Final report of HENRE II 2005-2008

HENRE is a Socrates Erasmus Thematic Network co-financed by the EC and coordinated by the University of Cumbria, UK. The original HENRE Thematic Network (2002-2005) proved to be a valuable vehicle for the commencement of the development of a European dimension in radiography. The rationale for HENRE II has been further involvement in identifying the issues that surround radiography education in the different countries which make up Europe. There are many differences in the type, mode, standards and coverage of educational programmes across individual countries and are in some ways related to the roots from which the profession developed and the traditional approaches to health service provision. Consequently mutual academic and professional recognition is not yet applicable throughout the EU. The development of the Tuning methodology for educational structures in Europe arising in response to the Bologna agreement has provided the opportunity for radiography through the identification and development of a pan European generic and subject specific competencies approach to 1st cycle education. In addition, a focus on a learning outcomes approach to education at both programme and modular level is an area which requires further dissemination. In some European contexts, graduate level radiographers are strongly encouraged to undertake an expanded role in areas conventionally seen as being within the province of a medically qualified practitioner. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) has become a registerable requirement for radiographers in some countries, the CPD survey undertaken within HENRE I has provided the present project with details of the hourages, language, scope and delivery methods acceptable for CPD for radiographers in Europe. Lack of opportunities to progress to 2nd cycle in radiography programmes are developed though the initiation of appropriate European modules including a possible masters programme suitable for entry into Erasmus Mundus. Research and radiography – the extent to which the radiography curriculum is influenced through research undertaken by academics avoidance of isolation of researchers and consideration of researcher mobility. A separate strand looking at radiation protection issues and research and communication with patients on the possible deleterious effects arising from examinations using ionizing radiations. Importance of a high quality service to all in a safe environment with professionals purposefully educated and able to communicate with service users at the appropriate level

Classification of regions in CT images of early brain ishemic stroke

The problem of the automatic recognition of the brain stroke in the early stage is addressed. Each pixel of a CT scan is classified either to ishemic stroke class or the rest of the image using supervised classification strategy. The classes of the image regions are described by the prototypical gray level histograms. For feature extraction the training images are transformed to the new similarity space, where the training of a classifier and classification is performed.[...]Kauno medicinos universitetasKauno technologijos universiteta

The continuous professional development (CPD) requirements of radiographers in Europe: An initial survey

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate via a questionnaire factors relevant to continuous professional development (CPD) in twelve countries in Europe. The study was carried using co-funding from the European Commission by members of the Higher Education Network for Radiography in Europe (HENRE). Results Seven hundred and thirty-four individual questionnaires were circulated with a return rate of 75%. CPD was important to most radiographers, although longer qualified radiographers assigned less importance to CPD. Six to ten hours monthly devoted to CPD was the preferred amount of study, with 7 hours per month being the mean time radiographers were prepared to devote to CPD. A mixture of paper, e-learning and internet based materials in the native language of the radiographer would be the most popular method for CPD delivery. English was the most popular non-native language for CPD materials. More recently qualified radiographers were able to use a non-native language to study. Cross sectional imaging (CT and MRI) was the most popular area for CPD training although training in digital imaging and trauma were also much sought after. Conclusion This study identified the potential for European-wide core CPD provision for radiography practitioners. There may be a role for the HENRE network in co-ordinating this. Whilst tailoring CPD to the above requirements would be beneficial it must be remembered that antagonists to CPD exist, e.g. cost, work and family constraints

Statistical investigation of the wavelet-based lossy medical image compression technique

Medical digital images have informational redundancy. Both the amount of memory for image storage and their transmission time could be reduced if image compression techniques are applied. The techniques are divided into two groups: lossless (compression ratio does not exceed 3 times) and lossy ones. Compression ratio of lossy techniques depends on visibility of distortions. It is a variable parameter and it can exceed 20 times. A compression study was performed to evaluate the compression schemes, which were based on the wavelet transform. The goal was to develop a set of recommendations for an acceptable compression ratio for different medical image modalities: ultrasound cardiac images and X-ray angiographic images. The acceptable image quality after compression was evaluated by physicians. Statistical analysis of the evaluation results was used to form a set of recommendations