The Digital Anatomist Information System and Its Use in the Generation and Delivery of Web-Based Anatomy Atlases

Advances in network and imaging technology, coupled with the availability of 3-D datasets such as the Visible Human, provide a unique opportunity for developing information systems in anatomy that can deliver relevant knowledge directly to the clinician, researcher or educator. A software framework is described for developing such a system within a distributed architecture that includes spatial and symbolic anatomy information resources, Web and custom servers, and authoring and end-user client programs. The authoring tools have been used to create 3-D atlases of the brain, knee and thorax that are used both locally and throughout the world. For the one and a half year period from June 1995–January 1997, the on-line atlases were accessed by over 33,000 sites from 94 countries, with an average of over 4000 ‘‘hits’’ per day, and 25,000 hits per day during peak exam periods. The atlases have been linked to by over 500 sites, and have received at least six unsolicited awards by outside rating institutions. The flexibility of the software framework has allowed the information system to evolve with advances in technology and representation methods. Possible new features include knowledge-based image retrieval and tutoring, dynamic generation of 3-D scenes, and eventually, real-time virtual reality navigation through the body. Such features, when coupled with other on-line biomedical information resources, should lead to interesting new ways for managing and accessing structural information in medicine

Development of novel ultrasound techniques for imaging and elastography. From simulation to real-time implementation

Ultrasound techniques offer many advantages, in terms of ease of realization and patients’ safety. The availability of suitable hardware and software tools is condicio sine qua non for new methods testing. This PhD project addresses medical ultrasound signal processing and seeks to achieve two scientific goals: the first is to contribute to the development of an ultrasound research platform, while the second is introducing and validating, through this platform, non-standard methods. During the thesis, the capabilities of the system were improved by creating advanced software tools, such as acoustic field simulators, and by developing echo-signals elaboration programs. In particular, a novel technique for quasi-static elastography was developed, in-vitro tested and implemented in real-time

An integrated platform for hip joint osteoarthritis analysis: design, implementation and results

Purpose: We present a software designed to improve hip joint osteoarthritis (OA) understanding using 3D anatomical models, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and motion capture. Methods: In addition to a standard static clinical evaluation (anamnesis, medical images examination), the software provides a dynamic assessment of the hip joint. The operator can compute automatically and in real-time the hip joint kinematics from optical motion capture data. From the estimated motion, the software allows for the calculation of the active range of motion, the congruency and the center of rotation of the hip joint and the detection and localization of the femoroacetabular impingement region. All these measurements cannot be performed clinically. Moreover, to improve the subjective reading of medical images, the software provides a set of 3D measurement tools based on MRI and 3D anatomical models to assist and improve the analysis of hip morphological abnormalities. Finally, the software is driven by a medical ontology to support data storage, processing and analysis. Results: We performed an in vivo assessment of the software in a clinical study conducted with 30 professional ballet dancers, a population who are at high risk of developing OA. We studied the causes of OA in this selected population. Our results show that extreme motion exposes the morphologically "normal” dancer's hip to recurrent superior or posterosuperior FAI and to joint subluxation. Conclusion: Our new hip software includes all the required materials and knowledge (images data, 3D models, motion, morphological measurements, etc.) to improve orthopedists' performances in hip joint OA analysi

Extending Interactive Aural Analysis: Acousmatic Music

This paper describes a new stage in the development of an ‘interactive aural’ approach to the analysis of electroacoustic music. I originally developed Interactive Aural Analysis in studying Jonathan Harvey’s Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco. The approach uses software to enable the listener to engage aurally with the structure of the work and with the processes and sound materials used in its composition. The interactive software includes, for example, an aural paradigmatic analysis of the work, opportunities aurally and interactively to investigate the sound materials used by the composer, and interactive exercises using accurate emulations of the techniques employed in the work. It provides a way of understanding our heritage more deeply and exploring what we might learn for the future. Both the approach and the resulting analysis, comprising text and software (in Analytical Methods of Electroacoustic Music, ed. M. Simoni, Routledge, 2006), have been well received. My description of the approach can be found in the Proceedings of the 2005 International Computer Music Conference (pp. 85-8). This approach is now being extended to other works and the works chosen for analysis have been specifically selected to help broaden the scope of the interactive aural approach. Mortuos Plango takes recorded ‘musical’ sounds and analyses these sounds to obtain data which then forms the basis for the sound transformations and structure of the whole work. It is a highly successful work but this is not, of course, the only way to approach electroacoustic composition. The types of sound, the analytical approach to these sounds and the structural planning (in many ways reminiscent of Stockhausen) contrast strikingly with the approaches taken, for example, by composers in the acousmatic tradition in which the sounds used are often not traditionally ‘musical’ and the approach taken to these sounds is usually empirical and pragmatic rather than analytical, with the structure derived from spectromorphological principles. Developing an interactive aural analysis of such works therefore requires an expansion of interactive aural analysis conceptually and in terms of software tools. The analytical approach is also being further expanded in a different direction through the analysis of music combining live acoustic performance with real-time computer processing. This presentation however focuses on the issues raised and the solutions proposed in relation to an acousmatic work: Denis Smalley’s Wind Chimes. The new features include the following: Printed sonograms are a feature of many analyses of electroacoustic music. Although they have uses in certain circumstances they do have significant limitations in terms of what they show and how they relate to aural experience (as I have discussed previously, for example in my presentation at EMS07). However, a sonogram that can be manipulated and heard in the context of interactive aural analysis software has many advantages over a purely visual, static printed sonogram. As part of this project an interactive aural sonogram is being incorporated into the MSP-based software accompanying the musical analysis. This allows the user to focus in on particular aspects of the sound, isolating time and frequency regions and comparing these with similar occurrences elsewhere in the work. Selected gestures or passages can also be saved and placed in interactive aural paradigmatic charts or genealogical trees to elucidate the structure of the work or the development of material. Software is also being developed (using analysis data in SDIF files) to examine and compare aspects of the spectromorphology of sounds. This presentation will demonstrate some of the tools being developed and discuss more generally issues arising in the development of interactive aural analysis for acousmatic music

Applications of high and low fidelity prototypes in researching intuitive interaction

This paper addresses some of the issues involved in incorporating use of prototypes into a research program. Definitions, merits and uses of both low and high-fidelity prototypes are discussed and then the applications of prototypes in our research program into intuitive interaction are explored. It has previously been established that intuitive interaction is based on past experience, and can be encouraged by designing interfaces that contain familiar features (Blackler, 2006; Blackler, Popovic, & Mahar, 2007b). Two aspects of the research program which are relevant to prototyping are: researching the issues of how intuitive use happens and how it can be better facilitated; and developing ways to help designers include investigations about users and their existing knowledge into their design processes in order to make interfaces more intuitive. The current and future planned applications of high and low-fidelity prototypes in each of these areas are explored. Then experiences with using high-fidelity touchscreen prototypes for experimental research into intuitive interaction are discussed, including problems with the prototypes, how they were addressed and what we have learned from the process. Next the potential for low-fidelity prototypes to elicit users’ tacit knowledge during the design process is explored. This has exciting possibilities due to the link between intuitive interaction and tacit knowledge. Finally, the challenges of developing prototype-based design tools for use by older people are discussed and future directions for using prototypes in our research program are considered. Keywords: Prototypes; intuitive interaction; experimental methodology; implicit or tacit knowledge</p

Research and Education in Computational Science and Engineering

Over the past two decades the field of computational science and engineering (CSE) has penetrated both basic and applied research in academia, industry, and laboratories to advance discovery, optimize systems, support decision-makers, and educate the scientific and engineering workforce. Informed by centuries of theory and experiment, CSE performs computational experiments to answer questions that neither theory nor experiment alone is equipped to answer. CSE provides scientists and engineers of all persuasions with algorithmic inventions and software systems that transcend disciplines and scales. Carried on a wave of digital technology, CSE brings the power of parallelism to bear on troves of data. Mathematics-based advanced computing has become a prevalent means of discovery and innovation in essentially all areas of science, engineering, technology, and society; and the CSE community is at the core of this transformation. However, a combination of disruptive developments---including the architectural complexity of extreme-scale computing, the data revolution that engulfs the planet, and the specialization required to follow the applications to new frontiers---is redefining the scope and reach of the CSE endeavor. This report describes the rapid expansion of CSE and the challenges to sustaining its bold advances. The report also presents strategies and directions for CSE research and education for the next decade.Comment: Major revision, to appear in SIAM Revie

Next challenges for adaptive learning systems

Learning from evolving streaming data has become a 'hot' research topic in the last decade and many adaptive learning algorithms have been developed. This research was stimulated by rapidly growing amounts of industrial, transactional, sensor and other business data that arrives in real time and needs to be mined in real time. Under such circumstances, constant manual adjustment of models is in-efficient and with increasing amounts of data is becoming infeasible. Nevertheless, adaptive learning models are still rarely employed in business applications in practice. In the light of rapidly growing structurally rich 'big data', new generation of parallel computing solutions and cloud computing services as well as recent advances in portable computing devices, this article aims to identify the current key research directions to be taken to bring the adaptive learning closer to application needs. We identify six forthcoming challenges in designing and building adaptive learning (pre-diction) systems: making adaptive systems scalable, dealing with realistic data, improving usability and trust, integrat-ing expert knowledge, taking into account various application needs, and moving from adaptive algorithms towards adaptive tools. Those challenges are critical for the evolving stream settings, as the process of model building needs to be fully automated and continuous.</jats:p

Report of the user requirements and web based access for eResearch workshops

The User Requirements and Web Based Access for eResearch Workshop, organized jointly by NeSC and NCeSS, was held on 19 May 2006. The aim was to identify lessons learned from e-Science projects that would contribute to our capacity to make Grid infrastructures and tools usable and accessible for diverse user communities. Its focus was on providing an opportunity for a pragmatic discussion between e-Science end users and tool builders in order to understand usability challenges, technological options, community-specific content and needs, and methodologies for design and development. We invited members of six UK e-Science projects and one US project, trying as far as possible to pair a user and developer from each project in order to discuss their contrasting perspectives and experiences. Three breakout group sessions covered the topics of user-developer relations, commodification, and functionality. There was also extensive post-meeting discussion, summarized here. Additional information on the workshop, including the agenda, participant list, and talk slides, can be found online at http://www.nesc.ac.uk/esi/events/685/ Reference: NeSC report UKeS-2006-07 available from http://www.nesc.ac.uk/technical_papers/UKeS-2006-07.pd