Biomedical subjects

Alberto Bravin

Publications and source records attributed to Alberto Bravin.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Evaluation of imaging performance of a taper optics CCD; FReLoN' camera designed for medical imaging.

The purpose of this work was to assess the imaging performance of an indirect conversion detector (taper optics CCD; FReLoN' camera) in terms of the modulation transfer function (MTF), normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE). Measurements were made with a synchrotron radiation laminar beam at various monochromatic energies in the 20-51.5 keV range for a gadolinium-based fluorescent screen varying in thickness; data acquisition and analysis were made by adapting to this beam geometry protocols used for conventional cone beams. The pre-sampled MTFs of the systems were measured using an edge method. The NNPS of the systems were determined for a range of exposure levels by two-dimensional Fourier analysis of uniformly exposed radiographs. The DQEs were assessed from the measured MTF, NNPS, exposure and incoming number of photons. The MTF, for a given screen, was found to be almost energy independent and, for a given energy, higher for the thinnest screen. At 33 keV and for the 40 (100) microm screen, at 10% the MTF is 9.2 (8.6) line-pairs mm(-1). The NNPS was found to be different in the two analyzed directions in relation to frequency. Highest DQE values were found for the combination 100 microm and 25 keV (0.5); it was still equal to 0.4 at 51.5 keV (above the gadolinium K-edge). The DQE is limited by the phosphor screen conversion yield and by the CCD efficiency. At the end of the manuscript the results of the FReLoN characterization and those from a selected number of detectors presented in the literature are compared.

Diagnostic Imaging↗

PubMed2006

In vivo two-photon microscopy study of short-term effects of microbeam irradiation on normal mouse brain microvasculature.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the early effects of microbeam irradiation on the vascular permeability and volume in the parietal cortex of normal nude mice using two-photon microscopy and immunohistochemistry. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The upper part of the left hemisphere of 55 mice was irradiated anteroposteriorly using 18 vertically oriented beams (width 25 microm, interdistance 211 microm; peak entrance doses: 312 or 1000 Gy). At different times after microbeam exposure, the microvasculature in the cortex was analyzed using intravital two-photon microscopy after intravascular injection of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextrans and sulforhodamine B (SRB). Changes of the vascular volume were observed at the FITC wavelength over a maximum depth of 650 mum from the dura. The vascular permeability was detected as extravasations of SRB. RESULTS: For all times (12 h to 1 month) after microbeam irradiation and for both doses, the FITC-dextran remained in the vessels. No significant change in vascular volume was observed between 12 h and 3 months after irradiation. Diffusion of SRB was observed in microbeam irradiated regions from 12 h until 12 days only after a 1000 Gy exposure. CONCLUSION: No radiation damage to the microvasculature was detected in normal brain tissue after a 312 Gy microbeam irradiation. This dose would be more appropriate than 1000 Gy for the treatment of brain tumors using crossfired microbeams.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Human breast cancer in vitro: matching histo-pathology with small-angle x-ray scattering and diffraction enhanced x-ray imaging.

Twenty-eight human breast tumour specimens were studied with small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), and 10 of those were imaged by the diffraction enhanced x-ray imaging (DEI) technique. The sample diameter was 20 mm and the thickness 1 mm. Two examples of ductal carcinoma are illustrated by histology images, DEI, and maps of the collagen d-spacing and scattered intensity in the Porod regime, which characterize the SAXS patterns from collagen-rich regions of the samples. Histo-pathology reveals the cancer-invaded regions, and the maps of the SAXS parameters show that in these regions the scattering signal differs significantly from scattering by the surrounding tissue, indicating a degradation of the collagen structure in the invaded regions. The DEI images show the borders between collagen and adipose tissue and provide a co-ordinate system for tissue mapping by SAXS. In addition, degradation of the collagen structure in an invaded region is revealed by fading contrast of the DEI refraction image. The 28 samples include fresh, defrosted tissue and formalin-fixed tissue. The d-values with their standard deviations are given. In the fresh samples there is a systematic 0.76% increase of the d-value in the invaded regions, averaged over 11 samples. Only intra-sample comparisons are made for the formalin-fixed samples, and with a long fixation time, the difference in the d-value stabilizes at about 0.7%. The correspondence between the DEI images, the SAXS maps and the histo-pathology suggests that definitive information on tumour growth and malignancy is obtained by combining these x-ray methods.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed2005

Comparison of synchrotron radiation angiography with conventional angiography for the diagnosis of in-stent restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

AIMS: Synchrotron radiation angiography (SRA) is a novel tool for minimally invasive coronary artery imaging. The method uses subtraction of two images produced at energies bracketing the iodine K-edge after intravenous infusion of iodinated contrast agent. We investigated the accuracy of SRA for detecting in-stent restenosis (ISR). METHODS AND RESULTS: We recruited 57 men, 4-6 months after successful PTCA. We visualized the right coronary artery (RCA) in 27 patients with 36 stented segments [12 segments with ISR>50% by quantitative coronary angiography (QCA)], and the left anterior descending artery (LAD) in 30 patients with 37 stented segments (10 ISR). SRA and QCA were performed within 2 days of each other. Two experienced observers unaware of QCA data evaluated the SRA results. Image quality was good or excellent in most patients. Global sensitivity was 64%, specificity was 95%, and positive and negative predictive values were approximately 85%. Inter-observer kappa concordance coefficient was 0.86. False negatives involved short eccentric lesions and superimposed segments, most frequently of the LAD. False positives occurred in intermediate stenoses slightly overestimated by SRA. CONCLUSION: In men, this minimally invasive approach, using small radiation doses, detects significant ISR in the RCA, but the LAD poses difficulties because of superimposition with others structures.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Phase-contrast X-ray imaging combining free space propagation and Bragg diffraction.

The combination of X-ray 'propagation-based' and 'analyzer-based' phase-contrast imaging with a perfect crystal-analyzer is investigated. The image pattern produced using this 'hybrid' imaging technique presents peculiar features that can be interpreted as a mixture of the two independent phase-contrast signals. A quantitative analysis has been performed in terms of signal-to-noise ratio for the three techniques considered in this paper. Results show that in the 'hybrid imaging' technique this parameter has a weaker dependence on the angular alignment of the crystal analyser with respect to the 'analyser-based' imaging. This pioneering experiment indicates that this hybrid imaging technique might permit simultaneous advantage of the specific features of the two imaging methods to be taken.

Absorption↗

PubMed2005

Quantitative comparison between two phase contrast techniques: diffraction enhanced imaging and phase propagation imaging.

Two x-ray phase contrast imaging techniques are compared in a quantitative way for future mammographic applications: diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) and phase propagation imaging (PPI). DEI involves, downstream of the sample, an analyser crystal acting as an angular filter for x-rays refracted by the sample. PPI simply uses the propagation (Fresnel diffraction) of the monochromatic and partially coherent x-ray beam over large distances. The information given by the two techniques is assessed by theoretical simulations and compared at the level of the experimental results for different kinds of samples (phantoms and real tissues). The imaging parameters such as the energy, the angular position of the analyser crystal in the DEI case or the sample to detector distance in the PPI case were varied in order to optimize the image quality in terms of contrast, visibility and figure of merit.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed2005

Quantitative analysis of synchrotron radiation intravenous angiographic images.

A medical research protocol on clinical intravenous coronary angiography has been completed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) biomedical beamline. The aim was to investigate the accuracy of intravenous coronary angiography based on the K-edge digital subtraction technique for the detection of in-stent restenosis. For each patient, diagnosis has been performed on the synchrotron radiation images and monitored with the conventional selective coronary angiography method taken as the golden standard. In this paper, the methods of image processing and the results of the quantitative analysis are described. Image processing includes beam harmonic contamination correction, spatial deconvolution and the extraction of a 'contrast' and a 'tissue' image from each couple of radiograms simultaneously acquired at energies bracketing the K-edge of iodine. Quantitative analysis includes the estimation of the vessel diameter, the calculation of the absolute iodine concentration profiles along the coronary arteries and the stenosis degree measurement.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2005

Visualisation of calcifications and thin collagen strands in human breast tumour specimens by the diffraction-enhanced imaging technique: a comparison with conventional mammography and histology.

Six excised human breast tissue specimens carrying benign and malignant tumours were examined with the diffraction-enhanced imaging technique. Diffraction-enhanced images were compared with diagnostic screen-film mammograms and the correlation with histological information of the specimens was established. The enhanced visibility of calcifications, some of which were smaller than 0.15 mm in diameter, is reported in detail. Fine details of the structures such as strands of collagen and contours between glandular and adipose tissue, which are barely visible at the contrast detection limit in the conventional absorption-based mammograms, are clearly visible in the diffraction-enhanced images. Microscopic study of the stained histopathological sections unequivocally confirms the correlation of the radiographic findings with the morphologic changes in specimens. An increased soft tissue contrast and a combination of information obtained with disparate diffraction-enhanced images provide better visibility of mammographically indistinguishable features. This kind of additional structural information of the breast tissue is required to improve assessment accuracy and earlier detection of the breast lesions. These advances in image quality make the method a very promising candidate for mammography.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed2005

High-resolution blood-brain barrier permeability and blood volume imaging using quantitative synchrotron radiation computed tomography: study on an F98 rat brain glioma.

The authors previously provided evidence of synchrotron radiation computed tomography (SRCT) efficacy for quantitative in vivo brain perfusion measurements using monochromatic X-ray beams. However, this technique was limited for small-animal studies by partial volume effects. In this paper, high-resolution absolute cerebral blood volume and blood-brain barrier permeability coefficient measurements were obtained on a rat glioma model using SRCT and a CCD camera (47x47 microm2 pixel size). This is the first report of in vivo high-resolution brain vasculature parameter assessment. The work gives interesting perspectives to quantify brain hemodynamic changes accurately in healthy and pathological small animals.

Animals↗