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Biomedical subjects

J K Udupa

Publications and source records attributed to J K Udupa.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Multidimensional data format specification: a generalization of the American College of Radiology-National Electric Manufacturers Association standards.

Multidimensional image data are becoming increasingly common in biomedical imaging. Three-dimensional visualization and analysis techniques based on three-dimensional image data have become an established discipline in biomedicine. Some imaging problems generate image data of even higher dimensions. It often becomes necessary, rather than just convenient, to consider the higher-dimensional data as a whole to adequately answer the underlying imaging questions. Despite this established need for convenient exchange of image and image-derived information, no exchange protocols are available that adequately meet the needs of multidimensional imaging systems. This paper describes an exchange protocol that has been designed after careful consideration of the common requirements of methodologies for visualization and analysis of multidimensional data. It is based on and is a generalization of the widely accepted American College of Radiology-National Electrical Manufacturers Association (ACR-NEMA) standards specified for two-dimensional images. It is implemented and actively being used in a data-, application-, and machine-independent software environment, being developed in the authors' department, for the visualization and analysis of multidimensional images.

Data Display

Surface and volume rendering in three-dimensional imaging: a comparison.

Many surface rendering techniques are currently available for the three-dimensional display of structure data captured by imaging devices. Comparatively fewer volume rendering techniques are also available for the same purpose. The relative performance of these two methodologies in visualization tasks has been a subject of much discussion recently. Although it is very desirable to establish, based on observer studies, objective guidelines stating the relative merits of the two methodologies even for specific situations, it is impossible to conduct meaningful observer studies that take into account the numerousness of the techniques in each methodology, and within each technique, the numerousness of the parameters and their values that control the outcome of the technique. Our aim in this article is to compare the two methodologies purely on a technical basis in an attempt to understand their common weaknesses and disparate strengths. The purpose of this article is twofold--to report a new surface rendering technique and to compare it with two volume rendering techniques reported recently in the literature. The bases of comparison are: ability to portray thin bones; clarity of portrayal of sutures, fractures, fine textures, and gyrations; smoothness of natural ridges and silhouettes; and computational time and storage requirements. We analyze the underlying algorithms to study how they behave under each of these comparative criteria. Our conclusion is that, at the current state of development, the surface method has a slight edge over the volume methods for portrayal of information of the type described above and a significant advantage considering time and storage requirements, for implementations in identical environments.

Algorithms

An experimental study on the effect of rigid fixation on the developing craniofacial skeleton.

Rigid fixation of the craniofacial skeleton has proven of great value in adult orthognathic and traumatic reconstructive surgical procedures. This technique has gained increased acceptance in the surgical treatment of infants and young children with congenital malformations, despite the fact that its effects on subsequent craniofacial growth are unknown. To examine this question, an experimental model using 25 young kittens was developed to compare rigid fixation with conventional wire fixation, with and without osteotomy. Our findings demonstrate a regional restriction of growth in the developing craniofacial skeleton when both wire and plate and screw fixation are utilized in concert with osteotomy. Further, a compensatory growth was observed in individual animals when plate fixation was utilized that was not seen in the wire-treated group. This suggests that there is a dynamic growth interaction between restriction and compensation in this setting.

Animals

Three-dimensional reconstruction of the foot from computed tomography scans.

Recently developed computer programs create a new type of image from the sections created in computed tomography. These images look like actual photographs of internal structures. The authors describe the process of three-dimensional reconstruction in nonmathematical terms, and provide examples of its use in imaging the bones of the foot. They demonstrate the technique's ability to resolve small details, and its usefulness in displaying articular surfaces.

Computer Graphics

Acetabular fractures: three-dimensional computer tomographic imaging and interactive surgical planning.

Three-dimensional imaging can provide a valuable perceptual link between conventional radiographs and axial computed tomographic scans in the evaluation of complex acetabular fractures. With the 3D83 computer program, three-dimensional images can be generated to correlate with standard radiographic views. Unique images can also be created that offer perspectives unobtainable by conventional radiography. More sophisticated interactive techniques allow computer simulation of surgical approaches.

Acetabulum

A PC-based 3D imaging system: algorithms, software, and hardware considerations.

Three-dimensional (3D) imaging in medicine is known to produce easily and quickly derivable medically relevant information, especially in complex situations. We intend to demonstrate in this paper, that with an appropriate choice of approaches and a proper design of algorithms and software, it is possible to develop a low-cost 3D imaging system that can provide a level of performance sufficient to meet the daily case load in an individual or even group-practice situation. We describe hardware considerations of a generic system and give an example of a specific system we used for our implementation. Given a 3D image as a stack of slices, we generate a packed binary cubic voxel array, by combining segmentation (density thresholding), interpolation, and packing in an efficient way. Since threshold-based segmentation is very often not perfect, object-like structures and noise clutter the binary scene. We utilize an effective mechanism to isolate the object from this clutter by tracking a specified, connected surface of the object. The surface description thus obtained is rendered to create a depiction of the surface on a 2D display screen. Efficient implementation of hidden-part removal and image-space shading and a simple and fast antialiasing technique provide a level of performance which otherwise would not have been possible in a PC environment. We outline our software emphasizing some design aspects and present some clinical examples.

Algorithms

Model-driven visualization of coronary arteries.

In a joint project between the Department of Computer and Information Sciences and the Department of Radiology, we are applying techniques of artificial intelligence to improve clinical performance in coronary arteries. Specifically, we are investigating how images from intravenous digital subtraction angiography (DSA) can be enhanced so that their efficacy for lesion detection and quantitation becomes comparable with that of the more dangerous procedure of selective coronary arteriography. The enhancement techniques (which include algorithms for 3-dimensional vessel detection, reconstruction and display, as well as for accurate lumen-size estimation) are based on models of (i) the 3-dimensional topological structure of the coronary arterial tree, (ii) myocardial dynamics, and (iii) the X-ray imaging process involved in producing digital subtraction angiograms. The evaluation of these model-driven visualization techniques is done by the standard psychophysical method of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis applied to observer performance tests on images from an animal coronary atherosclerosis model.

Analog-Digital Conversion