Methods for quantitative assessment of femoral antroposcopic landmarks using hand-held laser scanner

Purpose : This study is focused on an innovative approach to the numerical assessment of gluteal tuberosity through 3D visualization and its use as sex discriminant.Materials and methods : The study was based on an aggregate of 40 right femora, male and female in equal proportion. The surface of tuberositas glutea femoris is captured in a 3D image, using a Hand-held Laser Scanner (FastSCAN). Afterwards, the assessment contains three ways. Firstly, the result is a 3D shape comprising two tetrahedrons with common base. Therefore, the volume of the roughness is approximately equal to the total of the volumes of these two tetrahedrons (volume). Secondly, several points /markers/ are placed on the surface of the roughness of the 3D image. After that we create two-dimensional shape which is a function of the three-dimensional one. The area of the formed shape is measured (area) as well as its greatest elevation (elevation). Thirdly, we assess the position angle of gluteal tuberosity (angle C). The results were processed with SPSS 17.0 using Discriminant Function Analysis.Results : If the predictors (volume, area, elevation and angle) are included in the model, than the percentage of cases classified correctly is 95%.Conclusion : This score coincides with world results based on various anthropometric indices of the femur

Axillary Fossa Variations

Knowledge of muscular, vascular, and neural variations in the axilla is of great clinical importance, especially in mastectomies, breast reconstruction, and axillary bypass operations. The aim of our study is to emphasize on multiple variability of the axillary structures and its clinical importance. In this paper we report some varieties of the axilla, found in two cadavers, including: the axillary arch muscle of Langer; atypical inflow of cephalic vein into external jugular vein; variations in branching of brachial plexus. In one of the axillae we discover an availability of muscular fibers bridging between pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi muscles. The second finding though more rare than the first one is of particular importance for cardiac implant techniques still treating the cephalic vein as a target for venesection. The branching varieties of the nerves in the axilla are presented by musculocutaneus nerve starting from median nerve. Identification of the axillary arch and its variations may help avoid accidental injury to axillary vessels and the brachial plexus during surgical procedures. Some device implanters still prefer to cut down the cephalic vein as the initial approach to venous access for transvenous placement of pacemaker or defibrillator leads out of concern for the risk of pneumothorax, subclavian crush, and other possible complications. Anesthesiologists administering local anesthetic blocks and surgeons operating in the axilla should be aware of nerve varieties to avoid iatrogenic injury. We conclude that more wide concern of the pattern of the axillary fossa structures is necessary to escape inadvertent accidents

Sex Estimation from the Upper End of Bulgarian Femur Using 3D Hand-Held Laser Scanner

The present study aimed to establish standards for determining sex from the upper end of the femur in a modern Bulgarian population focused on an innovative approach to the numerical assessment of gluteal tuberosity through 3D visualization and its use as a sex predictor. The sample is composed of 156 femora. Seven measurements were taken: vertical head diameter, transverse head diameter, maximum head diameter, head circumference, sagittal subtrochanteric diameter, transverse subtrochanteric diameter and supero-inferior neck diameter. The surface of gluteal tuberosity was captured in a 3D image, using a hand-held laser scanner. A 3D shape comprising two tetrahedrons with a common base was constructed. The volume of the rough area of muscle insertion was approximately equal to the sum of the area of volumes of these two tetrahedrons (volume). Several points were placed on the surface of the area of roughness on the 3D image. Based on these points a two-dimensional shape was created which was a function of the three-dimensional one. Thus, volume, area of the newly-formed shape, its greatest elevation and the three angles between the constructed planes were used as sex predictors. The mean values of all metric and 3D measurements showed significant differences between genders p<0.001, volume p=0.02. According to stepwise discriminant analysis the combination of head circumference, sagittal subtrochanteric diameter, transverse subtrochanteric diameter and supero-inferior neck diameter provided 88.5% accuracy. Using the same analysis the combination of volume, elevation and angle b1 provided the best result with 93.0% accuracy

Sex -related differences in the lips and mouth area of Buglarians - an investigation by 3D laser scanning

Purpose : The objective of this study was to supply information about normal sex-related dimensions of the mouth area and lips among contemporary Bulgarian population (linear distances, ratios, angles, area, volume) and compare the results with other populations.Materials and methods : The three-dimensional coordinates of several soft-tissue landmarks on the lips and mouth were obtained by a non-invasive method with FastSCAN in 16 male and 23 female healthy subjects aged 21-35 years. From the landmarks, linear distances (mouth width, width of the philtrum, vermilion heights of the upper, lower and total lips, total lip height), the vermilion height-to-mouth width ratio, areas (vermilion of the upper, lower and total lip) and volumes (upper, lower, and total lip volume) were calculated and averaged for sex.Results : Comparisons were performed by SPSS 17.0. Data collected in the present investigation could serve as a database for the quantitative description of human lip morphology during normal growth, development and aging. Conclusion. Forensic applications (evaluations of trauma, craniofacial alterations, teratogenic- induced conditions, facial reconstruction, aging of living and dead persons, personal identification) may also benefit from age- and sex-based data banks

A convergent algorithm for the hybrid problem of reconstructing conductivity from minimal interior data

We consider the hybrid problem of reconstructing the isotropic electric conductivity of a body $\Omega$ from interior Current Density Imaging data obtainable using MRI measurements. We only require knowledge of the magnitude $|J|$ of one current generated by a given voltage $f$ on the boundary $\partial\Omega$. As previously shown, the corresponding voltage potential u in $\Omega$ is a minimizer of the weighted least gradient problem $$u=\hbox{argmin} \{\int_{\Omega}a(x)|\nabla u|: u \in H^{1}(\Omega), \ \ u|_{\partial \Omega}=f\},$$ with $a(x)= |J(x)|$. In this paper we present an alternating split Bregman algorithm for treating such least gradient problems, for $a\in L^2(\Omega)$ non-negative and $f\in H^{1/2}(\partial \Omega)$. We give a detailed convergence proof by focusing to a large extent on the dual problem. This leads naturally to the alternating split Bregman algorithm. The dual problem also turns out to yield a novel method to recover the full vector field $J$ from knowledge of its magnitude, and of the voltage $f$ on the boundary. We then present several numerical experiments that illustrate the convergence behavior of the proposed algorithm

Coupled Physics Electrical Conductivity Imaging

Coupled physics electrical conductivity imaging utilizes interactions between the electric and some other fields, thereby providing useful interior functionals. Combining the interior and boundary data, such couplings are aimed to overcome low resolution inherent to the traditional electrical impedance tomography. In this paper we present a brief overview of some physical and mathematical aspects of coupled physics electrical conductivity imaging