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Imaging features of the lung in postmortem computed tomography (CT) scans have been reported in drowning cases. However, it is difficult for forensic pathologists with limited experience to distinguish subtle differences in CT images. In this study, artificial intelligence (AI) with deep learning capability was used to diagnose drowning in postmortem CT images, and its performance was evaluated. The samples consisted of high-resolution CT images of the chest of 153 drowned and 160 non-drowned bodies captured by an 8- or 64-row multislice CT system. The images were captured with an image slice thickness of 1.0 mm and spacing of 30 mm, and 28 images were typically captured. A modified AlexNet was used as the AI architecture. The output result was the drowning probability for each component image. To evaluate the performance of the proposed model, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was analyzed, and the AUC value of 0.95 was obtained. This indicates that the proposed AI architecture is a useful and powerful complementary testing approach for diagnosing drowning in postmortem CT images. Notably, the accuracy was 81% (62/77) for cases in which resuscitation was performed, and 92% (216/236) for cases in which resuscitation was not attempted. Therefore, the proposed AI method should not be used to diagnose the cause of death when aggressive cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed. Additionally, because honeycomb lungs are likely to exhibit different morphologies, emphysema cases should also be treated with caution when the proposed AI method is used to diagnose drowning.

It is challenging to diagnose drowning in autopsy even with the help of post-mortem multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) due to the complex pathophysiology and the shortage of forensic specialists equipped with radiology knowledge. Therefore, a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system was developed to help with diagnosis. Most deep learning-based CAD systems only utilize 2D information, which is proper for 2D data such as chest X-ray images. However, 3D information should also be considered for 3D data like CT. Conventional 3D methods require a huge amount of data and computational cost when using 3D methods. In this paper, we proposed a 2.5D method that converts 3D data into 2D images to train 2D deep learning models for drowning diagnosis. The key point of this 2.5D method is that it uses a subset to represent the whole case, covering this case as much as possible while avoiding other repetitive information. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, conventional 2D, previous 2.5D, and 3D deep learning-based methods were tested using an MSCT dataset obtained from Tohoku university. Then, to provide explainable diagnosis results, a visualization method called Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping was employed to visualize features relevant to drowning in CT images. Results on drowning diagnosis showed that our proposed method achieved the best performance compared to other 2D, 2.5D, and 3D methods. The visual assessment also demonstrated that our method could find the saliency regions corresponding to drowning.

The liver is an organ that is frequently injured by blunt trauma. In clinical medicine, contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) is useful for diagnosing liver damage. However, detection of liver injury is difficult with postmortem CT (PMCT) that does not use contrast media. This study aims to identify findings that are useful for diagnosing liver injury with PMCT. This study included 97 high-energy trauma cases that underwent both PMCT without contrast and forensic autopsy between July 2009 and November 2020. PMCT findings in and around the liver in cases of liver injury were collected. The diagnostic accuracy of each finding was calculated. Of 97 cases, 62 had liver injury on autopsy. PMCT detected hepatic surface gas in 31 cases, intrahepatic focal gas in 19 cases, high-density fluid accumulation around the liver in 12 cases, and fracture of a right lower (9th-12th) rib in 48 cases. Abnormal PMCT findings in and around the liver had insufficient diagnostic sensitivity, ranging from 19.4% to 38.7%. By contrast, the finding of a right lower rib fracture was more sensitive for suspected liver injury. Our results indicate that abdominal liver findings (hepatic surface gas, intrahepatic focal gas, and high-density fluid accumulation around the liver) are of limited utility for the diagnosis of liver injury, whereas a right lower rib fracture is a useful indirect finding.

Co1-xMgxFe2O4 (x=0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) nanoparticles embedded in amorphous SiO2 with particle sizes of approximately 4.5 nm were prepared using an original wet chemical method. We performed spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging measurements for Co1-xMgxFe2O4 nanoparticles using a 0.3-T MRI system. The particles exhibited a significant T2 shortening effect compared with that of agarose, depending on the composition. All particles exhibited effective relaxivity, R2, and a significant contrast was observed in the phantom image. Furthermore, thiol group was modified to enable particles to bind specifically to maleimide proteins. These particles are expected to be potential theranostic agents.

The utility of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for sex estimation of the pelvis was evaluated using depth images generated from reconstructed three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography images. The 3D volume data were normalized by a homologous modeling technique to create polygon data with identical topology, then captured images for learning and testing. The neural networks were trained via transfer learning. As a result, a correct assignment rate >90% was obtained in most trials. The frontal view of the pelvis with 60-degree inclination achieved the best results. Selecting samples close to the average images of the sex was effective for training.

Purpose This phantom study aimed to determine the optimal acquisition window size for phase-based respiratory gating in silicon photomultiplier (SiPM)-based fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) and its acquisition time in respiratory-gated imaging with the optimal window size. Methods Images of a moving NEMA IEC Body Phantom SetTM with hot spheres were acquired. First, the tumor volume and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of images reconstructed using a different window size were evaluated to define the optimal window size. Second, the quality of the images reconstructed using the optimal window size and different acquisition times was evaluated using the detectability score of the 10-mm hot sphere and physical indices. Results The volume and the SUVmax of the 10-mm hot sphere were improved when the window size was narrow, and there were no significant differences among images reconstructed using a window size narrower than 20%. To reconstruct an image using the 20% window size, an acquisition time of 5 min was required to visualize the 10-mm hot sphere. Conclusions The optimal window size for phase-based respiratory gating is 20%. Further, an acquisition time of 5 min should be taken for respiratory-gated imaging with the 20% window size on SiPM-based FDG-PET/CT.

Objectives Gas is a common finding in cervical intervertebral separation. However, intervertebral gas is also found in many decedents without intervertebral separation. Here, we quantified intervertebral gas and examined its value in the diagnosis of cervical intervertebral separation. Methods We retrospectively reviewed data from 1118 decedents who underwent post-mortem computed tomography (CT) and autopsy from May 2011 to July 2016 and selected those with cervical intervertebral gas with or without intervertebral separation. These data comprised 56 cervical intervertebral spaces with gas [intervertebral separation in 19 (33.9%)] in 43 subjects [intervertebral separation in 17 (39.5%)]. We categorised the decedents according to gas volume, position, and shape and determined the significance of the differences between the decedents with and without separation. Results The gas volume did not differ significantly between decedents with and without separation (p = 0.063). However, there were significant differences in the gas position between decedents with and without separation. In the sagittal plane: gas was seen in the “centred” position in the ventral-to-dorsal direction in more decedents without separation than in those with separation (p = 0.018). Gas was seen in the ventral-to-dorsal positions in more decedents with separation than in those without separation (p = 0.049). In the cranio-caudal direction, gas in the upper position was more common in decedents with separation than in those without separation in the sagittal plane (p = 0.03). In the coronal plane: gas was seen in the upper position more frequently in decedents with separation in the cranio-caudal direction than in those without separation (p = 0.001). A significant difference in gas shape was observed only in the coronal plane (p = 0.024); irregular gas was associated with decedents without separation. Conclusion Gas in the ventral-to-dorsal and upper positions in the sagittal plane and in the upper position in the coronal plane was rather indicative of cervical intervertebral separation. An irregular gas shape in the coronal plane was indicative of degenerative changes.

Magnetic nanoparticles have drawn attention recently due to their interesting nanoscopic features and potential applications. Various kinds of ferrite nanoparticles with diameters between 3 and 34 nm encapsulated by amorphous SiO2 were functionalized and examined for biomedical applications. From dc and ac magnetic susceptibility measurements, it was found that these particles followed the Neel relaxation system. Co–Zn ferrite (Co0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4) nanoparticles were prepared and the increase in temperature in the ac field was estimated for hyperthermia treatment. In vitro experiments using cultured human breast cancer cells were carried out, and a dramatic hyperthermia effect was observed. As one of the diagnostic methods, magnetic resonance (MR) measurements were performed for CoFe2O4 nanoparticles, and the samples were also evaluated as potential contrast media for MR imaging.

Traditional autopsy has changed little in the past century. In Japan, the rate of forensic autopsy in cases of unusual death is very low. Therefore, multi-slice computed tomography (CT) has been used to obtain imaging data instead of or in addition to autopsy in suspicious forensic cases. In our institute, postmortem multi-slice CT has been performed since 2009, and by 2014 there were over 1,000 cases. Our extensive experience with postmortem CT shows that in many cases of death by drug overdose, stomach contents exhibit high X-ray absorption. This article reviews the relationship between CT findings of stomach contents and toxicological analysis results in 23 cases of death by drug overdose. All cases (12 females and 11 males, aged 44 ± 11 years) known to have orally ingested drugs were included in this study. We assessed the slices of all stomach areas on consecutive axial CT images. Twenty cases (87%) showed high X-ray absorption in the stomach, while the other three did not demonstrate radio-dense stomach contents even though drug analysis detected lethal concentrations of drugs in the blood. In conclusion, drugs were frequently, but not always, visualized as contents with high X-ray absorption in the stomach. Postmortem gastric CT images can provide useful information in cases of oral drug intoxication if there are empty drug packages or a suicide note at the death scene. However, precise determination of the cause of death requires full autopsy in cases where there is no indication of suicide at the death scene.

Objectives This article reviews the prevalence of lumbarisation, sacralisation and lumbar ribs, and their morphological relevance by evaluating multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) images. These segment variations can cause miscounting of vertebrae at the lumbar spinal level. Methods A retrospective radiographic analysis of 226 cases scanned by MSCT prior to forensic autopsy was undertaken. MSCT scans of the entire spine were obtained. Radiological data were evaluated on a three-dimensional image workstation. Vertebral levels were determined by counting downward from the first cervical vertebra, based on the assumption of seven cervical, 12 thoracic and five lumbar vertebrae. The prevalence of lumbarisation, sacralisation and lumbar ribs was assessed. Results Lumbar ribs were observed in 13 of the 226 cases (5.8 %). Lumbarisation and sacralisation were observed in 14 cases (6.2 %) and six cases (2.7 %), respectively. Lumbar ribs were present in 11 of the 14 cases with lumbarisation, and in two of the 206 cases with normal lumbar vertebral configuration. Lumbarisation had a statistically significant association with lumbar ribs (p

Rationale: Total count data of a nuclear medicine image are calculated using a definite integral over total acquisition time (T), although γ-rays are completely random and irregular irrespective of their direction and gamma camera detector incidence location. However, random events could be used to create images by rearranging the time series and changing the data observation direction. We examined a filtering method wherein a time series of the count data from four directions is observed, four approximation equations are created, and the matrix size is enlarged by complementing it two-fold. Methods: Two phantoms and patient data were used here. Static and dynamic acquisition (T: 60 s or 300 s, time units: 1 s) were performed. The image data were a 3-dimensional data array within the timeline for each pixel, and the data analysis was performed for all pixels by fixing and varying the timeline in the data array. The set acquisition time data was rearranged into four patterns, a linear approximation equation was determined for each pattern (the least squares method), and then replotted in a 2-fold larger matrix area. Results: All approximation equations exhibited a correlation of R2 0.79. Four patterns: Normal, Inverse, Forward, and Backward, were constructed from the time series of acquisitions for a set time, and approximation equation data for four pixels were created from the data of one pixel. The apparent resolution increases when an image is partially enlarged, but this fell well short of the data that were actually acquired, although the apparent resolution was increased by implementing the proposed technique. Discussion: We proposed a novel filtering method that changes the matrix size without extending the imaging time by utilizing the acquisition events’ irregularity. Although the proposed technique requires changes in data processing software, it is extremely cost-effective because equipment modifications are unnecessary.

Gallbladder injuries are extremely rare in blunt trauma, with a reported incidence of

Background The Fourier transform (FT) is an image-processing tool that can be used to analyze space or linear systems. We used the FT to analyze the shape of the subpubic line (SL) and the right greater sciatic notch area line (GSNAL) of the pelvis to identify sexing in computed tomographic (CT) images. Methods 120 bodies (60 male, 60 female) were scanned by multislice CT before autopsy. SL and GSNAL images were reconstructed using an image workstation. The range of the SL is between the bottom ends of the bilateral acetabulum, and the range of the right GSNAL is from the posterior superior iliac spine to the ischial tuberosity. Coordinates ( x , y ) of the bone outline were extracted from CT images and calculated by fast FT. The Mann–Whitney U test comparing the amplitude of each frequency was used to determine significant differences between the two populations. Multiple regression analyses were performed to find statistically significant amplitudes of each frequency. We verified the accuracy of prediction of the regression equation, and a Cohen's kappa coefficient was measured. Results Statistically significant differences of amplitude were found in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th frequencies of the SL and the 1st, 3rd, and 4th frequencies of GSNAL. Adjusted R 2 using all amplitudes having a significant difference was 0.772. The accuracy was 0.983. Kappa coefficient was 0.983. Conclusion We could determine sexing from SL and GSNAL of the pelvis using FT with high accuracy. FT is a useful tool to analyze the curved shape of human bone.

Gd2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized by using our original method for application as MRI contrast agents. The sample diameters were controlled in the range 18–66 nm by adjusting the annealing temperature between 773 and 1273 K in air or in an Ar atmosphere. Magnetization measurements were performed at 300 K, and the effective magnetic moment of each sample was calculated. They showed paramagnetism at 300 K and they had large effective magnetic moment μeff of 7.15–8.05 μB. MRI measurements were performed in 0.8 wt% agarose solution, and the Gd2O3 nanoparticles were found to work as effective T1-shortening MRI contrast agents.