3D Ultrasound Reconstruction of Spinal Images using an Improved Olympic Hole-Filling Method

We propose a new Hole-filling algorithm by improving the Olympic operator, and we also apply it to generate the volume in our freehand 3D ultrasound reconstruction of the spine. First, the ultrasound frames and position information are compounded into a 3D volume using the Bin-filling method. Then, the Hole-filling method is used to repair gaps in the volume. The conventional Olympic operator defines the empty voxels by sorting the neighboring voxels, removing the n% of the upper and lower values, and averaging them to attain the value to fill the empty voxels. The empty voxel estimation can be improved by thresholding the range width of its neighboring voxels and adjusting it to the average values. The method is tested on a hole-manipulated volume derived from a cropped 3D ultrasound volume of a part of the spine. Our MAE calculation on the proposed technique shows improved result compared to all tested existing methods.</p

Nonlinear atom optics and bright gap soliton generation in finite optical lattices

We theoretically investigate the transmission dynamics of coherent matter wave pulses across finite optical lattices in both the linear and the nonlinear regimes. The shape and the intensity of the transmitted pulse are found to strongly depend on the parameters of the incident pulse, in particular its velocity and density: a clear physical picture for the main features observed in the numerical simulations is given in terms of the atomic band dispersion in the periodic potential of the optical lattice. Signatures of nonlinear effects due the atom-atom interaction are discussed in detail, such as atom optical limiting and atom optical bistability. For positive scattering lengths, matter waves propagating close to the top of the valence band are shown to be subject to modulational instability. A new scheme for the experimental generation of narrow bright gap solitons from a wide Bose-Einstein condensate is proposed: the modulational instability is seeded in a controlled way starting from the strongly modulated density profile of a standing matter wave and the solitonic nature of the generated pulses is checked from their shape and their collisional properties

Review and implications of relative permeability of CO2/brine systems and residual trapping of CO2

The adoption of carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a method of mitigating anthropogenic CO2 emissions will depend on the ability of initial geological storage projects to demonstrate secure containment of injected CO2. Potential leakage pathways, such as faults or degraded wells, increase the uncertainty of geological storage security. CCS as an industry is still in its infancy and until we have experience of industrial scale, long term CO2 storage projects, quantifying leakage event probabilities will be problematic. Laboratory measurements of residual saturation trapping, the immobilisation of isolated micro-bubbles of CO2 in reservoir pores, provides an evidence base to determine the fraction of injected CO2 that will remain trapped in the reservoir, even if a leakage event were to occur. Experimental results for sandstone, the most common target lithology for storage projects, demonstrate that 13–92% of injected CO2 can be residually trapped. Mineralisation, the only other geological trapping mechanism which guarantees permanent trapping of CO2, immobilises CO2 over hundreds to thousands of years. In comparison, residual trapping occurs over years to decades, a timescale which is more relevant to CCS projects during their operational phase and to any financial security mechanisms they require to secure storage permits

The size of juxtaluminal hypoechoic area in ultrasound images of asymptomatic carotid plaques predicts the occurrence of stroke

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the size of a juxtaluminal black (hypoechoic) area (JBA) in ultrasound images of asymptomatic carotid artery plaques predicts future ipsilateral ischemic stroke. Methods: A JBA was defined as an area of pixels with a grayscale value &lt;25 adjacent to the lumen without a visible echogenic cap after image normalization. The size of a JBA was measured in the carotid plaque images of 1121 patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis 50% to 99% in relation to the bulb (Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis and Risk of Stroke study); the patients were followed for up to 8 years. Results: The JBA had a linear association with future stroke rate. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was 0.816. Using Kaplan-Meier curves, the mean annual stroke rate was 0.4% in 706 patients with a JBA &lt;4 mm 2, 1.4% in 171 patients with a JBA 4 to 8 mm2, 3.2% in 46 patients with a JBA 8 to 10 mm2, and 5% in 198 patients with a JBA &gt;10 mm2 (P &lt;.001). In a Cox model with ipsilateral ischemic events (amaurosis fugax, transient ischemic attack [TIA], or stroke) as the dependent variable, the JBA (&lt;4 mm2, 4-8 mm2, &gt;8 mm2) was still significant after adjusting for other plaque features known to be associated with increased risk, including stenosis, grayscale median, presence of discrete white areas without acoustic shadowing indicating neovascularization, plaque area, and history of contralateral TIA or stroke. Plaque area and grayscale median were not significant. Using the significant variables (stenosis, discrete white areas without acoustic shadowing, JBA, and history of contralateral TIA or stroke), this model predicted the annual risk of stroke for each patient (range, 0.1%-10.0%). The average annual stroke risk was &lt;1% in 734 patients, 1% to 1.9% in 94 patients, 2% to 3.9% in 134 patients, 4% to 5.9% in 125 patients, and 6% to 10% in 34 patients. Conclusions: The size of a JBA is linearly related to the risk of stroke and can be used in risk stratification models. These findings need to be confirmed in future prospective studies or in the medical arm of randomized controlled studies in the presence of optimal medical therapy. In the meantime, the JBA may be used to select asymptomatic patients at high stroke risk for carotid endarterectomy and spare patients at low risk from an unnecessary operation