Spatial transcriptional mapping of the human nephrogenic program

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基于非刚体配准的体数据插值重建方法

三维图像的处理和操作需要将一般的断层序列插值成为具有各坐标轴一致的分辨率的体数据,而目前最常用的线性插值方法在层间距较大时会导致图像边缘模糊和出现伪影。Penney根据现有的非刚体匹配方法,提出了利用图像形变场数据的插值算法,大大提高了层间插值的质量。本文对Penney提出的算法进行了两方面的改进,在配准过程中用简单的单射性约束取代了复杂的平滑性约束,用邻域平均算法替代Penney使用的最邻近直线插值方法,并将新算法的实验结果与原算法、线性插值进行了对比,新算法在保持高质量插值的前提下提高了计算速度。该算法可以应用于精度要求比较高的体数据插值重建过程。     

Method of evaluating respiratory induced organ motion by vector volume histogram

PurposePublished organ motion data have been collected from measurements of a limited number of points within the organ, the centroid, or the edge of the organ. These are derived from the spatial characteristics of respiratory induced motion; however, this approach does not consider non-rigid organ deformation. We propose a novel quantitative method for evaluating respiratory induced organ motion using Deformable Image Registration (DIR).MethodTwo phases from a 4-dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) dataset at maximum inspiration and expiration were each taken from five patients. The left and right lungs, esophagus, stomach, spinal cord, and liver were manually contoured in the end-expiration phase. The hybrid deformable registration algorithm of the RayStation treatment planning system (TPS) was used to deform the end-expiration phase to the end-inspiration phase. From this, the deformation vector field (DVF) was calculated. DVFs consist of DVF_LR (left-right), DVF_AP (anterior-posterior), and DVF_SI (superior-inferior) as separate files. We calculated the vector volume histogram (VVH) and L_max (maximum absolute vector of the organ) to evaluate every vector for each individual organ. We also measured respiratory organ motion from the position of the organ centroid in two phases.ResultsVVH enabled us to find the absolute distance and volume of the organ contributing to motion points on the curve. Organ motion using the centroid method was smaller than L_max using VVH. Using the centroid method, it is difficult to evaluate the deformable organ motion.ConclusionVVH may be a useful technique in evaluating organ volumetric change during respiratory organ motion.     

Validation of a deformable image registration produced by a commercial treatment planning system in head and neck

In recent years one of the areas of interest in radiotherapy has been adaptive radiation therapy (ART), with the most efficient way of performing ART being the use of deformable image registration (DIR). In this paper we use the distances between points of interest (POIs) in the computed tomography (CT) and the cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) acquisition images and the inverse consistence (IC) property to validate the RayStation treatment planning system (TPS) DIR algorithm. This study was divided into two parts: Firstly the distance-accuracy of the TPS DIR algorithm was ascertained by placing POIs on anatomical features in the CT and CBCT images from five head and neck cancer patients. Secondly, a method was developed for studying the implication of these distances on the dose by using the IC. This method compared the dose received by the structures in the CT, and the structures that were quadruply-deformed. The accuracy of the TPS was 1.7 ± 0.8 mm, and the distance obtained with the quadruply-deformed IC method was 1.7 ± 0.9 mm, i.e. the difference between the IC method multiplied by two, and that of the TPS validation method, was negligible. Moreover, the IC method shows very little variation in the dose-volume histograms when comparing the original and quadruply-deformed structures. This indicates that this algorithm is useful for planning adaptive radiation treatments using CBCT in head and neck cancer patients, although these variations must be taken into account when making a clinical decision to adapt a treatment plan.     

共聚焦激光检眼镜下眼底图像的非特征配准约束模型研究

研究共聚焦激光检眼镜下不基于特征提取的眼底图像自动配准方法中的运动约束模型,从成像机理上分析共聚焦激光检眼镜下图像对间的运动模式,并分析比较多种实际全局运动模型约束下的配准精度和效率,进而给出一种由粗到细的复合约束模型对眼底图像进行配准。实验结果证实了该模型效果良好。     

Effect of temperature on growth, germination, germ-tube extension and survival of Paecilomyces lilacinus strain 251

Paecilomyces lilacinus and in particular the commercial strain 251 has been intensively tested for biological control of plant parasitic nematodes. Since this species has been mentioned in a number of reports concerning infection of humans, the human health risk for Paecilomyces lilacinus strain 251 was investigated. The effects of time, temperature and growth medium on radial colony growth and germination were determined. Additionally, exposure to 36°C and its effect on germ-tube extension and on survival of conidia was evaluated. Radial growth was significantly affected by temperature, growth medium and their interaction. Optimum temperatures were between 24 and 30°C, but no growth was found at 36°C. Germination rate was significantly influenced by time, medium, temperature and their interactions. The optimum temperature range for germination was between 28 and 30°C. Formulated conidia were capable of germinating at 36°C. However, studies on germ-tube extension conducted at 36°C showed a delay in development for 28-49 h and no further germ-tube extension was found after exposure for 80-95 h. Slopes of survival curves were significantly influenced by the type of conidia tested. In general, conidia did not survive exposure to 36°C for 168 h. These experiments indicate the temperature conditions where the strain is likely to be active and provide supporting data for full environmental and health risk assessments of biocontrol fungi.     

Evaluation of residual abdominal tumour motion in carbon ion gated treatments through respiratory motion modelling

At the Italian National Centre for Oncologic Hadrontherapy (CNAO) patients with upper-abdominal tumours are being treated with carbon ion therapy, adopting the respiratory gating technique in combination with layered rescanning and abdominal compression to mitigate organ motion. Since online imaging of the irradiated volume is not feasible, this study proposes a modelling approach for the estimation of residual motion of the target within the gating window. The model extracts a priori respiratory motion information from the planning 4DCT using deformable image registration (DIR), then combines such information with the external surrogate signal recorded during dose delivery. This provides estimation of a CT volume corresponding to any given respiratory phase measured during treatment. The method was applied for the retrospective estimation of tumour residual motion during irradiation, considering 16 patients treated at CNAO with the respiratory gating protocol. The estimated tumour displacement, calculated with respect to the reference end-exhale position, was always limited (average displacement is 0.32 ± 0.65 mm over all patients) and below the maximum motion defined in the treatment plan. This supports the hypothesis of target position reproducibility, which is the crucial assumption in the gating approach. We also demonstrated the use of the model as a simulation tool to establish a patient-specific relationship between residual motion and the width of the gating window. In conclusion, the implemented method yields an estimation of the repeatability of the internal anatomy configuration during gated treatments, which can be used for further studies concerning the dosimetric impact of the estimated residual organ motion.     

Towards radiological diagnosis of abdominal adhesions based on motion signatures derived from sequences of cine-MRI images

This paper reports novel development and preliminary application of an image registration technique for diagnosis of abdominal adhesions imaged with cine-MRI (cMRI). Adhesions can severely compromise the movement and physiological function of the abdominal contents, and their presence is difficult to detect. The image registration approach presented here is designed to expose anomalies in movement of the abdominal organs, providing a movement signature that is indicative of underlying structural abnormalities. Validation of the technique was performed using structurally based in vitro and in silico models, supported with Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) methods. For the more challenging cases presented to the small cohort of 4 observers, the AUC (area under curve) improved from a mean value of 0.67 ± 0.02 (without image registration assistance) to a value of 0.87 ± 0.02 when image registration support was included. Also, in these cases, a reduction in time to diagnosis was observed, decreasing by between 20% and 50%. These results provided sufficient confidence to apply the image registration diagnostic protocol to sample magnetic resonance imaging data from healthy volunteers as well as a patient suffering from encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (an extreme form of adhesions) where immobilization of the gut by cocooning of the small bowel is observed. The results as a whole support the hypothesis that movement analysis using image registration offers a possible method for detecting underlying structural anomalies and encourages further investigation.     

Non-rigid registration of serial dedicated breast CT,longitudinal dedicated breast CT and PET/CT images using the diffeomorphic demons method

Rationale and objectivesDedicated breast CT and PET/CT scanners provide detailed 3D anatomical and functional imaging data sets and are currently being investigated for applications in breast cancer management such as diagnosis, monitoring response to therapy and radiation therapy planning. Our objective was to evaluate the performance of the diffeomorphic demons (DD) non-rigid image registration method to spatially align 3D serial (pre- and post-contrast) dedicated breast computed tomography (CT), and longitudinally-acquired dedicated 3D breast CT and positron emission tomography (PET)/CT images.MethodsThe algorithmic parameters of the DD method were optimized for the alignment of dedicated breast CT images using training data and fixed. The performance of the method for image alignment was quantitatively evaluated using three separate data sets; (1) serial breast CT pre- and post-contrast images of 20 women, (2) breast CT images of 20 women acquired before and after repositioning the subject on the scanner, and (3) dedicated breast PET/CT images of 7 women undergoing neo-adjuvant chemotherapy acquired pre-treatment and after 1 cycle of therapy.ResultsThe DD registration method outperformed no registration (p < 0.001) and conventional affine registration (p ≤ 0.002) for serial and longitudinal breast CT and PET/CT image alignment. In spite of the large size of the imaging data, the computational cost of the DD method was found to be reasonable (3–5 min).ConclusionsCo-registration of dedicated breast CT and PET/CT images can be performed rapidly and reliably using the DD method. This is the first study evaluating the DD registration method for the alignment of dedicated breast CT and PET/CT images.     

Assessment of regional non-linear tissue deformation and air volume change of human lungs via image registration

We evaluate the non-linear characteristics of the human lung via image registration-derived local variables based on volumetric multi-detector-row computed tomographic (MDCT) lung image data of six normal human subjects acquired at three inflation levels: 20% of vital capacity (VC), 60% VC and 80% VC. Local variables include Jacobian (ratio of volume change) and maximum shear strain for assessment of lung deformation, and air volume change for assessment of air distribution. First, the variables linearly interpolated between 20% and 80% VC images to reflect deformation from 20% to 60% VC are compared with those of direct registration of 20% and 60% VC images. The result shows that the linearly-interpolated variables agree only qualitatively with those of registration (P<0.05). Then, a quadratic (or linear) interpolation is introduced to link local variables to global air volumes of three images (or 20% and 80% VC images). A sinusoidal breathing waveform is assumed for assessing the time rate of change of these variables. The results show significant differences between two-image and three-image results (P<0.05). The three-image results for the whole lung indicate that the peak of the maximum shear rate occurs at about 37% of the maximum volume difference between 20% and 80% VC, while the peaks for the Jacobian and flow rate occur at 50%. This is in agreement with accepted physiology whereby lung tissues deform more at lower lung volumes due to lower elasticity and greater compliance. Furthermore, the three-image results show that the upper and middle lobes, even in the recumbent, supine posture, reach full expansion earlier than the lower lobes.