Preface and Acknowledgement

Background. The choice of treatment strategy for coronary artery disease is often based on: 1) anatomical information on stenosis locations, and 2) functional information on their haemodynamic relevance, e.g. myocardial deformation or perfusion. Inspecting a single fused image containing both anatomical and functional information, as opposed to viewing separate images side-by-side, facilitates this treatment choice. The aim of this study is to develop a novel cardiac fusion imaging technique to combine 3D+time echocardiography (3DE) (functional information) with coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) (anatomical information). Method. 3DE and CCTA data sets were obtained from 20 patients with suspected coronary artery disease. The coronary artery tree was segmented from the CCTA images. A semi-automatic fusion algorithm was developed to perform the following steps: The left ventricle (LV) 3D surfaces were segmented in the CCTA image and 3DE images and used to align the two data sets. The moving 3DE LV was then visualized along with the CCTA coronary arteries. Myocardial strain was estimated and visualized on the LV surface. Results. Preliminary fusion results from images of one patient have been obtained. The figure shows the CCTA coronary artery tree aligned with a) 3DE LV endocardium in end-systole, b) 3DE LV endocardium in end-diastole, and c) 3DE LV with colour-coded instantaneous longitudinal strain. Discussion. Preliminary results show that fusion of CCTA and 3DE images is feasible. However, the algorithm needs to be further developed to increase automation and include other functional parameters, such as myocardial perfusion. Moreover, a validation study to assess algorithm performance and diagnostic value in multiple patients will be performed. QC 20150122</p

The Effect of Influence Attempts Using Consultation in Lateral Relations

Executive Master of Management i Påvirkninger og makt i lederrollen fra Handelshøyskolen BI, 2023While managers may use their power over subordinates to achieve desired outcomes, influence tactics to “manage your manager” have been given increased attention. This study focuses on influence in lateral relations, where data is scarce. An experiment was conducted using an online survey to test different tactics aimed at garnering support for a proposal. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Critique, Advice, and Control. The survey presented a scenario in which a peer (a co-worker at the same level in the organization) presented a proposal. In the Control group, no influence attempt was made to gain support for the proposal. Two different variations of consultation as an influence tactic were used in the Critique and Advice groups. In the Critique group, participants were asked to provide three to five critical comments on the proposal. Participants in the Advice group were asked to provide three to five suggestions for improving the proposal. The final question to all participants was to rate the level of support they would give the proposal. A total of 230 participants completed the survey. When the Critique and the Advice group were combined into a single entity referred to as the Combined consultation group, no statistically significant difference in the level of support for the proposal was observed when compared to the Control group. However, when examining the three groups independently, the Advice group exhibited a significantly higher level of support for the proposal than the Control group, whereas the Critique group demonstrated a significantly lower level of support in comparison to the Control group. In conclusion, using consultation as an influence tactic to get support for a proposal is effective when consultation is sought by asking for advice. When consultation is sought by asking for critique, the targets tend to give lower levels of support for the proposal compared to not making an influence attempt at all

Волонтерское движение. Его становление и место в жизни современной молодежи Беларуси и Запада

Материалы VI Междунар. науч. конф. студентов, аспирантов и молодых ученых, Гомель, 26 апр. 2013 г

Automatic measurement of aortic annulus diameter in 3-dimensional transoesophageal echocardiography

Background Transcatheter aortic valve implantation involves percutaneously implanting a biomechanical aortic valve to treat severe aortic stenosis. In order to select a proper device, precise sizing of the aortic valve annulus must be completed. Methods In this paper, we describe a fully automatic segmentation method to measure the aortic annulus diameter in patients with aortic calcification, operating on 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiographic images. The method is based on state estimation of a subdivision surface representation of the left ventricular outflow tract and aortic root. The state estimation is solved by an extended Kalman filter driven by edge detections normal to the subdivision surface. Results The method was validated on echocardiographic recordings of 16 patients. Comparison against two manual measurements showed agreements (mean ±SD) of -0.3±1.6 and -0.2±2.3 mm for perimeter-derived diameters, compared to an interobserver agreement of -0.1±2.1 mm. Conclusions With this study, we demonstrated the feasibility of an efficient and fully automatic measurement of the aortic annulus in patients with aortic disease. The algorithm robustly measured the aortic annulus diameter, providing measurements indistinguishable from those done by cardiologists