Voice alterations after thyroid surgery without recurrent laryngeal nerve injury

Voice alterations after thyroid surgery remain unclear since previous research show diverse results. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in speech and voice range profiles after thyroid surgery in patients without recurrent laryngeal nerve injury and further investigate whether possible self-reported voice outcomes are confirmed by acoustic measurements. Videostrobolaryngoscopy, self-evaluation questionnaires, and recordings of speech and voice range profiles were used to assess 18 participants preoperatively and two months postoperatively. The results showed that self-reported voice complaints increased significantly after surgery. The results also revealed that speaking fundamental frequency decreased significantly but that the frequency and intensity range did not differ significantly after surgery. However, half of the participants (56 %) did show a reduced frequency range after surgery. Patients undergoing thyroid surgery should be informed about the substantial risk of a reduced frequency range and that voice complaints are common after surgery even though the recurrent laryngeal nerve is intact.Det är idag inte fastställt hur röstens omfång påverkas efter tyreoideakirurgi då tidigare studier visar olika resultat. Den aktuella studiens syfte var att undersöka om röstomfånget förändras efter tyreoideakirurgi utan skada på nervus laryngeus recurrens samt om eventuella subjektiva röstbevär bekräftas av akustiska mätningar. Studien inkluderade 18 deltagare som genomgick tyreoideakirurgi. Deltagarna undersöktes med videostrobolaryngoskopi, gjorde egenskattningar av rösten samt spelades in med tal- och maxfonetogram preoperativt samt två månader postoperativt. Resultaten visade att deltagarna upplevde en signifikant ökning av röstbesvär efter operation. Resultaten visade vidare att grundtonsmedelvärde i tal minskade signifikant efter operation men att frekvens- och intensitetsomfånget inte förändrades signifikant. Hälften av deltagarna (56 %) uppvisade dock ett reducerat maximalt röstomfång efter operation. Det är viktigt att informera patienter som genomgår tyreoideakirurgi att det finns en betydande risk att frekvensomfånget kan reduceras och att det är vanligt med självupplevda röstbesvär efter operation även om inte nervus laryngeus recurrens skadats

Flexible Photogrammetric Computations Using Modular Bundle Adjustment: The Chain Rule and the Collinearity Equations

International audienceThe main purpose of this paper is to show that photogrammetric bundle adjustment computations can be sequentially organized into modules. Furthermore, the chain rule can be used to simplify the computation of the analytical Jacobians needed by the adjustment. Novel projection models can be flexibly evaluated by inserting, modifying, or swapping the order of selected modules. As a proof of concept, two variants of the pin-hole projection model with Brown lens distortion were implemented in the open-source Damped Bundle Adjustment Toolbox (DBAT) and applied to simulated and calibration data for a non-conventional lens system. The results show a significant difference for the simulated, error-free, data but not for the real calibration data. The current flexible implementation incurs a performance loss. However, in cases where flexibility is more important, the modular formulation should be a useful tool to investigate novel sensors, data processing techniques, and refractive models

Accuracy of radiographic and radiostereometric wear measurement of different hip prostheses: an experimental study.

Background In vivo measurement of wear in the ball and socket articulation of total hip arthroplasties is of interest in the evaluation of both existing and new implants. Controversy reigns regarding the accuracy of different radiological measurement techniques and in particular how accuracy has been assessed. Material and methods We assessed the accuracy of 2 radiostereometric (RSA) techniques for wear measurement and 3 standard radiographic techniques, namely Imagika (image analyzing software), Imagika corrected for head center displacement, and the Charnley Duo method. 5 custom-made adjustable phantoms with different prosthetic components were used. Results In 20 measurements of all 5 phantoms at 3 levels of simulated wear (0.2 mm, 1.0 mm and 1.5 mm), the mean measurement error of the digital RSA examinations was 0.010 mm (accuracy 0.42). The corresponding error values for the three radiographic techniques were 0.19 (accuracy 1.3) for Charnley Duo, 0.13 (accuracy 1.3) for Imagika corrected, and 1.021 (accuracy 2.99) for Imagika. Measurement error decreased from 0.011 mm with ordinary RSA to 0.004 with RSA digital measurement. Head size, direction of wear in relation to the cup or type of prosthetic component did not influence the measurement error. The results of Charnley Duo and Imagika corrected were similar but the latter had an inexplicable systematic error in measuring one of the phantoms. Imagika had the worst results due to its inability to compensate for the out-of-head center effect. Alumina heads were difficult to analyze with all methods. Interpretation By using the ISO standard for assessing accuracy, RSA can be expected to measure wear with an accuracy of about 0.4 mm irrespective of prosthetic component studied or direction of wear, whereas the best technique, in our study, based on standard radiographs can be accurate to about 1.3 mm

Full Counting Statistics in Quantum Contacts

Full counting statistics is a fundamentally new concept in quantum transport. After a review of basic statistics theory, we introduce the powerful Green's function approach to full counting statistics. To illustrate the concept we consider a number of examples. For generic two-terminal contacts we show how counting statistics elucidates the common (and different) features of transport between normal and superconducting contacts. Finally, we demonstrate how correlations in multi-terminal structures are naturally included in the formalism.Comment: 20 pages, proceedings of Summer School/Conference on Functional Nanostructures, Karlsruhe (2003

Fully automatic algorithm for detecting and tracking anatomical shoulder landmarks on fluoroscopy images with artificial intelligence.

OBJECTIVE Patients with rotator cuff tears present often with glenohumeral joint instability. Assessing anatomic angles and shoulder kinematics from fluoroscopy requires labelling of specific landmarks in each image. This study aimed to develop an artificial intelligence model for automatic landmark detection from fluoroscopic images for motion tracking of the scapula and humeral head. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fluoroscopic images were acquired for both shoulders of 25 participants (N = 12 patients with unilateral rotator cuff tear, 6 men, mean (standard deviation) age: 63.7 ± 9.7 years; 13 asymptomatic subjects, 7 men, 58.2 ± 8.9 years) during a 30° arm abduction and adduction movement in the scapular plane with and without handheld weights of 2 and 4 kg. A 3D full-resolution convolutional neural network (nnU-Net) was trained to automatically locate five landmarks (glenohumeral joint centre, humeral shaft, inferior and superior edges of the glenoid and most lateral point of the acromion) and a calibration sphere. RESULTS The nnU-Net was trained with ground-truth data from 6021 fluoroscopic images of 40 shoulders and tested with 1925 fluoroscopic images of 10 shoulders. The automatic landmark detection algorithm achieved an accuracy above inter-rater variability and slightly below intra-rater variability. All landmarks and the calibration sphere were located within 1.5 mm, except the humeral landmark within 9.6 mm, but differences in abduction angles were within 1°. CONCLUSION The proposed algorithm detects the desired landmarks on fluoroscopic images with sufficient accuracy and can therefore be applied to automatically assess shoulder motion, scapular rotation or glenohumeral translation in the scapular plane. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT This nnU-net algorithm facilitates efficient and objective identification and tracking of anatomical landmarks on fluoroscopic images necessary for measuring clinically relevant anatomical configuration (e.g. critical shoulder angle) and enables investigation of dynamic glenohumeral joint stability in pathological shoulders. KEY POINTS • Anatomical configuration and glenohumeral joint stability are often a concern after rotator cuff tears. • Artificial intelligence applied to fluoroscopic images helps to identify and track anatomical landmarks during dynamic movements. • The developed automatic landmark detection algorithm optimised the labelling procedures and is suitable for clinical application