310 research outputs found
Native Texas Ornamental Bunchgrass Performance Under Water Restrictions
Growing human populations and increasing drought conditions compete with ornamental grassland landscapes for freshwater resources. With outdoor use as the largest consumer of municipal water, irrigation restrictions will likely be increasingly implemented, restricting ornamental municipal grasslands. Substituting irrigation-dependent exotic grasses with drought-adapted native bunchgrasses could help mitigate this problem. Greenhouse (GH) trials revealed exotic ornamental bunchgrasses declined faster than natives under progressive water stress, with natives performing best under moderate water with maximum water treatments decreasing aesthetic quality. There was wide variability among accessions, indicating promising genetic diversity from which to select drought resistance for ornamentals. Native grasses performed best in field trials with supplemental irrigation during warm-season growth and restricted irrigation during the cool season. In northcentral Texas, native little bluestem (LBS; Schizachyrium scoparium L.) accessions outperformed exotics in health and aesthetics across environments. Most response variables were species as well as accession dependent. Select LBS accessions are recommended for commercialization for municipal grasslands due to superior field performance under water restrictions. Replacing favored water-intensive exotic grasses with adapted native grasses could help reduce irrigation water use
Creation of 3D Digital Anthropomorphic Phantoms which Model Actual Patient Non-rigid Body Motion as Determined from MRI and Position Tracking Studies of Volunteers
Background: Patient motion during emission imaging can create artifacts in the reconstructed emission distributions, which may mislead the diagnosis. For example, in myocardial-perfusion imaging, these artifacts can be mistaken for defects. Various software and hardware approaches have been developed to detect and compensate for motion. There are various ways of testing the effectiveness of motion correction methods applied in emission tomography, including the use of realistic digital anthropomorphic phantoms.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to create 3D digital anthropomorphic phantoms based on MRI data of volunteers undergoing a series of clinically relevant motions. These phantoms with combined position tracking were used to investigate both imaging-data-driven and motion tracking strategies to estimate and correct for patient motion.
Methods: MRI scans were obtained of volunteers undergoing a series of clinically relevant movements. During the MRI, the motions were recorded by near-infra-red cameras tracking using external markers on the chest and abdomen. Individual-specific extended cardiac-torso (XCAT) phantoms were created fit to our volunteer MRI imaging data representing pre- and post-motion states. These XCAT phantoms were then used to generate activity and attenuation distributions. Monte Carlo methods will then be performed to simulate SPECT acquisitions, which will be used to evaluate various motion estimation and correction strategies.
Results: Three volunteers were scanned in the MRI with concurrent external motion tracking. Each volunteer performed five separate motions including an axial slide, roll, shoulder twist, spine bend, and arm motion. These MRI scans were then manually digitalized into 3D anthropomorphic XCAT phantoms. Activity and attenuation distributions were created for each XCAT phantom, representing fifteen individual-specific motions.
Conclusions: Our results will be combined with the external motion tracking data to determine if external motion tracking accurately reflects heart position in patients undergoing cardiac SPECT imaging. This data will also be used to evaluate other motion correction methods in the future
Generation of annotated multimodal ground truth datasets for abdominal medical image registration
Sparsity of annotated data is a major limitation in medical image processing
tasks such as registration. Registered multimodal image data are essential for
the diagnosis of medical conditions and the success of interventional medical
procedures. To overcome the shortage of data, we present a method that allows
the generation of annotated multimodal 4D datasets. We use a CycleGAN network
architecture to generate multimodal synthetic data from the 4D extended
cardiac-torso (XCAT) phantom and real patient data. Organ masks are provided by
the XCAT phantom, therefore the generated dataset can serve as ground truth for
image segmentation and registration. Realistic simulation of respiration and
heartbeat is possible within the XCAT framework. To underline the usability as
a registration ground truth, a proof of principle registration is performed.
Compared to real patient data, the synthetic data showed good agreement
regarding the image voxel intensity distribution and the noise characteristics.
The generated T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography
(CT), and cone beam CT (CBCT) images are inherently co-registered. Thus, the
synthetic dataset allowed us to optimize registration parameters of a
multimodal non-rigid registration, utilizing liver organ masks for evaluation.
Our proposed framework provides not only annotated but also multimodal
synthetic data which can serve as a ground truth for various tasks in medical
imaging processing. We demonstrated the applicability of synthetic data for the
development of multimodal medical image registration algorithms.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. This work has been published in the
International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery volum
Simulating Cardiac Fluid Dynamics in the Human Heart
Cardiac fluid dynamics fundamentally involves interactions between complex
blood flows and the structural deformations of the muscular heart walls and the
thin, flexible valve leaflets. There has been longstanding scientific,
engineering, and medical interest in creating mathematical models of the heart
that capture, explain, and predict these fluid-structure interactions. However,
existing computational models that account for interactions among the blood,
the actively contracting myocardium, and the cardiac valves are limited in
their abilities to predict valve performance, resolve fine-scale flow features,
or use realistic descriptions of tissue biomechanics. Here we introduce and
benchmark a comprehensive mathematical model of cardiac fluid dynamics in the
human heart. A unique feature of our model is that it incorporates
biomechanically detailed descriptions of all major cardiac structures that are
calibrated using tensile tests of human tissue specimens to reflect the heart's
microstructure. Further, it is the first fluid-structure interaction model of
the heart that provides anatomically and physiologically detailed
representations of all four cardiac valves. We demonstrate that this
integrative model generates physiologic dynamics, including realistic
pressure-volume loops that automatically capture isovolumetric contraction and
relaxation, and predicts fine-scale flow features. None of these outputs are
prescribed; instead, they emerge from interactions within our comprehensive
description of cardiac physiology. Such models can serve as tools for
predicting the impacts of medical devices or clinical interventions. They also
can serve as platforms for mechanistic studies of cardiac pathophysiology and
dysfunction, including congenital defects, cardiomyopathies, and heart failure,
that are difficult or impossible to perform in patients
Patient-specific radiation dose and cancer risk estimation in CT: Part II. Application to patients: Patient-specific CT dose and risk: Application to patients
Purpose: Current methods for estimating and reporting radiation dose from CT examinations are largely patient-generic; the body size and hence dose variation from patient to patient is not reflected. Furthermore, the current protocol designs rely on dose as a surrogate for the risk of cancer incidence, neglecting the strong dependence of risk on age and gender. The purpose of this study was to develop a method for estimating patient-specific radiation dose and cancer risk from CT examinations
Articulated Whole-Body Atlases for Small Animal Image Analysis: Construction and Applications
Bone and mineral researc
Patient-specific radiation dose and cancer risk estimation in CT: Part I. Development and validation of a Monte Carlo program: Patient-specific CT dose and risk: Monte Carlo program
Purpose: Radiation-dose awareness and optimization in CT can greatly benefit from a dose-reporting system that provides dose and risk estimates specific to each patient and each CT examination. As the first step toward patient-specific dose and risk estimation, this article aimed to develop a method for accurately assessing radiation dose from CT examinations
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