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Ultrasound practice is a longstanding tradition for radiology departments, being part of the family of imaging techniques. Ultrasound is widely practiced by non-radiologists but becoming less popular within radiology. The position of ultrasound in radiology is reviewed, and a possible long-term solution to manage radiologist expectations is proposed. An international group of experts in the practice of ultrasound was invited to describe the current organisation of ultrasound within the radiology departments in their own countries and comment on the interaction with non-radiologists and training arrangements. Issues related to regulation, non-medical practitioners, and training principles are detailed. A consensus view was sought from the experts regarding the position of ultrasound within radiology, with the vision of the best scenario for the continuing dominance of radiologists practising ultrasound. Comments were collated from nine different countries. Variable levels of training, practice, and interaction with non-radiologist were reported, with some countries relying on non-physician input to manage the service. All experts recognised there was a diminished desire to practice ultrasound by radiologists. Models varied from practising solely ultrasound and no other imaging techniques to radiology departments being central to the practice of ultrasound by radiologists and non-radiologist, housed within radiology. The consensus view was that the model favoured in select hospitals in Germany would be the most likely setup for ultrasound radiologist to develop and maintain practice. The vision for 20 years hence is for a central ultrasound section within radiology, headed by a trained expert radiologist, with non-radiologist using the facilities. Critical relevance statement The future of ultrasound within the radiology department should encompass all ultrasound users, with radiologists expert in ultrasound, managing the ultrasound section within the radiology department. The current radiology trainees must learn of the importance of ultrasound as a component of the 'holistic' imaging of the patient. Key points: 1. Ultrasound imaging within radiology departments precedes the introduction of CT and MR imaging and was first used over 50 years ago. 2. Non-radiology practitioners deploy ultrasound examinations to either 'problem solve' or perform a comprehensive ultrasound examination; radiologists provide comprehensive examinations or use ultrasound to direct interventional procedures. 3. Radiology does not 'own' ultrasound, but radiologists are best placed to offer a comprehensive patient-focused imaging assessment. 4. A vision of the future of ultrasound within the radiology department is encompassing all ultrasound users under radiologists who are experts in ultrasound, positioned within the radiology department. 5. The current radiology trainee must be aware of the importance of ultrasound as a component of the 'holistic' imaging of the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent morphological data on human brain development are quite fragmentary. However, they are highly requested for a number of medical practices, educational programs, and fundamental research in the fields of embryology, cytology and histology, neurology, physiology, path anatomy, neonatology, and others. This paper provides the initial information on the new online Human Prenatal Brain Development Atlas (HBDA). The Atlas will start with forebrain annotated hemisphere maps, based on human fetal brain serial sections at the different stages of prenatal ontogenesis. Spatiotemporal changes in the regional-specific immunophenotype profiles will also be demonstrated on virtual serial sections. The HBDA can serve as a reference database for the neurological research, which provides opportunity to compare the data obtained by noninvasive techniques, such as neurosonography, X-ray computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, 3D high-resolution phase-contrast computed tomography visualization techniques, as well as spatial transcriptomics data. It could also become a database for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of individual variability in the human brain. Systemized data on the mechanisms and pathways of prenatal human glio- and neurogenesis could also contribute to the search for new therapy methods for a large spectrum of neurological pathologies, including neurodegenerative and cancer diseases. The preliminary data are now accessible on the special HBDA website. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cork spot-like physiological disorder (CSPD) is a newly identified issue in 'Kurenainoyume' apples, yet its mechanism remains unclear. To investigate CSPD, we conducted morphological observations on 'Kurenainoyume' apples with and without pre-harvest fruit-bagging treatment using light-impermeable paper bags. Non-bagged fruit developed CSPD in mid-August, while no CSPD symptoms were observed in bagged fruit. The bagging treatment significantly reduced the proportion of opened lenticels, with only 17.9% in bagged fruit compared to 52.0% in non-bagged fruits. In non-bagged fruit, CSPD spots tended to increase from the lenticels, growing in size during fruit development. The cuticular thickness and cross-sectional area of fresh cells in CSPD spots were approximately 16 µm and 1600 µm², respectively. Healthy non-bagged fruit reached these values around 100 to 115 days after full bloom from mid- to late August. Microscopic and computerized tomography scanning observations revealed that many CSPD spots developed at the tips of vascular bundles. Therefore, CSPD initiation between opened lenticels and vascular bundle tips may be influenced by water stress, which is potentially caused by water loss, leading to cell death and the formation of CSPD spots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diaphragmatic hernia (DH) presenting acutely can be a potentially life-threatening condition. Its management continues to be debatable. Methods: A bibliographic search using major databases was performed using the terms "emergency surgery" "diaphragmatic hernia," "traumatic diaphragmatic rupture" and "congenital diaphragmatic hernia." GRADE methodology was used to evaluate the evidence and give recommendations. Results: CT scan of the chest and abdomen is the diagnostic gold standard to evaluate complicated DH. Appropriate preoperative assessment and prompt surgical intervention are important for a clinical success. Complicated DH repair is best performed via the use of biological and bioabsorbable meshes which have proven to reduce recurrence. The laparoscopic approach is the preferred technique in hemodynamically stable patients without significant comorbidities because it facilitates early diagnosis of small diaphragmatic injuries from traumatic wounds in the thoraco-abdominal area and reduces postoperative complications. Open surgery should be reserved for situations when skills and equipment for laparoscopy are not available, where exploratory laparotomy is needed, or if the patient is hemodynamically unstable. Damage Control Surgery is an option in the management of critical and unstable patients. Conclusions: Complicated diaphragmatic hernia is a rare life-threatening condition. CT scan of the chest and abdomen is the gold standard for diagnosing the diaphragmatic hernia. Laparoscopic repair is the best treatment option for stable patients with complicated diaphragmatic hernias. Open repair is considered necessary in majority of unstable patients in whom Damage Control Surgery can be life-saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many works have been published proposing solutions to the problems that arose in this scenario. In this vein, one of the topics that attracted the most attention is the development of computer-based strategies to detect COVID-19 from thoracic medical imaging, such as chest X-ray (CXR) and computerized tomography scan (CT scan). By searching for works already published on this theme, we can easily find thousands of them. This is partly explained by the fact that the most severe worldwide pandemic emerged amid the technological advances recently achieved, and also considering the technical facilities to deal with the large amount of data produced in this context. Even though several of these works describe important advances, we cannot overlook the fact that others only use well-known methods and techniques without a more relevant and critical contribution. Hence, differentiating the works with the most relevant contributions is not a trivial task. The number of citations obtained by a paper is probably the most straightforward and intuitive way to verify its impact on the research community. Aiming to help researchers in this scenario, we present a review of the top-100 most cited papers in this field of investigation according to the Google Scholar search engine. We evaluate the distribution of the top-100 papers taking into account some important aspects, such as the type of medical imaging explored, learning settings, segmentation strategy, explainable artificial intelligence (XAI), and finally, the dataset and code availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the orientation of wood fibers in porous networks like paper, paperboard or fiberboard by computing digital thermal conductivity experiments on micro-computed tomography ( μ CT) images with artificial isotropic thermal conductivity parameters. The accuracy of mechanical and thermal constitutive models for porous wood fiber based materials crucially depends on knowing the wood fiber orientation. Unfortunately, due to the high porosity, the micro-heterogeneity of wood fibers, the high carbon content of organic materials and the unknown additives present in industrial paper, μ CT-scans often exhibit low contrast and strong artifacts. Conventional image processing approaches encounter difficulties, as they rely upon convex fiber cross sections. We propose a solution by circumventing the segmentation of single wood fibers in μ CT images, by performing thermal conductivity simulations on binarized wood fiber structures, where an artificial isotropic thermal conductivity is associated to the fibers and the pore space is considered as isolating. The local and global temperature fluxes are assembled into a fiber orientation tensor. This method overcomes the limitations of the mentioned local image processing approaches, as individual fibers need not be resolved and convergence for increasing resolution is a consequence of abstract mathematical theory. We use our novel method to analyze large three-dimensional μ CT-scans and a synchrotron scan of a paperboard sample, serving as the starting point of an accurate micromechanical modeling of the effective anisotropic mechanical behavior of paper and paperboard. These results are crucial for calculating the mechanical strength of deep-drawn paperboard, which will be accomplished in a subsequent article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defects, such as debonding and foreign matters in transformer insulation paperboard, lead to local field strength concentration, thereby seriously affecting the safe operation of equipment. At present, industrial X-ray computed tomography scanning technology is mostly used to detect such defects. However, the equipment is expensive, the operation is complicated, and radiation hazard exists. In this study, terahertz time domain spectroscopy is introduced to explore the nondestructive testing method of oil-paper insulation defects. Three typical insulation paperboard defects of interface debonding, metal foreign matter mixing, and local carbonization traces were taken as the research objects. An artificial defect model is prepared. The time and frequency domain waveform characteristics of terahertz pulse wave propagating in the defect model are tested and analyzed. The results show that when the thickness of insulation paperboard covering is less than 5 mm, based on the amplitude and delay characteristics of terahertz time-domain signal, the location and size of typical internal defects can be accurately obtained, and time spectrum imaging can be realized. This study proves theoretically and experimentally the feasibility of noncontact and nondestructive testing for the internal defects of insulation paperboard by using terahertz technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Posterior tibial slope (PTS) is a known anatomical factor in the biomechanical function of the anterior cruciate ligament. However, when PTS is typically measured on a lateral radiograph, this does not consider potential differences between the lateral and medial tibial plateau. The difference between medial posterior tibial slope (MPTS) and lateral posterior tibial slope (LPTS) in a knee is largely unknown. Generally, computed tomography (CT) is the gold standard for 3-dimensional osseus imaging but very few studies to date have attempted to quantify the medial and lateral PTS in the same knee using CT. Clinically, it is debated whether an elevated MPTS or the LPTS is critical for anterior cruciate ligament injury and reinjury. The objective of this study was to quantify the variation in the difference between MPTS and LPTS using full tibial CT scans. Methods: At our institution, CT-assisted preoperative planning is frequently used for osteotomies. Ninety-seven patients with clinically acquired CT scans went through the preoperative planning process (Bodycad, Quebec City, Canada) from Jan 2016 to Nov 2022. This includes patients undergoing coronal, sagittal or biplanar high tibial and distal femoral osteotomies. This process is semi-automated meaning that the user can intervene with the measurements and adjust the initial landmarks and best-fit. Distally, the software will find the center of the tibiotalar joint to provide a point for the tibial axis. The user may adjust that landmark if needed. To measure the tibial slope, the software finds the best fit tibial plateau in 3D and determines the slope angle medially and laterally. The software measures the MPTS and LPTS independently. The slope measurements were compiled and quantitatively analyzed including mean, median, range as well as the difference between the MPTS and LPTS. Patients were defined to have undergone a sagittal or coronal correction if there was more than 2 degrees of change in the sagittal plane or more than 5% change in the coronal plane weight bearing line. Patients were defined as having a biplanar correction when both conditions were met. The slopes were analyzed with respect to sex and laterality. Additionally, patients undergoing an osteotomy in conjunction with an ACL reconstruction (either single or two-staged) were compared to the other patients. Results: There are differences in the MPTS and LPTS within the same knee. When analyzing the whole group, the average absolute difference is 2.76⁰ with a standard deviation of 2.49. As shown in Table 1, 40% of knees had greater than a 2.5⁰ difference in MPTS and LPTS, 19% of knees had greater than a 5⁰ difference in MPTS and LPTS, 5% of knees had greater than a 7.5⁰ difference in MPTS and LPTS and 2% of knees had greater than a 10⁰ difference in MPTS and LPTS. The magnitude of the LPTS is greater than the MPTS 52% of the time. There is no significant difference in the average, standard deviation, mean or the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentiles of the MPTS and LPTS as shown in Table 2. One hundred percent of the sagittal corrections and 84% of the biplanar corrections also underwent an ACL reconstruction in addition to an osteotomy. Characteristics of these groups of patients are shown in table 3. The sagittal and coronal osteotomy patients have a higher MPTS and LPTS than the patients undergoing a coronal osteotomy. Conclusions: The most important finding in this study is that the medial and lateral PTS can be very different within the same knee. There can be up to 11.62-degree difference in this population. Sixteen out of 97 patients had a difference of more than 5⁰ with 2 patients having a difference of greater than 10⁰. The data presented here has uncovered a description of the medial and lateral posterior tibial slope anatomy that was not evident with conventional lateral knee x-rays previously. We do not know the clinical significance of a large difference in the medial and lateral PTS and it brings forth an interesting set of clinical questions. 1) Which posterior tibial slope, medial or lateral, is most important for knee biomechanics, specifically regarding ACL stresses and function? 2) When performing a slope correcting osteotomy, is it the medial, lateral or average slope that should be the target for correction? 3) Should an intercondylar correction which only modifies one slope be considered? Further clinical studies should focus on investigating the relationship of differential PTS to native knee biomechanics as well as its implication for corrective osteotomy procedures and ACL reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With more than 23 million infections and more than 814,000 deaths worldwide, the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still far from over. Several classes of drugs including antivirals, antiretrovirals, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and antibiotics have been tried with varying levels of success. Still, there is lack of any specific therapy to deal with this infection. Although less than 30% of these patients require intensive care unit admission, morbidity and mortality in this subgroup of patients remain high. Hence, it becomes imperative to have general principles to guide intensivists managing these patients. However, as the literature emerges, these recommendations may change and hence, frequent updates may be required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By analyzing the three-dimensional digital model of a real carbon paper gas diffusion layer (GDL) reconstructed by X-ray computed tomography (CT), it was found that fibers are not distributed at any angle but within a certain range. The fiber orientation can be represented by fiber pitch (i.e., the angle between a single fiber and the in-plane direction). The effect of fiber orientation on stochastic reconstruction and transport properties (permeability) was investigated in this paper to find which fiber pitch range can achieve a better GDL on fluid flow. First, the actual fiber pitch was measured by analyzing SGL-24BA images obtained by X-ray CT. Also, seven different ranges of fiber pitch were randomly chosen to reconstruct GDL. Then, the permeability of these digital models was calculated using the Lattice Bolzmann Method (LBM) and discussed to obtain the fiber pitch range of the optimal permeability. The results show that the mean fiber pitch of SGL-24BA is 2.40° and the individual values are all less than 6°, also, the permeability of the through-plane direction increases gradually as the range of fiber pitch increases, which can be used for the structural design of carbon paper GDL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the use of X-ray computed tomography and X-ray fluorescence in the analysis and expert research of the seventeenth century printed book "Eukhologīon albo Molitoslov, ili Trebnik" from Kiev. The main purpose of the survey was to confirm whether the book binding is original or whether it is a rebinding, and whether there are any fragments of the hidden older texts. Commonly used radiography is usually not able to provide sufficient information for these purposes. On the other hand, computed tomography allows a detailed and three-dimensional documentation of the bookbinding technology and the structure of the materials used, including the wooden boards. It will be presented that all elements of the weave are clearly visible, making it possible to show that there are no internal defects in the stitching and materials. It has also been convincingly shown that there are no fragments or layers of older texts in the binding, so no further invasive intervention will be necessary regarding this aspect. The paper also demonstrates the possibility of reading the text in a closed book utilising X-ray computed tomography data; this option may be advantageous for massively damaged manuscripts. It will also be shown, that thanks to detailed tomographic imaging of the wood structure of the boards, a dendrochronological survey can be successfully carried out without invasive intervention into their outer layers. From the CT data it was also found that the pigments of the letters have significantly different densities. Therefore, as part of the survey, elemental analysis of the writing was also carried out using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to confirm and clarify this finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes applying a novel deep‐learning model, TBDLNet, to recognize CT images to classify multidrug‐resistant and drug‐sensitive tuberculosis automatically. The pre‐trained ResNet50 is selected to extract features. Three randomized neural networks are used to alleviate the overfitting problem. The ensemble of three RNNs is applied to boost the robustness via majority voting. The proposed model is evaluated by five‐fold cross‐validation. Five indexes are selected in this paper, which are accuracy, sensitivity, precision, F1‐score, and specificity. The TBDLNet achieves 0.9822 accuracy, 0.9815 specificity, 0.9823 precision, 0.9829 sensitivity, and 0.9826 F1‐score, respectively. The TBDLNet is suitable for classifying multidrug‐resistant tuberculosis and drug‐sensitive tuberculosis. It can detect multidrug‐resistant pulmonary tuberculosis as early as possible, which helps to adjust the treatment plan in time and improve the treatment effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018, the position paper 'Imaging the adult with congenital heart disease: a multimodality imaging approach' was published. The paper highlights, in the first part, the different imaging modalities applied in adult congenital heart disease patients. In the second part, these modalities are discussed more detailed for moderate to complex anatomical defects. Because of the length of the paper, simple lesions were not touched on. However, imaging modalities to use for simple shunt lesions are still poorly known. One is looking for structured recommendations on which they can rely when dealing with an (undiscovered) shunt lesion. This information is lacking for the initial diagnostic process, during repair and at follow-up. Therefore, this paper will focus on atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, and persistent arterial duct. Pre-, intra-, and post-procedural imaging techniques will be systematically discussed. This position paper will offer algorithms that might help at a glance. The document is prepared for general cardiologists, trainees, medical students, imagers/technicians to select the most appropriate imaging modality and to detect the requested information for each specific lesion. It might serve as reference to which researchers could refer when setting up a (imaging) study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical documents are often severely damaged, making it impossible to open them manually without causing further damage. To address this challenge, computed tomography (CT) has emerged as a non-destructive method to explore the inside in a different way. However, the use of ionising radiation in CT scanning raises concerns about its impact on fragile historical documents. This study presents a methodology that uses a test object to conduct preliminary investigations to evaluate the capability of a CT scanner for digital preservation of historical documents. By assessing the feasibility and determining the setting parameters in advance, the X-ray exposure to historical documents can be minimised. For this purpose, a large dataset of inter-page distances was obtained from CT scans of a specially developed test object. The results obtained show a consistent correlation between the page-to-page distances and the derived modulation depths. This method offers great potential for assessing the separability of the pages of historical documents even before they are exposed to radiation for digitisation. Overall, this study helps to reduce the impact of X-ray radiation on sensitive historical documents during digitisation using CT, with the aim of preserving this fragile cultural heritage for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma, both blunt and penetrating, is extremely common worldwide, as trauma to major vessels. The management of these patients requires specialized surgical skills and techniques of the trauma surgeon. Furthermore few other surgical emergencies require immediate diagnosis and treatment like a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA). Mortality of patients with a rAAA reaches 85 %, with more than half dying before reaching the hospital. These are acute events demanding immediate intervention to save life and limb and precluding any attempt at transfer or referral. It is the purpose of this position paper to discuss neck, chest, extremities and abdominal trauma, bringing to light recent evidence based data as well as expert opinions; besides, in this paper we present a review of the recent literature on rAAA and we discuss the rationale for transfer to referral center, the role of preoperative imaging and the pros and cons of Endoluminal repair of rAAA (REVAR) versus Open Repair (OR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing demand for application of personalized bone implants (endoprostheses or macro-scaffolds, and fixators) which conform to the anatomy of the patient. Hence the need for a CAD procedure that enables fast and sufficiently accurate digital reconstruction of the traumatized bone geometry. Research presented in this paper addresses digital reconstruction of the femoral neck fracture. The results point out that the User-Defined (geometric) Feature (UDF) concept is the most convenient to use in digital reconstruction of numerous variants of the same topology, such as in this kind of bone region. UDF, named FemoNeck, is developed to demonstrate capability of the chosen concept. Its geometry, controlled by a dozen of parameters, can be easily shaped according to the femoral neck region anatomy of a particular patient. That kind of the CAD procedure should use a minimally required set of geometric (anatomical) parameters, which can be easily captured from X-ray or Computed Tomography (CT) images. For the statistical analysis of geometry and UDF development we used CT scans of proximal femur of 24 Caucasian female and male adults. The validation of the proposed method was done by applying it for remodeling of four femoral necks of four different proximal femurs and by comparing the geometrical congruency between the raw polygonal models gained directly from CT scan and reconstructed models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The liver is the most injured organ in abdominal trauma. Road traffic crashes and antisocial, violent behavior account for the majority of liver injuries. The present position paper represents the position of the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) about the management of liver injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order for enterprise imaging to be successful across a multitude of specialties, systems, and sites, standards are essential to categorize and classify imaging data. The HIMSS-SIIM Enterprise Imaging Community believes that the Digital Imaging Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Anatomic Region Sequence, or its equivalent in other data standards, is a vital data element for this role, when populated with standard coded values. We believe that labeling images with standard Anatomic Region Sequence codes will enhance the user's ability to consume data, facilitate interoperability, and allow greater control of privacy. Image consumption—when a user views a patient's images, he or she often wants to see relevant comparison images of the same lesion or anatomic region for the same patient automatically presented. Relevant comparison images may have been acquired from a variety of modalities and specialties. The Anatomic Region Sequence data element provides a basis to allow for efficient comparison in both instances. Interoperability—as patients move between health care systems, it is important to minimize friction for data transfer. Health care providers and facilities need to be able to consume and review the increasingly large and complex volume of data efficiently. The use of Anatomic Region Sequence, or its equivalent, populated with standard values enables seamless interoperability of imaging data regardless of whether images are used within a site or across different sites and systems. Privacy—as more visible light photographs are integrated into electronic systems, it becomes apparent that some images may need to be sequestered. Although additional work is needed to protect sensitive images, standard coded values in Anatomic Region Sequence support the identification of potentially sensitive images, enable facilities to create access control policies, and can be used as an interim surrogate for more sophisticated rule-based or attribute-based access control mechanisms. To satisfy such use cases, the HIMSS-SIIM Enterprise Imaging Community encourages the use of a pre-existing body part ontology. Through this white paper, we will identify potential challenges in employing this standard and provide potential solutions for these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Though recognized as a risk factor, posterior glenoid bone loss has only recently been characterized and is distinctly different than anterior glenoid bone loss patterns. Existing biomechanical studies are limited by employment of anterior glenoid bone loss models which are different in both orientation and morphology than posterior glenoid bone loss, and testing in a single neutral arm position thus not fully accounting for the contribution of capsuloligamentous structures in various at-risk arm positions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical effectiveness of a posterior labral repair in the setting of a clinically relevant bone loss model using 3-dimensional computed tomography modeling of patients with recurrent posterior shoulder instability in various at-risk arm positions. Methods: Ten fresh-frozen cadaveric shoulders (mean age: 55.4 years, range: 39-65) were prepared by removing all tissue except the capsule and distal rotator cuff insertions. A joint coordinate frame was established, the specimens were potted, then mounted to a customized fixture on 6-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm. A posterior labral tear was created, then repaired with 3 horizontal mattress sutures and secured by drilling 6 transosseous holes along the peripheral glenoid face exiting the anterior glenoid neck. The sutures were secured for the labral repair states to the mounted fixture under maximal tension and released for the labral tear states and for creating the sequential bone loss models. Bone loss models were created based off a cohort of CT data on patients undergoing revision posterior labral repair surgery to develop 2 clinically relevant 3D models of glenoid bone loss: the first simulating the mean bone loss in this cohort and represented 7% or small bone loss; the second was the mean + 2SD representing 28% or large bone loss. The bone loss was created on each specimen with a 3mm round burr to match each respective 3D printed template (Figure 1). Each specimen was tested in 7 consecutive states: (1) native anatomy, (2) posterior labral tear (6-9 o'clock), (3) posterior labral repair, (4) mean posterior glenoid bone loss with labral tear, (5) mean posterior glenoid bone loss with labral repair, (6) large posterior glenoid bone loss with labral tear, and (7) large posterior glenoid bone loss with labral repair. Each state underwent 75N of posterior-inferior force and 75N of compression during the four tests at 60 and 90 degrees of flexion and 60 and 90 degrees of scaption. Posterior-inferior translation, lateral translation, and dislocation force were measured for each condition. Statistical analysis was performed using two-factor random-intercepts linear mixed-effects models. Results: Compared to the labral tear state, significant increases in dislocation forces occurred with labral repair independent of bone loss state or arm position with values as follows: 14.8N (60° scaption), 12.2N (90° scaption), 11.1N (60° flexion), and 10.1N (90° flexion) with mean 12.1 ± 2.0N across all arm positions (Figure 2). Dislocation force significantly decreased between no bone loss and small bone loss (mean 12.4 ± 0.7N) and between small bone loss and large bone loss (mean 11.8 ± 2.1N) regardless of labral state in all arm positions (table 1). Posterior-inferior translation significantly decreased with labral repair compared to labral tear states independent of bone loss state in all arm positions (Table 1). Lateral translation of the humeral head significant increased when the labrum was repaired independent of bone loss state in all arm positions except 90° scaption and decreased progressively in all bone loss states in all arm positions (table 1). In the native state, the shoulder significantly translated posterior-inferior in scaption at 60° and 90° elevation compared to flexion (p<0.017) and was most unstable in 60° scaption with 29.9 ± 6.1mm posterior-inferior translation (Figure 3). Conclusions: This is the first study to biomechanically evaluate posterior glenoid bone loss using a clinical model in various at-risk arm positions on a 6 degree-of-freedom robot and through a precise linear effects model has established values for the increase in dislocation force posterior labral repair provides regardless of bone loss. The most significant finding of the study is that independent of bone loss, labral repair reduced posterior dislocation forces by 12.1 ± 2.0N and significantly decreased posterior-inferior translation. With a mean decrease in dislocation force of 12.4 ± 0.7N with small (7%) bone loss, labral repair alone may be enough to restore shoulder stability in most individuals. However, significant increases in posterior bone loss may require bony augmentation for adequate stability based on individual factors such as age and activity level. Table 1. Summary of statistically significance among modeled effects for labrum state and bone loss state. Separate linear mixed-effects models were constructed for each combination shoulder position, elevation and measurement. Numeric results reflect the estimated effect of moving from State A -> State B, as indicated in the column header. Up arrows indicate an increasing effect in the measure of interest, while down arrows indicate a decreasing effect, n.s. represents not statistically significant. Figure 2. Bar plots indicating mean and standard deviation values, stratified by shoulder position, elevation, and experimental status of the labrum and glenoid bone loss. Figure 3. Linear mixed-effects model estimates for shoulder position and elevation upon posterior inferior translation among native shoulders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valvular regurgitation represents an important cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Imaging is pivotal in the evaluation of native valve regurgitation and echocardiography is the primary imaging modality for this purpose. The imaging assessment of valvular regurgitation should integrate quantification of the regurgitation, assessment of the valve anatomy and function, and the consequences of valvular disease on cardiac chambers. In clinical practice, the management of patients with valvular regurgitation largely relies on the results of imaging. It is crucial to provide standards that aim at establishing a baseline list of measurements to be performed when assessing native valve regurgitation. The present document aims to present clinical guidance for the multi-modality imaging assessment of native valvular regurgitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was crucial for the healthcare sector to detect and classify the virus using X-ray and CT scans. This has underlined the need for advanced Deep Learning and Machine Learning approaches to effectively spot and manage the virus's spread. Indeed, researchers worldwide have dynamically participated in the field by publishing an important number of papers across various databases. In this context, we present a bibliometric analysis focused on the detection and classification of COVID-19 using Deep Learning and Machine Learning techniques, based on X-Ray and CT images. We analyzed published documents of the six prominent databases (IEEE Xplore, ACM, MDPI, PubMed, Springer, and ScienceDirect) during the period between 2019 and November 2023. Our results showed that rising forces in economy and technology, especially India, China, Turkey, and Pakistan, began to compete with the great powers in the field of scientific research, which could be seen from their number of publications. Moreover, researchers contributed to Deep Learning techniques more than the use of Machine Learning techniques or the use of both together and preferred to submit their works to Springer Database. An important result was that more than 57% documents were published as Journal Articles, which was an important portion compared to other publication types (conference papers and book chapters). Moreover, the PubMed journal Multimedia Tools and Applications' tops the list of journals with a total of 29 published articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report describes The University of Texas Student Cluster Competition team’s effort to reproduce the results of “MemXCT: memory-centric X-ray CT reconstruction with massive parallelization” (Hidayetoğlu et al., 2019). The article details a new memory-centric approach that reconstructs X-ray computed tomography (XCT) from noisy raw data. In our reproduction experiments, we utilized Microsoft Azure’s CycleCloud tool to provision, orchestrate, and manage our computing cluster in the cloud. In particular, we scheduled and benchmarked reconstruction workloads using Azure’s CPU-based HC44rs and GPU-based NC12s v2 virtual machine (VM) types to evaluate the scalability properties of the reconstruction approach and the performance differences between architectures. The HC44rs VMs contained 44 Intel Xeon Platinum cores, while the NC12s v2 VM was equipped with two NVIDIA P100 GPUs. We used a recent version of Intel’s compiler stack with the MKL library for our CPU code along with CUDA 11.1 on GPUs. Overall, our results confirm the findings of the original article, demonstrating similar acceleration on GPUs and scalability properties on CPUs. Digital artifacts from these experiments are available at: 10.5281/zenodo.5598108 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiac computed tomography (CT) was initially developed as a non-invasive diagnostic tool to detect and quantify coronary stenosis. Thanks to the rapid technological development, cardiac CT has become a comprehensive imaging modality which offers anatomical and functional information to guide patient management. This is the second of two complementary documents endorsed by the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging aiming to give updated indications on the appropriate use of cardiac CT in different clinical scenarios. In this article, emerging CT technologies and biomarkers, such as CT-derived fractional flow reserve, perfusion imaging, and pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation, are described. In addition, the role of cardiac CT in the evaluation of atherosclerotic plaque, cardiomyopathies, structural heart disease, and congenital heart disease is revised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atherosclerotic plaques prone to rupture may cause acute myocardial infarction (MI) but can also heal without causing an event. Certain common histopathological features, including inflammation, a thin fibrous cap, positive remodelling, a large necrotic core, microcalcification, and plaque haemorrhage are commonly found in plaques causing an acute event. Recent advances in imaging techniques have made it possible to detect not only luminal stenosis and overall coronary atherosclerosis burden but also to identify such adverse plaque characteristics. However, the predictive value of identifying individual adverse atherosclerotic plaques for future events has remained poor. In this Position Paper, the relationship between vulnerable plaque imaging and MI is addressed, mainly for non-invasive assessments but also for invasive imaging of adverse plaques in patients undergoing invasive coronary angiography. Dynamic changes in atherosclerotic plaque development and composition may indicate that an adverse plaque phenotype should be considered at the patient level rather than for individual plaques. Imaging of adverse plaque burden throughout the coronary vascular tree, in combination with biomarkers and biomechanical parameters, therefore holds promise for identifying subjects at increased risk of MI and for guiding medical and invasive treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convolution Neural Networks (CNN) can quickly diagnose COVID-19 patients by analyzing computed tomography (CT) images of the lung, thereby effectively preventing the spread of COVID-19. However, the existing CNN-based COVID-19 diagnosis models do consider the problem that the lung images of COVID-19 patients in the early stage and incubation period are extremely similar to those of the non-COVID-19 population. Which reduces the model's classification sensitivity, resulting in a higher probability of the model misdiagnosing COVID-19 patients as non-COVID-19 people. To solve the problem, this paper first attempts to apply triplet loss and center loss to the field of COVID-19 image classification, combining softmax loss to design a jointly supervised metric loss function COVID Triplet-Center Loss (COVID-TCL). Triplet loss can increase inter-class discreteness, and center loss can improve intra-class compactness. Therefore, COVID-TCL can help the CNN-based model to extract more discriminative features and strengthen the diagnostic capacity of COVID-19 patients in the early stage and incubation period. Meanwhile, we use the extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) as a classifier to design a COVID-19 images classification model of CNN-XGBoost architecture, to further improve the CNN-based model's classification effect and operation efficiency. The experiment shows that the classification accuracy of the model proposed in this paper is 97.41%, and the sensitivity is 97.61%, which is higher than the other 7 reference models. The COVID-TCL can effectively improve the classification sensitivity of the CNN-based model, the CNN-XGBoost architecture can further improve the CNN-based model's classification effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Complex multifragmentary fractures of the pelvis and lower limb are a major challenge for operative orthopaedic surgery. The successful metallic osteosynthesis of the fractures requires an extensive planning process, which can be dramatically improved with the 3D printed anatomical models -- replicas of the bones with high fidelity generated from CT and MRI imaging studies. The models represent the spatial properties of the skeleton with a dimensional error of approximately 8 μm/mm. They can be manufactured easily and with high reproducibility with commercial or open-access software and FDM 3D printing. Orthopaedic surgeons use the preoperative models as a highly accurate physical model of complex fractures and allow them to choose and prepare the optimal operation window, surgical tools, metallic implants, and as a template for recontouring (pre-bending) of fixation plates, which will be used during the surgery. The approach provides a new level of personalisation in operative orthopaedic surgery and significantly reduces the duration of the operation, the amount of blood loss and the intraoperative X-rays. The proper anatomical repositioning of the fracture is achieved at a higher rate in the surgeries, which are planned with 3D-printed anatomical models. The planning of surgical operations with 3D-printed models increases the overall effectiveness of the surgery, reduces the rate of post-surgical complications, and allows for a patient-specific approach. The paper will describe the methods for manufacturing accurate 3D-printed anatomical models representing complex fractures and their application for preoperative planning of orthopaedic operation. Design/methodology/approach: The anatomical 3D models were generated from CT datasets with open-access medical informatics software (3D Slicer) and 3D printed on an FDM 3D printer with minimal thermal deformation (Polylactate, PLA). The finished models were used for preoperative planning of complex orthopaedic operations, including high-energy multifragmentary hip, knee and ankle fractures. The preoperative planning included selecting surgical access, preparing tools and implants, and contouring (pre-bending) metal plates for metallic osteosynthesis. Several parameters, such as operation time, blood loss, intraoperative X-rays, and the achievement of anatomical reduction of the fractures, were observed in order to measure the quality of the operations. Findings: Accurate anthropomorphic 3D models representing the spatial properties of the bones can be generated from tomographic imaging studies easily and accurately, even with open-source software. They can be utilised as a tool for preoperatively planning complex orthopaedical operations of the lower limb. Using 3D-printed models allows a patient-specific approach, which leads to good anatomical reduction and favourable functional results in complex surgeries regarding the pelvis, acetabulum, tibial plateau, and calcaneus. Practical implications: The methods described in the paper are routinely used for the preoperative planning of complex orthopaedical operations regarding the lower limb. In the future, they will be combined with the implementation of 3D-printed personalised titanium implants to achieve good anatomical reduction even for the most challenging multigragmental fractures. Originality/value: In the paper, we described the technical aspects and clinical considerations for the preoperative planning of complex orthopaedical operations, which can assist engineers and clinicians alike in implementing the useful method in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]