MR study of myocardial fiber structure using diffusion tensor imaging

This paper discussed the left ventricular myocardium structure in both normal and pathological states using diffusion tensor imaging. Myocardial fiber pathway distribution was investigated in normal canine hearts, and effects of infarct size and location on myocardium structure remodeling were studied in LAD- and LCX-related myocardium infarct (MI) porcine models. Majority fiber pathways were found to have small helix angles and dominate the fiber architecture in normal myocardium. While in the two MI groups studied, substantial fiber quality degraded in infarct region with significant correlation with infarct size. The double-helical structure shifted towards more left-handed, especially in LAD-related MI group. The results suggest that both infarct size and location affect the myocardium structural remodeling. These studies not only provide supplemental information on myocardial fiber architecture and cardiac mechanics in normal hearts, but also revealed the alterations in myocardial fiber quality and structure in infarct hearts. ©2009 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe 2nd International Congress on Image and Signal Processing (CISP 2009) and the 2nd International Conference on BioMedical Engineering and Informatics (BMEI 2009), Tianjin, China, 17-19 October 2009. In Proceedings of the 2nd BMEI, 2009, p. 1-

The use of a noninvasive and nondestructive method, microcomputed tomography, to evaluate the anti-osteoporotic activity of erxian decoction, a Chinese medicinal formula, in a rat model of menopausal osteoporosis

Aim of the study: The anti-osteoporotic activity of Erxian Decoction, a Chinese medicinal formula, in a rat model of menopausal osteoporosis was evaluated by microcomputed tomography (microCT). Materials and methods: Menopause causes a decline in both endocrine function and bone mineral density in human. In this study, 20-month-old female Sprague-Dawley-rats (SD-rats) with a low serum estradiol level and bone mineral density were employed. The anti-osteoporotic activity of EXD was assessed by the determination of trabecular material bone mineral density at the L2 mid-vertebral body after treatment. Serum estrogen levels were also determined to assess the effect of EXD on the endocrine status. Results: Results revealed a significant elevation in serum estradiol level and trabecular bone mineral density at the L2 mid-vertebral body in the EXD-treated menopausal rat model. Conclusions: The results obtained from the present investigation revealed that the EXD had anti-osteoporotic activity as evidenced by an increase of serum estradiol level and bone mineral density. ©2009 IEEE.published_or_final_versionProceedings of the 2009 2nd International Conference On Biomedical Engineering And Informatics (BMEI 2009), Tianjin, China, 17-19 October 2009, v. 1 p. 47-49, article number 530482

Incorporating a Local Binary Fitting Model into a Maximum Regional Difference Model for Extracting Microscopic Information under Complex Conditions

This paper presents a novel region-based method for extracting useful information from microscopic images under complex conditions. It is especially used for blood cell segmentation and statistical analysis. The active model detects several inner and outer contours of an object from its background. The method incorporates a local binary fitting model into a maximum regional difference model. It utilizes both local and global intensity information as the driving forces of the contour model on the principle of the largest regional difference. The local and global fitting forces ensure that local dissimilarities can be captured and globally different areas can be segmented, respectively. By combining the advantages of local and global information, the motion of the contour is driven by the mixed fitting force, which is composed of the local and global fitting term in the energy function. Experiments are carried out in the laboratory, and results show that the novel model can yield good performances for microscopic image analysis

Practice of Comparative Effectiveness Research to Identify Treatment Characteristics of Similar Chinese Patent Medicine for Angina Pectoris

Objective. Individualized application of TCM is not easy and may lead to undesirable results, such as poor effect or even adverse reactions. This trial aims to compare two common Chinese patent medicines with similar effects. Background of the Research. Four hospitals carried out the test at the same time in Tianjin city of China. Participants. 144 patients were involved in this study; all patients must meet the diagnostic criteria. Interventions. Qishen Yiqi pills, compound danshen pills, and their placebos; an efficacy analysis was conducted after the first medication and after crossover medication. Primary Outcome Measures. The primary index of end point includes Seattle Angina Questionnaire score-7 and score of 7-point Likert Scale; the curative effect was compared with minimal clinically important differences value. Result. Two drugs have their respective advantages in treating SAP. In practical application, the two drugs shall be discriminated in use based on patients’ specific symptoms. Trial Registration. Chinese clinical trials register is ChiCTR-TTRCC-14004406 (registered 23 March 2014)

A traditional Chinese medicine versus Western combination therapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: two-stage study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The common randomized controlled trial design has distinct limitations when applied to Chinese medicine, because Chinese medicine identifies and treats 'Chinese medicine patterns' rather than diagnosed diseases. Chinese medicine patterns are a group of associated symptoms, tongue appearances and pulse characteristics. These limitations could be overcome by developing new strategies to evaluate the effect of Chinese medicine. The idea behind pattern-based efficacy evaluations may optimize clinical trial design by identifying the responsiveness-related Chinese medicine patterns.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This is a two-stage multi-center trial of Chinese herbal medicine for the management of rheumatoid arthritis. The stage one trial is an open-label trial and aims to explore what groups of Chinese medicine information (such as symptoms) correlates with better efficacy, and the stage two trial is a randomized, controlled, double-blind, double-dummy clinical trial that incorporates the efficacy-related information identified in the stage-one trial into the inclusion criteria.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The indication of a Chinese herbal formula is a specific Chinese medicine pattern and not a single disease and stratifying a disease into several patterns with a group of symptoms is a feasible procedure in clinical trials. This study is the first to investigate whether this approach in the design of Chinese herbal medicine trials can improve responses.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ChiCTR-TRC-10000989</p

Segmentation of tumor vessels based on parallel double snakes including region information

International audience— In this paper, we address the problem of the seg-mentation of vessels in images of mouse tumors, with an efficient algorithm that minimizes the user's intervention. For each vessel, two points delimiting its extremities have to be selected. Then, a line inside the vessel is automatically determined based on a Dijkstra-type algorithm. Finally, an original active contour model combining both parallel double snakes and region criteria aims at finding the borders of the vessel. Our segmentation algorithm provides numerical models of tumor vessels, suitable for the simulation of blood and contrast agent flow