Photo repair and 3d structure from flatbed scanners

We introduce a technique that allows 3D information to be captured from a conventional flatbed scanner. The technique requires no hardware modification and allows untrained users to easily capture 3D datasets. Once captured, these datasets can be used for interactive relighting and enhancement of surface detail on physical objects. We have also found that the method can be used to scan and repair damaged photographs. Since the only 3D structure on these photographs will typically be surface tears and creases, our method provides an accurate procedure for automatically detecting these flaws without any user intervention. Once detected, automatic techniques, such as infilling and texture synthesis, can be leveraged to seamlessly repair such damaged areas. We first present a method that is able to repair damaged photographs with minimal user interaction and then show how we can achieve similar results using a fully automatic process

A non-destructive technique for health assessment of fire-damaged concrete elements using terrestrial laser scanning

Concrete structures are routinely monitored to detect changes in their characteristics in the field of engineering surveying and other disciplines such as structural and civil engineering. There is growing demand for the development of reliable Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques for concrete structures in the assessment of the deteriorating condition of infrastructures or in an event of fire-damaged structures. In this paper, the feasibility of using Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) technology for change detection and assessment of fire-damaged concrete has been investigated through measurements and analysis of laboratory size concrete specimens that underwent heating up to 1000°C. The TLS technique employed in detecting fire-damaged concrete involved modelling and analysis of the TLS intensity returns as well as RGB image analysis. The results obtained clearly demonstrate the feasibility of using TLS to detect fire-damaged concrete. Although the laser scanners used in the study have different wavelengths, the results obtained in both cases are promising for a detection technique of fire-damaged concrete structures

Combined tumour treatment by coupling conventional radiotherapy to an additional dose contribution from thermal neutrons

Aim: To employ the thermal neutron background in conventional X-rays radiotherapy treatments in order to add a localized neutron dose boost to the patient, enhancing the treatment effectiveness. Background: Conventional linear accelerators for radiotherapy produce fast secondary neutrons with a mean energy of about 1 MeV due to (\u3b3, n) reaction. This neutron field, isotropically distributed, is considered as an extra unaccounted dose during the treatment. Moreover, considering the moderating effect of human body, a thermal neutron field is localized in the tumour area: this neutron background could be employed for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) by previously administering a boron (10B enriched) carrier to the patient, acting as a localized radiosensitizer. The thermal neutron absorption in the 10B enriched tissue will improve radiotherapy effectiveness. Materials and Methods: The feasibility of the proposed method was investigated by using simplified tissue-equivalent phantoms with cavities in correspondence of relevant tissues or organs, suited for dosimetric measurements. A 10 cm 7 10 cm square photon field with different energies was delivered to the phantoms. Additional exposures were implemented, using a compact neutron photo-converter-moderator assembly, with the purpose of modifying the mixed photon-neutron field in the treatment region. Doses due to photons and neutrons were both measured by using radiochromic films and superheated bubble detectors, respectively, and simulated with Monte Carlo codes. Results: For a 10 cm 7 10 cm square photon field with accelerating potentials 6 MV, 10 MV and 15 MV, the neutron dose equivalent in phantom was measured and its values was 0.07 mGy/Gy (neutron dose equivalent / photon absorbed dose at isocentre), 0.99 mGy/Gy and 2.22 mGy/Gy, respectively. For a 18 MV treatment, simulations and measurements quantified the thermal neutron field in the treatment zone in 1.55 7 107 cm 122 Gy 121. Assuming a BNCT- standard 10B concentration in tumour tissue, the calculated additional BNCT dose at 4 cm depth in phantom would be 1.5 mGy-eq/Gy. This ratio would reach 43 mGy- eq/Gy for an intensity modulated radiotherapy treatment (IMRT). When a specifically designed compact neutron photo-converter-moderator assembly is applied to the LINAC to enhance the thermal neutron field, the photon field is modified. Particularly, a 15 MV photon field produces a dose profile very similar to that would be produced by a 6 MV field in absence of the photo-converter-moderator assembly. As far as the thermal neutron field is concerned, more thermal neutrons are present, and thermal neutrons per photon increase of a factor 3 to 12 according to the depth in phantom and to different photoconverter geometries. By contrast, the photo-converter-moderator assembly was found to reduce fast neutrons of a factor 16 in the direction of the incident beam. Conclusions: The parasitic thermal neutron component during conventional high- energy radiotherapy could be exploited to produce additional therapeutic doses if the 10B-carrier was administered to the patient. This radiosensitization effect could be increased by modifying the treatment field by using the specifically designed neutron photo-converter-moderator assembly

Computed microtomography visualization and quantification of mouse ischemic brain lesion by nonionic radio contrast agents.

AIM: To explore the possibility of brain imaging by microcomputed tomography (microCT) using x-ray contrasting methods to visualize mouse brain ischemic lesions after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). ----- METHODS: Isolated brains were immersed in ionic or nonionic radio contrast agent (RCA) for 5 days and subsequently scanned using microCT scanner. To verify whether ex-vivo microCT brain images can be used to characterize ischemic lesions, they were compared to Nissl stained serial histological sections of the same brains. To verify if brains immersed in RCA may be used afterwards for other methods, subsequent immunofluorescent labeling with anti-NeuN was performed. ----- RESULTS: Nonionic RCA showed better gray to white matter contrast in the brain, and therefore was selected for further studies. MicroCT measurement of ischemic lesion size and cerebral edema significantly correlated with the values determined by Nissl staining (ischemic lesion size: P=0.0005; cerebral edema: P=0.0002). Brain immersion in nonionic RCA did not affect subsequent immunofluorescent analysis and NeuN immunoreactivity. ----- CONCLUSION: MicroCT method was proven to be suitable for delineation of the ischemic lesion from the non-infarcted tissue, and quantification of lesion volume and cerebral edema

A Survey of Geometric Analysis in Cultural Heritage

We present a review of recent techniques for performing geometric analysis in cultural heritage (CH) applications. The survey is aimed at researchers in the areas of computer graphics, computer vision and CH computing, as well as to scholars and practitioners in the CH field. The problems considered include shape perception enhancement, restoration and preservation support, monitoring over time, object interpretation and collection analysis. All of these problems typically rely on an understanding of the structure of the shapes in question at both a local and global level. In this survey, we discuss the different problem forms and review the main solution methods, aided by classification criteria based on the geometric scale at which the analysis is performed and the cardinality of the relationships among object parts exploited during the analysis. We finalize the report by discussing open problems and future perspectives

BCR’s CDP Digital Imaging Best Practices, Version 2.0

This is the published version.These Best Practices — also referred to as the CDP Best Practices -- have been created through the collaboration of working groups pulled from library, museum and archive practitioners. Version 1 was created through funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services through a grant to the University of Denver and the Colorado Digitization Program in 2003. Version 2 of the guidelines were published by BCR in 2008 and represents a significant update of practices under the leadership of their CDP Digital Imaging Best Practices Working Group. The intent has been to help standardize and share protocols governing the implementation of digital projects. The result of these collaborations is a set of best practice documents that cover issues such as digital imaging, Dublin Core metadata and digital audio. These best practice documents are intended to help with the design and implementation of digitization projects. Because they were collaboratively designed by experts in the field, you can be certain they include the best possible information, in addition to having been field tested and proven in practice. These best practice documents are an ongoing collaborative project, and LYRASIS will add information and new documents as they are developed

Dosimetric characterization of GafChromic EBT3 films in Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) radiotherapy treatments

Questo lavoro di tesi, svolto presso l'Unità Operativa di Radioterapia dell'Ospedale Bellaria di Bologna, si pone l'obiettivo di caratterizzare dosimetricamente i film radiocromici GafChromic EBT3 al fine di implementarne l'utilizzo clinico nell'ambito dei controlli di qualità su piani di trattamento radioterapici VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy). I controlli di qualità per trattamenti VMAT sono attualmente effettuati grazie ad un sistema fantoccio-detector a camere a ionizzazione, Octavius 4D, in grado di ricostruire in maniera accurata la distribuzione di dose tridimensionale depositata su tutto il volume del fantoccio stesso. Nonostante ciò, la risoluzione spaziale offerta da questo strumento è limitata in particolari casi in cui è necessario conoscere la distribuzione di dose rilasciata ai tessuti con precisione inferiore a qualche millimetro, mentre il punto di forza della dosimetria a film risiede proprio nella elevata risoluzione spaziale. Con il seguente lavoro abbiamo voluto testare le pellicole EBT3 nella pratica della dosimetria clinica su piani altamente modulati come i VMAT, osservando la risposta del film rispetto a quella del sistema Octavius procedendo per crescenti livelli di difficoltà dei piani irradiati, per consolidare la procedura sperimentale. Abbiamo osservato che, in termini di indice gamma, il più usato per comparare quantitativamente mappe di dose, il passing rate nel confronto tra piani di trattamento calcolati e misurati con il sistema Octavius è del 100% per proiezioni bidimensionali e del 99.7% su ricostruzioni tridimensionali (entro limiti descritti dettagliatamente nel paragrafo 3.1). I film invece raggiungono in un solo caso un passing rate superiore al 95%, soglia di accettabilità nella pratica clinica. Tuttavia, è stato possibile mostrare l'efficacia dei film nella ricostruzione di profili di dose accurati, evidenziando la loro superiorità in risoluzione spaziale rispetto alla tecnica dosimetrica correntemente impiegata

Cell colony counter called CoCoNut

Clonogenic assays are powerful tools for testing cell reproductive death after biological damage caused by, for example, ionizing radiation. Traditionally, the methods require a cumbersome, slow and eye-straining manual counting of viable colonies under a microscope. To speed up the counting process and minimize those issues related to the subjective decisions of the scoring personnel, we developed a semi-automated, image-based cell colony counting setup, named CoCoNut (Colony Counter developed by the Nutech department at the Technical University of Denmark). It consists in an ImageJ macro and a photographic 3D-printed light-box, conceived and demonstrated to work together for Crystal Violet-stained colonies. Careful attention was given to the image acquisition process, which allows background removal (i.e. any unwanted element in the picture) in a minimally invasive manner. This is mainly achieved by optimal lighting conditions in the light-box and dividing the image of a flask that contains viable colonies by the picture of an empty flask. In this way, CoCoNut avoids using aggressive background removal filters that usually lead to suboptimal colony count recovery. The full method was tested with V79 and HeLa cell survival samples. Results were compared to other freely available tools. CoCoNut proved able to successfully distinguish between single and merged colonies and to identify colonies bordering on flask edges. CoCoNut software calibration is fast; it requires the adjustment of a single parameter that is the smallest colony area to be counted. The employment of a single parameter reduces the risk of subjectivity, providing a robust and user-friendly tool, whose results can be easily compared over time and among different bio-laboratories. The method is inexpensive and easy to obtain. Among its advantages, we highlight the possibility of combining the macro with a perfectly reproducible 3D-printed light-box. The CoCoNut software and the 3D-printer files are provided as supporting information (S1 CoCoNut Files).</div

Investigation and Evaluation of Methods for Measuring Surface Texture on Worktops and Kitchen Fronts

In this Master Thesis different methods for measuring and evaluating surface textures have been investigated and evaluated. A method for digitizing textures called photometric stereo have also been studied. The purpose has been to find methods that can replace or supplement the current method of visual inspection used for surface texture studies by IKEA of Sweden. The suggested methods are going to be used by the company for securing that the surface textures on laminate worktops and pigment lacquered kitchen fronts are both consistent between different suppliers and matching the original reference sample. The thesis work has been written in three phases. First a background study of surface texture measurement methods has been carried out as well as a market research about what instruments are used for surface texture measurements. The next step has been an investigation of what problems IKEA is experiencing and finding the cause of these problems. This includes studies of the manufacturing process for laminates, the tools used for giving texture to laminates and how textures patterns are developed. The manufacturing process of the kitchen front has been also studied. In the last step the different methods have been tested and evaluated based on the needs of IKEA of Sweden