326 research outputs found
Using CycleGANs for effectively reducing image variability across OCT devices and improving retinal fluid segmentation
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has become the most important imaging
modality in ophthalmology. A substantial amount of research has recently been
devoted to the development of machine learning (ML) models for the
identification and quantification of pathological features in OCT images. Among
the several sources of variability the ML models have to deal with, a major
factor is the acquisition device, which can limit the ML model's
generalizability. In this paper, we propose to reduce the image variability
across different OCT devices (Spectralis and Cirrus) by using CycleGAN, an
unsupervised unpaired image transformation algorithm. The usefulness of this
approach is evaluated in the setting of retinal fluid segmentation, namely
intraretinal cystoid fluid (IRC) and subretinal fluid (SRF). First, we train a
segmentation model on images acquired with a source OCT device. Then we
evaluate the model on (1) source, (2) target and (3) transformed versions of
the target OCT images. The presented transformation strategy shows an F1 score
of 0.4 (0.51) for IRC (SRF) segmentations. Compared with traditional
transformation approaches, this means an F1 score gain of 0.2 (0.12).Comment: * Contributed equally (order was defined by flipping a coin)
--------------- Accepted for publication in the "IEEE International Symposium
on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI) 2019
Contributions of temporal encodings of voicing, voicelessness, fundamental frequency, and amplitude variation to audiovisual and auditory speech perception
Auditory and audio-visual speech perception was investigated using auditory signals of invariant spectral envelope that temporally encoded the presence of voiced and voiceless excitation, variations in amplitude envelope and F-0. In experiment 1, the contribution of the timing of voicing was compared in consonant identification to the additional effects of variations in F-0 and the amplitude of voiced speech. In audio-visual conditions only, amplitude variation slightly increased accuracy globally and for manner features. F-0 variation slightly increased overall accuracy and manner perception in auditory and audio-visual conditions. Experiment 2 examined consonant information derived from the presence and amplitude variation of voiceless speech in addition to that from voicing, F-0, and voiced speech amplitude. Binary indication of voiceless excitation improved accuracy overall and for voicing and manner. The amplitude variation of voiceless speech produced only a small increment in place of articulation scores. A final experiment examined audio-visual sentence perception using encodings of voiceless excitation and amplitude variation added to a signal representing voicing and F-0. There was a contribution of amplitude variation to sentence perception, but not of voiceless excitation. The timing of voiced and voiceless excitation appears to be the major temporal cues to consonant identity. (C) 1999 Acoustical Society of America. [S0001-4966(99)01410-1]
Stable registration of pathological 3D-OCT scans using retinal vessels
We propose a multiple scanner vendor registration method for pathological retinal 3D spectral domain optical coherence tomography volumes based on Myronenko’s Coherent Point Drift and our automated vessel shadow segmentation. Coherent point drift is applied to the segmented retinal vessel point sets used as landmarks to generate the registration parameters required. In contrast to other registration methods, our solution incorporates a landmark detection and extraction method that specifically limits the extraction of false positives and a registration method capable of handling any such noise in the landmark point sets. Our experiments show modified Hausdorff distance is reduced by a minimum of 91% between target and registered vessel point sets with at least 94% of bifurcations correctly overlapping based on ground truth, a significant improvement over current methods
U2-Net: A Bayesian U-Net model with epistemic uncertainty feedback for photoreceptor layer segmentation in pathological OCT scans
In this paper, we introduce a Bayesian deep learning based model for
segmenting the photoreceptor layer in pathological OCT scans. Our architecture
provides accurate segmentations of the photoreceptor layer and produces
pixel-wise epistemic uncertainty maps that highlight potential areas of
pathologies or segmentation errors. We empirically evaluated this approach in
two sets of pathological OCT scans of patients with age-related macular
degeneration, retinal vein oclussion and diabetic macular edema, improving the
performance of the baseline U-Net both in terms of the Dice index and the area
under the precision/recall curve. We also observed that the uncertainty
estimates were inversely correlated with the model performance, underlying its
utility for highlighting areas where manual inspection/correction might be
needed.Comment: Accepted for publication at IEEE International Symposium on
Biomedical Imaging (ISBI) 201
Automated Fovea Detection in Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Scans of Exudative Macular Disease
In macular spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) volumes, detection of the foveal center is required for accurate and reproducible follow-up studies, structure function correlation, and measurement grid positioning. However, disease can cause severe obscuring or deformation of the fovea, thus presenting a major challenge in automated detection. We propose a fully automated fovea detection algorithm to extract the fovea position in SD-OCT volumes of eyes with exudative maculopathy. The fovea is classified into 3 main appearances to both specify the detection algorithm used and reduce computational complexity. Based on foveal type classification, the fovea position is computed based on retinal nerve fiber layer thickness. Mean absolute distance between system and clinical expert annotated fovea positions from a dataset comprised of 240 SD-OCT volumes was 162.3 µm in cystoid macular edema and 262 µm in nAMD. The presented method has cross-vendor functionality, while demonstrating accurate and reliable performance close to typical expert interobserver agreement. The automatically detected fovea positions may be used as landmarks for intra- and cross-patient registration and to create a joint reference frame for extraction of spatiotemporal features in “big data.” Furthermore, reliable analyses of retinal thickness, as well as retinal structure function correlation, may be facilitated
The difficult doctor? Characteristics of physicians who report frustration with patients: an analysis of survey data
BACKGROUND: Literature on difficult doctor-patient relationships has focused on the "difficult patient." Our objective was to determine physician and practice characteristics associated with greater physician-reported frustration with patients. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of the Physicians Worklife Survey, which surveyed a random national sample of physicians. Participants were 1391 family medicine, general internal medicine, and medicine subspecialty physicians. The survey assessed physician and practice characteristics, including stress, depression and anxiety symptoms, practice setting, work hours, case-mix, and control over administrative and clinical practice. Physicians estimated the percentage of their patients who were "generally frustrating to deal with." We categorized physicians by quartile of reported frustrating patients and compared characteristics of physicians in the top quartile to those in the other three quartiles. We used logistic regression to model physician characteristics associated with greater frustration. RESULTS: In unadjusted analyses, physicians who reported high frustration with patients were younger (p < 0.001); worked more hours per week (p = 0.041); and had more symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety (p < 0.004 for all). In the final model, factors independently associated with high frustration included age < 40 years, work hours > 55 per week, higher stress, practice in a medicine subspeciality, and greater number of patients with psychosocial problems or substance abuse. CONCLUSION: Personal and practice characteristics of physicians who report high frustration with patients differ from those of other physicians. Understanding factors contributing to physician frustration with patients may allow us to improve the quality of patient-physician relationships
Biosemiotics, politics and Th.A. Sebeok’s move from linguistics to semiotics
This paper will focus on the political implications for the language sciences of Sebeok’s move from linguistics to a global semiotic perspective, a move that ultimately resulted in biosemiotics. The paper will seek to make more explicit the political bearing of a biosemiotic perspective in the language sciences and the human sciences in general. In particular, it will discuss the definition of language inherent in Sebeok’s project and the fundamental re-drawing of the grounds of linguistic debate heralded by Sebeok’s embrace of the concept of modelling. Thus far, the political co-ordinates of the biosemiotic project have not really been made explicit. This paper will therefore seek to outline
1. how biosemiotics enables us to reconfigure our understanding of the role of language in culture;
2. how exaptation is central to the evolution of language and communication, rather than adaptation;
3. how communication is the key issue in biosphere, rather than language, not just because communication includes language but because the language sciences often refer to language as if it were mere “chatter”, “tropes” and “figures of speech”;
4. how biosemiotics, despite its seeming “neutrality” arising from its transdisciplinarity, is thoroughly political;
5. how the failure to see the implications of the move from linguistics to semiotics arises from the fact that biosemiotics is devoid of old style politics, which is based on representation (devoid of experience) and “construction of [everything] in discourse” (which is grounded in linguistics, not communication study).
In contrast to the post-“linguistic turn” idea that the world is “constructed in discourse”, we will argue that biosemiotics entails a reconfiguration of the polis and, in particular, offers the chance to completely reconceptualise ideology
Cognitive and autonomic dysfunction measures in normal controls, white coat and borderline hypertension
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>White coat hypertension (WCHT) is a significant clinical condition with haemodynamic differences and presence of functional changes. We aim to compare cognitive and autonomic dysfunction variables (heart rate variability) between subjects with normal blood pressure (controls), WCHT, and borderline hypertension (BLH).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a cross-sectional study in a cohort of 69 subjects (mean age ± SD; 38.2 ±10.8 years) comprising comparable number of normal controls, WCHT, and BLH. We measured clinic and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), cognitive function parameters, and heart rate variability (HRV). All subjects underwent 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiography monitoring which was analyzed for HRV measurements. We performed a routine echocardiography (ECHO) for all subjects.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Multiple comparison between the three groups revealed significant (p < 0.04) differences in mean day-time ABPM (systolic and diastolic). In the state anxiety inventory (SAI), both subjects with WCHT and BLH had significantly (p < 0.006) higher anxiety levels than the control group. In memory tasks WCHT subjects scored significantly (p < 0.004) lower in comparison with the other two groups. WCHT significantly (p < 0.001) performed less in memory tests, whereas BLH subjects had significantly (p < 0.001) lower reaction time. We found a significant (p < 0.05) difference in the 24-hour RMSSD and SDNN between the three groups. There was significant correlation between 24-hour RMSSD and computer CANTAB scores. The Echocardiography assessment revealed no significant differences in LV mass indices and diastolic function.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>WCHT and BLH subjects showed lower cognitive performance and higher levels of anxiety when compared to controls. Autonomic function reflected by HRV indices was lower in WCHT and BLH in contrast to control, though not significantly. Our results suggest that WCHT may not be a benign condition as it may contribute to the overall risk for cardiovascular disease and LV damage. Longitudinal studies of patients with WCHT should clarify the transient, persistent or the progressive nature of this condition.</p
- …