Cortical brain abnormalities in 4474 individuals with schizophrenia and 5098 control subjects via the enhancing neuro Imaging genetics through meta analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium

BACKGROUND: The profile of cortical neuroanatomical abnormalities in schizophrenia is not fully understood, despite hundreds of published structural brain imaging studies. This study presents the first meta-analysis of cortical thickness and surface area abnormalities in schizophrenia conducted by the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta Analysis) Schizophrenia Working Group. METHODS: The study included data from 4474 individuals with schizophrenia (mean age, 32.3 years; range, 11-78 years; 66% male) and 5098 healthy volunteers (mean age, 32.8 years; range, 10-87 years; 53% male) assessed with standardized methods at 39 centers worldwide. RESULTS: Compared with healthy volunteers, individuals with schizophrenia have widespread thinner cortex (left/right hemisphere: Cohen's d = -0.530/-0.516) and smaller surface area (left/right hemisphere: Cohen's d = -0.251/-0.254), with the largest effect sizes for both in frontal and temporal lobe regions. Regional group differences in cortical thickness remained significant when statistically controlling for global cortical thickness, suggesting regional specificity. In contrast, effects for cortical surface area appear global. Case-control, negative, cortical thickness effect sizes were two to three times larger in individuals receiving antipsychotic medication relative to unmedicated individuals. Negative correlations between age and bilateral temporal pole thickness were stronger in individuals with schizophrenia than in healthy volunteers. Regional cortical thickness showed significant negative correlations with normalized medication dose, symptom severity, and duration of illness and positive correlations with age at onset. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that the ENIGMA meta-analysis approach can achieve robust findings in clinical neuroscience studies; also, medication effects should be taken into account in future genetic association studies of cortical thickness in schizophrenia

Teilprojekt TP 3 - Tracking

Kap. 5 beschreibt die Forschungsthemen zum Schwerpunkt Tracking. Darunter ist das Erfassen der Position und Orientierung von Objekten bzw. des Anwenders im dreidimensionalen Raum zu verstehen. Die Arbeiten bilden damit die Grundlage für darauf aufbauende Funktionen wie beispielsweise die lagekorrekte Einblendung zusätzlicher Informationen oder die intuitive Interaktion durch Gesten. Neben Ansätzen zur Weiterentwicklung der Algorithmen des markerlosen Trackings werden ergänzende Sensoriken wie Wegaufnehmer an Robotern, Inertialsensoriken an Kameras betrachtet. Ein weiterer Ansatz untersucht die Hinzunahme von CAD-Daten zur Verbesserung des bildbasierten Trackings

Fusing Web Technologies & Augmented Reality

Within the German research project ARVIDA a large consortium of industrial Virtual and Augmented Reality users, of technology providing companies and research institutes cooperate on the establishment of highly flexible web-based reference architecture for Augmented Reality applications. The use of web technologies is motivated by modern web standards as WebGL or WebRTC supporting e.g. real time rendering of 3D-content of video streaming within Web-Browsers. Thereby, the use of Web technologies not only offers the possibility to develop applications platform and OS independent but it also facilitates the integration of Augmented Reality into industrial workflows or PDM environments. The developed reference architecture offers RESTful tracking, rendering and interaction services that foster the combination and exchange of different algorithms with the aim to fit the technology to the specific requirements of an AR-applications in an optimal way

Rechnergestützte Therapie unter Berücksichtigung patientenspezifischer Biomechanik

Computer-assisted methods have emerged in medical diagnosis and therapy planning. Thereby the planning often relies on a 3D model of the anatomical structures reconstructed from medical image data (CT, MRT, US). Within this dissertation the diagnostic possibilities are enhanced by combining the model generation of with a simulation of the patient specific biomechanics. Not only image data also biomechanical parameters are considered in the simulation. The pathologic function can be analyzed within the simulation, this analysis is combined with a description of the planned intervention and it results in a prediction of the therapy outcome and the change of functionality caused by the planned intervention. Using this approach different biomechanical phenomena have been examined in different medical application fields: Static analyses have been performed to specify an optimal prosthesis for the implantation of an artificial knee joint, a simulation of the patient specific jaw movement helps to detect occlusions and to verify the design of onlays and crowns in dental diagnostics. Stress-strain simulation is applied in spine surgery and flow simulation has been used in ENT medicine to analyze the patient-specific air flow in the nose. For the presented approaches not only the diagnostic method is presented also an evaluation strategy is outlined that can be applied to proof the significance of the simulation. The presented work results in an approach registering biomedical parameters in real-time and considering these parameters in a Virtual Reality based method for whiplash therapy

Innovative approaches in computer-assisted surgery

Total knee replacement (TKR) is a common orthopaedic surgical intervention and includes the removal of bone sections from the end of the femur and the top of the tibia for replacement by prosthetic components. Pain relief and functional improvement are predictable clinical results. But the accuracy of the alignment affects the surgical outcome and the longevity of the prosthesis. Hence, current total knee implantation systems attempt to align the knee joint in the mechanical axis for placement of the total knee components. These approaches use templates and plain radiographs for preoperative planning and alignment devices for bone cuts. To overcome the inherent inaccuracy of the presently used systems a computer-assisted planning system has been developed delivering the necessary control data for the intraoperative surgical robot system

instantreality - Virtual and Augmented Reality Applications for Industrial Use

Rapid development in processing power, graphic cards and mobile computers open up a wide domain for Mixed Reality applications. Thereby the Mixed Reality continuum covers the complete spectrum from Virtual Reality using immersive projection technology to Augmented Reality using mobile systems like smartphones and tablets. At the Fraunhofer IGD the Virtual and Augmented Reality framework instantreality (www.instantreality.org) has been developed as a single and consistent interface for AR/VR developers. This framework provides a comprehensive set of features to support classic Virtual Reality (VR) as well as mobile smartphone Augmented Reality (AR). The goal is to provide a very simple application interface which includes the latest research results in the fields of computer vision, computer graphics and 3D user interaction. The system design is based on industry standards to facilitate application development and deployment

The Virtual Reality Arthroscopy Training Simulator II

Arthroscopy has already become an irreplacable method in diagnostics. The arthroscope, with optics and light source, and the exploratory probe are inserted into the knee joint through two small incisions underneath the patella. Currently, the skills required for arthroscopy are taught through hands-on clinical experience. As arthroscopies became a more common procedure even in smaller hospitals, it became obvious that special training was necessary to guarantee qualification of the surgeons. On-the-job training proved to be insufficient. Therefore, research groups from the Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfallklinik Frankfurt am Main approached the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics to develop a training system for arthroscopy based on virtual reality (VR) techniques. Two main issues are addressed: the three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction process and the 3-D interaction. To provide the virtual environment, a realistic representation of the region of interest with all relevant anatomatical structures is required. Based on a magnetic resonance image sequence a realistic representation of the knee joint was obtained suitable for computer simulation. Two main components of the VR interface can be distinguished: the 3-D interaction to guide the surgical instruments and the 2-D graphical user interface for visual feedback and control of the session. Moreover, the 3-D interaction has to be realized by means of Virtual Reality techniques providing a simulation of an arthroscope and an intuitive handling of other surgical instruments. Currently, the main drawback of the developed simulator is the missing of haptic perception, especially of force feedback. In cooperation with the Department of Electro-Mechanical Construction at the Technical University Darmstadt a haptic display is designed and built for the VR arthroscopy training simulator. In parallel we developed a concept for the integration of the haptic display in a configurable way

instantreality - Virtual and Augmented Reality Applications for Industrial Use

Rapid development in processing power, graphic cards and mobile computers open up a wide domain for Mixed Reality applications. Thereby the Mixed Reality continuum covers the complete spectrum from Virtual Reality using immersive projection technology to Augmented Reality using mobile systems like smartphones and tablets. At the Fraunhofer IGD the Virtual and Augmented Reality framework instantreality (www.instantreality.org) has been developed as a single and consistent interface for AR/VR developers. This framework provides a comprehensive set of features to support classic Virtual Reality (VR) as well as mobile smartphone Augmented Reality (AR). The goal is to provide a very simple application interface which includes the latest research results in the fields of computer vision, computer graphics and 3D user interaction. The system design is based on industry standards to facilitate application development and deployment

The Virtual Reality Arthroscopy Training Simulator II

Arthroscopy has already become an irreplacable method in diagnostics. The arthroscope, with optics and light source, and the exploratory probe are inserted into the knee joint through two small incisions underneath the patella. Currently, the skills required for arthroscopy are taught through hands-on clinical experience. As arthroscopies became a more common procedure even in smaller hospitals, it became obvious that special training was necessary to guarantee qualification of the surgeons. On-the-job training proved to be insufficient. Therefore, research groups from the Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfallklinik Frankfurt am Main approached the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics to develop a training system for arthroscopy based on virtual reality (VR) techniques. Two main issues are addressed: the three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction process and the 3-D interaction. To provide the virtual environment, a realistic representation of the region of interest with all relevant anatomatical structures is required. Based on a magnetic resonance image sequence a realistic representation of the knee joint was obtained suitable for computer simulation. Two main components of the VR interface can be distinguished: the 3-D interaction to guide the surgical instruments and the 2-D graphical user interface for visual feedback and control of the session. Moreover, the 3-D interaction has to be realized by means of Virtual Reality techniques providing a simulation of an arthroscope and an intuitive handling of other surgical instruments. Currently, the main drawback of the developed simulator is the missing of haptic perception, especially of force feedback. In cooperation with the Department of Electro-Mechanical Construction at the Technical University Darmstadt a haptic display is designed and built for the VR arthroscopy training simulator. In parallel we developed a concept for the integration of the haptic display in a configurable way

Farbrealistisches Rendering: (TP 2.5)

Kap. 4 wendet sich den Themen Simulation und Rendering zu. Ziel ist es, Entscheidungen in zunehmendem Maße an virtuellen Modellen zu treffen. Dazu müssen sowohl die funktionellen Eigenschaften als auch die visuellen Eigenschaften virtueller Modelle und Darstellungen weiter verbessert werden. Schwerpunkte der Forschungsarbeiten sind die Simulation flexibler Bauteile sowie die Erstellung von echtzeitfähigen Menschmodellen. Zur Verbesserung der visuellen Darstellung werden multispektrales Rendering, Methoden zur Farbkalibrierung und Bild-in-Bild-Technologien zur Erhöhung der lokalen Auflösung der Bildschirmdarstellung betrachtet