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A new method of dose calculation algorithm, called GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo and collapsed cone Convolution (GMCC) was developed to improve the calculation speed of BNCT treatment planning system. The GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo routine in GMCC is used to simulate the neutron transport over whole energy range and the Collapsed Cone Convolution method is to calculate the gamma dose. Other dose components due to alpha particles and protons, are calculated using the calculated neutron flux and reaction data. The mathematical principle and the algorithm architecture are introduced. The accuracy and performance of the GMCC were verified by comparing with the FLUKA results. A water phantom and a head CT voxel model were simulated. The neutron flux and the absorbed dose obtained by the GMCC were consistent well with the FLUKA results. In the case of head CT voxel model, the mean absolute percentage error for the neutron flux and the absorbed dose were 3.98% and 3.91%, respectively. The calculation speed of the absorbed dose by the GMCC was 56 times faster than the FLUKA code. It was verified that the GMCC could be a good candidate tool instead of the Monte Carlo method in the BNCT dose calculations.

Sensor layout of biomagnetic measurement systems is measured using a multiple coil array that generates a magnetic signal. However, the results of the sensor array measurement included the error of the coil array because the coil array was not calibrated. In this paper, we proposed a calibration method to obtain the effective geometry and uncertainty of the coil array. The calibration was performed based on the X-ray CT measurements and numerical analysis of the position and shape of the coils. The differences between the designed and calibrated coil array geometries were 0.6 mm, 0.7°, and 0.3 mm with respect to the center position, orientation of the normal vector, and radius of the coils, respectively. The uncertainty of the calibration was 0.3 mm and 1.70 in terms of the dimension and orientation, respectively. We measured the sensor array layout of a magnetoencephalography (MEG) system using a calibrated coil array geometry. The source localization accuracy of the MEG system was improved compared with that of the sensor array layout obtained using the designed coil array geometry. We revealed the necessity of calibrating the coil array, regardless of the precision of the fabrication.

Through numerical simulations, this work analyzes the unsteady pressure pulsation characteristics in new type of dishwasher pump with double tongue volute and single tongue volute, under volute static and rotation conditions. Likewise, the performance tests were also carried out to verify the numerical results. Multiple monitoring points were set at the various positions of new type dishwasher pump to collect the pressure pulsation signals, and the relevant frequency signals were obtained via Fast Fourier Transform, to analyze the influence of volute tongue and its passive speed on the pump performance. The results reveal that when the double tongue volute is stationary, the pressure pulsation amplitudes increase from the impeller inlet to the impeller outlet. Under the influence of shedding vortex, the pressure pulsation in the lateral region of tongue becomes disorganized, and the main frequency of pressure pulsation changes from blade frequency to shaft frequency. In addition, compared with the static volute, double tongue volute can effectively guide the water flow out of the tongue during the rotation process, thus ensuring good periodicity for pressure pulsation in the tongue region. Accordingly, a volute reference scheme with passive rotation speed is proposed in this study, which can effectively improve the pressure pulsation at tongue position, and provides a new idea for rotor-stator interference to guide the innovation of dishwasher.

We have calculated the radiological parameters such as computerized tomography (CT) numbers effective atomic number (Zeff) and electron density (Nel) of newborn tissue and adult tissue of lung, kidney, heart and brain. Effective atomic number is computed by calculating the molecular, atomic and electronic cross section in the wide energy range of 1 keV–100 keV using WinXCOM. The new born tissue and adult tissue a very similar, but their atomic number, CT number and electron densities differs. This fact helps in the radiography and radiotherapy.

We review the current status of the development of sources of epithermal neutrons sources based on reactors and accelerators for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), a promising method of malignant tumor treatment. The scheme is proposed of the source prototype for the production of thermal and epithermal neutrons using the delayed neutrons generated with help of linear electron accelerator at the target containing the fissile material. The results of an experiment are presented in which the half-life curves of radioactive nuclei formed during fission and emitting delayed neutrons are measured. It is shown that an activated target containing fissile material is a compact small-sized source of delayed neutrons. It can be delivered to the shaper, where, using a moderator, an absorber, and a collimator, neutrons of thermal or epithermal energies are formed over a certain period of time, after which this target is sent to the activator, and another target comes in its place. Thus, a pulsed neutron flux is formed. Such a neutron beam can be used in nuclear medicine, in particular, in neutron capture therapy in the treatment of cancer. An important task in the implementation of neutron capture therapy, when irradiating patients, is to control both the intensity and the energy spectrum of the neutron flux. To solve this problem, an earlier developed activation-type neutron ball spectrometer can be used, which will allow optimization of various parameters of the shaper, collimator and filters in order to obtain the most powerful neutron fluxes.

In this manuscript, peristaltic transport induced by a sinusoidal traveling wave in the case for a viscous incompressible Newtonian fluid mixed with rigid spherical particles in the presence of a flexible inner tube, where the inner tube is also moving with a sinusoidal traveling wave of moderate amplitude is studied. The governing equations of the mixture (fluid-particle suspension) are written in two-dimensional cylindrical coordinates. The long-wavelength approximation is used to simplify the system of equations (d<

Background: Today, the most common method for kidney stone therapy is extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Current research is a numerical simulation of kidney stone fragmentation via ultrasonic shock waves. Most numerical studies in lithotripsy have been carried out using the elasticity or energy method and neglected the dissipation phenomenon. In the current study, it is solved by not only the linear acoustics equation, but also the Westervelt acoustics equation which nonlinearity and dissipation are involved. Objective: This study is to compare two methods for simulation of shock wave lithotripsy, clarifying the effect of shock wave profiles and stones’ material, and investigating side effects on surrounding tissues.Material and Methods: Computational study is done using COMSOL Multiphysics, commercial software based on the finite element method. Nonlinear governing equations of acoustics, elasticity and bioheat-transfer are coupled and solved. Results: A decrease in the rise time of shock wave leads to increase the produced acoustic pressure and enlarge focus region. The shock wave damages kidney tissues in both linear and nonlinear simulation but the damage due to high temperature is very negligible compared to the High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU). Conclusion: Disaffiliation of wave nonlinearity causes a high incompatibility with reality. Stone’s material is an important factor, affecting the fragmentation.

This work addresses the neutronic design of a Beam Shaping Assembly (BSA) that is appropriate for a Accelerator-based Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (AB-BNCT). Instead of designing a moderator utilizing the IAEA-1223 recommendation and in-phantom figure of merit, in this work we study neutronics to decrease the out-of-beam dosimetry by employing radiobiological figures of merit to assess the beam quality. In particular, in the radiobiological probability model, we include two normal tissue cases, and accordingly optimize the thickness and cone angle of the collimator. Hence, in this study, for a large opening diameter, i.e., 10 cm, we use a small cone angle, which can decrease the out-of-beam dosimetry effectively. Accordingly, for a small opening diameter, i.e., 2 cm in this study, we employ a large cone angle to guarantee that the neutron flux is large enough. Our simulation results demonstrate that the neutronics optimization of the collimator is a tradeoff between the out-of-beam dosimetry and the neutron flux. From our findings, we conclude that upon considering radiobiological figures of merit, collimators with a tunable design shape are more appealing due to adapting to different treatment situations.

Medical physics 49(1), 714 - 726 (2022). doi:10.1002/mp.15343, Published by AAPM, College Park, Md.

The acoustic nonlinearity parameter of skeletal muscles changes with their contractions and has the potential to be utilized for exoskeleton control. In our previous work, a system comprising a wearable ultrasound probe was developed to estimate the acoustic nonlinearity parameter in vivo by measuring amplitudes of second-harmonic ultrasound. The estimating accuracy was found to be significantly affected by the corruption between echoes due to the limited axial resolution of ultrasound. As both frequency components of the single echo and the extent of corruption are unknown, a method based on a bi-directional deconvolution is proposed in this paper to decompose corrupted echoes, and integrated into the measuring system. Eight subjects were recruited for the in vivo measurement of the biceps brachii acoustic nonlinearity parameter, thickness, and elbow torque. Linear regression between the elbow torque and (1) the estimated acoustic nonlinearity parameter, (2) the thickness demonstrated the correlations, with average coefficients of determinations ( $R^{2}$ ) of 0.861 and 0.633 respectively. This work paves a way for estimating the acoustic nonlinearity parameter of skeletal muscles in vivo .

In this paper, a type of complex algebraic differential equations (CADEs) is considered formulating by $ \alpha [\varphi(z) \varphi" (z) +(\varphi' (z))^2]+ a_m \varphi^m(z)+a_{m-1} \varphi^{m-1}(z)+...+ a_1 \varphi(z)+ a_0 = 0. $ The conformal analysis (angle-preserving) of the CADEs is investigated. We present sufficient conditions to obtain analytic solutions of the CADEs. We show that these solutions are subordinated to analytic convex functions in terms of $e^z.$ Moreover, we investigate the connection estimates (coefficient bounds) of CADEs by employing the majorization method. We achieve that the coefficients bound are optimized by Bernoulli numbers.

Purpose In proton therapy, the potential of using high-dose rates in the cancer treatment is being explored. High-dose rates could improve efficiency and throughput in standard clinical practice, allow efficient utilization of motion mitigation techniques for moving targets, and potentially enhance normal tissue sparing due to the so-called FLASH effect. However, high-dose rates are difficult to reach when lower energy beams are applied in cyclotron-based proton therapy facilities, because they result in large beam sizes and divergences downstream of the degrader, incurring large losses from the cyclotron to the patient position (isocenter). In current facilities, the emittance after the degrader is reduced using circular collimators; however, this does not provide an optimal matching to the acceptance of the following beamline, causing a low transmission for these energies. We, therefore, propose to use a collimation system, asymmetric in both beam size and divergence, resulting in symmetric emittance in both beam transverse planes as required for a gantry system. This new emittance selection, together with a new optics design for the following beamline and gantry, allows a better matching to the beamline acceptance and an improvement of the transmission. Methods We implemented a custom method to design the collimator sizes and shape required to select high emittance, to be transported by the following beamline using new beam optics (designed with TRANSPORT) to maximize acceptance matching. For predicting the transmission in the new configuration (new collimators + optics), we used Monte Carlo simulations implemented in BDSIM, implementing a model of PSI Gantry 2 which we benchmarked against measurements taken in the current clinical scenario (circular collimators + clinical optics). Results From the BDSIM simulations, we found that the new collimator system and matching beam optics results in an overall transmission from the cyclotron to the isocenter for a 70 MeV beam of 0.72%. This is an improvement of almost a factor of 6 over the current clinical performance (0.13% transmission). The new optics satisfies clinical beam requirements at the isocenter. Conclusions We developed a new emittance collimation system for PSI's PROSCAN beamline which, by carefully selecting beam size and divergence asymmetrically, increases the beam transmission for low-energy beams in current state-of-the-art cyclotron-based proton therapy gantries. With these improvements, we could predict almost 1% transmission for low-energy beams at PSI's Gantry 2. Such a system could easily be implemented in facilities interested in increasing dose rates for efficient motion mitigation and FLASH experiments alike., Medical Physics, 48 (12), ISSN:0094-2405, ISSN:2473-4209, ISSN:1522-8541

On‐treatment EPID images are contaminated with patient‐generated scattered photons. If this component can be accurately estimated, its effect can be removed, and therefore a corresponding in vivo patient dose estimate will be more accurate. Our group previously developed a "tri‐hybrid" (TH) algorithm to provide fast but accurate estimates of patient‐generated photon scatter. The algorithm uses an analytical method to solve for singly‐scattered photon fluence, a modified Monte Carlo hybrid method to solve for multiply‐scattered photon fluence, and a pencil beam scatter kernel method to solve for electron interaction generated scattered photon fluence. However, for efficient clinical implementation, spatial and energy sampling must be optimized for speed while maintaining overall accuracy. In this work, the most significant sampling issues were examined, including spatial sampling settings for the patient voxel size, the number of Monte Carlo histories used in the modified hybrid MC method, scatter order sampling for the hybrid method, and also a range of energy spectrum sampling (i.e., energy bin sizes). The total predicted patient‐scattered photon fluence entering the EPID was compared with full MC simulation (EGSnrc) for validation. Three phantoms were tested with 6 and 18 MV beam energies, field sizes of 4 × 4, 10 × 10, and 20 × 20 cm2, and source‐to‐imager distance of 140 cm to develop a set of optimal sampling settings. With the recommended sampling, accuracy and precision of the total‐scattered energy fluence of the TH patient scatter prediction method are within 0.9% and 1.2%, respectively, for all test cases compared with full MC simulation results. For the mean energy spectrum across the imaging plane, comparison of TH with full MC simulation showed 95% overlap. This study has optimized sampling settings so that they have minimal impact on patient scatter prediction accuracy while maintaining maximum execution speed, a critical step for future clinical implementation.

The hip joint and surrounding musculature must generate and withstand torque during the swing phase of running. Prior research has demonstrated that sagittal plane hip torque increases with speed, indicating that thigh angular acceleration likely increases in a similar manner and may be an important gait parameter. In this investigation, we modelled thigh angle vs. time data with a sine wave function, requiring inputs of thigh angular amplitude and stride frequency. This enabled a simple formula to model maximum thigh angular acceleration (

The Penne’s bio-heat transfer equation can be used with normal mode technique to describe the characterizing of the temperature fluctuation in muscles. The analytical solutions of heating pattern is obtained in a closed-form when the propagation of ultrasonic waves in tissue system are taken into consideration. The impact of external electromagnetic field is used to investigate the influence of temporal and spatial distributions of temperature. The numerical simulations during the 2D and 3D graphs can be obtained for human tissue in simplified geometry in the context of the derived method. The normal mode analysis is used as a mathematical technique to solve the bioheat transfer equation analytically with some conditions to get the complete solution of the main variables in this model.

Unlike the conventional optical needle directed along the optical axis, we propose an approach to generate an optical needle with prescribed polarization direction and length by inversely focusing ...

An algorithm is proposed for reconstructing the energy spectra of electron beams in the energy range of 5 to 10 MeV from depth dose distributions in an aluminum phantom, calculated via modeling using the GEANT4 program code. An estimate of the accuracy of the reconstruction of spectra consisting of two monochromatic beams is established that depends on the chosen energy step.

In this article, we reconstruct the internal electric field due to a dipole antenna embedded in a dielectric phantom for developing a noninvasive specific absorption rate (SAR) measurement system. The reconstruction method is based on the surface equivalent theorem and boundary conditions, which relate the external field radiated from the embedded antenna to equivalent electromagnetic surface currents on the human body. The electric field data sampled at spatial points on a surface enclosing the phantom are used in the inverse calculation. All field integrals are discretized and numerically solved to obtain the electromagnetic currents on the phantom's surface. The internal electric field distribution and SAR value in a phantom can be calculated from the reconstructed surface currents if the electric properties of the phantom are known. The validity of the method was demonstrated numerically and experimentally using a dipole antenna embedded in the lossy rectangular phantom, which has a dielectric constant close to human skin tissue at 2.5 GHz. Comparison with forward numerical simulations has shown that the surface current and electric field distribution can be predicted with great precision. Carefully performing the experiments using a self-made phantom validated our numerical demonstration and provided satisfactory reconstruction results.

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a high-resolution, non-invasive technique to image subsurface tissue and tissue functions. A broadband light source illuminates an object and the reflected photons are processed using an interferometer, demodulated into inphase and quadrature components and then digitized. The captured data contains information about the velocity of the moving scatterers but current Doppler estimation algorithms have a limited velocity detection range. Here we demonstrate Doppler OCT (DOCT) detection of in vivo of blood flow in a rat aorta with over 1 m/s peak velocity through an esophageal DOCT probe using a new processing technique. Previous methods have used a transverse Kasai (TK) autocorrelation estimation to estimate the velocity. By calculating the Kasai autocorrelation with a lag in the depth or axial direction, backscattered frequency information is obtained. Through subtraction with stationary backscattered information, the Doppler shift is obtained by the axial Kasai (AK) technique. Maximum non-aliased Doppler frequency estimation using a time domain DOCT system increased from +/-4 kHz to =+/-1.6 MHz. The TK has better velocity resolution in the low flow rate range and when combined with the AK we demonstrate a dynamic frequency range over 100 dB with a velocity detection range from 10 [micro]m/s to over 1 m/s. This velocity range spans from microcirculation to cardiac blood flow velocities.

The impact of the human nasal airway complexity on the pharyngeal airway fluid mechanics is investigated at inspiration. It is the aim to find a suitable degree of geometrical reduction that allows for an efficient segmentation of the human airways from cone-beam computed tomography images. The flow physics is simulated by a lattice Boltzmann method on high-performance computers. For two patients, the flow field through the complete upper airway is compared to results obtained from three surface variants with continuously decreasing complexity. The most complex reduced airway model includes the middle and inferior turbinates, while the moderate model only features the inferior turbinates. In the simplest model, a pipe-like artificial structure is attached to the airway. For each model, the averaged pressure is computed at different cross sections. Furthermore, the flow fields are investigated by means of averaged velocity magnitudes, in-plane velocity vectors, and streamlines. By analyzing the averaged pressure loss from the nostrils to each cross section, it is found that only the most complex reduced models are capable of approximating the pressure distribution from the original geometries. In the moderate models, the geometry reductions lead to overpredictions of the pressure loss in the pharynx. Attaching a pipe-like structure leads to a higher deceleration of the incoming flow and underpredicted pressure losses and velocities, especially in the upper part of the pharynx. Dean-like vortices are observed in the moderate and pipe-like models, since their shape comes close to a $$90^\circ$$ -bend elbow pipe.

Stopping powers (SP) for electrons with energies greater than 10 keV are well described through the Bethe approximation. However, for energies below, such an approach is inadequate. SP in LiF, CaF2 and Al2O3 as the luminescent materials commonly used for dosimetry study and liquid-water are scarce at energies below 10 keV. This work investigated SP and CSDA-range of electrons in in these compounds from the energy gap up to 433 keV using the full Penn algorithm. In particular, the influence of the exciton states was evaluated. The experimental optical data were selected after a rigorous evaluation process. The results indicate that the exciton states affect the SP mainly at energies below 100 eV by up to 48%, 39%, 32% and 15% for liquid-water, LiF, CaF2 and Al2O3, respectively. Furthermore, we observed a certain relationship between the minimum excitation-energy (exciton state) and the energy at which the SP is maximum.

The greatest advantage of scattering theory-based ultrasound tomography (UT) is its ability to investigate small structures. DBIM is the Distorted Born Iterative Method. The nearest neighbour inter...

PURPOSE To demonstrate a novel 3D radial echo planar imaging (3D REPI) sequence for flexible, rapid, and motion-robust sampling in fMRI. METHODS The 3D REPI method expands on the recently described golden angle rotated EPI trajectory using radial batched internal navigator echoes (TURBINE) approach by exploiting the unused perpendicular direction in the EPI readout to form fast analogues of rotated stack of stars or spirals trajectories that cover all 3 dimensions of k-space. An iterative conjugate gradient algorithm with SENSE reconstruction and time-segmented non-uniform fast Fourier transform (FFT) was used for parallel imaging acceleration and to account for the effects of B0 inhomogeneity. The golden angle rotation allowed for sliding window reconstruction schemes to be applied in brain BOLD fMRI experiments. RESULTS Combined whole brain visual and motor fMRI experiments were successfully carried out on a clinical 3T scanner at 2 mm isotropic and 1 × 1 × 2 mm3 resolutions using the 3D REPI design. Improved sampling characteristics and image quality were observed for twisted trajectories at the expense of prolonged readout times and off-resonance effects. The ability to correct for rigid motion correction was also demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS 3D REPI presents a flexible approach for segmented volumetric fMRI with motion correction and high in-plane spatial resolutions. Improved BOLD fMRI brain activation maps were obtained using a sliding window reconstruction.

The dynamical behaviors of three oscillators (the classical linear oscillator, the Van der Pol oscillator and the Grudzinsky-Zebrowsky oscillator) subjected to periodic pulse excitation, assumed to come from blood pressure, are studied theoretically and experimentally using microcontrollers. The pulsatile electrical signal is generated by a microcontroller. For some selected frequencies, it is found that the models exhibit responses having the same shape as those of the pulsatile blood pressure. This suggests the possibility of using such a conversion and excitation mechanism to replicate the functioning of artificial pacemakers.

The aim of this work is to analyze existing detectors for the relative dosimetry of small radiation fields in external beam radiation therapy and the requirements for them, consider the problems in carrying out dosimetry of small radiation fields, determine the physical conditions under which an external photon beam can be designated as a small field. In modern radiation therapy, there is an increase in the use of small static fields, which is facilitated by the general availability of standard and optional multileaf collimators and new generation treatment machines of various designs. There is growing interest in the use of such radiation techniques as stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy, which are widely used small fields. This has increased the uncertainties in clinical dosimetry, especially for small fields. Accurate dosimetry of small fields is important when commissioning linear accelerators and is a difficult task, especially for very small fields used in stereotactic radiotherapy. In the course of the work, a study of topical problems in the dosimetry of small radiation fields in external beam radiation therapy has been carried out. The physical conditions under which the external photon beam can be designated as a small field are considered. A review and analysis of existing detectors for the relative dosimetry of small radiation fields, as well as an analysis of the requirements for the character. The analysis revealed that liquid ionization chambers, silicon diodes, diamond detectors, organic scintillators, radiochromic films, thermoluminescent dosimeters and optically stimulated luminescence detectors are considered suitable for relative dosimetry of small photon fields and are recommended for use in clinics where radiotherapy is performed.

This paper presents a modified analytical model to evaluate the trajectories of various lift separation sabot configurations. The aerodynamic forces acting on the sabot surfaces during a supersonic flight are modeled in the present analytical model by incorporating the pressures on the windward side of the sabot due to the detached/attached shock and its reflections and then integrated using the 3-DoF dynamical equations. The trajectory and the aerodynamic coefficients were obtained for these configurations at a projectile Mach number of 3. The sabot configurations, which include two new designs, are compared with each other and with the conventional free flight trajectory data of the conventional sabots. The mechanical interaction between the sabot and projectile is also addressed in the present work. The comparison shows that the new designs with the aerodynamic surfaces close to the center of gravity, lift-off from the projectile with minimal mechanical interaction compared to a conventional sabot.

In this work, we propose a lattice Boltzmann method to model the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) conduction phenomenon in dielectric liquids. To incorporate the effect of the source term appeared in the charge conservation equations, some unified force terms that can be implemented locally are delicately designed in the charge evolution equations. We further validate the present model against some analytical solutions as well as experimental data for several problems, and a good agreement is obtained. Then it is used to study the fluid circulation in a square cavity generated by EHD conduction phenomenon, and the numerical results indicate that the geometric scale and the difference in the mobilities of the positive and negative charges could play an important role in studying EHD conduction phenomenon. Further, to analyze the characteristics of the EHD conduction mechanisms in the ohmic and saturation regimes, the influences of the conduction number W 0 as well as the parameter β , which is related to Onsager effect, are also investigated, and the numerical results fit well with previous work.

Recently developed x-ray transmittance modeling-based three-step algorithm compensates for the spectral distortion in the photon-counting detector (PCD) and estimates the line-integrals of the basis materials. The x-ray transmittance modeling linearizes the nonlinear forward imaging model and derives a computationally efficient three-step algorithm that achieves almost unbiased and minimum variance estimator. In this article, we apply the algorithm to the experimental data from a research whole-body PCD-computed tomography (CT) system. We perform pixel-by-pixel calibration using water-equivalent phantoms to fit the output of the scanner to the forward model and then feed the calibrated data into the three-step algorithm. Experimental data from iodine phantom and swine abdomen scans demonstrate that the proposed algorithm compensates for the spectral distortion effectively and estimates the line-integrals of two basis materials, water and iodine, efficiently. The proposed method substantially reduces the beam hardening and ring artifacts present in the test phantom compared to those of the image-based material decomposition method and the images directly reconstructed from the raw data of the system. The algorithm also exhibits less bias and comparable noise to those of the other methods for various x-ray energies.

The necessity to develop a magnetometer for variations research in the mid-field magnetic strength with a relative error of 10–6 is justified. A new design of nuclear magnetometer which uses maser with flowing liquid is proposed. The block diagram of the magnetometer is presented, and the principle of its operation is described in detail. Furthermore, the conditions of occurrence of maser generation are established. The measurement errors of magnetic field variations in the developed magnetometer design are calculated. The capabilities of the developed magnetometer are determined. Finally, the results of experimental investigations of various variations of magnetic fields are presented.

An improved mathematical model of soft heart tissue has been developed here. Nonlinear material equations were derived from the fundamental principles of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. The passive ...

Venous blood flow through the superior and inferior vena cavae and via a merger to the right atrium of the heart is investigated. Based on the Newtonian assumption for blood, the model is developed using Boussinesq’s approximation for the continuity, momentum, energy, and mass diffusion equations, which are non-linear partial differential equations. The governing equations are non-dimensionalized and solved by the regular perturbation technique. Expressions for the concentration, temperature, and velocity are obtained, analyzed, and presented graphically and quantitatively, and discussed. The results show that an increase in the magnetic field strength and conflux angle produce fluctuations in the flow velocity.

In order to study the radar characteristics of blunt-hub rotor, a dynamic scattering method (DSM) based on physical optics and physical theory of diffraction is presented. Important influencing factors are analyzed and discussed, including rotor disk inclination, azimuth, elevation angle, and radar wave frequency. The radar cross section (RCS) of the blunt-hub rotor is used for comparison with conventional-hub rotor and sharp-hub rotor. The RCS performance of the blunt-hub rotor at different radar wave frequencies is close to that of the sharp-hub rotor. At larger positive elevation angles, the RCS∼azimuth performance of the blunt-hub rotor is not as good as the other two rotors, while the RCS performance of the blunt-hub rotor has an advantage under the larger negative elevation angle and the inclination of the rotor disk. The presented DSM is feasible and effective for learning the electromagnetic scattering characteristics of the blunt-hub rotor.

Ultrasound vascular imaging based on ultrafast plane wave imaging and singular value decomposition (SVD) clutter filtering has demonstrated superior sensitivity in blood flow detection. However, ultrafast ultrasound vascular imaging is susceptible to electronic noise due to the weak penetration of unfocused waves, leading to a lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at larger depths. In addition, incoherent clutter artifacts originating from strong and moving tissue scatterers that cannot be completely removed create a strong mask on top of the blood signal that obscures the vessels. Herein, a method that can simultaneously suppress the background noise and incoherent artifacts is proposed. The method divides the tilted plane or diverging waves into two sub-groups. Coherent spatial compounding is performed within each sub-group, resulting in two compounded datasets. An SVD-based clutter filter is applied to each dataset, followed by a correlation between the two datasets to produce a vascular image. Uncorrelated noise and incoherent artifacts can be effectively suppressed with the correlation process, while the coherent blood signal can be preserved. The method was evaluated in wire-target simulations and phantom, in which around 7 dB to 10 dB SNR improvement was shown. Consistent results were found in a flow channel phantom with improved SNR by the proposed method (39.9 ± 0.2 dB) against conventional power Doppler (29.1 ± 0.6 dB). Last, we demonstrated the effectiveness of the method combined with block-wise SVD clutter filtering in a human liver, breast tumor and inflammatory bowel disease datasets. The improved blood flow visualization may facilitate more reliable small vessel imaging for a wide range of clinical applications, such as cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Doppler ultrasound is the premier modality to analyze blood flow dynamics in clinical practice. With conventional systems, Doppler can either provide a time-resolved quantification of the flow dynamics in sample volumes (spectral Doppler) or an average Doppler velocity/power [color flow imaging (CFI)] in a wide field of view (FOV) but with a limited frame rate. The recent development of ultrafast parallel systems made it possible to evaluate simultaneously color, power, and spectral Doppler in a wide FOV and at high-frame rates but at the expense of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, like conventional Doppler, ultrafast Doppler is subject to aliasing for large velocities and/or large depths. In a recent study, staggered multi-pulse repetition frequency (PRF) sequences were investigated to dealias color-Doppler images. In this work, we exploit the broadband nature of pulse-echo ultrasound and propose a dual-wavelength approach for CFI dealiasing with a constant PRF. We tested the dual-wavelength bandpass processing, in silico , in laminar flow phantom and validated it in vivo in human carotid arteries ( ${n} = 25$ ). The in silico results showed that the Nyquist velocity could be extended up to four times the theoretical limit. In vivo , dealiased CFI were highly consistent with unfolded Spectral Doppler ( ${r}^{2}=0.83$ , ${y}=1.1{x}+0.1$ , ${N}=25$ ) and provided consistent vector flow images. Our results demonstrate that dual-wavelength processing is an efficient method for high-velocity CFI.

Ultra-wideband (UWB) microwave quantitative imaging offers less-painful examination, where a significant dielectric contrast between the malignant tumor and normal tissue is exploited. However, there are some difficulties in providing an accurate dielectric profile of breast media. This is because additive noises severely contaminate scattered signals. In this study, we apply a post-processing multi-frequency integration scheme to contrast source inversion (CSI) data to suppress image fluctuations. These are caused by the additive noise expected in a UWB system, which is also applicable to other inversion schemes. To deal with the dispersive dielectric properties in the CSI scheme, we introduce a first-derivative model of the Debye dispersion model to compensate for the dispersive effect. The FDTD numerical validations, using realistic breast phantoms with dispersive properties, show that a multi-frequency integration scheme considerably upgrades noise-robustness in complex permittivity reconstruction tissues.

Cosine response is an important characteristic of an optical detector for irradiance measurements. The non-ideal cosine response of a detector may lead to errors in irradiance measurements. In this paper, a theoretical simulation of irradiance generated due to isotropic point light sources is carried out for different illumination conditions. Simulation results show that the errors in irradiance measurements due to the cosine error of detectors become significantly high at the edges and corners of the floor when a light source is placed at the center of the roof. Further, it is observed that the errors are more in the enclosures having a height smaller than the floor dimensions. Even calibrated detectors measure erratic values of irradiance for a wider angle of incidence. Therefore, cosine errors in irradiance measurements are of great importance especially during the current scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic, for ensuring the correct dose of Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI).

The motion of the cerebrospinal fluid in the spinal subarachnoid space, a slender annular canal surrounding the spinal cord, exhibits an oscillatory velocity component driven by the pressure oscillations induced by the cardiac and respiratory cycles. A time-averaged transport equation has been recently proposed for describing solute transport along the canal, circumventing the need to compute the concentration fluctuations resulting from this fast oscillatory motion. The accuracy and limitations of this time-averaged description are tested here by means of comparisons with results of direct numerical simulations spanning hundreds of oscillation cycles, as needed to generate significant dispersion of the solute. The comparisons between the numerical results and the predictions of the analytical model include velocity fields and quantifications of transient solute-dispersion events for selected values of the flow parameters and two different idealized, canonical geometries of the spinal canal. The comparisons clearly demonstrate the accuracy of the time-averaged description of the analytical model, which is seen to provide a good fidelity at a fraction of the computational cost involved in the direct numerical simulations. The variations of canal eccentricity along the spinal canal are found to play an important role in the dynamics of the solute transport, leading to the emergence of closed recirculating Lagrangian vortices that may hinder solute dispersion along the canal, as revealed by both direct numerical simulations and time-averaged results.

Physiological pulsations have been shown to affect the global blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal in human brain. While these pulsations have previously been regarded as noise, recent studies show their potential as biomarkers of brain pathology. We used the extended 5 Hz spectral range of magnetic resonance encephalography (MREG) data to investigate spatial and frequency distributions of physiological BOLD signal sources. Amplitude spectra of the global image signals revealed cardiorespiratory envelope modulation (CREM) peaks, in addition to the previously known very low frequency (VLF) and cardiorespiratory pulsations. We then proceeded to extend the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF) method to each of these pulsations. The respiratory pulsations were spatially dominating over most brain structures. The VLF pulsations overcame the respiratory pulsations in frontal and parietal gray matter, whereas cardiac and CREM pulsations had this effect in central cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) spaces and major blood vessels. A quasi‐periodic pattern (QPP) analysis showed that the CREM pulsations propagated as waves, with a spatiotemporal pattern differing from that of respiratory pulsations, indicating them to be distinct intracranial physiological phenomenon. In conclusion, the respiration has a dominant effect on the global BOLD signal and directly modulates cardiovascular brain pulsations., Extensive 5 Hz spectral resolution of fast fMRI revealed a new form of physiological brain contrast illustrating respiratory‐induced modulation of cardiovascular brain pulsations. Very low frequency (VLF), respiratory and cardiovascular pulses, their harmonics and the detected modulations were found to form the global BOLD signal. Propagating respiratory pulsations should be removed cautiously with voxel‐wise Fourier filtering as they compete globally with every other BOLD signal source. ​

Soft tissue imaging is heavily impaired by streaks and cupping effects associated with X-ray scatter. Quality of images from projection imaging may be improved by the use of enhanced anti-scatter grids’ designs with potency to reject significant scatter. However, optimization of grid characteristics requires investigation to improve diagnostic image quality. Transmitted scatter spatially distributed degrades images engendering need for effective scatter correction protocols. This study investigated the pre-scan scatter suppression algorithm for X-ray exposure of soft tissue equivalent phantoms over nominal energy range. Adipose tissue and polymethyl methacrylate phantoms of cross-sectional area (30 x 30) cm2 and of varying thickness from 2 to 8 cm in 1 cm increments were successively exposed using energy ranging between 20–50 kVp. Monte Carlo simulation based on FLUKA code and flair interface was used to generate an input file for execution. The source simulated five cycles of ten million photons each of annular X-ray photon beam of radius, r = 0.5 cm at fixed field of view (FOV) through anti-scatter grid on to gadolinium oxysulfide detector. The transmitted total, scatter and primary estimates were evaluated with and without grids over varying phantom thicknesses, energy and grid design features. The simulated and experimental results obtained were comparable and in agreement with previous literature. Pearson’s correlation coefficients for scatter fraction and scatter to primary ratio were 0.983 and 0.981, respectively. The strong correlation between simulation and experiment results indicated correctness in methodology and protocol. The algorithms and protocols in the simulation would be appropriate for designing grids with enhanced scatter rejection capabilities. Keywords: FLUKA code, Monte Carlo simulation, Scatter suppression algorithm, Scatter correction, X-ray imaging systems.

Heavy charged particles have been discussed for clinical use due to their superior dose-depth distribution compared to conventional radiation such as X-rays. In addition, high-charge and energy (HZE) ions in galactic cosmic rays (GCR) present important health risks for crewed space missions to the Earth’s moon or Mars. Experiments at heavy ion accelerators are used in radiobiology studies; however, numerical simulations of track segment or Bragg peak irradiations are complicated by the details of the beam-line and dosimetry systems. The goal of the present work is in support of biophysics modeling of historical radiobiology data at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and more recent results from the Brookhaven National Lab (BNL) facility (NASA Space Radiation Lab (NSRL)). In this work, the Spread-Out Bragg Peak (SOBP) of (4)He, (12)C, and (20)Ne particles, and a Bragg curve of (56)Fe ion have been simulated numerically in the geometries of LBNL and BNL using the Monte-Carlo based PHITS and GEANT4 simulation toolkits. The dose contributions of primary particles and secondary particles, including neutrons and photons, in the target material are computed and discussed as well. Comparisons suggest more contributions of secondaries in GEANT4 simulations compared to PHITS simulations for primary ions heavier than (4)He ions, and less statistical fluctuation and better prediction of neutrons in PHITS simulations. Neutrons and gamma-rays are estimated to make minor contributions to absorbed doses for these beams.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a widely-used imaging modality for medical research and clinical diagnosis. Here we demonstrate, through detailed experiments and simulations, an exploration of the benefits of exploiting the quantum entanglement of linear polarisation between the two positron annihilation photons utilised in PET. A new simulation, which includes the predicted influence of quantum entanglement on the interaction of MeV-scale photons with matter, is validated by comparison with experimental data from a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) PET demonstrator apparatus. In addition, a modified setup enabled the first experimental constraint on entanglement loss for photons in the MeV regime. Quantum-entangled PET offers new methodologies to address key challenges in next generation imaging. As an indication of the potential benefits, we present a simple method to quantify and remove in-patient scatter and random backgrounds using only the quantum entanglement information in the PET events., Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures

Thermal quenching as an important and well-known effect in compounds exhibiting thermoluminescence, should be considered in thermoluminescence studies. Among the models describing the thermoluminescence phenomenon, the mixed order kinetic model provides a more realistic description of this behavior. In this work, the Thermal quenching effect is included in the mixed order kinetic model and the new thermoluminescence glow curve deconvolution function is obtained in terms of the maximum intensity and the maximum intensity temperature. The new equation reduces to the known mixed order model by equating the thermal quenching parameter to zero. Also the kinetic parameters of the peak 5 of LiF: Mg, Ti (TLD-100) thermoluminescence dosimeter considering the new equation (with Thermal quenching effect) and the previous equation (without Thermal quenching effect) for different heating rates are determined and the results are compared.

The present outbreak enables the researchers from fluid mechanics to widen the understanding of expelling respiratory liquids from a unique perspective to diminish the persistence of COVID-19. This article focuses on uncovering the instability mechanism responsible for forming droplets and aerosols during respiratory events such as breathing, talking, coughing and sneezing. We illustrate a mathematical framework by revisiting the model (Vadivukkarasan and Panchagnula, 2017) and show the associated instabilities during respiratory events. We envisage the combined Rayleigh-Taylor-Kelvin-Helmholtz (R-T-K-H) model as a robust tool for respiratory events. This study highlights the distinct possibility of respiratory droplet formation over multiple instabilities and provides a fundamental understanding. We present the different dominant modes through a ternary phase diagram for three-dimensional numbers (Bond number and Weber numbers). Furthermore, this model can be extended phenomenologically to viscous fluids to satisfy mucus and saliva in the respiratory liquids.

In ultrahigh field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using a static magnetic field over 7 T, the inhomogeneity in the time-varying magnetic field ( $B_{1}$ ), which is caused by its short wavelength, is mitigated by using a multichannel radio frequency (RF) coil as an antenna. However, the conventional multichannel RF coil has a fixed configuration; consequently, its transmit efficiency (TE) changes according to the head shape of the patient. In this study, a geometrically adjustable eight-channel RF transmitter head coil for 7-T MRI was proposed. All resonators and supporting structures (called bridges) in the coil have interlocking teeth at their sides, allowing each channel to adjust its geometric location according to the head shape of the patient. Scenarios for conventional and proposed coils in three different configurations were simulated and compared in terms of the transmitted component of the $B_{1}$ field ( $B_{1}^{+}$ field) and specific absorption rate (SAR) maps. The simulation results indicate that, for a given configuration and head shape, the TE of the proposed coil was higher than that of the conventional coil, while the SAR efficiency remained unchanged. Furthermore, the S-parameter matrix of the proposed coil and the measured $B_{1}$ field produced by the two channels facing each other show that the proposed coil resonates at 298 MHz with acceptable mutual coupling and effectively improves the $B_{1}$ field intensity. Moreover, the obtained signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) maps and magnetic resonance (MR) images prove that the proposed coil is an efficient candidate for an RF transmitter or transceiver head coil used in 7-T MRI.

This paper investigates the magnetic blood flow in an inclined multi-stenosed artery under the influence of a uniformly distributed magnetic field and an oscillating pressure gradient. The blood is modelled using the non-Newtonian Casson fluid model. The governing fractional differential equations are expressed by using the fractional Caputo-Fabrizio derivative without singular kernel. Exact analytical solutions are obtained by using the Laplace and finite Hankel transforms for both velocities. The velocities of blood flow and magnetic particles are graphically presented. It shows that the velocity increases with respect to the Reynolds number and the Casson parameter. Meanwhile, the velocity decreases as the Hartmann number increases. These results are useful for the diagnosis and treatment of certain medical problems.

Armor-piercing ammunition is primarily used to combat against heavy armored targets (tanks), but targets can be light armored vehicles, aircraft, warehouse, structures, etc. It has been shown that the most effective type of anti-tank ammunition in the world is the APFSDS ammunition (Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot). The APFSDS projectile flies to the target and with his kinetic energy acts on the target, that is, penetrates through armor and disables the tank and his crew. Since the projectile destroys target with his kinetic energy, then it is necessary for the projectile to have the high impact velocity. The decrease in the velocity of a projectile, during flight, is mainly influenced by aerodynamic forces. The most dominant is the axial force due to the laid trajectory of the projectile. By knowing the axial force (axial force coefficient), it is possible to predict the impact velocity of the projectile, by external ballistic calculation, in function of the distance of the target, and to define the maximum effective range from the aspect of terminal ballistics. In this paper two models will be presented for predicting axial force (the axial force coefficient) of an APFSDS projectile after discarding sabot. The first model is defined in STANAG 4655 Ed.1. This model is used to predict the axial force coefficient for all types of conventional projectiles. The second model for predicting the axial force coefficient of an APFSDS projectile, which is presented in the paper, is the CFD-model (Computed Fluid Dynamics).

This investigation addresses the impact of entropy generation analysis of Eyring–Powell fluid flow through a microchannel in the presence of thermal/exponential heat source coefficients. The non-di...

To calculate the Lagrange’s equation of motion from first principle for volumetric modulated arc therapy delivery. The delivery of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is based on a rotational co-ordinate system. This delivery technique differs from any other delivery technique with static beams. VMAT delivery is a complex many-body problem, to represent the VMAT uniquely, it is necessary to find the equation of motion in a non-inertial (rotating) fame. In the non-inertial frame of reference, Newton's equations of motion do not hold, hence Lagrange's equation of motion (Lagrange's equation of motion of second kind) needs to be solved. If A is the aperture created by Multileaf collimator (MLC), MU is delivered Monitor Unit of radiation dose and θ is the gantry angle, then equation of motion for volumetric arc therapy delivery is represented by following three equations 1. $$\frac{d\theta }{dt}=\dot{\theta }=$$ constant between two control points, 2. $$m\ddot{x}-m x \dot{\theta }2= Fx$$ ; where Fx is the external force along $$\overrightarrow{x}$$ direction, causing the MLC movement along the x-direction only and m is the mass of the MLC, and $${MU}_{delivered}\left(t\right)={\int }_{t=0}^{t=t}MU{(t)}_{planned}dt$$ . This piece of derivation presents the calculation of the equation of motion for VMAT delivery in terms of MLC movement, gantry angle, and delivered dose by deriving Lagrangian formulation from the first principle.

Aim. Сheck the hypothesis about the connection between the type of dichotomy and the peculiarities of blood movement in structurally different bifurcations of the intraorgan arterial bed of the human heart using numerical modeling. Materials and methods. The results of morphometry of the real arterial bed of the heart were used. To simulate unsteady laminar flow, we used the solution of the complete system of Navier-Stokes’s equations, obtained using an implicit difference scheme in the ANSYS package. Results. It was found that dichotomy (bifurcation) of the first type (complete asymmetry) increases the intensity of flow rate fluctuations and the maximum flow rate and decreases the dynamic viscosity of blood in the larger branch. A quasi-stationary flow is formed in the smaller branch. Dichotomy (bifurcation) of the second type (lateral asymmetry) reduces the maximum flow rate and the value of dynamic viscosity in all branches. Dichotomy (bifurcation) of the third type (unilateral symmetry) increases the maximum flow rate and decreases the dynamic viscosity. Dichotomy (bifurcation) of the fourth type (complete symmetry) reduces the maximum flow velocity, deforms the velocity profile, and significantly increases blood viscosity. Moreover, the zone with increased viscosity extends from the flow core to almost the entire flow area. Conclusion. The simulation results allow us to assert a different functional role of arterial dichotomies (bifurcations) of structurally different types. After passing through various types of dichotomies (bifurcations), the blood flow acquires unified properties necessary for the flow in the hemomicrocirculatory section of the bed. The revealed features must be considered in the numerical modeling of the structure of the intraorgan arterial bed of the human heart and intra-arterial hemodynamics.

Brain temperature is an important yet understudied medical parameter, and increased brain temperature after injury is associated with worse patient outcomes. The scarcity of methods for measuring brain temperature non-invasively motivates the need for computational models enabling predictions when clinical measurements are challenging. Here, we develop a biophysical model based on the first principles of energy and mass conservation that uses data from magnetic resonance imaging of individual brain tissue and vessel structure to facilitate personalized brain temperature predictions. We compare model-predicted 3D thermal distributions with experimental temperature measured using whole brain magnetic resonance-based thermometry. We find brain thermometry maps predicted by the model capture unique spatial variations for each subject, which are in agreement with experimentally-measured temperatures. As medicine becomes more personalized, this foundational study provides a framework to develop an individualized approach for brain temperature predictions. While progress has been made to formulate models for brain temperature regulation that incorporate non-simplified anatomy and vasculature, accounting for heterogeneity between individuals is still a challenge. Here, the authors propose a fully conserved biophysical model that, starting from an individual subject’s magnetic resonance-derived tissue and vessel structure, predicts individual patterns in local brain temperature in agreement with magnetic resonance thermometry.