26,146 research outputs found
Acousto-electrical speckle pattern in Lorentz force electrical impedance tomography
Ultrasound speckle is a granular texture pattern appearing in ultrasound
imaging. It can be used to distinguish tissues and identify pathologies.
Lorentz force electrical impedance tomography is an ultrasound-based medical
imaging technique of the tissue electrical conductivity. It is based on the
application of an ultrasound wave in a medium placed in a magnetic field and on
the measurement of the induced electric current due to Lorentz force. Similarly
to ultrasound imaging, we hypothesized that a speckle could be observed with
Lorentz force electrical impedance tomography imaging. In this study, we first
assessed the theoretical similarity between the measured signals in Lorentz
force electrical impedance tomography and in ultrasound imaging modalities. We
then compared experimentally the signal measured in both methods using an
acoustic and electrical impedance interface. Finally, a bovine muscle sample
was imaged using the two methods. Similar speckle patterns were observed. This
indicates the existence of an "acousto-electrical speckle" in the Lorentz force
electrical impedance tomography with spatial characteristics driven by the
acoustic parameters but due to electrical impedance inhomogeneities instead of
acoustic ones as is the case of ultrasound imaging
Three Dimensional Electrical Impedance Tomography
The electrical resistivity of mammalian tissues varies widely and is correlated with physiological
function. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) can be used to probe such variations in vivo, and offers a
non-invasive means of imaging the internal conductivity distribution of the human body. But the
computational complexity of EIT has severe practical limitations, and previous work has been restricted to
considering image reconstruction as an essentially two-dimensional problem. This simplification can limit
significantly the imaging capabilities of EIT, as the electric currents used to determine the conductivity variations will not in general be confined to a two-dimensional plane. A few studies have attempted three-dimensional EIT image reconstruction, but have not yet succeeded in generating images of a quality suitable for clinical applications. Here we report the development of a three-dimensional EIT system with greatly improved imaging capabilities, which combines our 64-electrode data-collection apparatus with customized matrix inversion techniques. Our results demonstrate the practical potential of EIT for clinical applications, such as lung or brain imaging and diagnostic screening
Lorentz Force Electrical Impedance Tomography
This article describes a method called Lorentz Force Electrical Impedance
Tomography. The electrical conductivity of biological tissues can be measured
through their sonication in a magnetic field: the vibration of the tissues
inside the field induces an electrical current by Lorentz force. This current,
detected by electrodes placed around the sample, is proportional to the
ultrasonic pressure, to the strength of the magnetic field and to the
electrical conductivity gradient along the acoustic axis. By focusing at
different places inside the sample, a map of the electrical conductivity
gradient can be established. In this study experiments were conducted on a
gelatin phantom and on a beef sample, successively placed in a 300 mT magnetic
field and sonicated with an ultrasonic transducer focused at 21 cm emitting 500
kHz bursts. Although all interfaces are not visible, in this exploratory study
a good correlation is observed between the electrical conductivity image and
the ultrasonic image. This method offers an alternative to detecting
pathologies invisible to standard ultrasonography
Optimal depth-dependent distinguishability bounds for electrical impedance tomography in arbitrary dimension
The inverse problem of electrical impedance tomography is severely ill-posed.
In particular, the resolution of images produced by impedance tomography
deteriorates as the distance from the measurement boundary increases. Such
depth dependence can be quantified by the concept of distinguishability of
inclusions. This paper considers the distinguishability of perfectly conducting
ball inclusions inside a unit ball domain, extending and improving known
two-dimensional results to an arbitrary dimension with the help of
Kelvin transformations. The obtained depth-dependent distinguishability bounds
are also proven to be optimal.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figure
Fuzzy Modeling of Electrical Impedance Tomography Images of the Lungs
OBJECTIVES: Aiming to improve the anatomical resolution of electrical impedance tomography images, we developed a fuzzy model based on electrical impedance tomography's high temporal resolution and on the functional pulmonary signals of perfusion and ventilation. INTRODUCTION: Electrical impedance tomography images carry information about both ventilation and perfusion. However, these images are difficult to interpret because of insufficient anatomical resolution, such that it becomes almost impossible to distinguish the heart from the lungs. METHODS: Electrical impedance tomography data from an experimental animal model were collected during normal ventilation and apnea while an injection of hypertonic saline was administered. The fuzzy model was elaborated in three parts: a modeling of the heart, the pulmonary ventilation map and the pulmonary perfusion map. Image segmentation was performed using a threshold method, and a ventilation/perfusion map was generated. RESULTS: Electrical impedance tomography images treated by the fuzzy model were compared with the hypertonic saline injection method and computed tomography scan images, presenting good results. The average accuracy index was 0.80 when comparing the fuzzy modeled lung maps and the computed tomography scan lung mask. The average ROC curve area comparing a saline injection image and a fuzzy modeled pulmonary perfusion image was 0.77. DISCUSSION: The innovative aspects of our work are the use of temporal information for the delineation of the heart structure and the use of two pulmonary functions for lung structure delineation. However, robustness of the method should be tested for the imaging of abnormal lung conditions. CONCLUSIONS: These results showed the adequacy of the fuzzy approach in treating the anatomical resolution uncertainties in electrical impedance tomography images
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