not readily available for use on compound microscopes. This paper describes a tissue bath designed specifically for microscopy and physiological recording, in which temperature-controlled medium flows past both sides of the slices. A particular feature of this design is the use of concentric mesh rings to support and transport the live tissue without mechanical disturbance. The design is also easily adapted for use with thin acute slices, cultured slices, and acutely dispersed or cultured cells maintained either on cover slips or placed directly on the floor of the bath. The low profile of the bath provides a low angle of approach for electrodes, and allows use of standard condensers, nosepieces and water-dipping objective lenses. If visualization of individual neurons is not required, the bath can be mounted on a simple stand and used with a dissecting microscope. Heating is integral to the bath, and any temperature controller capable of driving a resistive load can be used. The bath is robust, readily constructed and requires minimal maintenance. Full construction and operation details are given. © 2010 The Author Journal of Microscopy © 2010 The Royal Microscopical Society.

Trehalose Liposomes Suppress the Growth of Tumors on Human Lung Carcinoma-bearing Mice by Induction of Apoptosis In Vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Ichihara, Hideaki; Kuwabara, Keiji; Matsumoto, Yoko

2017-11-01

Previous evidence demonstrates that trehalose liposomes (DMTreC14) composed of L-α-dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) and α-D-glycopyranosyl-α-D-glucopyranoside monomyristate (TreC14) inhibit proliferation and invasion on lung carcinoma (A549 cells) in vitro. Here, we aimed to investigate suppressive effects of DMTreC14 on the growth of tumor on human lung carcinoma bearing mice. DMTreC14 composed of 30 mol% DMPC and 70 mol% TreC14 were prepared by the sonication method. Anti-tumor activities of DMTreC14 using the subcutaneous and orthotopic graft-bearing mice of A549 cells were investigated in vivo. The remarkable reduction of volume and weight in subcutaneous tumors on subcutaneous lung carcinoma-bearing mice topically administrated with DMTreC14 were obtained. Apoptotic-positive cells in the subcutaneous tumor slice of subcutaneous lung carcinoma-bearing mice topically administrated with DMTreC14 were observed using TUNEL staining. Lung weights on the orthotopic graft-bearing mice of lung carcinoma intravenously administrated with DMTreC14 were markedly decreased compared to those of the control group. Remarkable decrease in dimensions of tumor area of lung on the orthotopic graft-bearing mice of lung carcinoma intravenously administrated with DMTreC14 was obtained in histological analysis using the hematoxylin and eosin staining. Remarkably high anti-tumor activities of DMTreC14 for the subcutaneous and orthotopic graft-bearing mice of lung carcinoma accompanied with apoptosis were revealed for the first time in vivo. Copyright© 2017, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Intersection-based registration of slice stacks to form 3D images of the human fetal brain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kim, Kio; Hansen, Mads Fogtmann; Habas, Piotr

2008-01-01

Clinical fetal MR imaging of the brain commonly makes use of fast 2D acquisitions of multiple sets of approximately orthogonal 2D slices. We and others have previously proposed an iterative slice-to-volume registration process to recover a geometrically consistent 3D image. However......, these approaches depend on a 3D volume reconstruction step during the slice alignment. This is both computationally expensive and makes the convergence of the registration process poorly defined. In this paper our key contribution is a new approach which considers the collective alignment of all slices directly...... of the approach applied to simulated data and clinically acquired fetal images....

A Novel Approach for Transmission of 56 Gbit/s NRZ Signal in Access Network Using Spectrum Slicing Technique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spolitis, S.; Vegas Olmos, Juan José; Bobrovs, V.

2013-01-01

We present the spectrum slicing and stitching concept for high-capacity low optics complexity optical access networks. Spectrum slicing and stitching of a 56 Gbit/s NRZ electrical signal is experimentally demonstrated for the first time.......We present the spectrum slicing and stitching concept for high-capacity low optics complexity optical access networks. Spectrum slicing and stitching of a 56 Gbit/s NRZ electrical signal is experimentally demonstrated for the first time....

Abscisic Acid accumulation in spinach leaf slices in the presence of penetrating and nonpenetrating solutes.

Science.gov (United States)

Creelman, R A; Zeevaart, J A

1985-01-01

Abscisic acid (ABA) accumulated in detached, wilted leaves of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L. cv Savoy Hybrid 612) and reached a maximum level within 3 to 4 hours. The increase in ABA over that found in detached turgid leaves was approximately 10-fold. The effects of water stress could be mimicked by the use of thin slices of spinach leaves incubated in the presence of 0.6 molar mannitol, a compound which causes plasmolysis (loss of turgor). About equal amounts of ABA were found both in the leaf slices and in detached leaves, whereas 2 to 4 times more ABA accumulated in the medium than in the slices. When spinach leaf slices were incubated with ethylene glycol, a compound which rapidly penetrates the cell membrane causing a decrease in the osmotic potential of the tissue and only transient loss of turgor, no ABA accumulated. Ethylene glycol was not inhibitory with respect to ABA accumulation. Spinach leaf slices incubated in both ethylene glycol and mannitol had ABA levels similar to those found when slices were incubated with mannitol alone. Increases similar to those found with mannitol also occurred when Aquacide III, a highly purified form of polyethylene glycol, was used. Aquacide III causes cytorrhysis, a situation similar to that found in wilted leaves. Thus, it appears that loss of turgor is essential for ABA accumulation.When spinach leaf slices were incubated with solutes which are supposed to disturb membrane integrity (KHSO(3), 2-propanol, or KCl) no increase in ABA was observed. These data indicate that, with respect to the accumulation of ABA, mannitol caused a physical stress (loss of turgor) rather than a chemical stress (membrane damage).

Software framework developed for the slice test of the ATLAS endcap muon trigger system

CERN Document Server

Komatsu, S; Ishida, Y; Tanaka, K; Hasuko, K; Kano, H; Matsumoto, Y; Yakamura, Y; Sakamoto, H; Ikeno, M; Nakayoshi, K; Sasaki, O; Yasu, Y; Hasegawa, Y; Totsuka, M; Tsuji, S; Maeno, T; Ichimiya, R; Kurashige, H

2002-01-01

A sliced system test of the ATLAS end cap muon level 1 trigger system has been done in 2001 and 2002 separately. We have developed an own software framework for property and run controls for the slice test in 2001. The system is described in C++ throughout. The multi-PC control system is accomplished using the CORBA system. We have then restructured the software system on top of the ATLAS online software framework, and used this one for the slice test in 2002. In this report we discuss two systems in detail with emphasizing the module property configuration and run control. (8 refs).

Non-invasive assessment of congenital pulmonary vein stenosis in children using cardiac-non-gated CT with 64-slice technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ou, Phalla; Marini, Davide; Celermajer, David S.; Agnoletti, Gabriella; Vouhe, Pascal; Sidi, Daniel; Bonnet, Damien; Brunelle, Francis

2009-01-01

Background: Management of congenital pulmonary vein stenosis is a diagnostic challenge. Echocardiography may be insufficient and thus cardiac catheterization remains the reference standard in this setting. The aim of the study was to investigate the accuracy of cardiac-non-gated CT using 64-slice technology in detecting congenital pulmonary vein stenosis in children. Materials and methods: CT examinations were consecutively performed from May 2005 to December 2006 in 13 children aged 1.5-12 months (median 5 months) for suspected congenital pulmonary vein stenosis. Cardiac-non-gated CT acquisitions were performed after the peripheral injection of contrast agent. Pulmonary veins were evaluated for their pattern of connectivity from the lung to the left atrium and for the presence of stenosis. CT findings of pulmonary vein stenosis were compared with combined findings available from echocardiography, catheterization and surgery. Results: Pulmonary veins from the right lung (n = 29) and left lung (n = 26) were evaluated as separate structures (N = 55). Of the 55 structures, 32 had surgical and/or catheterization data and 45 had echocardiography for comparison. CT visualized 100% (55/55) of the investigated structures, while echocardiography visualized 82% (45/55). In the 13 subjects CT identified 10 stenotic pulmonary veins. CT confirmed the echocardiography suspicion of pulmonary vein stenosis in 100% (7/7) and established a new diagnosis in 3 other patients. CT agreed with surgery/catheterization in 100% (10/10) of the available comparisons. Conclusion: Cardiac-non-gated CT assessed the pulmonary veins more completely than echocardiography and should be considered as a viable alternative for invasive pulmonary venography for detecting pulmonary vein stenosis in children.

Evaluation of methylmercury biotransformation using rat liver slices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yasutake, A. [Biochemistry Section, National Inst. for Minamata Disease, Minamata, Kumamoto (Japan); Hirayama, K. [Kumamoto University College of Medical Science, Kuhonji (Japan)

2001-09-01

To examine the demethylation reaction of methylmercury (MeHg) in rat liver, slices prepared from MeHg-treated rats were incubated in L-15 medium under 95% O{sub 2}/5% CO{sub 2} atmosphere. During the incubation, the amount of inorganic Hg in the slices markedly increased in a time-dependent manner, although the concentration of total Hg remained unchanged. Since the C-Hg bond in MeHg was demonstrated to be cleaved by the action of some reactive oxygen species, the effects on MeHg demethylation of several reagents that could modify reactive oxygen production were examined in the present system. Methylviologen was found to be an effective enhancer of the demethylation reaction with only a minor effect on lipid peroxidation. On the other hand, ferrous ion added to the medium showed no effect on demethylation in the presence or absence of methylviologen, although lipid peroxide levels were increased significantly by ferrous ion. Similarly, deferoxamine mesylate, which effectively suppressed the increase in lipid peroxide levels, also had no effect on demethylation. Furthermore, hydroxy radical scavengers, such as mannitol and dimethylsulfoxide, had no effect on inorganic Hg production. Rotenone, an inhibitor of complex I in the mitochondrial electron transport system, increased levels of both inorganic Hg and lipid peroxide. However, other inhibitors, such as antimycin A, myxothiazole and NaCN, significantly suppressed the demethylation reaction. Cell fractionation of the MeHg-treated rat liver revealed that the ratio of inorganic Hg to total Hg was highest in the mitochondrial fraction. Furthermore, superoxide anion could degrade MeHg in an organic solvent but not in water. These results suggested that the demethylation of MeHg by the liver slice would proceed with the aid of superoxide anion produced in the electron transfer system at the hydrophobic mitochondrial inner membrane. Furthermore, the involvement of hydroxy radicals, which have been demonstrated to be

TH-AB-207A-12: CT Lung Cancer Screening and the Effects of Further Dose Reduction On CAD Performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, S; Lo, P; Hoffman, J; Kim, H; Hsu, W; Flores, C; Lee, G; Brown, M; McNitt-Gray, M

2016-01-01

Purpose: CT lung screening is already performed at low doses. In this study, we investigated the effects of further dose reduction on a lung-nodule CAD detection algorithm. Methods: The original raw CT data and images from 348 patients were obtained from our local database of National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) cases. 61 patients (17.5%) had at least one nodule reported on the NLST reader forms. All scans were acquired with fixed mAs (25 for standard-sized patients, 40 for large patients) on a 64-slice scanner (Sensation 64, Siemens Healthcare). All images were reconstructed with 1-mm slice thickness, B50 kernel. Based on a previously-published technique, we added noise to the raw data to simulate reduced-dose versions of each case at 50% and 25% of the original NLST dose (i.e. approximately 1.0 and 0.5 mGy CTDIvol). For each case at each dose level, a CAD detection algorithm was run and nodules greater than 4 mm in diameter were reported. These CAD results were compared to “truth”, defined as the approximate nodule centroids from the NLST forms. Sensitivities and false-positive rates (FPR) were calculated for each dose level, with a sub-analysis by nodule LungRADS category. Results: For larger category 4 nodules, median sensitivities were 100% at all three dose levels, and mean sensitivity decreased with dose. For the more challenging category 2 and 3 nodules, the dose dependence was less obvious. Overall, mean subject-level sensitivity varied from 38.5% at 100% dose to 40.4% at 50% dose, a difference of only 1.9%. However, median FPR quadrupled from 1 per case at 100% dose to 4 per case at 25% dose. Conclusions: Dose reduction affected nodule detectability differently depending on the LungRADS category, and FPR was very sensitive at sub-screening levels. Care should be taken to adapt CAD for the very challenging noise characteristics of screening. Funding support: NIH U01 CA181156; Disclosures (McNitt-Gray): Institutional research agreement, Siemens

TH-AB-207A-12: CT Lung Cancer Screening and the Effects of Further Dose Reduction On CAD Performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Young, S; Lo, P; Hoffman, J; Kim, H; Hsu, W; Flores, C; Lee, G; Brown, M; McNitt-Gray, M [UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: CT lung screening is already performed at low doses. In this study, we investigated the effects of further dose reduction on a lung-nodule CAD detection algorithm. Methods: The original raw CT data and images from 348 patients were obtained from our local database of National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) cases. 61 patients (17.5%) had at least one nodule reported on the NLST reader forms. All scans were acquired with fixed mAs (25 for standard-sized patients, 40 for large patients) on a 64-slice scanner (Sensation 64, Siemens Healthcare). All images were reconstructed with 1-mm slice thickness, B50 kernel. Based on a previously-published technique, we added noise to the raw data to simulate reduced-dose versions of each case at 50% and 25% of the original NLST dose (i.e. approximately 1.0 and 0.5 mGy CTDIvol). For each case at each dose level, a CAD detection algorithm was run and nodules greater than 4 mm in diameter were reported. These CAD results were compared to “truth”, defined as the approximate nodule centroids from the NLST forms. Sensitivities and false-positive rates (FPR) were calculated for each dose level, with a sub-analysis by nodule LungRADS category. Results: For larger category 4 nodules, median sensitivities were 100% at all three dose levels, and mean sensitivity decreased with dose. For the more challenging category 2 and 3 nodules, the dose dependence was less obvious. Overall, mean subject-level sensitivity varied from 38.5% at 100% dose to 40.4% at 50% dose, a difference of only 1.9%. However, median FPR quadrupled from 1 per case at 100% dose to 4 per case at 25% dose. Conclusions: Dose reduction affected nodule detectability differently depending on the LungRADS category, and FPR was very sensitive at sub-screening levels. Care should be taken to adapt CAD for the very challenging noise characteristics of screening. Funding support: NIH U01 CA181156; Disclosures (McNitt-Gray): Institutional research agreement, Siemens

Mixed time slicing in path integral simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steele, Ryan P.; Zwickl, Jill; Shushkov, Philip; Tully, John C.

2011-01-01

A simple and efficient scheme is presented for using different time slices for different degrees of freedom in path integral calculations. This method bridges the gap between full quantization and the standard mixed quantum-classical (MQC) scheme and, therefore, still provides quantum mechanical effects in the less-quantized variables. Underlying the algorithm is the notion that time slices (beads) may be 'collapsed' in a manner that preserves quantization in the less quantum mechanical degrees of freedom. The method is shown to be analogous to multiple-time step integration techniques in classical molecular dynamics. The algorithm and its associated error are demonstrated on model systems containing coupled high- and low-frequency modes; results indicate that convergence of quantum mechanical observables can be achieved with disparate bead numbers in the different modes. Cost estimates indicate that this procedure, much like the MQC method, is most efficient for only a relatively few quantum mechanical degrees of freedom, such as proton transfer. In this regime, however, the cost of a fully quantum mechanical simulation is determined by the quantization of the least quantum mechanical degrees of freedom.

Progress on the Femto-Slicing Project at the Synchrotron SOLEIL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prigent, P; Hollander, Ph; Labat, M; Couprie, M E; Marlats, J L; Laulhé, C; Luning, J; Moreno, T; Morin, P; Nadji, A; Polack, F; Ravy, S; Silly, M; Sirotti, F

2013-01-01

The aim of the Femto-Slicing project at SOLEIL is to generate 100 fs X-rays pulses on two beamlines, CRISTAL and TEMPO, for pump-probe experiments in the hard and soft X-rays regions. Two fs lasers are currently in operation on TEMPO and CRISTAL for pump-probe experiments on the ps time scale enabling time resolved photoemission and photodiffraction studies. The Femto-Slicing project is based on the fs laser of the CRISTAL beamline, which can be adjusted to deliver 3 mJ pulses of 30 fs duration at 2.5 kHz. The laser beam will be separated in three branches: one delivering about 2 mJ to the modulator Wiggler and the other ones delivering the remaining energy to the TEMPO and CRISTAL experiments. This layout will yield natural synchronization between IR laser pump and X-ray probe pulses, only affected by jitter associated with beam transport. In this paper, we present the current status of the Femto-Slicing project at SOLEIL, with particular emphasis on the expected performance, and the design and construction of the laser beam transport and the diagnostics implementation.

Fourier-based approach to interpolation in single-slice helical computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

La Riviere, Patrick J.; Pan Xiaochuan

2001-01-01

It has recently been shown that longitudinal aliasing can be a significant and detrimental presence in reconstructed single-slice helical computed tomography (CT) volumes. This aliasing arises because the directly measured data in helical CT are generally undersampled by a factor of at least 2 in the longitudinal direction and because the exploitation of the redundancy of fanbeam data acquired over 360 degree sign to generate additional longitudinal samples does not automatically eliminate the aliasing. In this paper we demonstrate that for pitches near 1 or lower, the redundant fanbeam data, when used properly, can provide sufficient information to satisfy a generalized sampling theorem and thus to eliminate aliasing. We develop and evaluate a Fourier-based algorithm, called 180FT, that accomplishes this. As background we present a second Fourier-based approach, called 360FT, that makes use only of the directly measured data. Both Fourier-based approaches exploit the fast Fourier transform and the Fourier shift theorem to generate from the helical projection data a set of fanbeam sinograms corresponding to equispaced transverse slices. Slice-by-slice reconstruction is then performed by use of two-dimensional fanbeam algorithms. The proposed approaches are compared to their counterparts based on the use of linear interpolation - the 360LI and 180LI approaches. The aliasing suppression property of the 180FT approach is a clear advantage of the approach and represents a step toward the desirable goal of achieving uniform longitudinal resolution properties in reconstructed helical CT volumes

[Construction of 2-dimensional tumor microvascular architecture phenotype in non-small cell lung cancer].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jin-kang; Wang, Xiao-yi; Xiong, Zeng; Zhou, Hui; Zhou, Jian-hua; Fu, Chun-yan; Li, Bo

2008-08-01

To construct a technological platform of 2-dimensional tumor microvascular architecture phenotype (2D-TAMP) expression. Thirty samples of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were collected after surgery. The corresponding sections of tumor tissue specimens to the slice of CT perfusion imaging were selected. Immunohistochemical staining,Gomori methenamine silver stain, and electron microscope observation were performed to build a technological platform of 2D-TMAP expression by detecting the morphology and the integrity of basement membrane of microvasculature, microvascular density, various microvascular subtype, the degree of the maturity and lumenization of microvasculature, and the characteristics of immunogenetics of microvasculature. The technological platform of 2D-TMAP expression was constructed successfully. There was heterogeneity in 2D-TMAP expression of non-small cell lung cancer. The microvascular of NSCLC had certain characteristics. 2D-TMAP is a key technology that can be used to observe the overall state of micro-environment in tumor growth.

Optical microwave filter based on spectral slicing by use of arrayed waveguide gratings.

Science.gov (United States)

Pastor, Daniel; Ortega, Beatriz; Capmany, José; Sales, Salvador; Martinez, Alfonso; Muñoz, Pascual

2003-10-01

We have experimentally demonstrated a new optical signal processor based on the use of arrayed waveguide gratings. The structure exploits the concept of spectral slicing combined with the use of an optical dispersive medium. The approach presents increased flexibility from previous slicing-based structures in terms of tunability, reconfiguration, and apodization of the samples or coefficients of the transversal optical filter.

An assessment of the number of CT slices necessary to plan breast radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vincent, D.; Beckham, W.; Delaney, G.

1999-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the number of CT slices required to produce satisfactory dose distribution for tangential field irradiation of the chest wall and breast and to assess correlation of this with the volume of breast tissue treated. We conclude that a single-slice plan is unsatisfactory in providing sufficient information about the dose variation across the treatment volume and that ideally a 3D plan with DVHs should be produced. If the required data is unavailable then a minimum of three slices should be used as an approximation. We also propose a software tool for treatment planning systems, which calculates the percentage of the total PTV having dose outside the ICRU 50 radiation dose distribution homogeneity guideline range

640-slice DVCT multi-dimensionally and dynamically presents changes in bladder volume and urine flow rate

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Yunshan; Fang, Kewei; Mao, Chongwen; Xiang, Shutian; Wang, Jin; Li, Yingwen

2018-01-01

The present study aimed to explore the application of 640-slice dynamic volume computed tomography (DVCT) to excretory cystography and urethrography. A total of 70 healthy subjects were included in the study. Excretory cystography and urethrography using 640-slice DVCT was conducted to continuously record the motions of the bladder and the proximal female and male urethra. The patients' voiding process was divided into early, early to middle, middle, middle to late, and late voiding phases. The subjects were analyzed using DVCT and conventional CT. The cross-sectional areas of various sections of the male and female urethra were evaluated, and the average urine flow rate was calculated. The 640-slice DVCT technique was used to dynamically observe the urine flow rate and changes in bladder volume at all voiding phases. The urine volume detected by 640-slice DVCT exhibited no significant difference compared with the actual volume, and no significant difference compared with that determined using conventional CT. Furthermore, no significant difference in the volume of the bladder at each phase of the voiding process was detected between 640-slice DVCT and conventional CT. The results indicate that 640-slice DVCT can accurately evaluate the status of the male posterior urethra and female urethra. In conclusion, 640-slice DVCT is able to multi-dimensionally and dynamically present changes in bladder volume and urine flow rate, and could obtain similar results to conventional CT in detecting urine volume, as well as the status of the male posterior urethra and female urethra. PMID:29467853

Visual classification of emphysema heterogeneity compared with objective measurements: HRCT vs spiral CT in candidates for lung volume reduction surgery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cederlund, K.; Hoegberg, S.; Rasmussen, E.; Svane, B.; Bergstrand, L.; Tylen, U.; Aspelin, P.

2002-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether spiral CT is superior to high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in evaluating the radiological morphology of emphysema, and whether the combination of both CT techniques improves the evaluation in patients undergoing lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS). The material consisted of HRCT (with 2-mm slice thickness) and spiral CT (with 10-mm slice thickness) of 94 candidates for LVRS. Selected image pairs from these examinations were evaluated. Each image pair consisted of one image from the cranial part of the lung and one image from the caudal part. The degree of emphysema in the two images was calculated by computer. The difference between the images determined the degree of heterogeneity. Five classes of heterogeneity were defined. The study was performed by visual classification of 95 image pairs (spiral CT) and 95 image pairs (HRCT) into one of five different classes of emphysema heterogeneity. This visual classification was compared with the computer-based classification. Spiral CT was superior to HRCT with 47% correct classifications of emphysema heterogeneity compared with 40% for HRCT-based classification (p<0.05). The combination of the techniques did not improve the evaluation (42%). Spiral CT is superior to HRCT in determining heterogeneity of emphysema visually, and should be included in the pre-operative CT evaluation of LVRS candidates. (orig.)

Visual classification of emphysema heterogeneity compared with objective measurements: HRCT vs spiral CT in candidates for lung volume reduction surgery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cederlund, K.; Hoegberg, S.; Rasmussen, E.; Svane, B. [Department of Thoracic Radiology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm (Sweden); Bergstrand, L. [Department of Radiology, Danderyds Hospital, Danderyd (Sweden); Tylen, U. [Deparment of Radiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenberg (Sweden); Aspelin, P. [Department of Radiology, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge (Sweden)

2002-05-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether spiral CT is superior to high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in evaluating the radiological morphology of emphysema, and whether the combination of both CT techniques improves the evaluation in patients undergoing lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS). The material consisted of HRCT (with 2-mm slice thickness) and spiral CT (with 10-mm slice thickness) of 94 candidates for LVRS. Selected image pairs from these examinations were evaluated. Each image pair consisted of one image from the cranial part of the lung and one image from the caudal part. The degree of emphysema in the two images was calculated by computer. The difference between the images determined the degree of heterogeneity. Five classes of heterogeneity were defined. The study was performed by visual classification of 95 image pairs (spiral CT) and 95 image pairs (HRCT) into one of five different classes of emphysema heterogeneity. This visual classification was compared with the computer-based classification. Spiral CT was superior to HRCT with 47% correct classifications of emphysema heterogeneity compared with 40% for HRCT-based classification (p<0.05). The combination of the techniques did not improve the evaluation (42%). Spiral CT is superior to HRCT in determining heterogeneity of emphysema visually, and should be included in the pre-operative CT evaluation of LVRS candidates. (orig.)

Tomographic apparatus and method for reconstructing planar slices from non-absorbed radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-01-01

In a tomographic apparatus and method for reconstructing two-dimensional planar slices from linear projections of non-absorbed radiation useful in the fields of medical radiology, microscopy, and non-destructive testing, a beam of radiation in the shape of a fan is passed through an object lying in the same quasi-plane as the object slice and non-absorbtion thereof is recorded on oppositely-situated detectors aligned with the source of radiation. There is relative rotation between the source-detector configuration and the object within the quasi-plane. Periodic values of the detected radiation are taken, convolved with certain functions, and back-projected to produce a two-dimensional output picture on a visual display illustrating a facsimile of the object slice. A series of two-dimensional pictures obtained simultaneously or serially can be combined to produce a three dimensional portrayal of the entire object

Impact of endobronchial coiling on segmental bronchial lumen in treated and untreated lung lobes: Correlation with changes in lung volume, clinical and pulmonary function tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Kloth, C; Thaiss, W M; Hetzel, J; Ditt, H; Grosse, U; Nikolaou, K; Horger, M

2016-07-01

To assess the impact of endobronchial coiling on the segment bronchus cross-sectional area and volumes in patients with lung emphysema using quantitative chest-CT measurements. Thirty patients (female = 15; median age = 65.36 years) received chest-CT before and after endobronchial coiling for lung volume reduction (LVR) between January 2010 and December 2014. Thin-slice (0.6 mm) non-enhanced image data sets were acquired both at end-inspiration and end-expiration using helical technique and 120 kV/100-150 mAs. Clinical response was defined as an increase in the walking distance (Six-minute walk test; 6MWT) after LVR-therapy. Additionally, pulmonary function test (PFT) measurements were used for clinical correlation. In the treated segmental bronchia, the cross-sectional lumen area showed significant reduction (p  0.05). In the ipsilateral lobes, the lumina showed no significant changes. In the contralateral lung, we found tendency towards increased cross-sectional area in inspiration (p = 0.06). Volumes of the treated segments correlated with the treated segmental bronchial lumina in expiration (r = 0.80, p volume of the treated lobe in responders only. Endobronchial coiling causes significant decrease in the cross-sectional area of treated segment bronchi in inspiration and a slight increase in expiration accompanied by a volume reduction. • Endobronchial coiling has indirect impact on cross-sectional area of treated segment bronchi • Volume changes of treated lobes correlate with changes in bronchial cross-sectional area • Coil-induced effects reflect their stabilizing and stiffening impact on lung parenchyma • Endobronchial coiling reduces bronchial collapsing compensating the loss of elasticity.

Quantitative texture-based assessment of one-year changes in fibrotic reticular patterns on HRCT in scleroderma lung disease treated with oral cyclophosphamide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyun J.; Brown, Matthew S. [David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Center for Computer Vision and Imaging Biomarker, Department of Radiological Sciences, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Elashoff, Robert [David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Department of Biostatistics and Biomathematics, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Li, Gang [School of Public Health, UCLA, Department of Biostatistics, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Gjertson, David W. [School of Public Health and David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Department of Biostatistics and Pathology, Los Angeles (United States); Lynch, David A. [National Jewish Health, Radiology Department, Denver, CO (United States); Strollo, Diane C. [UPMC Presbyterian, Radiology Department, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Kleerup, Eric; Tashkin, Donald P. [David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Department of Med-Pul and Critical Care, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Chong, Daniel; Shah, Sumit K.; Ahmad, Shama; Abtin, Fereidoun; Goldin, Jonathan G. [David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Department of Radiological Sciences, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2011-12-15

The Scleroderma Lung Study showed the efficacy of cyclophosphamide in modestly improving the forced vital capacity (FVC) compared with placebo over 1 year. Using changes in texture-based scores that quantify lung fibrosis as the percentage involvement of reticulation patterns, the effectiveness of cyclophosphamide was re-assessed by examining its impact on quantitative lung fibrosis (QLF). Axial HRCT images were acquired (1-mm slice thickness, 10-mm increments) in the prone position at inspiration. A validated model for quantifying interstitial disease patterns was applied to images from 83 subjects at baseline and 12 months. Scores were calculated for six zones (upper, mid, lower of the right/left lung) and the whole lung. Average changes were compared. Correlations were performed between QLF and physiological and clinical scores. From the most severe zones identified at baseline, QLF scores decreased by 2.6% in the cyclophosphamide group, whereas they increased by 9.1% in the placebo group, leading to {proportional_to}12% difference (p = 0.0027). Between-treatment difference in whole lung QLF was {proportional_to}5% (p = 0.0190). Significant associations were observed between changes in QLF and FVC (r = -0.33), dyspnea score (r = -0.29), and consensus visual score (p = 0.0001). QLF scores provide an objective quantitative tool for assessing treatment efficacy in scleroderma-related interstitial lung disease. (orig.)

Quantitative texture-based assessment of one-year changes in fibrotic reticular patterns on HRCT in scleroderma lung disease treated with oral cyclophosphamide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyun J.; Brown, Matthew S.; Elashoff, Robert; Li, Gang; Gjertson, David W.; Lynch, David A.; Strollo, Diane C.; Kleerup, Eric; Tashkin, Donald P.; Chong, Daniel; Shah, Sumit K.; Ahmad, Shama; Abtin, Fereidoun; Goldin, Jonathan G.

2011-01-01

The Scleroderma Lung Study showed the efficacy of cyclophosphamide in modestly improving the forced vital capacity (FVC) compared with placebo over 1 year. Using changes in texture-based scores that quantify lung fibrosis as the percentage involvement of reticulation patterns, the effectiveness of cyclophosphamide was re-assessed by examining its impact on quantitative lung fibrosis (QLF). Axial HRCT images were acquired (1-mm slice thickness, 10-mm increments) in the prone position at inspiration. A validated model for quantifying interstitial disease patterns was applied to images from 83 subjects at baseline and 12 months. Scores were calculated for six zones (upper, mid, lower of the right/left lung) and the whole lung. Average changes were compared. Correlations were performed between QLF and physiological and clinical scores. From the most severe zones identified at baseline, QLF scores decreased by 2.6% in the cyclophosphamide group, whereas they increased by 9.1% in the placebo group, leading to ∝12% difference (p = 0.0027). Between-treatment difference in whole lung QLF was ∝5% (p = 0.0190). Significant associations were observed between changes in QLF and FVC (r = -0.33), dyspnea score (r = -0.29), and consensus visual score (p = 0.0001). QLF scores provide an objective quantitative tool for assessing treatment efficacy in scleroderma-related interstitial lung disease. (orig.)

Clinical evaluation of a software for automated localization of lung nodules at follow-up CT examinations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beyer, F.; Wormanns, D.; Heindel, W.; Kohl, G.

2004-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate a software algorithm for automated localization of pulmonary nodules at follow-up CT examinations of the chest and to determine factors influencing the rate of correctly matched nodules. Materials and Methods: The 'real-time automatic matching' (RAM) algorithm (Siemens LungCare TM software) was applied to 22 follow-up multirow-detector CT (MDCT) examinations in 11 patients (Siemens Somatom VolumeZoom, tube voltage 120 kVp; effective tube current 20 mAs (n=18) or 100 mAs (n=4); 4 x 1 mm detector configuration, 1.25 mm slice thickness; 0.8 mm reconstruction increment; standard lung kernel B50f) with a total of 190 lung nodules (mean diameter 6.7±3.5 mm, range 2-17 mm). The following nodule features were recorded: diameter, edge definition (well- or ill-defined), location (upper, middle or lower third; central or peripheral; right of left lung) and inspiration level (considered identical if the difference of diaphragm-apex distance between baseline and follow-up examination was 2 -test was used to describe influence of nodule features on detection rate. Influence of nodule size was assessed using Mann-Whitney-U-Test. Results: RAM correctly located 164 of 190 of all lung nodules (86.3%). Detection rate did not depend on nodule location (left vs. right lung: p=0.48; upper vs. middle vs. lower third: p=0.96; peripheral vs. central: p=0.47) or diameter (p=0.30). Influence of inspiration level was highly significant (p [de

Analysis and classification of commercial ham slice images using directional fractal dimension features.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendoza, Fernando; Valous, Nektarios A; Allen, Paul; Kenny, Tony A; Ward, Paddy; Sun, Da-Wen

2009-02-01

This paper presents a novel and non-destructive approach to the appearance characterization and classification of commercial pork, turkey and chicken ham slices. Ham slice images were modelled using directional fractal (DF(0°;45°;90°;135°)) dimensions and a minimum distance classifier was adopted to perform the classification task. Also, the role of different colour spaces and the resolution level of the images on DF analysis were investigated. This approach was applied to 480 wafer thin ham slices from four types of hams (120 slices per type): i.e., pork (cooked and smoked), turkey (smoked) and chicken (roasted). DF features were extracted from digitalized intensity images in greyscale, and R, G, B, L(∗), a(∗), b(∗), H, S, and V colour components for three image resolution levels (100%, 50%, and 25%). Simulation results show that in spite of the complexity and high variability in colour and texture appearance, the modelling of ham slice images with DF dimensions allows the capture of differentiating textural features between the four commercial ham types. Independent DF features entail better discrimination than that using the average of four directions. However, DF dimensions reveal a high sensitivity to colour channel, orientation and image resolution for the fractal analysis. The classification accuracy using six DF dimension features (a(90°)(∗),a(135°)(∗),H(0°),H(45°),S(0°),H(90°)) was 93.9% for training data and 82.2% for testing data.

Using a high-speed movie camera to evaluate slice dropping in clinical image interpretation with stack mode viewers.

Science.gov (United States)

Yakami, Masahiro; Yamamoto, Akira; Yanagisawa, Morio; Sekiguchi, Hiroyuki; Kubo, Takeshi; Togashi, Kaori

2013-06-01

The purpose of this study is to verify objectively the rate of slice omission during paging on picture archiving and communication system (PACS) viewers by recording the images shown on the computer displays of these viewers with a high-speed movie camera. This study was approved by the institutional review board. A sequential number from 1 to 250 was superimposed on each slice of a series of clinical Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) data. The slices were displayed using several DICOM viewers, including in-house developed freeware and clinical PACS viewers. The freeware viewer and one of the clinical PACS viewers included functions to prevent slice dropping. The series was displayed in stack mode and paged in both automatic and manual paging modes. The display was recorded with a high-speed movie camera and played back at a slow speed to check whether slices were dropped. The paging speeds were also measured. With a paging speed faster than half the refresh rate of the display, some viewers dropped up to 52.4 % of the slices, while other well-designed viewers did not, if used with the correct settings. Slice dropping during paging was objectively confirmed using a high-speed movie camera. To prevent slice dropping, the viewer must be specially designed for the purpose and must be used with the correct settings, or the paging speed must be slower than half of the display refresh rate.

Microfilament Contraction Promotes Rounding of Tunic Slices: An Integumentary Defense System in the Colonial Ascidian Aplidium yamazii.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirose, E; Ishii, T

1995-08-01

In Aplidium yamazii, when a slice of a live colony (approximately 0.5 mm thick) was incubated in seawater for 12 h, the slice became a round tunic fragment. This tunic rounding was inhibited by freezing of the slices, incubation with Ca2+-Mg2+ -free seawater, or addition of cytochalasin B. Staining of microfilaments in the slices with phalloidin-FITC showed the existence of a cellular network in the tunic. Contraction of this cellular network probably promotes rounding of the tunic slice. In electron microscopic observations, a new tunic cuticle regenerated at the surface of the round tunic fragments; the tunic cuticle did not regenerate in newly sliced specimens nor in specimens in which rounding was experimentally inhibited. Based on these results, an integumentary defense system is proposed in this species as follows. (1) When the colony is wounded externally, contraction of the cellular network promotes tunic contraction around the wound. (2) The wound is almost closed by tunic contraction. (3) Tunic contraction increases the density of the filamentous components of the tunic at the wound, and it may accelerate the regeneration of tunic cuticle there.

Detection of small pulmonary nodules in high-field MR at 3 T: evaluation of different pulse sequences using porcine lung explants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Regier, M.; Kaul, M.G.; Ittrich, H.; Bansmann, P.M.; Kemper, J.; Nolte-Ernsting, C.; Adam, G.; Kandel, S.; Hoffmann, B.; Heller, M.; Biederer, J.

2007-01-01

To evaluate two MR imaging sequences for the detection of artificial pulmonary nodules inside porcine lung explants. 67 agarose nodules ranging 3-20 mm were injected into ten porcine lungs within a dedicated chest phantom. The signal on T1-weighted images and radiopacity were adjusted by adding 0.125 mmol/l Gd-DTPA and 1.5 g/l of iodine. A T1-weighted three-dimensional gradient-echo (T1-3D-GRE; TR/TE:3.3/1.1 ms, slice:8 mm, flip-angle:10 ) and a T2-weighted half-Fourier fast-spin echo sequence (T2-HF-FSE; TR/TE:2000/66 ms, slice:7 mm, flip-angle:90 ) were applied in axial orientation using a 3-T system (Intera, Philips Medical Systems, Best, The Netherlands), followed by CT (16 x 0.5 mm) as reference. Nodule sizes and locations were assessed by three blinded observers. In nodules of >10 mm, sensitivity was 100% using 3D-GRE-MRI and 94% using the HF-FSE sequence. For nodules 6-10 mm, the sensitivity of MRI was lower than with CT (3D-GRE:92%; T2-HF-FSE:83%). In lesions smaller than 5 mm, the sensitivity declined to 80% (3D-GRE) and 53% (HF-FSE). Small lesion diameters were overestimated with both sequences, particularly with HF-FSE. This study confirms the feasibility of 3 T-MRI for lung nodule detection. In lesions greater than 5 mm, the sensitivity of the 3D-GRE sequence approximated CT (>90%), while sensitivity and PPV with the HF-FSE sequence were slightly inferior. (orig.)

Comparison between powder and slices diffraction methods in teeth samples

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Colaco, Marcos V.; Barroso, Regina C. [Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (IF/UERJ), RJ (Brazil). Inst. de Fisica. Dept. de Fisica Aplicada; Porto, Isabel M. [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (FOP/UNICAMP), Piracicaba, SP (Brazil). Fac. de Odontologia. Dept. de Morfologia; Gerlach, Raquel F. [Universidade de Sao Paulo (FORP/USP), Rieirao Preto, SP (Brazil). Fac. de Odontologia. Dept. de Morfologia, Estomatologia e Fisiologia; Costa, Fanny N. [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao de Engenharia (LIN/COPPE/UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Lab. de Instrumentacao Nuclear

2011-07-01

Propose different methods to obtain crystallographic information about biological materials are important since powder method is a nondestructive method. Slices are an approximation of what would be an in vivo analysis. Effects of samples preparation cause differences in scattering profiles compared with powder method. The main inorganic component of bones and teeth is a calcium phosphate mineral whose structure closely resembles hydroxyapatite (HAp). The hexagonal symmetry, however, seems to work well with the powder diffraction data, and the crystal structure of HAp is usually described in space group P63/m. Were analyzed ten third molar teeth. Five teeth were separated in enamel, detin and circumpulpal detin powder and five in slices. All the scattering profile measurements were carried out at the X-ray diffraction beamline (XRD1) at the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory - LNLS, Campinas, Brazil. The LNLS synchrotron light source is composed of a 1.37 GeV electron storage ring, delivering approximately 4x10{sup -1}0 photons/s at 8 keV. A double-crystal Si(111) pre-monochromator, upstream of the beamline, was used to select a small energy bandwidth at 11 keV . Scattering signatures were obtained at intervals of 0.04 deg for angles from 24 deg to 52 deg. The human enamel experimental crystallite size obtained in this work were 30(3)nm (112 reflection) and 30(3)nm (300 reflection). These values were obtained from measurements of powdered enamel. When comparing the slice obtained 58(8)nm (112 reflection) and 37(7)nm (300 reflection) enamel diffraction patterns with those generated by the powder specimens, a few differences emerge. This work shows differences between powder and slices methods, separating characteristics of sample of the method's influence. (author)

Comparison between powder and slices diffraction methods in teeth samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colaco, Marcos V.; Barroso, Regina C.; Porto, Isabel M.; Gerlach, Raquel F.; Costa, Fanny N.

2011-01-01

Propose different methods to obtain crystallographic information about biological materials are important since powder method is a nondestructive method. Slices are an approximation of what would be an in vivo analysis. Effects of samples preparation cause differences in scattering profiles compared with powder method. The main inorganic component of bones and teeth is a calcium phosphate mineral whose structure closely resembles hydroxyapatite (HAp). The hexagonal symmetry, however, seems to work well with the powder diffraction data, and the crystal structure of HAp is usually described in space group P63/m. Were analyzed ten third molar teeth. Five teeth were separated in enamel, detin and circumpulpal detin powder and five in slices. All the scattering profile measurements were carried out at the X-ray diffraction beamline (XRD1) at the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory - LNLS, Campinas, Brazil. The LNLS synchrotron light source is composed of a 1.37 GeV electron storage ring, delivering approximately 4x10 -1 0 photons/s at 8 keV. A double-crystal Si(111) pre-monochromator, upstream of the beamline, was used to select a small energy bandwidth at 11 keV . Scattering signatures were obtained at intervals of 0.04 deg for angles from 24 deg to 52 deg. The human enamel experimental crystallite size obtained in this work were 30(3)nm (112 reflection) and 30(3)nm (300 reflection). These values were obtained from measurements of powdered enamel. When comparing the slice obtained 58(8)nm (112 reflection) and 37(7)nm (300 reflection) enamel diffraction patterns with those generated by the powder specimens, a few differences emerge. This work shows differences between powder and slices methods, separating characteristics of sample of the method's influence. (author)

A Novel Slicing Method for Thin Supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Hao; Fu, Xuemei; Xie, Songlin; Jiang, Yishu; Guan, Guozhen; Wang, Bingjie; Li, Houpu; Peng, Huisheng

2016-08-01

Thin and flexible supercapacitors with low cost and individual variation are fabricated by a new and efficient slicing method. Tunable output voltage and energy can be realized with a high specific capacitance of 248.8 F g(-1) or 150.8 F cm(-3) , which is well maintained before and after bending. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Detecting Psychopathy from Thin Slices of Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, Katherine A.; Lilienfeld, Scott O.; Patrick, Christopher J.

2009-01-01

This study is the first to demonstrate that features of psychopathy can be reliably and validly detected by lay raters from "thin slices" (i.e., small samples) of behavior. Brief excerpts (5 s, 10 s, and 20 s) from interviews with 96 maximum-security inmates were presented in video or audio form or in both modalities combined. Forty raters used…

Slice of a LEP bending magnet

CERN Multimedia

This is a slice of a LEP dipole bending magnet, made as a concrete and iron sandwich. The bending field needed in LEP is small (about 1000 Gauss), equivalent to two of the magnets people stick on fridge doors. Because it is very difficult to keep a low field steady, a high field was used in iron plates embedded in concrete. A CERN breakthrough in magnet design, LEP dipoles can be tuned easily and are cheaper than conventional magnets.

Neuropeptide processing in regional brain slices: Effect of conformation and sequence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Z.W.; Bijl, W.A.; van Nispen, J.W.; Brendel, K.; Davis, T.P. (Univ. of Arizona, Tucson (USA))

1990-05-01

The central enzymatic stability of des-enkephalin-gamma-endorphin and its synthetic analogs (cycloN alpha 6, C delta 11)beta-endorphin-(6-17) and (Pro7, Lys(Ac)9)-beta-endorphin(6-17) was studied in vitro using a newly developed, regionally dissected rat brain slice, time course incubation procedure. Tissue slice viability was estimated as the ability of the brain slice to take up or release gamma-(3H)aminobutyric acid after high K+ stimulation. Results demonstrated stability of uptake/release up to 5 hr of incubation, suggesting tissue viability over this period. The estimated half-life of peptides based on the results obtained in our incubation protocol suggest that the peptides studied are metabolized at different rates in the individual brain regions tested. A good correlation exists between the high enzyme activity of neutral endopeptidase and the rapid degradation of des-enkephalin-gamma-endorphin and (cycloN alpha 6, C delata 11)beta-endorphin-(6-17) in caudate putamen. Proline substitution combined with lysine acetylation appears to improve resistance to enzymatic metabolism in caudate putamen and hypothalamus. However, cyclization of des-enkephalin-gamma-endorphin forming an amide bond between the alpha-NH2 of the N-terminal threonine and the gamma-COOH of glutamic acid did not improve peptide stability in any brain region tested. The present study has shown that the brain slice technique is a valid and unique approach to study neuropeptide metabolism in small, discrete regions of rat brain where peptides, peptidases and receptors are colocalized and that specific structural modifications can improve peptide stability.

Modelling the Siemens SOMATOM Sensation 64 Multi-Slice CT (MSCT) Scanner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amin, A T Mohd; Rahni, A A Abd

2017-01-01

Reconstructing large volumetric 3D images with minimal radiation dosage exposure with reduced scanning time has been one of the main objectives in the advancement of CT development. One of its advancement is the introduction of multi-slice arc detector geometry from a cone-beam source in third generation scanners. In solving this complex geometry, apart from the known vast computations in CT image reconstruction due to large CT images, iterative reconstruction methods are preferred compared to analytic methods due to its flexibility in image reconstruction. A scanner of interest that has this type of geometry is the Siemens SOMATOM Sensation 64 Multi-Slice CT (MSCT) Scanner , which has a total of 32 slices with 672 detector elements on each slice. In this paper, the scanner projection is modelled via the intersecting lengths between each ray (exhibited from the source to the detector elements) with the scanned image voxels, which are evaluated using the classical Siddon’s algorithm to generate the system matrix, H . This is a prerequisite to perform various iterative reconstruction methods, which involves solving the inverse problem arising from the linear equation: S = H· I; where S is the projections produced from the image, I. Due to the ‘cone-beam geometry’ along the z -axis, the effective field-of-view (FOV) with voxel dimensions (0.4×0.4×0.4) mm 3 is 512×512×32 voxels. The scanner model is demonstrated by reconstructing an image from simulated projections using the analytic Feldkamp-Davis-Kress (FDK) method against basic iterative image reconstruction methods. (paper)

Isoproterenol effects evaluated in heart slices of human and rat in comparison to rat heart in vivo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrmann, Julia E.; Heale, Jason; Bieraugel, Mike; Ramos, Meg; Fisher, Robyn L.; Vickers, Alison E.M.

2014-01-01

Human response to isoproterenol induced cardiac injury was evaluated by gene and protein pathway changes in human heart slices, and compared to rat heart slices and rat heart in vivo. Isoproterenol (10 and 100 μM) altered human and rat heart slice markers of oxidative stress (ATP and GSH) at 24 h. In this in vivo rat study (0.5 mg/kg), serum troponin concentrations increased with lesion severity, minimal to mild necrosis at 24 and 48 h. In the rat and the human heart, isoproterenol altered pathways for apoptosis/necrosis, stress/energy, inflammation, and remodeling/fibrosis. The rat and human heart slices were in an apoptotic phase, while the in vivo rat heart exhibited necrosis histologically and further progression of tissue remodeling. In human heart slices genes for several heat shock 70 kD members were altered, indicative of stress to mitigate apoptosis. The stress response included alterations in energy utilization, fatty acid processing, and the up-regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase, a marker of increased oxidative stress in both species. Inflammation markers linked with remodeling included IL-1α, Il-1β, IL-6 and TNFα in both species. Tissue remodeling changes in both species included increases in the TIMP proteins, inhibitors of matrix degradation, the gene/protein of IL-4 linked with cardiac fibrosis, and the gene Ccl7 a chemokine that induces collagen synthesis, and Reg3b a growth factor for cardiac repair. This study demonstrates that the initial human heart slice response to isoproterenol cardiac injury results in apoptosis, stress/energy status, inflammation and tissue remodeling at concentrations similar to that in rat heart slices. - Highlights: • Human response to isoproterenol induced cardiac injury evaluated in heart slices. • Isoproterenol altered apoptosis, energy, inflammation and remodeling pathways. • Human model verified by comparison to rat heart slices and rat heart in vivo. • Human and rat respond to isoproterenol

Preoperative (3-dimensional) computed tomography lung reconstruction before anatomic segmentectomy or lobectomy for stage I non-small cell lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Ernest G; Landreneau, James R; Schuchert, Matthew J; Odell, David D; Gu, Suicheng; Pu, Jiantao; Luketich, James D; Landreneau, Rodney J

2015-09-01

Accurate cancer localization and negative resection margins are necessary for successful segmentectomy. In this study, we evaluate a newly developed software package that permits automated segmentation of the pulmonary parenchyma, allowing 3-dimensional assessment of tumor size, location, and estimates of surgical margins. A pilot study using a newly developed 3-dimensional computed tomography analytic software package was performed to retrospectively evaluate preoperative computed tomography images of patients who underwent segmentectomy (n = 36) or lobectomy (n = 15) for stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer. The software accomplishes an automated reconstruction of anatomic pulmonary segments of the lung based on bronchial arborization. Estimates of anticipated surgical margins and pulmonary segmental volume were made on the basis of 3-dimensional reconstruction. Autosegmentation was achieved in 72.7% (32/44) of preoperative computed tomography images with slice thicknesses of 3 mm or less. Reasons for segmentation failure included local severe emphysema or pneumonitis, and lower computed tomography resolution. Tumor segmental localization was achieved in all autosegmented studies. The 3-dimensional computed tomography analysis provided a positive predictive value of 87% in predicting a marginal clearance greater than 1 cm and a 75% positive predictive value in predicting a margin to tumor diameter ratio greater than 1 in relation to the surgical pathology assessment. This preoperative 3-dimensional computed tomography analysis of segmental anatomy can confirm the tumor location within an anatomic segment and aid in predicting surgical margins. This 3-dimensional computed tomography information may assist in the preoperative assessment regarding the suitability of segmentectomy for peripheral lung cancers. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Abscisic Acid Accumulation in Spinach Leaf Slices in the Presence of Penetrating and Nonpenetrating Solutes 1

Science.gov (United States)

Creelman, Robert A.; Zeevaart, Jan A. D.

1985-01-01

Abscisic acid (ABA) accumulated in detached, wilted leaves of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L. cv Savoy Hybrid 612) and reached a maximum level within 3 to 4 hours. The increase in ABA over that found in detached turgid leaves was approximately 10-fold. The effects of water stress could be mimicked by the use of thin slices of spinach leaves incubated in the presence of 0.6 molar mannitol, a compound which causes plasmolysis (loss of turgor). About equal amounts of ABA were found both in the leaf slices and in detached leaves, whereas 2 to 4 times more ABA accumulated in the medium than in the slices. When spinach leaf slices were incubated with ethylene glycol, a compound which rapidly penetrates the cell membrane causing a decrease in the osmotic potential of the tissue and only transient loss of turgor, no ABA accumulated. Ethylene glycol was not inhibitory with respect to ABA accumulation. Spinach leaf slices incubated in both ethylene glycol and mannitol had ABA levels similar to those found when slices were incubated with mannitol alone. Increases similar to those found with mannitol also occurred when Aquacide III, a highly purified form of polyethylene glycol, was used. Aquacide III causes cytorrhysis, a situation similar to that found in wilted leaves. Thus, it appears that loss of turgor is essential for ABA accumulation. When spinach leaf slices were incubated with solutes which are supposed to disturb membrane integrity (KHSO3, 2-propanol, or KCl) no increase in ABA was observed. These data indicate that, with respect to the accumulation of ABA, mannitol caused a physical stress (loss of turgor) rather than a chemical stress (membrane damage). PMID:16664022

Evaluation of the possibility to use thick slabs of reconstructed outer breast tomosynthesis slice images

Science.gov (United States)

Petersson, Hannie; Dustler, Magnus; Tingberg, Anders; Timberg, Pontus

2016-03-01

The large image volumes in breast tomosynthesis (BT) have led to large amounts of data and a heavy workload for breast radiologists. The number of slice images can be decreased by combining adjacent image planes (slabbing) but the decrease in depth resolution can considerably affect the detection of lesions. The aim of this work was to assess if thicker slabbing of the outer slice images (where lesions seldom are present) could be a viable alternative in order to reduce the number of slice images in BT image volumes. The suggested slabbing (an image volume with thick outer slabs and thin slices between) were evaluated in two steps. Firstly, a survey of the depth of 65 cancer lesions within the breast was performed to estimate how many lesions would be affected by outer slabs of different thicknesses. Secondly, a selection of 24 lesions was reconstructed with 2, 6 and 10 mm slab thickness to evaluate how the appearance of lesions located in the thicker slabs would be affected. The results show that few malignant breast lesions are located at a depth less than 10 mm from the surface (especially for breast thicknesses of 50 mm and above). Reconstruction of BT volumes with 6 mm slab thickness yields an image quality that is sufficient for lesion detection for a majority of the investigated cases. Together, this indicates that thicker slabbing of the outer slice images is a promising option in order to reduce the number of slice images in BT image volumes.

Slicing Cuts on Food Materials Using Robotic-Controlled Razor Blade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debao Zhou

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Cutting operations using blades can arise in a number of industries, for example, food processing industry, in which cheese, fruit and vegetable, even meat, are involved. Certain questions will rise during these works, such as “why pressing-and-slicing cuts use less force than pressing-only cuts” and “how is the influence of the blade cutting-edge on force”. To answer these questions, this research developed a mathematical expression of the cutting stress tensor. Based on the analysis of the stress tensor on the contact surface, the influence of the blade edge-shape and slicing angle on the resultant cutting force were formulated and discussed. These formulations were further verified using experimental results by robotic cutting of potatoes. Through studying the change of the cutting force, the optimal slicing angle can be obtained in terms of maximum feeding distance and minimum cutting force. Based on the blade sharpness properties and the specific materials, the required cutting force can be predicted. These formulation and experimental results explained the basic theory of blade cutting fracture and further provided the support to optimize the cutting mechanism design and to develop the force control algorithms for the automation of blade cutting operations.

Errors during MRT measurements of the left ventricular volume using a multi-slice technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pitton, M.B.; Just, M.; Grebe, P.; Kreitner, K.F.; Erbel, R.; Thelen, M.

1992-01-01

A multi-slice technique for MRT measurements of the left ventricular volume is much faster than the use of single-slice methods and is therefore better tolerated, leaving time for additional measurements. The end-diastolic left ventricular volume can be reliably measured by this method (123.3±13.5 ml vs. 124.1±ml). The end-systolic volume is consistently overestimated by 23.7±18,3% compared with the reference value obtained by single slice measurements (47.9±8.9 ml vs 39.1±7.9 ml). Correspondingly, stroke volume and ejection fraction is underestimated on average by 10.6±9.7% and 10.6±7.6% respectively). (orig.) [de

Time-slicing subsystem of the biology small-angle x-ray scattering station at the National Synchrotron Light Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stubblefield, F.W.

1985-11-01

The time-slicing subsystem of the Biology Small-Angle X-ray Scattering divides the time period during which the data for small-angle x-ray diffraction patterns from biological samples is collected into time slices (or frames). The subsystem, being part of a multiprocessor experiment control and data acquisition system, has its own dedicated processor; it also has special-purpose front-end electronics sufficient to generate the gating and other control signals required to produce a sequence of as many as 256 time slices, measured with a basic time unit of 1 μsec. The electronics also synchronizes with execution of the time slice sequence the application of stimuli to the biological sample, the measurement of voltages generated by the sample, and the application of auxiliary device trigger pulses and routes detector data and auxiliary scaler data into appropriate time-slice-indexed buffers in a large external data memory array. The structure of the entire experiment control and data acquisition system is briefly reviewed. Details of the structure and operation of the time slice subsystem are presented. 7 refs., 5 figs

Intersections of lung progenitor cells, lung disease and lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Carla F

2017-06-30

The use of stem cell biology approaches to study adult lung progenitor cells and lung cancer has brought a variety of new techniques to the field of lung biology and has elucidated new pathways that may be therapeutic targets in lung cancer. Recent results have begun to identify the ways in which different cell populations interact to regulate progenitor activity, and this has implications for the interventions that are possible in cancer and in a variety of lung diseases. Today's better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate lung progenitor cell self-renewal and differentiation, including understanding how multiple epigenetic factors affect lung injury repair, holds the promise for future better treatments for lung cancer and for optimising the response to therapy in lung cancer. Working between platforms in sophisticated organoid culture techniques, genetically engineered mouse models of injury and cancer, and human cell lines and specimens, lung progenitor cell studies can begin with basic biology, progress to translational research and finally lead to the beginnings of clinical trials. Copyright ©ERS 2017.

Intersections of lung progenitor cells, lung disease and lung cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carla F. Kim

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The use of stem cell biology approaches to study adult lung progenitor cells and lung cancer has brought a variety of new techniques to the field of lung biology and has elucidated new pathways that may be therapeutic targets in lung cancer. Recent results have begun to identify the ways in which different cell populations interact to regulate progenitor activity, and this has implications for the interventions that are possible in cancer and in a variety of lung diseases. Today's better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate lung progenitor cell self-renewal and differentiation, including understanding how multiple epigenetic factors affect lung injury repair, holds the promise for future better treatments for lung cancer and for optimising the response to therapy in lung cancer. Working between platforms in sophisticated organoid culture techniques, genetically engineered mouse models of injury and cancer, and human cell lines and specimens, lung progenitor cell studies can begin with basic biology, progress to translational research and finally lead to the beginnings of clinical trials.

Effects of metal ions on agonist-stimulated accumulation of inositol phosphates in hippocampal and cortical slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonner, M.J.; Tilson, H.A.

1990-01-01

[ 3 H]-inositol was incorporated into rat hippocampal or cortical slices. Zinc chloride and three different forms of inorganic lead compounds, lead chloride, lead nitrate, and lead acetate were used to stimulate PI metabolism at concentrations between 10 -15 and 10 -9 M. At these concentrations, these metal ions did not produce any significant stimulation of IP release. In birth hippocampal and cortical slices, carbachol produced equal levels of IP release. Norepinephrine (NE) produced a 10-15% higher stimulation than carbachol. When the metal ions were added to hippocampal slices together with the agonists, there was a general suppression of carbachol- or NE-induced IP release. This general suppression was not observed in cortical slices. These data suggest that the trace metals used inhibit agonist-induced second messenger release in the hippocampus

Microbial growth and sensory quality of dried potato slices irradiated by electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyun-Jin; Song, Hyeon-Jeong; Song, Kyung-Bin

2011-01-01

Electron beam irradiation was applied to secure the microbial safety of dried purple sweet potato. After purple sweet potato slices had been dehydrated with 20% (w/w) maltodextrin solution, the samples were irradiated at doses 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 kGy and then stored at 20 o C for 60 days. Microbiological data indicated that the populations of total aerobic bacteria and of yeast and molds significantly decreased with increase in irradiation dosage. Specifically, microbial load was reduced by about three log cycles at 6 kGy compared to those of the control. Based on the color measurement of the potato slices, electron beam irradiation treatment did not affect the color quality. Sensory evaluation results also showed that electron beam irradiation did not affect overall sensory scores during storage. These results suggest that electron beam irradiation could be useful for improving microbial safety without impairing the quality of the potato slices during storage.

Exposure (mAs) optimisation of a multi-detector CT protocol for hepatic lesion detection: are thinner slices better?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobeli, Karen L.; Lewis, Sarah J.; Meikle, Steven R.; Brennan, Patrick C.; Thiele, David L.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this work was to determine the exposure-optimised slice thickness for hepatic lesion detection with CT. A phantom containing spheres (diameter 9.5, 4.8 and 2.4mm) with CT density 10 HU below the background (50 HU) was scanned at 125, 100, 75 and 50 mAs. Data were reconstructed at 5-, 3- and 1-mm slice thicknesses. Noise, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), area under the curve (AUC) as calculated using receiver operating characteristic analysis and sensitivity representing lesion detection were calculated and compared. Compared with the 125 mAs/5mm slice thickness setting, significant reductions in AUC were found for 75 mAs (P<0.01) and 50 mAs (P<0.05) at 1- and 3-mm thicknesses, respectively; sensitivity for the 9.5-mm sphere was significantly reduced for 75 (P<0.05) and 50 mAs (P<0.01) at 1-mm thickness; sensitivity for the 4.8-mm sphere was significantly lower for 100, 75 and 50 mAs at all three slice thicknesses (P<0.05). The 2.4-mm sphere was rarely detected. At each slice thickness, noise at 100, 75 and 50 mAs exposures was approximately 10, 30 and 50% higher, respectively, than that at 125 mAs exposure. CNRs decreased in an irregular manner with reductions in exposure and slice thickness. This study demonstrated no advantage to using slices below 5mm thickness, and consequently thinner slices are not necessarily better.

A slicing-based approach for locating type errors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

T.B. Dinesh; F. Tip (Frank)

1998-01-01

htmlabstractThe effectiveness of a type checking tool strongly depends on the accuracy of the positional information that is associated with type errors. We present an approach where the location associated with an error message e is defined as a slice P_e of the program P being type checked. We

A slicing-based approach for locating type errors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

T.B. Dinesh; F. Tip (Frank)

1998-01-01

textabstractThe effectiveness of a type checking tool strongly depends on the accuracy of the positional information that is associated with type errors. We present an approach where the location associated with an error message e is defined as a slice P_e of the program P being type checked. We

Colour behaviour on mango ( Mangifera indica ) slices self ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effect of the syrup composition on behaviour colour of self stabilized mango slices in glass jars by hurdle technology during 180 days of storage was studied through 26-2 fractional factorial design. L* (lightness), a* (redness and greenness), and b* (yellowness and blueness) values were measured with a colorimeter ...

Asbestos Surveillance Program Aachen (ASPA): initial results from baseline screening for lung cancer in asbestos-exposed high-risk individuals using low-dose multidetector-row CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Das, Marco; Muehlenbruch, Georg; Mahnken, Andreas H.; Guenther, Rolf W.; Wildberger, Joachim E.; Hering, K.G.; Sirbu, H.; Zschiesche, W.; Knoll, Lars; Felten, Michael K.; Kraus, Thomas

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of lung cancer in a high-risk asbestos-exposed cohort using low-dose MDCT. Of a population of 5,389 former power-plant workers, 316 were characterized as individuals at highest risk for lung cancer according to a lung-cancer risk model including age, asbestos exposure and smoking habits. Of these 316, 187 (mean age: 66.6 years) individuals were included in a prospective trial. Mean asbestos exposure time was 29.65 years and 89% were smokers. Screening was performed on a 16-slice MDCT (Siemens) with low-dose technique (10/20 mAs eff. ; 1 mm/0.5 mm increment). In addition to soft copy PACS reading analysis on a workstation with a dedicated lung analysis software (LungCARE; Siemens) was performed. One strongly suspicious mass and eight cases of histologically proven lung cancer were found plus 491 additional pulmonary nodules (average volume: 40.72 ml, average diameter 4.62 mm). Asbestos-related changes (pleural plaques, fibrosis) were visible in 80 individuals. Lung cancer screening in this high-risk cohort showed a prevalence of lung cancer of 4.28% (8/187) at baseline screening with an additional large number of indeterminate pulmonary nodules. Low-dose MDCT proved to be feasible in this highly selected population. (orig.)

Regulation of dopamine synthesis and release in striatal and prefrontal cortical brain slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolf, M.E.

1986-01-01

Brain slices were used to investigate the role of nerve terminal autoreceptors in modulating dopamine (DA) synthesis and release in striatum and prefrontal cortex. Accumulation of dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) was used as an index of tyrosine hydroxylation in vitro. Nomifensine, a DA uptake blocker, inhibited DOPA synthesis in striatal but not prefrontal slices. This effect was reversed by the DA antagonist sulpiride, suggesting it involved activation of DA receptors by elevated synaptic levels of DA. The autoreceptor-selective agonist EMD-23-448 also inhibited striatal but not prefrontal DOPA synthesis. DOPA synthesis was stimulated in both brain regions by elevated K + , however only striatal synthesis could be further enhanced by sulpiride. DA release was measured by following the efflux of radioactivity from brain slices prelabeled with [ 3 H]-DA. EMD-23-448 and apomorphine inhibited, while sulpiride enhanced, the K + -evoked overflow of radioactivity from both striatal and prefrontal cortical slices. These findings suggest that striatal DA nerve terminals possess autoreceptors which modulate tyrosine hydroxylation as well as autoreceptors which modulate release. Alternatively, one site may be coupled to both functions through distinct transduction mechanisms. In contrast, autoreceptors on prefrontal cortical terminals appear to regulate DA release but not DA synthesis

The energy demand of fast neuronal network oscillations: insights from brain slice preparations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oliver eKann

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Fast neuronal network oscillations in the gamma range (30-100 Hz in the cerebral cortex have been implicated in higher cognitive functions such as sensual perception, working memory, and, perhaps, consciousness. However, little is known about the energy demand of gamma oscillations. This is mainly caused by technical limitations that are associated with simultaneous recordings of neuronal activity and energy metabolism in small neuronal networks and at the level of mitochondria in vivo. Thus recent studies have focused on brain slice preparations to address the energy demand of gamma oscillations in vitro. Here, reports will be summarized and discussed that combined electrophysiological recordings, oxygen sensor microelectrodes and live-cell fluorescence imaging in acutely prepared slices and organotypic slice cultures of the hippocampus from both, mouse and rat. These reports consistently show that gamma oscillations can be reliably induced in hippocampal slice preparations by different pharmacological tools. They suggest that gamma oscillations are associated with high energy demand, requiring both rapid adaptation of oxidative energy metabolism and sufficient supply with oxygen and nutrients. These findings might help to explain the exceptional vulnerability of higher cognitive functions during pathological processes of the brain, such as circulatory disturbances, genetic mitochondrial diseases, and neurodegeneration.

The Slice Algorithm For Irreducible Decomposition of Monomial Ideals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roune, Bjarke Hammersholt

2009-01-01

Irreducible decomposition of monomial ideals has an increasing number of applications from biology to pure math. This paper presents the Slice Algorithm for computing irreducible decompositions, Alexander duals and socles of monomial ideals. The paper includes experiments showing good performance...

Comparison of MRI fast SPGR single slice scan and continuous dynamic scan in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang Xinyu [Department of Radiology, Medical School Hospital of Qingdao University, 16 Jiangsu Road, Qingdao 266003 (China)], E-mail: myginny2@sina.com; Yang Xue [Department of Radiology, Medical School Hospital of Qingdao University, 16 Jiangsu Road, Qingdao 266003 (China)], E-mail: yangxueqyfy@126.com; Hua Hui [Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical School Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao (China)], E-mail: huahuisky@163.com; Chen Jingjing [Department of Radiology, Medical School Hospital of Qingdao University, 16 Jiangsu Road, Qingdao 266003 (China)], E-mail: chenjingjingsky@126.com

2009-07-15

Objective: To evaluate the application value of MRI fast SPGR single slice scan in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome when comparing the images between fast SPGR single slice scan and continuous dynamic scan. Methods: Eighteen patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome were examined by fast SPGR single slice scan and continuous dynamic scan in turn. Fast SPGR single slice scans were conducted when the phases of apnea, inspiration and expiration appeared on the respiratory wave of the subjects. Fast SPGR continuous dynamic scans were conducted when the patients were awake and apneic. The scan planes were median sagittal plane and axial planes (the slice of middle part of palate, the slice of inferior part of palate, the slice of middle part of lingual root and the slice of 0.5 cm beneath the free margin of epiglottis). The obstructed sites and the cross-sectional areas of upper airway were compared between the two scan methods. Results: Seven cases showed complete obstruction at the narrowest sites of upper airway when apnea appeared; eleven cases showed marked decrease in cross-sectional areas at the narrowest sites compared with the areas when the patients were awake; two cases manifested multiple narrowness. The obstructed sites showed by the two scan methods were same. The difference of the cross-sectional areas of upper airway between the two scan methods was insignificant (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Fast SPGR single slice scan can accurately reflect the obstructed sites of upper airway when the breath breaks off and is the complementary method of continuous dynamic scan. Sometimes, single slice scan can replace continuous dynamic scan.

Three-dimensional electrode array for brain slice culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vazquez Rodriguez, Patricia

Multielektroder arrays (MEA) er rækker af elektroder mest i mikrometer størrelse, som er blevet brugt i stor omfang til at stimulere og måle elektrisk aktivitet fra neuronale netværker. Brug af disse for at analysere hjerne slices (hjerneskiver) kan give indsigt i interaktioner mellem neuroner, e...

TU-G-204-09: The Effects of Reduced- Dose Lung Cancer Screening CT On Lung Nodule Detection Using a CAD Algorithm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Young, S; Lo, P; Kim, G; Hsu, W; Hoffman, J; Brown, M; McNitt-Gray, M [UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: While Lung Cancer Screening CT is being performed at low doses, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of further reducing dose on the performance of a CAD nodule-detection algorithm. Methods: We selected 50 cases from our local database of National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) patients for which we had both the image series and the raw CT data from the original scans. All scans were acquired with fixed mAs (25 for standard-sized patients, 40 for large patients) on a 64-slice scanner (Sensation 64, Siemens Healthcare). All images were reconstructed with 1-mm slice thickness, B50 kernel. 10 of the cases had at least one nodule reported on the NLST reader forms. Based on a previously-published technique, we added noise to the raw data to simulate reduced-dose versions of each case at 50% and 25% of the original NLST dose (i.e. approximately 1.0 and 0.5 mGy CTDIvol). For each case at each dose level, the CAD detection algorithm was run and nodules greater than 4 mm in diameter were reported. These CAD results were compared to “truth”, defined as the approximate nodule centroids from the NLST reports. Subject-level mean sensitivities and false-positive rates were calculated for each dose level. Results: The mean sensitivities of the CAD algorithm were 35% at the original dose, 20% at 50% dose, and 42.5% at 25% dose. The false-positive rates, in decreasing-dose order, were 3.7, 2.9, and 10 per case. In certain cases, particularly in larger patients, there were severe photon-starvation artifacts, especially in the apical region due to the high-attenuating shoulders. Conclusion: The detection task was challenging for the CAD algorithm at all dose levels, including the original NLST dose. However, the false-positive rate at 25% dose approximately tripled, suggesting a loss of CAD robustness somewhere between 0.5 and 1.0 mGy. NCI grant U01 CA181156 (Quantitative Imaging Network); Tobacco Related Disease Research Project grant 22RT-0131.

TU-G-204-09: The Effects of Reduced- Dose Lung Cancer Screening CT On Lung Nodule Detection Using a CAD Algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, S; Lo, P; Kim, G; Hsu, W; Hoffman, J; Brown, M; McNitt-Gray, M

2015-01-01

Purpose: While Lung Cancer Screening CT is being performed at low doses, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of further reducing dose on the performance of a CAD nodule-detection algorithm. Methods: We selected 50 cases from our local database of National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) patients for which we had both the image series and the raw CT data from the original scans. All scans were acquired with fixed mAs (25 for standard-sized patients, 40 for large patients) on a 64-slice scanner (Sensation 64, Siemens Healthcare). All images were reconstructed with 1-mm slice thickness, B50 kernel. 10 of the cases had at least one nodule reported on the NLST reader forms. Based on a previously-published technique, we added noise to the raw data to simulate reduced-dose versions of each case at 50% and 25% of the original NLST dose (i.e. approximately 1.0 and 0.5 mGy CTDIvol). For each case at each dose level, the CAD detection algorithm was run and nodules greater than 4 mm in diameter were reported. These CAD results were compared to “truth”, defined as the approximate nodule centroids from the NLST reports. Subject-level mean sensitivities and false-positive rates were calculated for each dose level. Results: The mean sensitivities of the CAD algorithm were 35% at the original dose, 20% at 50% dose, and 42.5% at 25% dose. The false-positive rates, in decreasing-dose order, were 3.7, 2.9, and 10 per case. In certain cases, particularly in larger patients, there were severe photon-starvation artifacts, especially in the apical region due to the high-attenuating shoulders. Conclusion: The detection task was challenging for the CAD algorithm at all dose levels, including the original NLST dose. However, the false-positive rate at 25% dose approximately tripled, suggesting a loss of CAD robustness somewhere between 0.5 and 1.0 mGy. NCI grant U01 CA181156 (Quantitative Imaging Network); Tobacco Related Disease Research Project grant 22RT-0131

Synergistic role of HSP90α and HSP90β to promote myofibroblast persistence in lung fibrosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellaye, Pierre-Simon; Shimbori, Chiko; Yanagihara, Toyoshi; Carlson, David A; Hughes, Philip; Upagupta, Chandak; Sato, Seidai; Wheildon, Nolan; Haystead, Timothy; Ask, Kjetil; Kolb, Martin

2018-02-01

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease of the lung parenchyma, causing significant morbidity through worsening dyspnoea and overall functional decline. IPF is characterised by apoptosis-resistant myofibroblasts, which are a major source for the excessive production of extracellular matrix (ECM) overtaking normal lung tissue. We sought to study the role of heat shock protein (HSP) isoforms HSP90α and HSP90β, whose distinct roles in lung fibrogenesis remain elusive.We determined the level of circulating HSP90α in IPF patients (n=31) and age-matched healthy controls (n=9) by ELISA. The release of HSP90α and HSP90β was evaluated in vitro in primary IPF and control lung fibroblasts and ex vivo after mechanical stretch on fibrotic lung slices from rats receiving adenovector-mediated transforming growth factor-β1.We demonstrate that circulating HSP90α is upregulated in IPF patients in correlation with disease severity. The release of HSP90α is enhanced by the increase in mechanical stress of the fibrotic ECM. This increase in extracellular HSP90α signals through low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) to promote myofibroblast differentiation and persistence. In parallel, we demonstrate that the intracellular form of HSP90β stabilises LRP1, thus amplifying HSP90α extracellular action.We believe that the specific inhibition of extracellular HSP90α is a promising therapeutic strategy to reduce pro-fibrotic signalling in IPF. Copyright ©ERS 2018.

Methods to induce primary and secondary traumatic damage in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Adamchik, Y; Frantseva, M V; Weisspapir, M; Carlen, P L; Perez Velazquez, J L

2000-04-01

Organotypic brain slice cultures have been used in a variety of studies on neurodegenerative processes [K.M. Abdel-Hamid, M. Tymianski, Mechanisms and effects of intracellular calcium buffering on neuronal survival in organotypic hippocampal cultures exposed to anoxia/aglycemia or to excitotoxins, J. Neurosci. 17, 1997, pp. 3538-3553; D.W. Newell, A. Barth, V. Papermaster, A.T. Malouf, Glutamate and non-glutamate receptor mediated toxicity caused by oxygen and glucose deprivation in organotypic hippocampal cultures, J. Neurosci. 15, 1995, pp. 7702-7711; J.L. Perez Velazquez, M.V. Frantseva, P.L. Carlen, In vitro ischemia promotes glutamate mediated free radical generation and intracellular calcium accumulation in pyramidal neurons of cultured hippocampal slices, J. Neurosci. 23, 1997, pp. 9085-9094; L. Stoppini, L.A. Buchs, D. Muller, A simple method for organotypic cultures of nervous tissue, J. Neurosci. Methods 37, 1991, pp. 173-182; R.C. Tasker, J.T. Coyle, J.J. Vornov, The regional vulnerability to hypoglycemia induced neurotoxicity in organotypic hippocampal culture: protection by early tetrodotoxin or delayed MK 801, J. Neurosci. 12, 1992, pp. 4298-4308.]. We describe two methods to induce traumatic cell damage in hippocampal organotypic cultures. Primary trauma injury was achieved by rolling a stainless steel cylinder (0.9 g) on the organotypic slices. Secondary injury was followed after dropping a weight (0.137 g) on a localised area of the organotypic slice, from a height of 2 mm. The time course and extent of cell death were determined by measuring the fluorescence of the viability indicator propidium iodide (PI) at several time points after the injury. The initial localised impact damage spread 24 and 67 h after injury, cell death being 25% and 54%, respectively, when slices were kept at 37 degrees C. To validate these methods as models to assess neuroprotective strategies, similar insults were applied to slices at relatively low temperatures (30

A novel method for oxygen glucose deprivation model in organotypic spinal cord slices.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jing-Jie; Ding, Xiao-Yan; Xiang, Li; Zhao, Feng; Huang, Sheng-Li

2017-10-01

This study aimed to establish a model to closely mimic spinal cord hypoxic-ischemic injury with high production and high reproducibility. Fourteen-day cultured organotypic spinal cord slices were divided into 4 groups: control (Ctrl), oxygen glucose deprived for 30min (OGD 30min), OGD 60min, and OGD 120min. The Ctrl slices were incubated with 1ml propidium iodide (PI) solution (5μg/ml) for 30min. The OGD groups were incubated with 1ml glucose-free DMEM/F12 medium and 5μl PI solution (1mg/ml) for 30min, 60min and 120min, respectively. Positive control slice was fixed by 4% paraformaldehyde for 20min. The culture medium in each group was then collected and the Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) level in the medium was tested using Multi-Analyte ELISArray kits. Structure and refraction of the spinal cord slices were observed by light microscope. Fluorescence intensity of PI was examined by fluorescence microscopy and was tested by IPP Software. Morphology of astrocytes was observed by immunofluorescence histochemistry. Caspase 3 and caspase 3 active in different groups were tested by Western blot. In the OGD groups, the refraction of spinal cord slices decreased and the structure was unclear. The changes of refraction and structure in the OGD 120min group were similar to that in the positive control slice. Astrocyte morphology changed significantly. With the increase of OGD time, processes became thick and twisted, and nuclear condensations became more apparent. Obvious changes in morphology were observed in the OGD 60min group, and normal morphology disappeared in the OGD 120min group. Fluorescence intensity of PI increased along with the extension of OGD time. The difference was significant between 30min and 60min, but not significant between 60min and 120min. The intensity at OGD 120min was close to that in the positive control. Compare with the Ctrl group, the OGD groups had significantly higher LDH levels and caspase 3 active/caspase 3 ratios. The values increased

A Unified Approach to Diffusion Direction Sensitive Slice Registration and 3-D DTI Reconstruction From Moving Fetal Brain Anatomy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Mads Fogtmann; Seshamani, Sharmishtaa; Kroenke, Christopher

2014-01-01

to the underlying anatomy. Previous image registration techniques have been described to estimate the between slice fetal head motion, allowing the reconstruction of 3D a diffusion estimate on a regular grid using interpolation. We propose Approach to Unified Diffusion Sensitive Slice Alignment and Reconstruction...... (AUDiSSAR) that explicitly formulates a process for diffusion direction sensitive DW-slice-to-DTI-volume alignment. This also incorporates image resolution modeling to iteratively deconvolve the effects of the imaging point spread function using the multiple views provided by thick slices acquired...

Recent developments in multi-wire fixed abrasive slicing technique (FAST). [for low cost silicon wafer production from ingots

Science.gov (United States)

Schmid, F.; Khattak, C. P.; Smith, M. B.; Lynch, L. D.

1982-01-01

Slicing is an important processing step for all technologies based on the use of ingots. A comparison of the economics of three slicing techniques shows that the fixed abrasive slicing technique (FAST) is superior to the internal diameter (ID) and the multiblade slurry (MBS) techniques. Factors affecting contact length are discussed, taking into account kerf width, rocking angle, ingot size, and surface speed. Aspects of blade development are also considered. A high concentration of diamonds on wire has been obtained in wire packs usd for FAST slicing. The material removal rate was found to be directly proportional to the pressure at the diamond tips.

X-radiography of slices of the Allende Meteorite

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, M. J.; Anderson, J. B.; Heymann, D.

1984-01-01

A 2.2 kg fragment of the Allende Meteorite was derinded and sliced by bandsawing. Several X-radiographs were made of all slices. The following features are resolved: grains of blocky troilite (bright spots), troilite rimmed chondrules (bright halos), chondrules with central vugs (dim halos), white aggregates (dark patches), and dark inclusions (medium dark patches). The number of FeS grains larger than about 0.5 mm is one per 6 + or - 1 gram of this fragment. Their concentration appears to be uniform at the 1 kg weight level, but is not uniform at the 100 g level. The number of FeS rimmed chondrules is one per 10 g. Their concentration is also nonuniform at the 100 g weight level. The number of white aggregates is roughly one per 20 g. These disc shaped objects show a distinct preferred orientation of the axis orthogonal to the plane of the disc. Chondrules with central vugs are numerous. Linear and curved arrays of chondrules, up to a few cm long, were observed. An interpretation of the observed features is given.

Influence of substrate composition on vitro oxygen consumption of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The endogenous oxygen consumption of lung, liver and spleen slices is only slightly increased by glucose in an SRP medium compared with its effect on heart and kidney slices. Individual substrates which induced a highly significant increase in oxygen uptake of lung tissue were succinate, acetate, pyruvate and glucose, ...

Long-term brain slice culturing in a microfluidic platform

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vedarethinam, Indumathi; Avaliani, N.; Tønnesen, J.

2011-01-01

In this work, we present the development of a transparent poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) based microfluidic culture system for handling long-term brain slice cultures independent of an incubator. The different stages of system development have been validated by culturing GFP producing brain sli...

A sandwich-like differential B-dot based on EACVD polycrystalline diamond slice

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, P.; Yu, Y.; Xu, L.; Zhou, H. Y.; Qiu, C. J.

2018-06-01

In this article, we present a method of mass production of a standardized high-performance differential B-dot magnetic probe together with the magnetic field measurement in a pulsed current device with the current up to hundreds of kilo-Amperes. A polycrystalline diamond slice produced in an Electron Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition device is used as the base and insulating material to imprint two symmetric differential loops for the magnetic field measurement. The SP3 carbon bond in the cubic lattice structure of diamond is confirmed by Raman spectra. The thickness of this slice is 20 μm. A gold loop is imprinted onto each surface of the slice by using the photolithography technique. The inner diameter, width, and thickness of each loop are 0.8 mm, 50 μm, and 1 μm, respectively. It provides a way of measuring the pulsed magnetic field with a high spatial and temporal resolution, especially in limited space. This differential magnetic probe has demonstrated a very good common-mode rejection rate through the pulsed magnetic field measurement.

Application of gamma irradiation for the microbiological safety of sliced cheddar cheese

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyun Joo; Song, Beom Seok; Kim, Jae Hun; Choi, Jong Ill; Lee, Ju Woon; Byun, Myung Woo [Radiation Research Center for Innovative Technology, Advanced Radiation Technology Institute, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Jeongeup (Korea, Republic of); Jo, Cheo Run [Dept. of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2007-05-15

This study was conducted to establish the microbiological safety of sliced cheddar cheese with gamma irradiation. Total aerobic bacteria was 2.50 Log CFUg-1 in non-irradiated sample. No viable cells were observed in the gamma-irradiated at 1 kGy and over. D10 value for Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus inoculated in sliced cheddar cheese were 0.64 and 0.54 kGy, respectively. TBARS (2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) values were increased as irradiation dose was increased, but there was no significant difference between nonirradiated and irradiated samples at 1 kGy. Sensory evaluation showed there was no significant difference between samples irradiated at 1 kGy and non-irradiated in respect of color, odor, overall acceptability. Theses results indicated that gamma irradiation at 1 kGy was considered to be an effective treatment to ensure the microbiological safety of sliced cheddar cheese with minimal change of sensory, even though further studies should be investigated to reduce the deterioration of sensory quality induced by gamma irradiation.

A slice through a prototype LHC bending magnet

CERN Multimedia

Laurent Guiraud

1998-01-01

This slice through a prototype LHC magnet clearly shows the superconducting cable in several blocks around the central hole – the beam pipe in which the LHC’s accelerated beams will travel. Magnet design is crucial to the LHC’s success and this sample is among the first to be built to the final cable configuration.

Modulation of methylmercury uptake by methionine: Prevention of mitochondrial dysfunction in rat liver slices by a mimicry mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roos, Daniel Henrique; Puntel, Robson Luiz; Farina, Marcelo; Aschner, Michael; Bohrer, Denise; Rocha, Joao Batista T.; Vargas Barbosa, Nilda B. de

2011-01-01

Methylmercury (MeHg) is an ubiquitous environmental pollutant which is transported into the mammalian cells when present as the methylmercury-cysteine conjugate (MeHg-Cys). With special emphasis on hepatic cells, due to their particular propensity to accumulate an appreciable amount of Hg after exposure to MeHg, this study was performed to evaluate the effects of methionine (Met) on Hg uptake, reactive species (RS) formation, oxygen consumption and mitochondrial function/cellular viability in both liver slices and mitochondria isolated from these slices, after exposure to MeHg or the MeHg-Cys complex. The liver slices were pre-treated with Met (250 μM) 15 min before being exposed to MeHg (25 μM) or MeHg-Cys (25 μM each) for 30 min at 37 o C. The treatment with MeHg caused a significant increase in the Hg concentration in both liver slices and mitochondria isolated from liver slices. Moreover, the Hg uptake was higher in the group exposed to the MeHg-Cys complex. In the DCF (dichlorofluorescein) assay, the exposure to MeHg and MeHg-Cys produced a significant increase in DFC reactive species (DFC-RS) formation only in the mitochondria isolated from liver slices. As observed with Hg uptake, DFC-RS levels were significantly higher in the mitochondria treated with the MeHg-Cys complex compared to MeHg alone. MeHg exposure also caused a marked decrease in the oxygen consumption of liver slices when compared to the control group, and this effect was more pronounced in the liver slices treated with the MeHg-Cys complex. Similarly, the loss of mitochondrial activity/cell viability was greater in liver slices exposed to the MeHg-Cys complex when compared to slices treated only with MeHg. In all studied parameters, Met pre-treatment was effective in preventing the MeHg- and/or MeHg-Cys-induced toxicity in both liver slices and mitochondria. Part of the protection afforded by Met against MeHg may be related to a direct interaction with MeHg or to the competition of Met with

Single-slice epicardial fat area measurement. Do we need to measure the total epicardial fat volume?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oyama, Noriko; Goto, Daisuke; Ito, Yoichi M.

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess a method for measuring epicardial fat volume (EFV) by means of a single-slice area measurement. We investigated the relation between a single-slice fat area measurement and total EFV. A series of 72 consecutive patients (ages 65±11 years; 36 men) who had undergone cardiac computed tomography (CT) on a 64-slice multidetector scanner with prospective electrocardiographic triggering were retrospectively reviewed. Pixels in the pericardium with a density range from -230 to -30 Hounsfield units were considered fat, giving the per-slice epicardial fat area (EFA). The EFV was estimated by the summation of EFAs multiplied by the slice thickness. We investigated the relation between total EFV and each EFA. EFAs measured at several anatomical landmarks - right pulmonary artery, origins of the left main coronary artery, right coronary artery, coronary sinus - all correlated with the EFV (r=0.77-0.92). The EFA at the LMCA level was highly reproducible and showed an excellent correlation with the EFV (r=0.92). The EFA is significantly correlated with the EFV. The EFA is a simple, quick method for representing the time-consuming EFV, which has been used as a predictive indicator of cardiovascular diseases. (author)

Constructing a Computer Model of the Human Eye Based on Tissue Slice Images

OpenAIRE

Dai, Peishan; Wang, Boliang; Bao, Chunbo; Ju, Ying

2010-01-01

Computer simulation of the biomechanical and biological heat transfer in ophthalmology greatly relies on having a reliable computer model of the human eye. This paper proposes a novel method on the construction of a geometric model of the human eye based on tissue slice images. Slice images were obtained from an in vitro Chinese human eye through an embryo specimen processing methods. A level set algorithm was used to extract contour points of eye tissues while a principle component analysi...

Lung segment geometry study: simulation of largest possible tumours that fit into bronchopulmonary segments.

Science.gov (United States)

Welter, S; Stöcker, C; Dicken, V; Kühl, H; Krass, S; Stamatis, G

2012-03-01

Segmental resection in stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been well described and is considered to have similar survival rates as lobectomy but with increased rates of local tumour recurrence due to inadequate parenchymal margins. In consequence, today segmentectomy is only performed when the tumour is smaller than 2 cm. Three-dimensional reconstructions from 11 thin-slice CT scans of bronchopulmonary segments were generated, and virtual spherical tumours were placed over the segments, respecting all segmental borders. As a next step, virtual parenchymal safety margins of 2 cm and 3 cm were subtracted and the size of the remaining tumour calculated. The maximum tumour diameters with a 30-mm parenchymal safety margin ranged from 26.1 mm in right-sided segments 7 + 8 to 59.8 mm in the left apical segments 1-3. Using a three-dimensional reconstruction of lung CT scans, we demonstrated that segmentectomy or resection of segmental groups should be feasible with adequate margins, even for larger tumours in selected cases. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Automated identification of the lung contours in positron emission tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nery, F; Ferreira, N C; Faustino, R; Silva, J Silvestre; Caramelo, F J

2013-01-01

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine imaging technique that permits to analyze, in three dimensions, the physiological processes in vivo. One of the areas where PET has demonstrated its advantages is in the staging of lung cancer, where it offers better sensitivity and specificity than other techniques such as CT. On the other hand, accurate segmentation, an important procedure for Computer Aided Diagnostics (CAD) and automated image analysis, is a challenging task given the low spatial resolution and the high noise that are intrinsic characteristics of PET images. This work presents an algorithm for the segmentation of lungs in PET images, to be used in CAD and group analysis in a large patient database. The lung boundaries are automatically extracted from a PET volume through the application of a marker-driven watershed segmentation procedure which is robust to the noise. In order to test the effectiveness of the proposed method, we compared the segmentation results in several slices using our approach with the results obtained from manual delineation. The manual delineation was performed by nuclear medicine physicians that used a software routine that we developed specifically for this task. To quantify the similarity between the contours obtained from the two methods, we used figures of merit based on region and also on contour definitions. Results show that the performance of the algorithm was similar to the performance of human physicians. Additionally, we found that the algorithm-physician agreement is similar (statistically significant) to the inter-physician agreement.

GDNF and neublastin protect against NMDA-induced excitotoxicity in hippocampal slice cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonde, C; Kristensen, B W; Blaabjerg, M

2000-01-01

-producing HiB5 cells, were added to slice cultures I h before exposure to 10 microM NMDA for 48h. Neuronal cell death was monitored, before and during the NMDA exposure, by densitometric measurements of propidium iodide (PI) uptake and loss of Nissl staining. Both the addition of rhGDNF and NBN......The potential neuroprotective effects of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neublastin (NBN) against NMDA-induced excitotoxicity were examined in hippocampal brain slice cultures. Recombinant human GDNF (25-100 ng/ ml) or NBN, in medium conditioned by growth of transfected, NBN...

Visual assessment of functional lungs parenchyma on HRCT and {sup 3}He-MRI in patients after single lung transplantation: comparison with quantitative volumetric results; Visuelle Abschaetzung der funktionellen Lungenanteile in der HRCT und {sup 3}He-MRT bei Patienten nach Einzel-Lungentransplantation: Vergleich mit der absoluten Volumetrie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zaporozhan, J.; Ley, S. [Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Radiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Univ. Mainz (Germany); DKFZ, E010 - Radiologie, Heidelberg (Germany); Gast, K.K.; Heussel, C.P.; Thelen, M. [Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Radiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Univ. Mainz (Germany); Biedermann, A. [III. Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, Johannes Gutenberg-Univ. Mainz (Germany); Eberle, B. [Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Anaesthesiologie, Univ. und Inselspital Bern (Switzerland); Mayer, E. [Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Herz-, Thorax- und Gefaesschirurgie, Johannes Gutenberg-Univ. Mainz (Germany); Kauczor, H.U. [DKFZ, E010 - Radiologie, Heidelberg (Germany)

2005-04-01

Purpose: Visual assessment of the ventilation using HRCT and {sup 3}He-MRI in patients after single lung transplantation (SLTX). Analysis of specific ventilation defects found with {sup 3}He-MRI and morphological changes found with HRCT. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 8 male patients (54{+-}6 years) suffering from emphysema and six patients (3 males and 3 females, 58{+-}9.5 years) suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) after SLTX. The morphological changes at HRCT were classified and localized. In {sup 3}He-MRI (2D FLASH), 10 to 14 slices (slice thickness 10 mm, gap 5 mm) were acquired in coronal orientation to cover the whole lung. Ventilation defects were localized and characterized. The visually estimated ventilation was recorded on a 5-point scoring system. A double threshold technique was applied to volumetric quantification in {sup 3}He-MRI to serve as internal reference. Results: We found no correlation between morphological changes in HRCT and ventilation defects in {sup 3}He-MRI. The visual assessment of ventilation in {sup 3}He-MRI was sufficient in patients with emphysema, but this was not confirmed in patients with IPF. The visual assessment in HRCT did not correlate with the volumetric evaluation in both conditions. Conclusion: The various ventilation defects were not linked to specific morphological changes. For the visually assessed ventilation in patients with emphysema, {sup 3}He-MRI is superior to HRCT. (orig.)

Inter-slice bidirectional registration-based segmentation of the prostate gland in MR and CT image sequences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khalvati, Farzad, E-mail: farzad.khalvati@uwaterloo.ca; Tizhoosh, Hamid R. [Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Salmanpour, Aryan; Rahnamayan, Shahryar [Department of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 7K4 (Canada); Rodrigues, George [Department of Radiation Oncology, London Regional Cancer Program, London, Ontario N6C 2R6, Canada and Department of Epidemiology/Biostatistics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7 (Canada)

2013-12-15

Purpose: Accurate segmentation and volume estimation of the prostate gland in magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) images are necessary steps in diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of prostate cancer. This paper presents an algorithm for the prostate gland volume estimation based on the semiautomated segmentation of individual slices in T2-weighted MR and CT image sequences. Methods: The proposedInter-Slice Bidirectional Registration-based Segmentation (iBRS) algorithm relies on interslice image registration of volume data to segment the prostate gland without the use of an anatomical atlas. It requires the user to mark only three slices in a given volume dataset, i.e., the first, middle, and last slices. Next, the proposed algorithm uses a registration algorithm to autosegment the remaining slices. We conducted comprehensive experiments to measure the performance of the proposed algorithm using three registration methods (i.e., rigid, affine, and nonrigid techniques). Results: The results with the proposed technique were compared with manual marking using prostate MR and CT images from 117 patients. Manual marking was performed by an expert user for all 117 patients. The median accuracies for individual slices measured using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) were 92% and 91% for MR and CT images, respectively. The iBRS algorithm was also evaluated regarding user variability, which confirmed that the algorithm was robust to interuser variability when marking the prostate gland. Conclusions: The proposed algorithm exploits the interslice data redundancy of the images in a volume dataset of MR and CT images and eliminates the need for an atlas, minimizing the computational cost while producing highly accurate results which are robust to interuser variability.

Inter-slice bidirectional registration-based segmentation of the prostate gland in MR and CT image sequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalvati, Farzad; Tizhoosh, Hamid R.; Salmanpour, Aryan; Rahnamayan, Shahryar; Rodrigues, George

2013-01-01

Purpose: Accurate segmentation and volume estimation of the prostate gland in magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) images are necessary steps in diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of prostate cancer. This paper presents an algorithm for the prostate gland volume estimation based on the semiautomated segmentation of individual slices in T2-weighted MR and CT image sequences. Methods: The proposedInter-Slice Bidirectional Registration-based Segmentation (iBRS) algorithm relies on interslice image registration of volume data to segment the prostate gland without the use of an anatomical atlas. It requires the user to mark only three slices in a given volume dataset, i.e., the first, middle, and last slices. Next, the proposed algorithm uses a registration algorithm to autosegment the remaining slices. We conducted comprehensive experiments to measure the performance of the proposed algorithm using three registration methods (i.e., rigid, affine, and nonrigid techniques). Results: The results with the proposed technique were compared with manual marking using prostate MR and CT images from 117 patients. Manual marking was performed by an expert user for all 117 patients. The median accuracies for individual slices measured using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) were 92% and 91% for MR and CT images, respectively. The iBRS algorithm was also evaluated regarding user variability, which confirmed that the algorithm was robust to interuser variability when marking the prostate gland. Conclusions: The proposed algorithm exploits the interslice data redundancy of the images in a volume dataset of MR and CT images and eliminates the need for an atlas, minimizing the computational cost while producing highly accurate results which are robust to interuser variability

Effects of chemotherapeutics on organotypic corticostriatal slice cultures identified by a panel of fluorescent and immunohistochemical markers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørregaard, Annette; Jensen, Stine Skov; Kolenda, Jesper

2012-01-01

no toxicity was observed. Corresponding immunostaining showed loss of MAP2 and increased expression of GFAP and p25α for cultures exposed to 1,000 nM VCR. Cultures exposed to high concentrations of ACNU and IM disintegrated, leaving no tissue for histology. In conclusion, corticostriatal slice cultures...... specific neuronal and glial degeneration induced by chemotherapeutics in organotypic rat corticostriatal slice cultures. The slice cultures were exposed to the alkylating agents temozolomide (TMZ) and nimustine (ACNU), the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate (IM) and the microtubule...

The Sliced Pineapple Grid Feature for Predicting Grasping Affordances

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Mikkel Tang; Kraft, Dirk; Krüger, Norbert

2017-01-01

The problem of grasping unknown objects utilising vision is addressed in this work by introducing a novel feature, the Sliced Pineapple Grid Feature (SPGF). The SPGF encode semi-local surfaces and allows for distinguishing structures such as “walls”,“edges” and “rims”. These structures are shown...

Volume-monitored chest CT: a simplified method for obtaining motion-free images near full inspiratory and end expiratory lung volumes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mueller, Kathryn S. [The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH (United States); Long, Frederick R. [Nationwide Children' s Hospital, The Children' s Radiological Institute, Columbus, OH (United States); Flucke, Robert L. [Nationwide Children' s Hospital, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Columbus, OH (United States); Castile, Robert G. [The Research Institute at Nationwide Children' s Hospital, Center for Perinatal Research, Columbus, OH (United States)

2010-10-15

Lung inflation and respiratory motion during chest CT affect diagnostic accuracy and reproducibility. To describe a simple volume-monitored (VM) method for performing reproducible, motion-free full inspiratory and end expiratory chest CT examinations in children. Fifty-two children with cystic fibrosis (mean age 8.8 {+-} 2.2 years) underwent pulmonary function tests and inspiratory and expiratory VM-CT scans (1.25-mm slices, 80-120 kVp, 16-40 mAs) according to an IRB-approved protocol. The VM-CT technique utilizes instruction from a respiratory therapist, a portable spirometer and real-time documentation of lung volume on a computer. CT image quality was evaluated for achievement of targeted lung-volume levels and for respiratory motion. Children achieved 95% of vital capacity during full inspiratory imaging. For end expiratory scans, 92% were at or below the child's end expiratory level. Two expiratory exams were judged to be at suboptimal volumes. Two inspiratory (4%) and three expiratory (6%) exams showed respiratory motion. Overall, 94% of scans were performed at optimal volumes without respiratory motion. The VM-CT technique is a simple, feasible method in children as young as 4 years to achieve reproducible high-quality full inspiratory and end expiratory lung CT images. (orig.)

Effect of dentin bonding agent diffusing through dentin slices on the reactive oxygen species production and apoptosis of pulpal cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bor-Shiunn Lee

2015-04-01

Conclusion: The three DBAs after diffusion through 0.2- or 0.5-mm dentin slice still exhibit cytotoxicity to dental pulp cells. However, the 0.5-mm dentin slice is found to be a better barrier than the 0.2-mm dentin slice to protect dental pulp cells from DBA-induced cytotoxicity.

Unbiased stereological estimation of d-dimensional volume in Rn from an isotropic random slice through a fixed point

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Eva B. Vedel; Kiêu, K

1994-01-01

Unbiased stereological estimators of d-dimensional volume in R(n) are derived, based on information from an isotropic random r-slice through a specified point. The content of the slice can be subsampled by means of a spatial grid. The estimators depend only on spatial distances. As a fundamental ...... lemma, an explicit formula for the probability that an isotropic random r-slice in R(n) through 0 hits a fixed point in R(n) is given....

The effect of slicing type on drying kinetics and quality of dried carrot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Naghipour zadeh mahani

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Carrot is one of the most common vegetables used for human nutrition because of its high vitamin and fiber contents. Drying improves the product shelf life without addition of any chemical preservative and reduces both the size of package and the transport cost. Drying also aidsto reduce postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables especially, which can be as high as 70%. Dried carrots are used in dehydrated soups and in the form of powder in pastries and sauces. The main aim of drying agricultural products is decrease the moisture content to a level which allows safe storage over an extended period. Many fruits and vegetables can be sliced before drying.because of different tissue of a fruit or vegetable, cutting them in different direction and shape created different tissue slices. Due to drying is the exiting process of the moisture from internal tissue so different tissue slices caused different drying kinetics. Therefore, the study on effect of cutting parameters on drying is necessary. Materials and Methods: Carrots (Daucus carota L. were purchased from the local market (Kerman, Iran and stored in a refrigerator at 5°C. The initial moisture contents of the Carrot samples were determined by the oven drying method. The sample was dried in an oven at 105±2°C about 24 hours. The carrots cut by 3 models blade at 3 directions. The samples were dried in an oven at 70°C. Moisture content of the carrot slices were determined by weighting of samples during drying. Volume changes because of sample shrinkage were measured by a water displacement method. Rehydration experiment was performed by immersing a weighted amount of dried samples into hot water 50 °C for 30 min. In this study the effect of some cutting parameters was considered on carrot drying and the quality of final drying product. The tests were performed as a completely random design. The effects of carrot thickness at two levels (3 and 6 mm, blade in 3 models (flat blade

Liver slices in in vitro pharmacotoxicology with special reference to the use of human liver tissue

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Olinga, Peter; Meijer, D.K F; Slooff, M.JH; Groothuis, Geny

In the early years of research in in vitro pharmacotoxicology liver slices have been used. After a decline in the application of slices in favour of the use of isolated hepatocytes and the isolated perfused liver preparation, the development of the Krumdieck slicer in the 1980s led to a 'comeback'

Pleural effusion segmentation in thin-slice CT

Science.gov (United States)

Donohue, Rory; Shearer, Andrew; Bruzzi, John; Khosa, Huma

2009-02-01

A pleural effusion is excess fluid that collects in the pleural cavity, the fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs. Surplus amounts of such fluid can impair breathing by limiting the expansion of the lungs during inhalation. Measuring the fluid volume is indicative of the effectiveness of any treatment but, due to the similarity to surround regions, fragments of collapsed lung present and topological changes; accurate quantification of the effusion volume is a difficult imaging problem. A novel code is presented which performs conditional region growth to accurately segment the effusion shape across a dataset. We demonstrate the applicability of our technique in the segmentation of pleural effusion and pulmonary masses.

Long-term potentiation protects rat hippocampal slices from the effects of acute hypoxia.

Science.gov (United States)

Youssef, F F; Addae, J I; McRae, A; Stone, T W

2001-07-13

We have previously shown that long-term potentiation (LTP) decreases the sensitivity of glutamate receptors in the rat hippocampal CA1 region to exogenously applied glutamate agonists. Since the pathophysiology of hypoxia/ischemia involves increased concentration of endogenous glutamate, we tested the hypothesis that LTP could reduce the effects of hypoxia in the hippocampal slice. The effects of LTP on hypoxia were measured by the changes in population spike potentials (PS) or field excitatory post-synaptic potentials (fepsps). Hypoxia was induced by perfusing the slice with (i) artificial CSF which had been pre-gassed with 95%N2/5% CO2; (ii) artificial CSF which had not been pre-gassed with 95% O2/5% CO2; or (iii) an oxygen-glucose deprived (OGD) medium which was similar to (ii) and in which the glucose had been replaced with sucrose. Exposure of a slice to a hypoxic medium for 1.5-3.0 min led to a decrease in the PS or fepsps; the potentials recovered to control levels within 3-5 min. Repeat exposure, 45 min later, of the same slice to the same hypoxic medium for the same duration as the first exposure caused a reduction in the potentials again; there were no significant differences between the degree of reduction caused by the first or second exposure for all three types of hypoxic media (P>0.05; paired t-test). In some of the slices, two episodes of LTP were induced 25 and 35 min after the first hypoxic exposure; this caused inhibition of reduction in potentials caused by the second hypoxic insult which was given at 45 min after the first; the differences in reduction in potentials were highly significant for all the hypoxic media used (Peffects of LTP were not prevented by cyclothiazide or inhibitors of NO synthetase compounds that have been shown to be effective in blocking the effects of LTP on the actions of exogenously applied AMPA and NMDA, respectively. The neuroprotective effects of LTP were similar to those of propentofylline, a known neuroprotective

Diagnostic accuracy of non-invasive 64-slice CT coronary angiography in patients with stable angina pectoris

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pugliese, Francesca; Krestin, Gabriel P. [Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Mollet, Nico R.A.; deFeyter, Pim J. [Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Cardiology, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Runza, Giuseppe [University of Palermo, Department of Radiology, Palermo (Italy); Azienda Ospedaliera di Parma, Department of Radiology, Parma (Italy); Mieghem, Carlos van; Meijboom, Willem B.; Baks, Timo [Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Cardiology, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Malagutti, Patrizia [Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Cardiology, Rotterdam (Netherlands); University of Ferrara, Department of Cardiology, Ferrara (Italy); Cademartiri, Filippo [Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Azienda Ospedaliera di Parma, Department of Radiology, Parma (Italy)

2006-03-15

Multislice computed tomography (CT) is an emerging technique for the non-invasive detection of coronary stenoses. While the diagnostic accuracy of 4-slice scanners was limited, 16-slice CT imagers showed promising results due to increased temporal and spatial resolution. These technical advances prompted us to evaluate the diagnostic performance of 64-slice CT coronary angiography in the detection of significant stenoses (defined as {>=} 50% luminal diameter reduction) versus invasive quantitative coronary angiography (QCA). Thirty-five patients with stable angina pectoris underwent CT coronary angiography performed with a 64-slice scanner (gantry rotation time 330 ms, individual detector width 0.6 mm) prior to conventional coronary angiography. Patients with heart rates >70 beats/min received 100 mg metoprolol orally. One hundred millilitres of contrast agent with an iodine concentration of 400 mgl/ml were injected at a rate of 5 ml/s into the antecubital vein. The CT scan was triggered with the bolus tracking technique. The sensitivity, specificity and the positive and negative predictive values of 64-slice CT were 99%, 96%, 78% and 99%, respectively, on a per-segment basis. The values obtained on a per-patient basis were 100%, 90%, 96% and 100%, respectively. When referral to catheterisation is questionable, CT coronary angiography may identify subjects with normal angiograms and consistently decrease the number of unnecessary invasive procedures. (orig.)

The slice balance approach (SBA): a characteristic-based, multiple balance SN approach on unstructured polyhedral meshes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grove, R.E.

2005-01-01

The Slice Balance Approach (SBA) is an approach for solving geometrically-complex, neutral-particle transport problems within a multi-group discrete ordinates (S N ) framework. The salient feature is an angle-dependent spatial decomposition. We approximate general surfaces with arbitrary polygonal faces and mesh the geometry with arbitrarily-shaped polyhedral cells. A cell-local spatial decomposition divides cells into angle-dependent slices for each S N direction. This subdivision follows from a characteristic-based view of the transport problem. Most balance-based characteristic methods use it implicitly; we use it explicitly and exploit its properties. Our mathematical approach is a multiple balance approach using exact spatial moments balance equations on cells and slices along with auxiliary relations on slices. We call this the slice balance approach; it is a characteristic-based multiple balance approach. The SBA is intentionally general and can extend differencing schemes to arbitrary 2-D and 3-D meshes. This work contributes to development of general-geometry deterministic transport capability to complement Monte Carlo capability for large, geometrically-complex transport problems. The purpose of this paper is to describe the SBA. We describe the spatial decomposition and mathematical framework and highlight a few interesting properties. We sketch the derivation of two solution schemes, a step characteristic scheme and a diamond-difference-like scheme, to illustrate the approach and we present interesting results for a 2-D problem. (author)

Diagnostic accuracy of non-invasive 64-slice CT coronary angiography in patients with stable angina pectoris

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pugliese, Francesca; Krestin, Gabriel P.; Mollet, Nico R.A.; DeFeyter, Pim J.; Runza, Giuseppe; Mieghem, Carlos van; Meijboom, Willem B.; Baks, Timo; Malagutti, Patrizia; Cademartiri, Filippo

2006-01-01

Multislice computed tomography (CT) is an emerging technique for the non-invasive detection of coronary stenoses. While the diagnostic accuracy of 4-slice scanners was limited, 16-slice CT imagers showed promising results due to increased temporal and spatial resolution. These technical advances prompted us to evaluate the diagnostic performance of 64-slice CT coronary angiography in the detection of significant stenoses (defined as ≥ 50% luminal diameter reduction) versus invasive quantitative coronary angiography (QCA). Thirty-five patients with stable angina pectoris underwent CT coronary angiography performed with a 64-slice scanner (gantry rotation time 330 ms, individual detector width 0.6 mm) prior to conventional coronary angiography. Patients with heart rates >70 beats/min received 100 mg metoprolol orally. One hundred millilitres of contrast agent with an iodine concentration of 400 mgl/ml were injected at a rate of 5 ml/s into the antecubital vein. The CT scan was triggered with the bolus tracking technique. The sensitivity, specificity and the positive and negative predictive values of 64-slice CT were 99%, 96%, 78% and 99%, respectively, on a per-segment basis. The values obtained on a per-patient basis were 100%, 90%, 96% and 100%, respectively. When referral to catheterisation is questionable, CT coronary angiography may identify subjects with normal angiograms and consistently decrease the number of unnecessary invasive procedures. (orig.)

Is correction necessary when clinically determining quantitative cerebral perfusion parameters from multi-slice dynamic susceptibility contrast MR studies?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salluzzi, M; Frayne, R; Smith, M R

2006-01-01

Several groups have modified the standard singular value decomposition (SVD) algorithm to produce delay-insensitive cerebral blood flow (CBF) estimates from dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion studies. However, new dependences of CBF estimates on bolus arrival times and slice position in multi-slice studies have been recently recognized. These conflicting findings can be reconciled by accounting for several experimental and algorithmic factors. Using simulation and clinical studies, the non-simultaneous measurement of arterial and tissue concentration curves (relative slice position) in a multi-slice study is shown to affect time-related perfusion parameters, e.g. arterial-tissue-delay measurements. However, the current clinical impact of relative slice position on amplitude-related perfusion parameters, e.g. CBF, can be expected to be small unless any of the following conditions are present individually or in combination: (a) high concentration curve signal-to-noise ratios, (b) small tissue mean transit times, (c) narrow arterial input functions or (d) low temporal resolution of the DSC image sequence. Recent improvements in magnetic resonance (MR) technology can easily be expected to lead to scenarios where these effects become increasingly important sources of inaccuracy for all perfusion parameter estimates. We show that using Fourier interpolated (high temporal resolution) residue functions reduces the systematic error of the perfusion parameters obtained from multi-slice studies

Radioisotopic investigations of zinc uptake into brain slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howell, G.A.

1983-01-01

The presence of zinc in the vicinity of the hippocampal mossy fibers has been repeatedly demonstrated, and several lines of evidence suggest that the mossy-fiber zinc is concentrated within the terminals of mossy fibers. In search of insight into the metabolism and function of mossy-fiber zinc, the present study investigated the transport of zinc into tissue slices and the response of the zinc transport to depolarization. Kinetic analysis of zinc accumulation by mouse brain slices in vitro revealed the presence of a high affinity uptake component with an apparent Km of 17.7 μM for hippocampus, 16.6 μM< for cortex and 25 μM for striatum and a V/sub max/ of 9.2 ng/mg/hr for the hippocampus, 10.1 ng/mg/hr for cortex and 9.6 ng/mg/hr for striatum. Cytoarchitectonic differences in zinc transport between the different hippocampal subregions were found with those regions containing granule cells or mossy fiber axons accumulating greater amounts of zinc than the CA 1 region. The present finding that mossy-fiber neuropil selectivity accumulates zinc suggests the presence of a zinc-binding substance unique to mossy-fiber tissue

Microfluidic culture chamber for the long-term perfusion and precise chemical stimulation of organotypic brain tissue slices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caicedo, H. H.; Vignes, M.; Brugg, B.

2010-01-01

We have developed a microfluidic perfusion-based culture system to study long-term in-vitro responses of organo-typic brain slices exposed to localized neurochemical stimulation. Using this microperfusion chamber we show that hip-pocampal organotypic brain slices cultures grown on nitrocellulose ...

Evaluation of chronic infectious interstitial pulmonary disease in children by low-dose CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heyer, Christoph M.; Lemburg, Stefan P.; Kagel, Thomas; Nicolas, Volkmar [Ruhr-University of Bochum, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, Interventional Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, BG Clinics Bergmannsheil, Bochum (Germany); Mueller, Klaus-Michael [Ruhr-University of Bochum, Institute of Pathology, BG Clinics Bergmannsheil, Bochum (Germany); Nuesslein, Thomas G.; Rieger, Christian H.L. [Ruhr-University of Bochum, Pediatric Hospital, Bochum (Germany)

2005-07-01

Children with chronic infectious interstitial lung disease often have to undergo open lung biopsy to establish a final diagnosis. Open lung biopsy is an invasive procedure with major potential complications. Transthoracic lung biopsy (TLB) guided by computed tomography (CT) is a less-invasive well-established procedure in adults. Detailing the role of low-dose CT-guided TLB in the enhanced diagnosis of chronic lung diseases related to infection in children. A group of 11 children (age 8 months to 16 years) underwent CT-guided TLB with a 20-gauge biopsy device. All investigations were done under general anaesthesia on a multidetector CT scanner (SOMATOM Volume Zoom, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) using a low-dose protocol (single slices, 120 kV, 20 mAs). Specimens were processed by histopathological, bacteriological, and virological techniques. All biopsies were performed without major complications; one child developed a small pneumothorax that resolved spontaneously. A diagnosis could be obtained in 10 of the 11 patients. Biopsy specimens revealed chronic interstitial alveolitis in ten patients. In five patients Chlamydia pneumoniae PCR was positive, in three Mycoplasma pneumoniae PCR was positive, and in two Cytomegalovirus PCR was positive. The average effective dose was 0.83 mSv. Low-dose CT-guided TLB can be a helpful tool in investigating chronic infectious inflammatory processes in children with minimal radiation exposure. It should be considered prior to any open surgical procedure performed for biopsy alone. In our patient group no significant complication occurred. A disadvantage of the method is that it does not allow smaller airways and vessels to be assessed. (orig.)

Unprecedented Simultaneous and Rapid Reversal of Oral and Alimentary Mucositis using Polymerized Cross Linked Sucralfate: Two Case Reports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricky Wayne McCullough

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The quest to optimize cancer treatments and to extend cancer survival is consistently thwarted by an unavoidable but expected consequence – mucositis of the oral and gastrointestinal tract. Prior to market approval our Translational Medicine Research Center clinically tested polymerized cross-linked sucralfate (PCLS on a cancer treatment patient who underwent 6 weeks chemo-radiation for squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN. This late-breaking Phase 4 observational experience from our Center discusses the post-approval use of PCLS (ProThelial™ in 2 patients: one with advanced oroesophageal mucositis from radiation and cetuximab for SCCHN and another patient with oral, esophageal, small and large bowel mucositis caused by Folfirinox (5- fluorouracil, folinic acid, irinotecan and oxaliplatin for inoperable metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Standard potency sucralfate is not recommended in the mucositis management guidelines of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer and International Society of Oral Oncology (MASCC\\ISOO. This higher potency sucralfate, PCLS, used in these patients exhibited an unprecedented simultaneously and rapid (2-3 day reversal of oroesophageal mucositis and alimentary mucositis. These results raise the novel proposition of single-agent management of both oral and alimentary mucositis caused by radiation, classic and newer bioengineered oncolytics. If validated, PCLS should energize discussions regarding mucositis clinical guidelines. The experience of these patients has been accepted for presentation in the upcoming 2014 International Symposium of the MASCC\\ISOO. Distinctions between standard potency sucralfate and PCLS are reviewed and modes of action explanations are offered.

Using a high-speed movie camera to evaluate slice dropping in clinical image interpretation with stack mode viewers.

OpenAIRE

Yakami, Masahiro; Yamamoto, Akira; Yanagisawa, Morio; Sekiguchi, Hiroyuki; Kubo, Takeshi; Togashi, Kaori

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to verify objectively the rate of slice omission during paging on picture archiving and communication system (PACS) viewers by recording the images shown on the computer displays of these viewers with a high-speed movie camera. This study was approved by the institutional review board. A sequential number from 1 to 250 was superimposed on each slice of a series of clinical Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) data. The slices were displayed using ...

Multi-slice and dual-source CT in cardiac imaging. Principles - protocols - indications - outlook. 2. ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohnesorge, B.M.; Flohr, T.G.; Becker, C.R.; Reiser, M.F.; Knez, A

2007-01-01

Cardiac diseases, and in particular coronary artery disease, are the leading cause of death and morbidity in industrialized countries. The development of non-invasive imaging techniques for the heart and the coronary arteries has been considered a key element in improving patient care. A breakthrough in cardiac imaging using CT occurred in 1998, with the introduction of multi-slice computed tomography (CT). Since then, amazing advances in performance have taken place with scanners that acquire up to 64 slices per rotation. This book discusses the state-of-the-art developments in multi-slice CT for cardiac imaging as well as those that can be anticipated in the future. It serves as a comprehensive work that covers all aspects of this technology, from the technical fundamentals and image evaluation all the way to clinical indications and protocol recommendations. This fully reworked second edition draws on the most recent clinical experience obtained with 16- and 64-slice CT scanners by world-leading experts from Europe and the United States. It also includes ''hands-on'' experience in the form of 10 representative clinical case studies, which are included on the accompanying CD. As a further highlight, the latest results of the very recently introduced dual-source CT, which may soon represent the CT technology of choice for cardiac applications, are presented. This book will not only convince the reader that multi-slice cardiac CT has arrived in clinical practice, it will also make a significant contribution to the education of radiologists, cardiologists, technologists, and physicists-whether newcomers, experienced users, or researchers. (orig.)

Assessing tumor treatment response and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer with perfusion CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Jianwei; Wu Ning; Song Ying

2010-01-01

Objective: To prospectively investigate whether any of the perfusion parameters would predict early tumor response to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: In a prospective series, Perfusion CT were performed in 152 patients suspected lung cancer with 16-slice or 8-slice multislice CT. Contrast medium (50 ml) was injected at a rate of 4 ml/s with a power injector. The scanning delay was 10 seconds and the scanning time was 50 seconds. Among 152 patients, 123 patients were proved lung cancer by pathology. With the perfusion 3.0 software, the parameters including blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), mean transit time (MTT) and capillary permeability surface area product (PS) were calculated. The perfusion image quality was evaluated on a 4-1eveal scale. The treatment response after chemotherapy and (or) radiotherapy was assessed with Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), and then the relationship between perfusion parameters with early tumor response to chemotherapy and (or) radiotherapy was evaluated. Student t test and Kaplan-Meier estimates were used for data analysis. Results: In 84 patients (68.3%), the perfusion image quality was staged level 2 (moderate) and level 3 (good). Among them, 35 patients with NSCLC were assessed with RECIST after chemotherapy and (or) radiotherapy. In these 35 patients, The BF of responders and nonresponders was (81.0 ± 33.6)and (56.3 ± 23.1) ml · min -1 ·100 g -1 , respectively, which was significantly different(t=2.393, P=0.023). The median PFS of low-BF group (BF ≤ 80 ml · min -1 · 100 g -1 ) and high-BF group (BF>80 ml · min -1 · 100 g -1 ) was 11.8 and 8.0 months respectively (P>0.05), and the median PFS of low-BV group (BF ≤ 6 ml/100 g -1 ) and high-BV group (BF>6 ml/100 g -1 ) was 9.2 and 8.0 months respectively(P>0.05), both of them were not significantly different. Conclusion: NSCLC in high perfusion are relatively sensitive to chemotherapy

PICTURE, 2-D Slices Through 3-D CG of MORSE, QAD-CG

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: Picture generates plots of two-dimensional slices through the three-dimensional geometry described by the combinatorial geometry (CG) package used in such codes as MORSE and QAD-CG. These plots are printed on a standard line printer. 2 - Method of solution: Several different ways are available to obtain a two-dimensional slice through the geometry. The geometry ray tracing capability is tested by forcing the geometry package to execute the routines and logic of the Monte Carlo random walk or kernel integration algorithms. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: None tested besides those listed in the input descriptions

Effect of Slice Error of Glass on Zero Offset of Capacitive Accelerometer

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, R.; Yu, H. J.; Zhou, W.; Peng, B.; Guo, J.

2018-03-01

Packaging process had been studied on capacitance accelerometer. The silicon-glass bonding process had been adopted on sensor chip and glass, and sensor chip and glass was adhered on ceramic substrate, the three-layer structure was curved due to the thermal mismatch, the slice error of glass lead to asymmetrical curve of sensor chip. Thus, the sensitive mass of accelerometer deviated along the sensitive direction, which was caused in zero offset drift. It was meaningful to confirm the influence of slice error of glass, the simulation results showed that the zero output drift was 12.3×10-3 m/s2 when the deviation was 40μm.

Effect of calcium chloride and calcium lactate on quality and shelf-life of fresh-cut guava slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raheem, M.I.U.; Huma, N.; Anjum, F.M.

2013-01-01

Present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of chemical treatments at low temperature on the quality of fresh-cut guava slices during 2011-12. Uniform sized guava slices were made free from seeds and treated with calcium chloride and calcium lactate with concentration 0.9%, 1.8%, 2.7% or 3.6%. After packing in plastic boxes, all treated samples were stored at 5 degree C + 2 degree C in a refrigerator for 24 days with 6 day interval between different removals. The results obtained from physico-chemical analysis showed decrease in firmness (111.67-12.67gf) and increase in browning (1.19-1.93nm) of guava slices compared to control with the passage of storage interval. Moreover, scores in taste (7.33-1.00), flavour (7.33-1.00), colour (7.50-1.00) and texture (7.67-1.00) of guava slices was also decreased with respect to interaction of treatments and storage period. Calcium chloride at the rate 2.7% showed significantly higher stability than other concentrations of calcium chloride and calcium lactate in delaying firmness and browning of fresh-cut guava slices along with maintaining their organoleptic properties for longer storage period. However, calcium chloride imparted undesirable bitterness to fresh-cut guava slices at the concentration of 3.6%. Based on the overall quality performance, 2.7% calcium chloride and 3.6% calcium lactate exhibited better results than other concentrations and control with storage life of 8 days at 5 degree C + 2 degree C. (author)

Characterization of masses in digital breast tomosynthesis: comparison of machine learning in projection views and reconstructed slices.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Heang-Ping; Wu, Yi-Ta; Sahiner, Berkman; Wei, Jun; Helvie, Mark A; Zhang, Yiheng; Moore, Richard H; Kopans, Daniel B; Hadjiiski, Lubomir; Way, Ted

2010-07-01

In digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), quasi-three-dimensional (3D) structural information is reconstructed from a small number of 2D projection view (PV) mammograms acquired over a limited angular range. The authors developed preliminary computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) methods for classification of malignant and benign masses and compared the effectiveness of analyzing lesion characteristics in the reconstructed DBT slices and in the PVs. A data set of MLO view DBT of 99 patients containing 107 masses (56 malignant and 51 benign) was collected at the Massachusetts General Hospital with IRB approval. The DBTs were obtained with a GE prototype system which acquired 11 PVs over a 50 degree arc. The authors reconstructed the DBTs at 1 mm slice interval using a simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique. The region of interest (ROI) containing the mass was marked by a radiologist in the DBT volume and the corresponding ROIs on the PVs were derived based on the imaging geometry. The subsequent processes were fully automated. For classification of masses using the DBT-slice approach, the mass on each slice was segmented by an active contour model initialized with adaptive k-means clustering. A spiculation likelihood map was generated by analysis of the gradient directions around the mass margin and spiculation features were extracted from the map. The rubber band straightening transform (RBST) was applied to a band of pixels around the segmented mass boundary. The RBST image was enhanced by Sobel filtering in the horizontal and vertical directions, from which run-length statistics texture features were extracted. Morphological features including those from the normalized radial length were designed to describe the mass shape. A feature space composed of the spiculation features, texture features, and morphological features extracted from the central slice alone and seven feature spaces obtained by averaging the corresponding features from three to 19 slices centered

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TYMPANOPLASTY USING SLICED CARTILAGE GRAFT VS. TEMPORALIS FASCIA GRAFT

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Rahul Ashok Telang

2018-02-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND The objective of the study was to compare the hearing improvement after using sliced cartilage graft with that of temporalis fascia and to compare the graft take-up between the two graft materials. MATERIALS AND METHODS A prospective clinical study including 60 patients with chronic mucosal otitis media, who were selected randomly from the outpatient department, after obtaining their consent were divided into 2 groups of 30 each, and evaluated according the study protocol. Their pre-operative audiometry was recorded and both groups of patients underwent surgery with one of the graft materials- temporalis fascia or sliced tragal cartilage with a thickness of 0.5 mm. All patients were regularly followed up and post-operative audiometry was done at 3 months. The hearing improvement in the form of closure of air-bone-gap and graft take-up was analysed statistically. RESULTS The temporalis fascia graft group had a pre-operative ABG of 22.33 ± 6.24 dB and post-operative ABG of 12.33 ± 4.72 dB with hearing improvement of 10.00 dB. The sliced cartilage graft group had a pre-operative ABG of 20.77 ± 5.75 dB and postoperative ABG of 10.50 ± 4.46 dB with hearing improvement of 10.27 dB. In the temporalis fascia group, 28 (93.3% patients had good graft take-up and in the sliced cartilage group 29 (96.7% had good graft take-up. There was statistically significant hearing improvement in both of our study groups but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. There was no statistically significant difference in graft take-up also. CONCLUSION Sliced cartilage graft is a good auto-graft material in tympanoplasty, which can give good hearing improvement and has good graft take-up, which is comparable with that of temporalis fascia.

Effects of Administration of Perinatal Bupropion on the Population Spike Amplitude in Neonatal Rat Hippocampal Slice

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Soomaayeh Heysieat-talab

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Objective(sBupropion is an atypical antidepressant that is widely used in smoke cessation under FDA approval. The study of synaptic effects of bupropion can help to finding out its mechanism(s for stopping nicotine dependence. In this study the effects of perinatal bupropion on the population spike (PS amplitude of neonates were investigated. Materials and Methods Hippocampal slices were prepared from 18-25 days old rat pups. The experimental groups included control and bupropion-treated. Bupropion (40 mg/Kg, i.p. was applied daily in perinatal period as pre-treatment. Due to the studying acute effects, bupropion was also added to the perfusion medium (10, 50, 200 μM for 30 min. The evoked PS was recorded from pyramidal layer of CA1 area, following stimulation of Schaffer collaterals. ResultsA concentration of 10 μM bupropion had no significant effects on the PS amplitude. The 50 μM concentration of bupropion reduced the amplitude of responses in 50% of the studied cases. At a concentration of 200 μM, the recorded PS amplitudes were reduced in all slices (n= 22. Amplitude was completely abolished in 8 out of the 22 slices. The decrease of the PS amplitude was found to be more in the non-pre-treated slices than in the pre-treated slices when both were perfused with 200 μM bupropion.Conclusion The results showed the perinatal exposure to bupropion and its acute effects while indicating that at concentrations of 50 and 200 μM bupropion reduced the PS amplitude. It was also found that there was evidence of synaptic adaptation in comparison of bupropion-treated and non-treated slices whereas they were both perfused with 200 µM.

Towards 1H-MRSI of the human brain at 7T with slice-selective adiabatic refocusing pulses.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scheenen, T.W.J.; Heerschap, A.; Klomp, D.W.J.

2008-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To explore the possibilities of proton spectroscopic imaging (1H-MRSI) of the human brain at 7 Tesla with adiabatic refocusing pulses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A combination of conventional slice selective excitation and two pairs of slice selective adiabatic refocusing pulses (semi-LASER)

Gravitational clustering of galaxies in the CfA slice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crane, P.; Saslaw, W.C.

1988-01-01

The clustering properties of the Galaxies in the CfA slice have been analyzed by comparing the properties of the neighbor distributions to the predictions of gravitational clustering theory. The agreement is excellent and implies that the observed structures can be explained by gravitational effects alone and do not require exotic explanations

Diagnostic potential of virtual bronchoscopy: advantages in comparison with axial CT slices, MPR and mIP?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rapp-Bernhardt, U.; Doehring, W.; Bernhardt, T.M.; Welte, T.; Kropf, S.

2000-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic potential of virtual endoscopy (VE) and to compare it with axial CT slices, multiplanar reconstructions (MPR), minimal intensity projections (mIP), and bronchoscopy in patients diagnosed with bronchogenic carcinoma. Thirty patients underwent a spiral CT. Axial CT images were transferred to an Onyx workstation (Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems, Mountain View, Calif.) for performing virtual endoscopy. Accuracy for this procedure was tested by three radiologists on a monitor in comparison with axial CT slices, MPR, mIP, and bronchoscopy concerning the localization and degree of stenoses. Endoluminal tumors were identified by virtual bronchoscopy with no statistically significant difference of localization or grading of stenosis in comparison with bronchoscopy, axial CT slices, MPR and mIP. Axial CT slices, MPR, and mIP showed poorer results with over- or underestimation of stenoses compared with VE and bronchoscopy. Passing of stenoses was only possible with VE in 5 patients. Virtual endoscopy is a non-invasive method for identification of endoluminal tumors and is comparable to real bronchoscopy. (orig.)

Diagnostic potential of virtual bronchoscopy: advantages in comparison with axial CT slices, MPR and mIP?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rapp-Bernhardt, U.; Doehring, W.; Bernhardt, T.M. [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg (Germany); Welte, T. [Department of Cardiology, Angiology, and Pneumology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg (Germany); Kropf, S. [Department of Biometrics and Medical Informatics, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg (Germany)

2000-06-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic potential of virtual endoscopy (VE) and to compare it with axial CT slices, multiplanar reconstructions (MPR), minimal intensity projections (mIP), and bronchoscopy in patients diagnosed with bronchogenic carcinoma. Thirty patients underwent a spiral CT. Axial CT images were transferred to an Onyx workstation (Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems, Mountain View, Calif.) for performing virtual endoscopy. Accuracy for this procedure was tested by three radiologists on a monitor in comparison with axial CT slices, MPR, mIP, and bronchoscopy concerning the localization and degree of stenoses. Endoluminal tumors were identified by virtual bronchoscopy with no statistically significant difference of localization or grading of stenosis in comparison with bronchoscopy, axial CT slices, MPR and mIP. Axial CT slices, MPR, and mIP showed poorer results with over- or underestimation of stenoses compared with VE and bronchoscopy. Passing of stenoses was only possible with VE in 5 patients. Virtual endoscopy is a non-invasive method for identification of endoluminal tumors and is comparable to real bronchoscopy. (orig.)

A Comparative Study of Spiral Tomograms with Different Slice Thicknesses in Dental Implant Planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon Sook Ja

1999-01-01

To know whether there would be a difference among spiral tomograms of different slice thicknesses in the measurement of distances which are used for dental implant planning. 10 dry mandibules and 40 metal balls are used to take total 120 Scanora tomograms with the slice thickness of 2 mm, 4 mm and 8 mm. 3 oral radiologists interpreted each tomogram to measure the distances from the mandibular canal to the alveoalr crest and buccal, lingual and inferior borders of mandible. 3 observers recorded grades of 0, 1 or 2 to evaluate the perceptibility of alveolar crest and the superior border of mandibular canal. For statistical analysis, ANOVA with repeated measure, Chi-square tests and intraclass correlation coefficient (R2, alpha) were used. There was not a statistically significant difference among spiral tomograms with different slice thicknesses in the measurement of the distances and in the perceptibility of alveolar crest and mandibular canal (p>0.05). All of them showed a good relationship in the reliability analysis. The perceptibility of alveolar crest and mandibular canal was almost similar and an excellent relationship was seen on all of them. There would be no significant difference, no matter which spiral tomogram of any slice thickness may be used in dental implant planning, considering the thickness of dental implant fixture.

Growth potential of Listeria monocytogenes in sliced turkey bresaola packed in modified atmosphere

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Elena Dalzini

2014-02-01

Full Text Available According to EC Regulation No 2073/2005, for food business operators that produce ready-to-eat (RTE product, it is crucial to be able to demonstrate if the product supports the growth of Listeria monocytogenes. The objective of the study was therefore to evaluate the behaviour of L. monocytogenes in sliced RTE turkey bresaola (made by cured turkey breast 4.5% NaCl, 1% sodium lactate, sodium nitrite 150 ppm and flavouring during the shelf life of the product, simulating a contamination during the slicing operation. Considering a shelf life of 90 days, as defined by manufacturer, the packages of sliced bresaola were stored at 5°C for 7 days and at 8°C for the remaining storage time (83 days. L. monocytogenes count decreased during storage test from 1.43/1.98 log cfu/g in the three batches tested to 1.03 log cfu/g in one batch and to undetectable levels in the other two batches. The results show that the investigated product is unable to support the growth of L. monocytogenes.

Study of imaging time shortening in Whole Heart MRCA. Evaluation of slice thickness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwai, Mitsuhiro; Tateishi, Toshiki; Takeda, Soji; Hayashi, Ryuji

2005-01-01

A series of examinations in cardiac MR imaging, such as cine, perfusion, MR coronary angiography (MRCA) and viability, is generally known as One Stop Cardiac Examination. It takes about 40 to 60 minutes to perform One Stop Cardiac Examination, and Whole Heart MRCA accounts for most of the examination time. Therefore, we aimed to shorten imaging time of Whole Heart MRCA, especially in a large imaging area such as that in the case of the postoperative evaluation of a bypass graft, by investigating the depiction of a diameter of mimic blood vessels as changing the slice thickness of Whole Heart MRCA. The results showed that the maximum slice thickness of about 1 mm was excellent considering the diameters of actual coronary arteries are about 3 mm. In this study, we could grasp the relationships among slice thickness of Whole Heart MRCA, the diameter of a blood vessel, and shortened examination time. We suggested that it was useful for selecting the suitable sequence depending on a patient's conditions. (author)

Ethanol induces MAP2 changes in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Noraberg, J; Zimmer, J

1998-01-01

loss of CA3 pyramidal cells and moderate loss of dentate granule cells, as seen in vivo. The results indicate that brain slice cultures combined with immunostaining for cytoskeleton and neuronal markers can be used for studies of ethanol and organic solvent neurotoxicity.......Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and neuron-specific protein (NeuN) immunostains were used to demonstrate neurotoxic effects in mature hippocampal slice cultures exposed to ethanol (50, 100, 200 mM) for 4 weeks. At the low dose the density of MAP2 immunostaining in the dentate molecular...... layer was 118% of the control cultures, with no detectable changes in CA1 and CA3. At 100 mM no changes were detected, while 200 mM ethanol significantly reduced the MAP2 density in both dentate (19%) and hippocampal dendritic fields (CA3, 52%; CA1, 55%). At this dose NeuN staining showed considerable...

The effect of ultraviolet treatment on enzymatic activity and total phenolic content of minimally processed potato slices.

Science.gov (United States)

Teoh, Li Shing; Lasekan, Ola; Adzahan, Noranizan Mohd; Hashim, Norhashila

2016-07-01

In this work, potato slices were exposed to different doses of UV-C irradiation (i.e. 2.28, 6.84, 11.41, and 13.68 kJ m -2 ) with or without pretreatment [i.e. ascorbic acid and calcium chloride (AACCl) dip] and stored at 4 ± 1 °C. Changes in enzymatic activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), as well as total phenolic content (TPC) were investigated after 0, 3, 7 and 10 days of storage. Results showed that untreated and UV-C treated potato slices at 13.68 kJ m -2 dosage level showed significantly higher PPO, POD and PAL activities. Conversely, untreated potato slices showed the lowest TPC during storage period. Potato slices subjected to AACCl dip plus UV-C at 6.84 kJ m -2 produced lower PPO, POD and PAL activities, as well as maintained a high TPC during storage.

Evaluation of dose exposure in 64-slice CT colonography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luz, O.; Trabold, T.; Kopp, A.F.; Claussen, C.D.; Heuschmid, M. [University Hospital Tuebingen, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Tuebingen (Germany); Buchgeister, M.; Klabunde, M. [University of Tuebingen, Institute of Medical Physics, Tuebingen (Germany)