Proximity Map Projection: Interactive Visualisation for Image-Guided Surgery

This thesis describes a new interface technique for neurosurgeons and interventional radiologists performing image-guided therapies such as the ablation of brain tumours. This new technique is called Proximity Map Projection (PMP). Based on an analysis of related work, including the documented recent progress in enabling technologies, a case is made that present-day interactive visualisations supporting image-guided treatment of tumours will need to be dramatically improved to take advantage of the increased image refresh rates available as soon as 2020. This probable requirement for improved visualisation technology in the very near future motivated the invention and investigation of the PMP technique described in this thesis. The PMP technique is an interactive 2-D visual projection of the proximity of two 3-D surfaces – in particular, the surface representing the boundary of a thermal treatment region, and the surface of a tumour that is the target of this treatment. By clicking on interesting points in the PMP, surgeons are able to quickly select the 2-D MRI slices corresponding to those interesting points. The PMP provides a quick way of selecting a desired image from a large stack of 2-D MRI data, thus freeing up surgeons to spend a greater proportion of their time applying their expertise to decision making, rather than to navigating through image data. In this thesis, the PMP technique is presented and then refined as user studies are undertaken. In a series of investigations exploring its effectiveness, it is shown that the PMP technique enables non-expert users to quickly and accurately navigate to, and observe, desired individual medical images within large stacks of such images. A further experiment finds no significant differences in the way that medically experienced and inexperienced users use PMP to complete tasks. That study also verifies that users pay visual attention to PMP, regardless of whether or not they have interacted with it via the mouse. Observation of the visual attention of users during simulated tasks is used to provide further explanation of why PMP is effective. PMP’s potential to be used by medical professionals is then assessed via a series of semi-structured interviews with surgeons and interventional radiologists. Such experts are found to be optimistic about the potential for PMP to be incorporated into their workflows. This last phase of the research then culminates with observations of a number of medical procedures on human patients that are similar to the kinds of procedures to which PMP might be applied. From these observations it appears that, while they do enable life-saving therapies, present software interfaces are not entirely satisfying for the surgeons who use them. Opportunities for significant future research collaborations were identified during these interviews and observations. This thesis concludes by describing a practical path towards achieving its ultimate goal: the use of PMP in real-time image-guided medical procedures on human patients. Key activities on this path include: integration of PMP into the training and simulation version of a collaborator’s therapy system; conducting a case study to allow further refinement of the PMP technique; and inclusion of PMP in a clinical trial with surgeons

Brain and Human Body Modeling

This open access book describes modern applications of computational human modeling with specific emphasis in the areas of neurology and neuroelectromagnetics, depression and cancer treatments, radio-frequency studies and wireless communications. Special consideration is also given to the use of human modeling to the computational assessment of relevant regulatory and safety requirements. Readers working on applications that may expose human subjects to electromagnetic radiation will benefit from this book’s coverage of the latest developments in computational modelling and human phantom development to assess a given technology’s safety and efficacy in a timely manner. Describes construction and application of computational human models including anatomically detailed and subject specific models; Explains new practices in computational human modeling for neuroelectromagnetics, electromagnetic safety, and exposure evaluations; Includes a survey of modern applications for which computational human models are critical; Describes cellular-level interactions between the human body and electromagnetic fields

Acupuncture in Modern Medicine

This book contains four integrated sections: 1) Acupuncture Research; 2) New Developments in Acupuncture; 3) Acupuncture Therapy for Clinical Conditions and 4) Assessment and Accessibility in Acupuncture Therapy. Section 1 provides updates on acupuncture research. From acupuncture effects in modulation of immune system to the role of nitric oxide in acupuncture mechanisms, chapters in this section offer readers the newest trends in acupuncture research. Section 2 summarizes new developments in acupuncture. The included chapters discuss new tools and methods in acupuncture such as laser acupuncture, sham needles, and new technologies. Section 3 discusses acupuncture therapy for clinical conditions. The chapters in this section provide comprehensive and critical views of acupuncture therapy and its application in common clinical practice. Section 4 takes a new look at the issues related to assessment and accessibility in acupuncture therapy. These issues are central to developing new standards for outcome assessment and policies that will increase the accessibility to acupuncture therapy

MS FT-2-2 7 Orthogonal polynomials and quadrature: Theory, computation, and applications

Quadrature rules find many applications in science and engineering. Their analysis is a classical area of applied mathematics and continues to attract considerable attention. This seminar brings together speakers with expertise in a large variety of quadrature rules. It is the aim of the seminar to provide an overview of recent developments in the analysis of quadrature rules. The computation of error estimates and novel applications also are described