A new geometrical method for 3D evaluation of non-rigid registration methods for radiotherapy in prostate cancer

Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy aims at delivering a high dose of radiation to the tumour, while sparing the surrounding normal tissue to a maximum extent. Image registration is an essential tool for monitoring radiation therapies, since allows morphological comparisons in presence of anatomic variations. The evaluation of non-rigid registration methods is very complicated owe to the absence of a known pointwise correspondence. The use of analysis of variations in target volume delineations has been proposed in the past for the evaluation of non-rigid registration methods. Delineation of the target volume is usually accomplished by outlining the contour of the volume in each separate tomographic slice. In the studies of reference, the 3D surface is rendered from the contours by means of a Delauney triangulation. This geometrical method only works correctly for convex structures. However the volumes involved on pelvic anatomy, such as bladder or prostate including the seminal vesicles, have relevant concavities that introduce a huge error in the evaluation. A new geometrical method for the evaluation of convex-concave target volumes delineation is proposed

Determining the psychophysiological responses of military aircrew when exposed to acute disorientation stimuli

Introduction: Exposure to enviromental flight conditions may impair performance and physical integrity, thus training in simulated environments it is a key factor. This research aimed to study the psychophysiological response, cortical arousal and autonomic modulation of pilots and medical aircrew personnel during disorientation exposure, considering gender, experience, flying hours and body mass index (BMI) as influencial variables. Methods: A total of 47 soldiers (37 men and 10 women, 22 medical aircrew personnel and 25 fighter pilots) of Spanish Air Forces faced 25 min of vestibular, proprioceptive and visual disorientation. Results: Disorientation exposure elicited an increased psychophysiological response, significant increases in isometric hand strength, cortical arousal, autonomic modulation, perceived stress and effort in both groups while a significant decrease in respiratory muscle capacity and blood oxygen saturation in the medical aircrew group were found. Cross-sectional analysis showed gender differences, males presented greater parasympathetic activity and strength. Larger BMI was associated with greater levels and perception of stress as well as lower cardiovascular performance and sympathetic modulation. Furthermore, experience, previous training and larger flying hours correlated with greater parasympathetic modulation. Conclusion: Disorientation exposure produces an increase in cortical arousal and decrease in the parasympathetic nervous system either in pilots and medical aircrew personnel. In addition, medical aircrew personnel are less adapted to disorientation stimulus presenting significantly higher psychophysiological stress response, thus complementary physical training should be mandatory

Extracción Automática de la Línea Central de Estructuras Tubulares: Implementación Matricial

Se propone una nueva implementación matricial de un algoritmo para la extracción automática de la línea central de estructuras tubulares. El algoritmo seleccionado calcula la línea central de estructuras complejas sin la necesidad de interacción con el usuario. En el trabajo se explica detalladamente cómo llevar a cabo la implementación matricial utilizando el lenguaje de computación de Matlab. La implementación matricial permite el cálculo de la línea central en pocos segundos, mejorando en varios grados de magnitud la implementación disponible en ITK

Segmentation and 3D reconstruction approaches for the design of laparoscopic augmented reality environments

A trend in abdominal surgery is the transition from minimally invasive surgery to surgeries where augmented reality is used. Endoscopic video images are proposed to be employed for extracting useful information to help surgeons performing the operating techniques. This work introduces an illumination model into the design of automatic segmentation algorithms and 3D reconstruction methods. Results obtained from the implementation of our methods to real images are supposed to be an initial step useful for designing new methodologies that will help surgeons operating MIS techniques

Laparoscopic tool tracking method for augmented reality surgical applications

Vision-based tracking of laparoscopic tools offers new possibilities for improving surgical training and for developing new augmented reality surgical applications. We present an original method to determine not only the tip position, but also the orientation of a laparoscopic tool respect to the camera coordinate frame. A simple mathematical formulation shows how segmented tool edges and camera field of view define the tool 3D orientation. Then, 3D position of the tool tip is determined by image 2D coordinates of any known point of the tool and by tool’s diameter. Accuracy is evaluated in real image sequences with known ground truth. Results show a positioning error of 9,28 mmRMS, what is explained by inaccuracies in the estimation of tool edges. The main advantage of proposed method is its robustness to occlusions of the tool tip

Segmentación y seguimiento de estructuras en imágenes laparoscópicas

La estimación de la posición 3D de las diferentes estructuras que aparecen en cirugía laparoscópica es una medida de gran importancia para el desarrollo de aplicaciones para la formación y aprendizaje de futuros cirujanos. Para dicha estimación se hace necesaria una etapa previa de segmentación de estructuras y de seguimiento de las mismas a lo largo de la secuencia de imágenes que compone la intervención. En este trabajo de investigación se propone un método de segmentación semiautomática basada en la combinación de sobresegmentación y crecimiento de regiones y un algoritmo de seguimiento de la estructura segmentada. Para el desarrollo de estos algoritmos se utilizan técnicas de tratamiento de imágenes junto con métodos basados en la estadística paramétrica y no paramétrica

A new method for quantitative evaluation of target volume variations in radiotherapy planning

A new method for three-dimensional quantitative evaluation of target volume delineation is presented. It is composed by a new 3D reconstruction method called Origami, based on the combination of two bidimensional analysis of the volume of each organ instead of one 3D analysis, and a 3D description of the error distribution in the space. The Origami method avoid external errors introduced by a 3D rendering and has shown to work correctly in both convex and convex-concave volumes, accurately fitting the contours of the planning study. Its performance has been evaluated comparing it with the Convex Hull algorithm using Delaunay triangulation, resulting in a much more adjusted evaluation. Moreover, Origami computes thousands of control points in less than one second in a common PC

Método de evaluación cuantitativa de algoritmos de registro tridimensional deformable

Se presenta una nueva metodología de evaluación cuantitativa de algoritmos de registro tridimensional deformable basada en las delineaciones de los órganos de interés. Esta metodología ofrece una completa descripción tridimensional del error de registro mediante el cálculo de las distancias entre los volúmenes del órgano de interés en la imagen de referencia y la imagen registrada. El método propuesto ha demostrado la capacidad de trabajar correctamente tanto en volúmenes totalmente convexos como en volúmenes cóncavo-convexos, ajustándose de manera precisa a los volúmenes marcados por el especialista. Además, el alto rendimiento del método permite la rápida evaluación en un gran número de direcciones de control (64800 direcciones en menos de un segundo

PREVIRNEC A new platform for cognitive tele-rehabilitation

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), either caused by vascular or traumatic nature, is one of the most important causes for neurological disabilities. People who suffer ABI see how their quality of life decreases, due to the affection of one or some of the cognitive functions (memory, attention, language or executive functions). The traditional cognitive rehabilitation protocols are too expensive, so every help carried out in this area is justified. PREVIRNEC is a new platform for cognitive tele-rehabilitation that allows the neuropsychologist to schedule rehabilitation sessions consisted of specifically designed tasks, plus offering an additional way of communication between neuropsychologists and patients. Besides, the platform offers a knowledge management module that allows the optimization of the cognitive rehabilitation to this kind of patients

Editor multimedia de vídeo laparoscópico para formación de habilidades cognitivas

La cirugía de mínima invasión (CMI) es un tipo de cirugía que, dado el elevado número de ventajas que presenta frente a la cirugía abierta tradicional, está siendo cada vez más utilizada en los centros hospitalarios de todo el mundo. Sin embargo, su inconveniente principal es que requiere la adquisición de nuevas habilidades motoras y cognitivas. Es en el terreno de las habilidades cognitivas, donde cobra especial interés la formación mediante los vídeos quirúrgicos, principal fuente de información de las intervenciones de CMI. Este trabajo aborda el diseño e implementación de un editor multimedia de vídeo laparoscópico capaz de añadir información útil a los vídeos originales, ofreciendo al usuario una serie de funcionalidades, con el fin de ayudar a la formación de los cirujanos. La validación llevada a cabo muestra cómo el usuario no sólo considera la herramienta aquí presentada de gran utilidad, sino también usable