Scale Stain: Multi-Resolution Feature Enhancement in Pathology Visualization

Digital whole-slide images of pathological tissue samples have recently become feasible for use within routine diagnostic practice. These gigapixel sized images enable pathologists to perform reviews using computer workstations instead of microscopes. Existing workstations visualize scanned images by providing a zoomable image space that reproduces the capabilities of the microscope. This paper presents a novel visualization approach that enables filtering of the scale-space according to color preference. The visualization method reveals diagnostically important patterns that are otherwise not visible. The paper demonstrates how this approach has been implemented into a fully functional prototype that lets the user navigate the visualization parameter space in real time. The prototype was evaluated for two common clinical tasks with eight pathologists in a within-subjects study. The data reveal that task efficiency increased by 15% using the prototype, with maintained accuracy. By analyzing behavioral strategies, it was possible to conclude that efficiency gain was caused by a reduction of the panning needed to perform systematic search of the images. The prototype system was well received by the pathologists who did not detect any risks that would hinder use in clinical routine

High performance computer simulated bronchoscopy with interactive navigation.

by Ping-Fu Fung.Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-102).Abstract also in Chinese.Abstract --- p.ivAcknowledgements --- p.viChapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1Chapter 1.1 --- Medical Visualization System --- p.4Chapter 1.1.1 --- Data Acquisition --- p.4Chapter 1.1.2 --- Computer-aided Medical Visualization --- p.5Chapter 1.1.3 --- Existing Systems --- p.6Chapter 1.2 --- Research Goal --- p.8Chapter 1.2.1 --- System Architecture --- p.9Chapter 1.3 --- Organization of this Thesis --- p.10Chapter 2 --- Volume Visualization --- p.11Chapter 2.1 --- Sampling Grid and Volume Representation --- p.11Chapter 2.2 --- Priori Work in Volume Rendering --- p.13Chapter 2.2.1 --- Surface VS Direct --- p.14Chapter 2.2.2 --- Image-order VS Object-order --- p.18Chapter 2.2.3 --- Orthogonal VS Perspective --- p.22Chapter 2.2.4 --- Hardware Acceleration VS Software Acceleration --- p.23Chapter 2.3 --- Chapter Summary --- p.29Chapter 3 --- IsoRegion Leaping Technique for Perspective Volume Rendering --- p.30Chapter 3.1 --- Compositing Projection in Direct Volume Rendering --- p.31Chapter 3.2 --- IsoRegion Leaping Acceleration --- p.34Chapter 3.2.1 --- IsoRegion Definition --- p.35Chapter 3.2.2 --- IsoRegion Construction --- p.37Chapter 3.2.3 --- IsoRegion Step Table --- p.38Chapter 3.2.4 --- Ray Traversal Scheme --- p.41Chapter 3.3 --- Experiment Result --- p.43Chapter 3.4 --- Improvement --- p.47Chapter 3.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.48Chapter 4 --- Parallel Volume Rendering by Distributed Processing --- p.50Chapter 4.1 --- Multi-platform Loosely-coupled Parallel Environment Shell --- p.51Chapter 4.2 --- Distributed Rendering Pipeline (DRP) --- p.55Chapter 4.2.1 --- Network Architecture of a Loosely-Coupled System --- p.55Chapter 4.2.2 --- Data and Task Partitioning --- p.58Chapter 4.2.3 --- Communication Pattern and Analysis --- p.59Chapter 4.3 --- Load Balancing --- p.69Chapter 4.4 --- Heterogeneous Rendering --- p.72Chapter 4.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.73Chapter 5 --- User Interface --- p.74Chapter 5.1 --- System Design --- p.75Chapter 5.2 --- 3D Pen Input Device --- p.76Chapter 5.3 --- Visualization Environment Integration --- p.77Chapter 5.4 --- User Interaction: Interactive Navigation --- p.78Chapter 5.4.1 --- Camera Model --- p.79Chapter 5.4.2 --- Zooming --- p.81Chapter 5.4.3 --- Image View --- p.82Chapter 5.4.4 --- User Control --- p.83Chapter 5.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.87Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.88Chapter 6.1 --- Final Summary --- p.88Chapter 6.2 --- Deficiency and Improvement --- p.89Chapter 6.3 --- Future Research Aspect --- p.91Appendix --- p.93Chapter A --- Common Error in Pre-multiplying Color and Opacity --- p.94Chapter B --- Binary Factorization of the Sample Composition Equation --- p.9

Sixth Annual Users' Conference

Conference papers and presentation outlines which address the use of the Transportable Applications Executive (TAE) and its various applications programs are compiled. Emphasis is given to the design of the user interface and image processing workstation in general. Alternate ports of TAE and TAE subsystems are also covered

Information Technologies for the Healthcare Delivery System

That modern healthcare requires information technology to be efficient and fully effective is evident if one spends any time observing the delivery of institutional health care. Consider the observation of a practitioner of the discipline, David M. Eddy, MD, PhD, voiced in Clinical Decision Making, JAMA 263:1265-75, 1990, . . .All confirm what would be expected from common sense: The complexity of modern medicine exceeds the inherent limitations of the unaided human mind. The goal of this thesis is to identify the technological factors that are required to enable a fully sufficient application of information technology (IT) to the modern institutional practice of medicine. Perhaps the epitome of healthcare IT is the fully integrated, fully electronic patient medical record. Although, in 1991 the Institute of Medicine called for such a record to be standard technology by 2001, it has still not materialized. The author will argue that some of the technology and standards that are pre-requisite for this achievement have now arrived, while others are still evolving to fully sufficient levels. The paper will concentrate primarily on the health care system in the United States, although much of what is contained is applicable to a large degree, around the world. The paper will illustrate certain of these pre-requisite IT factors by discussing the actual installation of a major health care computer system at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in Rochester, New York. This system is a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS). As the name implies, PACS is a system of capturing health care images in digital format, storing them and communicating them to users throughout the enterprise

Agent-based techniques for National Infrastructure Simulation

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2002.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-37).Modern society is dependent upon its networks of infrastructure. These networks have grown in size and complexity to become interdependent, creating within them hidden vulnerabilities. The critical nature of these infrastructures has led to the establishment of the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC) by the United States Government. The goal of NISAC is to provide the simulation capability to understand infrastructure interdependencies, detect vulnerabilities, and provide infrastructure planning and crises response assistance. This thesis examines recent techniques for simulation and analyzes their suitability for the national infrastructure simulation problem. Variable and agent-based simulation models are described and compared. The bottom-up approach of the agent-based model is found to be more suitable than the top-down approach of the variable-based model. Supercomputer and distributed, or grid computing solutions are explored. Both are found to be valid solutions and have complimentary strengths. Software architectures for implementation such as the traditional object-oriented approach and the web service model are examined. Solutions to meet NISAC objectives using the agent-based simulation model implemented with web services and a combination of hardware configurations are proposed.by Kenny Lin.S.M

Proceedings of the 1993 Conference on Intelligent Computer-Aided Training and Virtual Environment Technology

The volume 2 proceedings from the 1993 Conference on Intelligent Computer-Aided Training and Virtual Environment Technology are presented. Topics discussed include intelligent computer assisted training (ICAT) systems architectures, ICAT educational and medical applications, virtual environment (VE) training and assessment, human factors engineering and VE, ICAT theory and natural language processing, ICAT military applications, VE engineering applications, ICAT knowledge acquisition processes and applications, and ICAT aerospace applications

Relevance of accurate Monte Carlo modeling in nuclear medical imaging

Monte Carlo techniques have become popular in different areas of medical physics with advantage of powerful computing systems. In particular, they have been extensively applied to simulate processes involving random behavior and to quantify physical parameters that are difficult or even impossible to calculate by experimental measurements. Recent nuclear medical imaging innovations such as single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), and multiple emission tomography (MET) are ideal for Monte Carlo modeling techniques because of the stochastic nature of radiation emission, transport and detection processes. Factors which have contributed to the wider use include improved models of radiation transport processes, the practicality of application with the development of acceleration schemes and the improved speed of computers. This paper presents derivation and methodological basis for this approach and critically reviews their areas of application in nuclear imaging. An overview of existing simulation programs is provided and illustrated with examples of some useful features of such sophisticated tools in connection with common computing facilities and more powerful multiple-processor parallel processing systems. Current and future trends in the field are also discussed