Digital design of medical replicas via desktop systems: shape evaluation of colon parts

In this paper, we aim at providing results concerning the application of desktop systems for rapid prototyping of medical replicas that involve complex shapes, as, for example, folds of a colon. Medical replicas may assist preoperative planning or tutoring in surgery to better understand the interaction among pathology and organs. Major goals of the paper concern with guiding the digital design workflow of the replicas and understanding their final performance, according to the requirements asked by the medics (shape accuracy, capability of seeing both inner and outer details, and support and possible interfacing with other organs). In particular, after the analysis of these requirements, we apply digital design for colon replicas, adopting two desktop systems. ,e experimental results confirm that the proposed preprocessing strategy is able to conduct to the manufacturing of colon replicas divided in self-supporting segments, minimizing the supports during printing. ,is allows also to reach an acceptable level of final quality, according to the request of having a 3D presurgery overview of the problems. ,ese replicas are compared through reverse engineering acquisitions made by a structured-light system, to assess the achieved shape and dimensional accuracy. Final results demonstrate that low-cost desktop systems, coupled with proper strategy of preprocessing, may have shape deviation in the range of ±1 mm, good for physical manipulations during medical diagnosis and explanation

Integration of all FSSIM components within SEAMLESS-IF and a stand alone Graphical User Interface for FSSIM

Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

Image-Based Quantification Workflow for Coronary Morphology: A Tool for Use in Next-Generation Bifurcation Stent Design

Coronary artery disease (CAD) occurs in ~200,000 bifurcation lesions annually. Treatment of CAD near bends and bifurcations is challenging and a preferred strategy for bifurcation lesions has yet to be established. However, a favorable treatment option may be elucidated by a more thorough understanding of vessel morphology as well as local hemodynamic alterations caused by current stenting approaches. Computational modeling of human arteries offers an attractive way to investigate the relationships between geometry, hemodynamics and vascular disease. Recent developments also make it possible to perform analysis on realistic geometries acquired noninvasively. The objective of this work was twofold. The first aim was to build on previous work in this area by quantifying hemodynamic alterations introduced by treatment of an idealized coronary bifurcation using several approaches that involve multiple stents. Each model was created using combined computer aided design techniques and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis tools. Resting and hyperemic blood flow conditions were also studied to determine the severity of local hemodynamic alterations and for comparison to previous results. Indices of time-averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS) and oscillatory shear index (OSI) were quantified for four idealized computational models. The luminal surface exposed to low TAWSS was similar in the main vessel (MV) for all models. Greatest differences were noted between un-stented versus stented side branch vessels (ex. rest: 1% vs. 35%). Sites of elevated OSI (\u3e0.1) were minimal, except under hyperemia conditions in the MV (10% surface area). Flow disturbances were quantified for each provisional technique used, illustrating how stents protruding in main vessels impact flow profiles. Stents without kissing balloon dilation had abnormal flow disturbances, but showed decreased percentage of area exposed to areas of low WSS. A second aim of this work was to design a robust and unbiased method to quantify vessel morphology and representative trends for three bifurcation sites prone to CAD. Computational models of these sites were generated using computed topography images from 22 patients. Models were used to query geometric characteristics from each bifurcation site including area, length, eccentricity, taper, curvature and bifurcation angles. Post-processing was accomplished by a combination of statistical methods and clustering analysis. Vessel length and area were significantly different within and between bifurcation sites. The left main coronary artery (LCA) bifurcation was significantly different from its two daughter bifurcations (left anterior descending and left circumflex arteries). Specifically vessel area and length were significantly different both between and within bifurcation sites. The daughter bifurcation sites were similar for all characteristics. Vessel area and length proved to be the most useful properties for identifying trends within a particular bifurcation site. The outcome of this work provides a workflow for characterizing coronary bifurcations and a strong foundation for elucidating common parameters from normal, healthy coronary arteries. Collectively these results from idealized and patient-specific coronary bifurcations offer additional insight into the impact of current treatment approaches and characteristics associated with current stenting techniques. Flow disturbances and local hemodynamic changes have been quantified for provisional techniques currently used. These methods and results may ultimately be useful in the design of next-generation bifurcation stents

TANGO: Transparent heterogeneous hardware Architecture deployment for eNergy Gain in Operation

The paper is concerned with the issue of how software systems actually use Heterogeneous Parallel Architectures (HPAs), with the goal of optimizing power consumption on these resources. It argues the need for novel methods and tools to support software developers aiming to optimise power consumption resulting from designing, developing, deploying and running software on HPAs, while maintaining other quality aspects of software to adequate and agreed levels. To do so, a reference architecture to support energy efficiency at application construction, deployment, and operation is discussed, as well as its implementation and evaluation plans.Comment: Part of the Program Transformation for Programmability in Heterogeneous Architectures (PROHA) workshop, Barcelona, Spain, 12th March 2016, 7 pages, LaTeX, 3 PNG figure

Model-based workflow for scale-up of process strategies developed in miniaturized bioreactor systems

Miniaturized bioreactor (MBR) systems are routinely used in the development of mammalian cell culture processes. However, scale-up of process strategies obtained in MBR- to larger scale is challenging due to mainly non-holistic scale-up approaches. In this study, a model-based workflow is introduced to quantify differences in the process dynamics between bioreactor scales and thus enable a more knowledge-driven scale-up. The workflow is applied to two case studies with antibody-producing Chinese hamster ovary cell lines. With the workflow, model parameter distributions are estimated first under consideration of experimental variability for different scales. Second, the obtained individual model parameter distributions are tested for statistical differences. In case of significant differences, model parametric distributions are transferred between the scales. In case study I, a fed-batch process in a microtiter plate (4 ml working volume) and lab-scale bioreactor (3750 ml working volume) was mathematically modeled and evaluated. No significant differences were identified for model parameter distributions reflecting process dynamics. Therefore, the microtiter plate can be applied as scale-down tool for the lab-scale bioreactor. In case study II, a fed-batch process in a 24-Deep-Well-Plate (2 ml working volume) and shake flask (40 ml working volume) with two feed media was investigated. Model parameter distributions showed significant differences. Thus, process strategies were mathematically transferred, and model predictions were simulated for a new shake flask culture setup and confirmed in validation experiments. Overall, the workflow enables a knowledge-driven evaluation of scale-up for a more efficient bioprocess design and optimization

Enabling Flexibility in Process-Aware Information Systems: Challenges, Methods, Technologies

In today’s dynamic business world, the success of a company increasingly depends on its ability to react to changes in its environment in a quick and flexible way. Companies have therefore identified process agility as a competitive advantage to address business trends like increasing product and service variability or faster time to market, and to ensure business IT alignment. Along this trend, a new generation of information systems has emerged—so-called process-aware information systems (PAIS), like workflow management systems, case handling tools, and service orchestration engines. With this book, Reichert and Weber address these flexibility needs and provide an overview of PAIS with a strong focus on methods and technologies fostering flexibility for all phases of the process lifecycle (i.e., modeling, configuration, execution and evolution). Their presentation is divided into six parts. Part I starts with an introduction of fundamental PAIS concepts and establishes the context of process flexibility in the light of practical scenarios. Part II focuses on flexibility support for pre-specified processes, the currently predominant paradigm in the field of business process management (BPM). Part III details flexibility support for loosely specified processes, which only partially specify the process model at build-time, while decisions regarding the exact specification of certain model parts are deferred to the run-time. Part IV deals with user- and data-driven processes, which aim at a tight integration of processes and data, and hence enable an increased flexibility compared to traditional PAIS. Part V introduces existing technologies and systems for the realization of a flexible PAIS. Finally, Part VI summarizes the main ideas of this book and gives an outlook on advanced flexibility issues. The attached pdf file gives a preview on Chapter 3 of the book which explains the book's overall structure