Analysis and compensation for errors in electrical impedance tomography images and ventilation-­related measures due to serial data collection

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is increasingly being used as a bedside tool for monitoring regional lung ventilation. However, most clinical systems use serial data collection which, if uncorrected, results in image distortion, particularly at high breathing rates. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which this affects derived parameters. Raw EIT data were acquired with the GOE­MF II EIT device (CareFusion, Höchberg, Germany) at a scan rate of 13 images/s during both spontaneous breathing and mechanical ventilation. Boundary data for periods of undisturbed tidal breathing were corrected for serial data collection errors using a Fourier based algorithm. Images were reconstructed for both the corrected and original data using the GREIT algorithm, and parameters describing the filling characteristics of the right and left lung derived on a breath by breath basis. Values from the original and corrected data were compared using paired t­ tests. Of the 33 data sets, 23 showed significant differences in filling index for at least one region, 11 had significant differences in calculated tidal impedance change and 12 had significantly different filling fractions (p = 0.05). We conclude that serial collection errors should be corrected before image reconstruction to avoid clinically misleading results

The use of the Kalman filter in the automated segmentation of EIT lung images

In this paper, we present a new pipeline for the fast and accurate segmentation of impedance images of the lungs using electrical impedance tomography (EIT). EIT is an emerging, promising, non-invasive imaging modality that produces real-time, low spatial but high temporal resolution images of impedance inside a body. Recovering impedance itself constitutes a nonlinear ill-posed inverse problem, therefore the problem is usually linearized, which produces impedance-change images, rather than static impedance ones. Such images are highly blurry and fuzzy along object boundaries. We provide a mathematical reasoning behind the high suitability of the Kalman filter when it comes to segmenting and tracking conductivity changes in EIT lung images. Next, we use a two-fold approach to tackle the segmentation problem. First, we construct a global lung shape to restrict the search region of the Kalman filter. Next, we proceed with augmenting the Kalman filter by incorporating an adaptive foreground detection system to provide the boundary contours for the Kalman filter to carry out the tracking of the conductivity changes as the lungs undergo deformation in a respiratory cycle. The proposed method has been validated by using performance statistics such as misclassified area, and false positive rate, and compared to previous approaches. The results show that the proposed automated method can be a fast and reliable segmentation tool for EIT imaging

Coulomb explosion imaging of small polyatomic molecules with ultrashort x-ray pulses

Ultrashort x-ray pulses from free-electron lasers can efficiently charge up and trigger the full fragmentation of molecules. By coincident detection of up to five ions resulting from rapid Coulomb explosion of highly charged iodomethane, we show that the full three-dimensional equilibrium geometry of this prototypical polyatomic system can be determined from the measured ion momenta with the help of a charge buildup model. Supported by simulations of how the ion momenta would reflect specific changes in molecular bond lengths and angles, we demonstrate that Coulomb-explosion imaging with ultrashort x-ray pulses is a promising technique for recording movies of multidimensional nuclear wave packets, including hydrogen motions

X-ray multiphoton-induced Coulomb explosion images complex single molecules

Following structural dynamics in real time is a fundamental goal towards a better understanding of chemical reactions. Recording snapshots of individual molecules with ultrashort exposure times is a key ingredient towards this goal, as atoms move on femtosecond (10-15 s) timescales. For condensed-phase samples, ultrafast, atomically resolved structure determination has been demonstrated using X-ray and electron diffraction. Pioneering experiments have also started addressing gaseous samples. However, they face the problem of low target densities, low scattering cross sections and random spatial orientation of the molecules. Therefore, obtaining images of entire, isolated molecules capturing all constituents, including hydrogen atoms, remains challenging. Here we demonstrate that intense femtosecond pulses from an X-ray free-electron laser trigger rapid and complete Coulomb explosions of 2-iodopyridine and 2-iodopyrazine molecules. We obtain intriguingly clear momentum images depicting ten or eleven atoms, including all the hydrogens, and thus overcome a so-far impregnable barrier for complete Coulomb explosion imaging—its limitation on molecules consisting of three to five atoms. In combination with state-of-the-art multi-coincidence techniques and elaborate theoretical modelling, this allows tracing ultrafast hydrogen emission and obtaining information on the result of intramolecular electron rearrangement. Our work represents an important step towards imaging femtosecond chemistry via Coulomb explosion

Investigating charge-up and fragmentation dynamics of oxygen molecules after interaction with strong X-ray free-electron laser pulses

During the last decade, X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) have enabled the study of light–matter interaction under extreme conditions. Atoms which are subject to XFEL radiation are charged by a complex interplay of (several subsequent) photoionization events and electronic decay processes within a few femtoseconds. The interaction with molecules is even more intriguing, since intricate nuclear dynamics occur as the molecules start to dissociate during the charge-up process. Here, we demonstrate that by analyzing photoelectron angular emission distributions and kinetic energy release of charge states of ionic molecular fragments, we can obtain a detailed understanding of the charge-up and fragmentation dynamics. Our novel approach allows for gathering such information without the need of complex ab initio modeling. As an example, we provide a detailed view on the processes happening on a femtosecond time scale in oxygen molecules exposed to intense XFEL pulses

Налоговая оптимизация налога на добавленную стоимость в условиях реформирования налоговой системы Республики Беларусь

Материалы XI Междунар. науч. конф. студентов, аспирантов и молодых ученых, Гомель, 17-18 мая 2018 г

Choice of reconstructed tissue properties affects interpretation of lung EIT images

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) estimates an image of change in electrical properties within a body from stimulations and measurements at surface electrodes. There is significant interest in EIT as a tool to monitor and guide ventilation therapy in mechanically ventilated patients. In lung EIT, the EIT inverse problem is commonly linearized and only changes in electrical properties are reconstructed. Early algorithms reconstructed changes in resistivity, while most recent work using the finite element method reconstructs conductivity. Recently, we demonstrated that EIT images of ventilation can be misleading if the electrical contrasts within the thorax are not taken into account during the image reconstruction process. In this paper, we explore the effect of the choice of the reconstructed electrical properties (resistivity or conductivity) on the resulting EIT images. We show in simulation and experimental data that EIT images reconstructed with the same algorithm but with different parametrizations lead to large and clinically significant differences in the resulting images, which persist even after attempts to eliminate the impact of the parameter choice by recovering volume changes from the EIT images. Since there is no consensus among the most popular reconstruction algorithms and devices regarding the parametrization, this finding has implications for potential clinical use of EIT. We propose a program of research to develop reconstruction techniques that account for both the relationship between air volume and electrical properties of the lung and artefacts introduced by the linearization

Why is EIT so hard, and what are we doing about it?

This focus issue of Physiological Measurement follows the successful 15th International Conference on Biomedical Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT 2014) held at the Glen House Resort in Gananoque, Ontario, Canada, from 24–26 April 2014. The conference was organized by Andy Adler, of the department of systems and computer engineering at Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada, and co-organized by Bartłomiej Grychtol, of the Fraunhofer Project Group for Automation in Medicine and Biotechnology in Mannheim, Germany. A new award for best student paper was presented to Winkler et al (2014) and runner-up award to Dodd and Mueller (2014). This continues the tradition of successful conferences on biomedical applications of electrical impedance tomography, as was the case with the 14th International Conference on Biomedical Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT 2013), held on 22–25 April 2013 at Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany, and hosted by Uwe Pliquet of the Institut für Bioprozess- und Analysenmesstechnik. This year's conference is the 16th International Conference on Biomedical Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT 2015) and is to be held in Neuchâtel, Switzerland on 2–5 June 2015, and hosted by Josep Solà and Fabian Braun of the Centre Suisse d'Électronique et de Microtechnique. This conference will be followed by a focus issue in Physiological Measurement that will be published in 2016. This issue contains papers stemming from discussion and feedback during the 2014 conference, and is also an opportunity for new researchers to join the community and describe recent innovations. There were 77 accepted submissions (including three keynotes, 45 oral presentation and 29 posters). All authors were invited to prepare new peer-reviewed papers for inclusion in this issue of Physiological Measurement. Manuscripts were put through a process of careful review before selection, and 18 were accepted (of 27 submitted), covering an important range of topics

FEM electrode refinement for electrical impedance tomography

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) reconstructs images of electrical tissue properties within a body from electrical transfer impedance measurements at surface electrodes. Reconstruction of EIT images requires the solution of an inverse problem in soft field tomography, where a sensitivity matrix, J, of the relationship between internal changes and measurements is calculated, and then a pseudo-inverse of J is used to update the image estimate. It is therefore clear that a precise calculation of J is required for solution accuracy. Since it is generally not possible to use analytic solutions, the finite element method (FEM) is typically used. It has generally been recommended in the EIT literature that FEMs be refined near electrodes, since the electric field and sensitivity is largest there. In this paper we analyze the accuracy requirement for FEM refinement near electrodes in EIT and describe a technique to refine arbitrary FEMs