17 research outputs found
Quantitative lung CT analysis for the study and diagnosis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
The importance of medical imaging in the research of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Dis- ease (COPD) has risen over the last decades. COPD affects the pulmonary system through two competing mechanisms; emphysema and small airways disease. The relative contribu- tion of each component varies widely across patients whilst they can also evolve regionally in the lung. Patients can also be susceptible to exacerbations, which can dramatically ac- celerate lung function decline. Diagnosis of COPD is based on lung function tests, which measure airflow limitation. There is a growing consensus that this is inadequate in view of the complexities of COPD. Computed Tomography (CT) facilitates direct quantification of the pathological changes that lead to airflow limitation and can add to our understanding of the disease progression of COPD. There is a need to better capture lung pathophysiology whilst understanding regional aspects of disease progression. This has motivated the work presented in this thesis. Two novel methods are proposed to quantify the severity of COPD from CT by analysing the global distribution of features sampled locally in the lung. They can be exploited in the classification of lung CT images or to uncover potential trajectories of disease progression. A novel lobe segmentation algorithm is presented that is based on a probabilistic segmen- tation of the fissures whilst also constructing a groupwise fissure prior. In combination with the local sampling methods, a pipeline of analysis was developed that permits a re- gional analysis of lung disease. This was applied to study exacerbation susceptible COPD. Lastly, the applicability of performing disease progression modelling to study COPD has been shown. Two main subgroups of COPD were found, which are consistent with current clinical knowledge of COPD subtypes. This research may facilitate precise phenotypic characterisation of COPD from CT, which will increase our understanding of its natural history and associated heterogeneities. This will be instrumental in the precision medicine of COPD
Advancements and Breakthroughs in Ultrasound Imaging
Ultrasonic imaging is a powerful diagnostic tool available to medical practitioners, engineers and researchers today. Due to the relative safety, and the non-invasive nature, ultrasonic imaging has become one of the most rapidly advancing technologies. These rapid advances are directly related to the parallel advancements in electronics, computing, and transducer technology together with sophisticated signal processing techniques. This book focuses on state of the art developments in ultrasonic imaging applications and underlying technologies presented by leading practitioners and researchers from many parts of the world
Modern meat: the next generation of meat from cells
Modern Meat is the first textbook on cultivated meat, with contributions from over 100 experts within the cultivated meat community.
The Sections of Modern Meat comprise 5 broad categories of cultivated meat: Context, Impact, Science, Society, and World.
The 19 chapters of Modern Meat, spread across these 5 sections, provide detailed entries on cultivated meat. They extensively tour a range of topics including the impact of cultivated meat on humans and animals, the bioprocess of cultivated meat production, how cultivated meat may become a food option in Space and on Mars, and how cultivated meat may impact the economy, culture, and tradition of Asia
Spine Surgery
We are very excited to introduce this new book on spinal surgery, which follows the curriculum of the EUROSPINE basic and advanced diploma courses.
The approach we take is a purely case-based one, in which each case illustrates the concepts surrounding the treatment of a given pathology, including
the uncertainties and problems in decision-making. The readers will notice
that in many instances a lack of evidence for a given treatment exists. So decisions taken are usually not a clearcut matter of black or white, but merely
different shades of gray. Probably in a lot of cases, there is often more than
one option to treat the patient. The authors were asked to convey this message
to the reader, giving him a guidance as what would be accepted within the
mainstream. In addition, the reader is provided with the most updated literature and evidence on the topic.
Most of the authors are teachers in the courses of EUROSPINE or other
national societies with often vast clinical experience and have given their own
perspective and reasoning.
We believe that the readers will profit very much from this variety and
bandwidth of knowledge provided for them in the individual chapters. We
have given the authors extensive liberty as to what they consider the best
solution for their case. It is thus a representative picture of what is considered
standard of care for spine pathologies in Europe.
We hope that this book will be an ideal complement for trainees to the
courses they take.
Munich, Germany Bernhard Meyer
Offenbach, Germany Michael Rauschman
Saving Bones: a direct comparison of FTIR-ATR, whole bone percent nitrogen, and NIR
89th Annual Meeting of the American-Association-of-Physical-Anthropologists (AAPA), Los Angeles, CA, APR 15-18, 202