Visualization aspects of motion tracking and analysis of the outer surface of the left ventricle

The quantitative assessment of the motion and deformation of the heart is instrumental to diagnosis. We developed an accurate method for tracking and analysing the regional motion and deformation of the heart. To be of clinical value, the results must be visualized, and we paid much attention to all relevant visualization aspects

Texture-based Automated Quantification of Interstitial Lung Disease: Correlation With the Visual Score

Purpose of the Study: The quantification of various disease patterns in the lung parenchyma remains a challenge. In this study the texture analysis algorithm 3D-AMFM (Adaptive Multiple Feature Method) contained in the software PASS (University of Iowa) was applied with interstitial lung disease (ILD). We checked for the statistical accuracy and reliabity of the method by standard tests compared to visual scoring. Methods: Based on a Bayesian classifier, a training data base including texture patterns (normal, ground glass, honey combing, emphysema) from 1300 volumes of interest (VOIs; 151515 pixels) of 47 selected patients with mixed ILDs was built up. Another 18 patients with a typical thin-section CT pattern of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) (n=9) and nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) (n=9) were independently analyzed and visually quantified at 5 pre-established levels by two experienced chest radiologists. The same thin-section CT scans were analyzed with 3D-AMFM. Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the correlation between the visual scores and the computed results. Results: The mean extent of honeycombing, ground glass and emphysema was 5.4%, 43.5% and 2.1% by the visual score and 19.4%, 44.3% and 0.6% by the 3D-AMFM, respectively. There was close correlation between visual score and 3D-AMFM for both the extent of ground glass (P=0.546) and emphysema (P=0.099), but worse for the extent of honey combing (P=0.000837). Conclusions: The 3D-AMFM system is a promising and effective tool for ILD quantification, showing clinical acceptable correlation with human observer. The overestimation of honeycombing by 3D-AMFM is probably caused by small vessels and airways. The continuing development of the feature data base and the inclusion of further pathologic texture patterns will improve quantification of disease and provide objective measures of disease progression

Body Size, Body Proportions, and Mobility in the Tyrolean Iceman

Body mass and structural properties of the femoral and tibial midshafts of the “Iceman,” a late Neolithic (5200 BP) mummy found in the Tyrolean Alps, are determined from computed tomographic scans of his body, and compared with those of a sample of 139 males spanning the European early Upper Paleolithic through the Bronze Age. Two methods, based on femoral head breadth and estimated stature/bi-iliac (pelvic) breath, yield identical body-mass estimates of 61 kg for the Iceman. In combination with his estimated stature of 158 cm, this indicates a short but relatively wide or stocky body compared to our total sample. His femur is about average in strength compared to our late Neolithic (Eneolithic) males, but his tibia is well above average. His femur also shows adaptations for his relatively broad body (mediolateral strengthening), while his tibia shows adaptations for high mobility over rough terrain (anteroposterior strengthening). In many respects, his tibia more closely resembles those of European Mesolithic rather than Neolithic males, which may reflect a more mobile lifestyle than was characteristic of most Neolithic males, perhaps related to a pastoral subsistence strategy. There are indications that mobility in general declined between the European Mesolithic and late Neolithic, and that body size and shape may have become more variable throughout the continent following the Upper Paleolithic

Thickness Mapping of the Occipital Bone on CT-data –- a New Approach Applied on OH 9

A new approach for the analysis of cranial bone thickness is introduced. The study focuses on the occipital bone of modern humans and of a 1.25 Myr-old H. ergaster/erectus specimen from Olduvai Gorge (OH 9). A semiautomatic algorithm detects a multitude of thicknesses from CT-data of the investigated bones. We find that every bone is characterized by its own distribution pattern of cranial thickness, which is then analyzed statistically. The results demonstrate that the thickness distribution of the occipital bone of OH 9 is within the normal range of the H. sapiens sample (which itself shows a remarkably high variance). This contributes to a further analysis of phyletic differences of hominid morphology by including distribution patterns of thickness combined with aspects of functional anatomy