Automated Segmentation of Retinal Vasculature

Image processing, analysis and computer vision techniques are increasing in all fields of medical science, and are especially applicable to modern ophthalmology. Automated image segmentation processing has the prospective for early detection of many diseases like the diabetes, by detecting changes in blood vessel in the retina images . The focus of this poster is on the automated segmentation of vessels in color images of the retina by describes the development of segmentation methodology in the processing of retinal blood vessel images using the region growing method and the Powerlaw transformation . The retina is the only location where blood vessels can be directly visualized non-invasively in vivo. Inspection of the retinal vasculature may reveal hypertension, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. In the same time with suitable feature extraction and automated classification methods, this segmentation method could form the basis of a quick and accurate test for the retina image, which would have many benefits for improved the access to screening people for risk or presence of diseases

SKINCure: An Innovative Smart Phone-Based Application to Assist in Melanoma Early Detection and Prevention

Melanoma spreads through metastasis, and therefore it has been proven to be very fatal. Statistical evidence has revealed that the majority of deaths resulting from skin cancer are as a result of melanoma. Further investigations have shown that the survival rates in patients depend on the stage of the infection; early detection and intervention of melanoma implicates higher chances of cure. Clinical diagnosis and prognosis of melanoma is challenging since the processes are prone to misdiagnosis and inaccuracies due to doctors’ subjectivity. This paper proposes an innovative and fully functional smart-phone based application to assist in melanoma early detection and prevention. The application has two major components; the first component is a real-time alert to help users prevent skin burn caused by sunlight; a novel equation to compute the time for skin to burn is thereby introduced. The second component is an automated image analysis module which contains image acquisition, hair detection and exclusion, lesion segmentation, feature extraction, and classification. The proposed system exploits PH2 Dermoscopy image database from Pedro Hispano Hospital for development and testing purposes. The image database contains a total of 200 dermoscopy images of lesions, including normal, atypical, and melanoma cases. The experimental results show that the proposed system is efficient, achieving classification of the normal, atypical and melanoma images with accuracy of 96.3%, 95.7% and 97.5%, respectively

A Hyperbolic Model of Neuronal Spiking Patterns in Parkinson’s Disease

This poster was also presented on 2015-04-30 at Northeast Section American Society for Engineering Education 2015 in Boston, MA.To investigate how different types of neurons in brain can produce well known spiking patterns, a new computationally efficient model is proposed in this poster. The model can demonstrate various neuronal behavior observed in vivo such as abnormal pattern of subthalamic nucleus (STN) in Parkinson’s disease. The irregular and arrhythmic behavior of STN firing pattern under normal conditions can easily be transformed to those caused by Parkinson’s disease through simple parameter modifications. This model can explicitly show the change of neuronal activity patterns in Parkinson’s disease, which may eventually lead to effective bio-chip designs that can be used to assist in the control, treatment, and ultimately, the cure of the disease

Improving teaching tools and techniques of teaching graduate engineering courses based on students’ learning styles and multiple intelligences

© ASEE 2009Our study proposes to improve teaching tools and techniques of teaching graduate engineering courses using students’ Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences (MI). Thirty volunteers answered commercially available Learning Style and MI tests in our Electrical Engineering department. Learning styles are grouped as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (VAK) and are determined by the VAK learning style test. Learning styles are reflected in different academic strengths, weaknesses, and skills. Studies show that the differences between learning styles will affect both a person’s choice of profession and their success in this profession, both in education and in the world of business. People who work at something that fits their learning style have a better chance of becoming successful in it

Automatic License Plate Location and Recognition Algorithm for Color Images

An automatic car license plate location and recognition system has a great importance in today's industrial world for intelligent transport systems. Any automatic license plate location and recognition system has two main stages: (1) the license plate location and (2) the license plate recognition (LPR). The license plate location is the most important stage in the LPR systems which affects the system's accuracy, directly. Most of the previous methods are based on gray images but the color information is also an important factor to locate the license plate. In this project, we propose a novel license plate location algorithm for color images. The proposed algorithm is based on the brake lights and headlights of car. At the recognition stage, a well known and accepted character recognition algorithm has been used

STEM for Teacher Educators

This project addresses the challenge of enhancing the ability of pre- and in-service teachers to provide STEM education. The goal is to bolster the science, technology and engineering components in K-12 STEM-education by using digital audio and image processing technologies. The intellectual merit and broader impact of this project transcends the scope of the University of Bridgeport and Bridgeport schools, and it includes advanced discovery and understanding, creative and original concepts, extensive resources, participation of under-served populations, and dissemination of technological understanding

Case Study: Development and Assessment of a STEM-Based Course for Teacher Educators

DOI: 10.5923/j.edu.20130303.02It is essential that teachers understand the content of the subjects they teach. A particular challenge in a graduate program for secondary mathematics and science teachers is how to provide teacher candidates with subject matter content, on a graduate level, that does not replicate undergraduate courses. The School of Education and School of Engineering designed a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) course for teacher educators for students of the School of Education. Designed course uses audio and image processing techniques and technologies to teach fundamental STEM concepts to secondary pre- and in- service mathematics and science teachers. Designed to enrich the teaching and learning experience, the course activities include: (a) Lectures and Discussions, (b) Lab activities: Hands-on computer experience, and (c) Team Project. In this paper, we will present the developed course outline, the response of our students who are pre- and in-service teachers, and the lessons learned by the instructors

Using Real-Life Cases to Teach Students About Electric Burns Part I Contact Burns

We consider the topic of the burning of human flesh caused by electricity. We consider electrothermal burns in this paper and non-contact and arcing burns in the second paper. We teach students that contrary to popular thought, external burning can be good (or at least the lesser evil), since it signifies a resistance to possible damage to internal organs, especially the heart. We further study the effects of contact area and time of application on the skin of the human involved in a medical or health-related situation. Finally, we focus on “good” burning of the human flesh, i.e. we discuss the ubiquitous presence of Electro-surgery machines in the modern hospital operating room

Using Real-Life Cases to Teach Students About Electric Burns Part II Secondary burns, including arcing burns

We consider the topic of non-contact electric burning (arcing burns) and secondary electric burning events. Our Electrical Engineering students and our Biomedical Engineering students learn from these real-life cases both the proper protocols to follow for electric safety as well as the basic Physics behind electric burning events. Protocols involve the use of the NEC (National Electric Code) to define safe procedures for the implementation of even the simplest electric circuit. Real-life cases involve electric fires and arcing, as well as water-induced fires and power line burns to humans