1,720,976 research outputs found
MR-guided focused ultrasound application for moving target tumor ablation in abdominal area:coil selection
Full text linkBackground: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery (MRgFUS) is a non-invasive thermal ablation method utilizing high-intensity focused ultrasound (HI-FU) energy for tissue ablation under MRI with real-time thermal mapping. Ablating to a dynamic target as in the liver is very challenging, requiring approval. A novel quality-assured liver tumor ablation system has been proposed for clinics. The paper reports the evaluation of conventional and new MR-receiving coils.Purpose: To evaluate the suitability of MR coils as part of the MRgFUS treatment system for liver, while simulating breathing motion in pre-clinical settings.Material and Methods: The novel software communicates with the MR scanner and the transducer. To monitor the temperature via proton resonance frequency (PRF) methodology echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence was used while the algorithms of static, static and dynamic tracking were tested with sonications of 100 W for 30 s on tissue-mimicking phantoms. Different coil sets were used to assess the performance of the system for fitness for dynamic thermometry. Finally, in vivo experiments were performed over a porcine model.Results: Single-loop four-channel Duoflex and Gem coils provided adequate signal-to-noise ratio and contrast with consistent thermal readings. Body array coils showed severe loss of signal in dynamic cases since the integration of tracking algorithm causes low efficiency.Conclusion: Body array coils are unsuitable for MRgFUS of the liver due to signal loss. The dedicated coil set with a single loop around the FUS transducer combined with four-channel arrays might be the best option for liver treatment using dynamic MRgFUS applications
Simultaneous validation of wearable motion capture system for lower body applications: over single plane range of motion (ROM) and gait activities
No full textExtracting data from {Zhu, 2019 #5} daily life activities is important in biomechanical applications to define exact boundary conditions for the intended use-based applications. Although optoelectronic camera-marker based systems are used as gold standard tools for medical applications, due to line-of-sight problem, there is a need for wearable, affordable motion capture (MOCAP) systems. We investigate the potential use of a wearable inertial measurement unit (IMU) based-wearable MOCAP system for biomechanical applications. The in vitro proof of concept is provided for the full lower body consisting of hip, knee, and ankle joints via controlled single-plane anatomical range of motion (ROM) simulations using an electrical motor, while collecting data simultaneously via opto-electronic markers and IMU sensors. On 15 healthy volunteers the flexion-extension, abduction-adduction, internal-external rotation (ROM) values of hip and, the flexion - extension ROM values of the knee and ankle joints are calculated for both systems. The Bland-Altman graphs showed promising agreement both for in vitro and in vivo experiments. The maximum Root Mean Square Errors (RMSE) between the systems in vitro was 3.4 degrees for hip and 5.9 degrees for knee flexion motion in vivo, respectively. The gait data of the volunteers were assessed between the heel strike and toe off events to investigate the limits of agreement, calculating the population averages and standard deviation for both systems over the gait cycle. The maximum difference was for the ankle joint <6 degrees. The results show that proposed system could be an option as an affordable-democratic solution
Spinal curvature for the assessment of spinal stability
No full textPosture is one of the most important factors in spinal stability. To investigate the spinal instability, a tool was developed using the Thrustline theory. A pilot postural data pool was formed from a sample population of 40 healthy males and females for this computational model by using a device called Spinal Mouse® (SM) to record the relative positions of the vertebral bodies firstly. Then, the 2D coordinates of the vertebral bodies were calculated by an in-house developed code. Student's t-tests showed significance of difference between the postures was mostly higher for X coordinates with p-value of </p
Spine modelling for lifting
Full text linkMathematical modelling is widely used in the field of biomechanics. The traditional approach to investigate spine related injuries is to check the strength of the components of-the spine. Spinal stability approach focuses on the force polygons formed by the body weight, muscle forces, ligament forces and external load. This force polygon is expected to stay within the boundaries of the spine to ensure stability. Proving the possibility of one force polygon within the spine boundaries proves the stability of the spine. Results show that there is a difference between male and female postures during the full span of lifting activities. Application of individual muscle forces provides greater control of stability at each vertebral level. By considering the elongation of the laments and the force requirements of the muscle groups, it is possible to diagnose soft tissue failure.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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