Imaging Informatics and the Human Brain Project: the Role of Structure, Review

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Towards Advanced Interactive Visualization for Virtual Atlases

Under embargo until: 2020-07-24An atlas is generally defined as a bound collection of tables, charts or illustrations describing a phenomenon. In an anatomical atlas for example, a collection of representative illustrations and text describes anatomy for the purpose of communicating anatomical knowledge. The atlas serves as reference frame for comparing and integrating data from different sources by spatially or semantically relating collections of drawings, imaging data, and/or text. In the field of medical image processing, atlas information is often constructed from a collection of regions of interest, which are based on medical images that are annotated by domain experts. Such an atlas may be employed, for example, for automatic segmentation of medical imaging data. The combination of interactive visualization techniques with atlas information opens up new possibilities for content creation, curation, and navigation in virtual atlases. With interactive visualization of atlas information, students are able to inspect and explore anatomical atlases in ways that were not possible with the traditional method of presenting anatomical atlases in book format, such as viewing the illustrations from other viewpoints. With advanced interaction techniques, it becomes possible to query the data that forms the basis for the atlas, thus empowering researchers to access a wealth of information in new ways. So far, atlas-based visualization has been employed mainly for medical education, as well as biological research. In this survey, we provide an overview of current digital biomedical atlas tasks and applications and summarize relevant visualization techniques. We discuss recent approaches for providing next-generation visual interfaces to navigate atlas data that go beyond common text-based search and hierarchical lists. Finally, we reflect on open challenges and opportunities for the next steps in interactive atlas visualization.acceptedVersio

Development of an Atlas-Based Segmentation of Cranial Nerves Using Shape-Aware Discrete Deformable Models for Neurosurgical Planning and Simulation

Twelve pairs of cranial nerves arise from the brain or brainstem and control our sensory functions such as vision, hearing, smell and taste as well as several motor functions to the head and neck including facial expressions and eye movement. Often, these cranial nerves are difficult to detect in MRI data, and thus represent problems in neurosurgery planning and simulation, due to their thin anatomical structure, in the face of low imaging resolution as well as image artifacts. As a result, they may be at risk in neurosurgical procedures around the skull base, which might have dire consequences such as the loss of eyesight or hearing and facial paralysis. Consequently, it is of great importance to clearly delineate cranial nerves in medical images for avoidance in the planning of neurosurgical procedures and for targeting in the treatment of cranial nerve disorders. In this research, we propose to develop a digital atlas methodology that will be used to segment the cranial nerves from patient image data. The atlas will be created from high-resolution MRI data based on a discrete deformable contour model called 1-Simplex mesh. Each of the cranial nerves will be modeled using its centerline and radius information where the centerline is estimated in a semi-automatic approach by finding a shortest path between two user-defined end points. The cranial nerve atlas is then made more robust by integrating a Statistical Shape Model so that the atlas can identify and segment nerves from images characterized by artifacts or low resolution. To the best of our knowledge, no such digital atlas methodology exists for segmenting nerves cranial nerves from MRI data. Therefore, our proposed system has important benefits to the neurosurgical community

Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 3D printing Special Interest Group (SIG): Guidelines for medical 3D printing and appropriateness for clinical scenarios

Este número da revista Cadernos de Estudos Sociais estava em organização quando fomos colhidos pela morte do sociólogo Ernesto Laclau. Seu falecimento em 13 de abril de 2014 surpreendeu a todos, e particularmente ao editor Joanildo Burity, que foi seu orientando de doutorado na University of Essex, Inglaterra, e que recentemente o trouxe à Fundação Joaquim Nabuco para uma palestra, permitindo que muitos pudessem dialogar com um dos grandes intelectuais latinoamericanos contemporâneos. Assim, buscamos fazer uma homenagem ao sociólogo argentino publicando uma entrevista inédita concedida durante a sua passagem pelo Recife, em 2013, encerrando essa revista com uma sessão especial sobre a sua trajetória