Current Medical Imaging - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2013

It is proposed to present on an application of segmentation and classification of (MR) brain surgical images using fuzzy based control theory, because segmentation and classification of surgical images play a vital role both in diagnosing human diseases and analyzing the human anatomy. Both the identification and the analysis of a tumor in brain are complex processes and to overcome this complexity, image segmentation is preferred. The proposed Fuzzy Inference System with certain values of Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Mean Square Error (MSE) offers a promising part in identifying the tumor in brain. The result obtained assures that the proposed methodology has an efficient performance. In the Fuzzy Inference System methodology, fuzzy rules are coined by using membership function that helps in segmenting the image. The segmentation of (MR) brain images is done by using Fuzzy logic because it reduces the rate of misclassification. The content and the data of the image are changed with a minimized rate during segmentation.

Modern imaging techniques in medicine have revolutionized the study of human anatomy and physiology. A central factor in the success of imaging-based approaches has been the emergence of sophisticated computational methods for extracting salient information from image data. The utility of image processing has prompted the development of numerous algorithms for medical data, but these have largely remained research tools and few have been incorporated into a clinical workflow. A primary cause of this poor track record is the lack of validation: safety and accuracy are in fact two important keywords when dealing with life-critical systems. In particular, these two aspects have to be taken into careful attention in medical image segmentation. This in fact represents the first step in the process that starts with the image acquisition and proceeds to the diagnosis step and therapy definition. Therefore it is important to analyze its possible inaccuracy sources, since they will affect the whole system. In literature there are several techniques for the performance evaluation of complex systems. However, most of the proposed approaches in the field of medical image processing only face the problem of defining different metrics allowing to assess the accuracy from a purely geometrical and quantitative point of view. In this paper it is provided an overview on the evaluation methods that have been proposed in literature and the advantages and shortcomings of the underlying design mechanisms are discussed. Finally, possible future directions for research in performance evaluation in medical image segmentation are proposed.

Visualization of molecular interaction profile involved in chemical and biological systems could provide a straightforward way for understanding various disease processes and for the development of appropriate medical therapies. However, traditional molecular imaging techniques tend to showing molecular architecture at three-dimensional (3D) level; in this way blurry information involved in complex interaction network and distorted interfacial profile, in some cases, are unable to be sufficiently presented to the audiences. Alternatively, the diagrams generated using twodimensional (2D) molecular graphics approach that depicts systemic configuration and arrangement in a planar page may be more readily acceptable. In this article we review the methods and tools available for 2D depiction of chemical and biological interactions, particularly concerning their applications in the design and discovery of new drug entities.

We aimed to research right and left ventricular functional reference values on magnetic resonance imaging in healthy children. Echocardiographically normal sixty healthy children were performed cardiac MRI between January 2009 and June 2010. Biventricular volumes, left myocardial mass, septal thickness, diameter of the ascending aorta and main pulmonary artery were calculated. It was investigated whether there was a difference or not between ventricular volumes and sexes, and the relationship age and body surface area with functional parameter results. The minimum, maximum, mean values of every parameters were determined in all children, boys, girls, and in the groups of age 8-12 and 13-18. There was a statistically significant difference in the left ventricular end-systolic diameter results between the sexes. There were statistical significant differences in parameter results except biventricular cardiac output and ejection fraction, right ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic diameter between the age groups when the children were grouped as 8-12 and 13-18 years by ignoring their sexes. When it was compared the mean value of normal functional parameters after normalized to body surface area; the mean values of all parameters were higher in males, but there was a significant difference in only between right ventricular end-diastolic volumes. Biventricular cardiac output mean values were higher in the age group of 8-12 years. Consequently, we determined the mean, minimum, and maximum values of normal ventricular volumes, left myocardial mass, septal thickness, diameter of the ascending aorta and main pulmonary artery in the 8-18 age group to be used as a reference in all diagnostic and follow-up stage.

Breast-conserving approaches aim to attain better aesthetic results in addition to local control and achieving survival rates equivalent to mastectomy in patients with breast cancer. While the oncologic outcome of breast conservation procedures is easily estimated objectively by disease-free and overall survival rates, the cosmetic outcome has no standard of evaluation. Although breast conservation techniques have been widely studied, different forms of evaluation and heterogeneous working practices have contributed to different aesthetic results. As this scenario suggests, the evaluation of aesthetic results should be mandatory in any institution performing breast cancer treatment, contributing to the improvement of current strategies by enabling the identification of variables which have a significant impact on the final aesthetic result. In the process of assessing cosmetic outcomes there are several important issues that should be considered: which factors have a crucial impact on the cosmetic outcome of Breast Cancer Conservation Treatment (BCCT); which parameters or features should be evaluated in the cosmetic assessment of BCCT; how patients are evaluated; which scales are used in this evaluation; which methods and technological solutions are available for the evaluation of cosmetic results of BCCT. In this paper we try to discuss all these questions, with an emphasis on the objective methods and corresponding technologies used in the aesthetic evaluation of BCCT. The most relevant publications related to the mentioned topics are presented, critically analysed and put in chronological perspective. Current and future trends are also discussed.

Acute chest pain (ACP) is one of the most common reasons in adults regarding visits to the emergency department (ED). The triple-rule-out CTA (TRO CTA) is feasible to evaluate ACP in the ED and potentially lead to earlier triage. However, just a few patients with ACP were evaluated with the protocol of TRO CTA, one of the major reasons which preclude the TRO CTA to be a routine diagnostic tool is the associated radiation dose. Herein we review the variety of techniques which can reduce the radiation dose during TRO CTA. With reasonable application of those techniques, the radiation dose can be reduced obviously, and the patients suffered from ACP will benefit from TRO CTA with techniques of reducing radiation dose.

Nuclear Medicine provides efficient tools for cancer therapy using compounds labelled with radionuclides that emit beta-particles, alpha-particles or Auger electrons. With their short path lengths, they destroy mainly targeted cancer cells with limited side effects. Ideal application for targeted radionuclide therapy demands radionuclides' physical, radiobiological and radiochemical properties to be well known. These radionuclides are produced with the desirable characteristics for their application in Nuclear Medicine radiopharmaceutical therapy. Furthermore, measurements of absorbed dose to the abnormal and to the normal tissue, in a patient-specific point of view, enhance therapy effectiveness. Dosimetry is a valuable tool for the decision of a successful treatment that will give impressive anti-tumour results and favourable tumour-to-normal tissue ratios. This article will be a review of the contributions both in the production of the radionuclides - dedicated to radiopharmaceutical therapy - as well as in the individualized dosimetric methods referred in the literature for each radionuclide used in Nuclear Medicine therapy. Many dose-calculation methods and mathematical codes used will be referred in detail.