Biomedical subjects

M S Westmore

Publications and source records attributed to M S Westmore.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

A new approach for assessing early osteoarthritis in the rat.

Several animal models have been developed to investigate osteoarthritis and potential disease-modifying therapeutics. However, early disease data from these models are limited by the resolution of current imaging modalities. In this in-vitro study, an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system with an axial resolution of 15 micro m was used to track sequential changes in osteoarthritic rat knees. Osteoarthritis was induced via transection of the medial collateral ligament and an artificial full thickness meniscal tear. Imaging occurred at one, two, and three weeks after surgery. OCT successfully detected early signs of osteoarthritic change, including alteration of the cartilage surface and disruption of the bone-cartilage interface. This study demonstrates that OCT, along with the induction of mechanical injury, provides an excellent model for monitoring the sequential changes of osteoarthritis.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Skeletal efficacy with parathyroid hormone in rats was not entirely beneficial with long-term treatment.

We report the consequences of prolonged treatment with recombinant human parathyroid hormone (1-34) (PTH) in male and ovariectomized female rats with mature skeletons. Intact male and osteopenic, ovariectomized, female F-344 rats were evaluated after 1 year of treatment with 0, 8, or 40 microg/kg/day s.c. PTH. Males and females were about 6 months of age at study initiation; females were ovariectomized (Ovx) for 5 weeks before initiation of PTH treatment. PTH did not affect the survival of either intact males or ovariectomized females. Qualitative histopathology showed expected changes associated with aging in kidneys and proximal tibiae, with no treatment-related anomalies after 1 year of PTH administration. PTH slightly increased the femoral length of ovariectomized females but not that of males. No significant differences in femoral length were observed between sham and Ovx controls. Proximal femora of the males and ovariectomized females given the high dose of 40 microg/kg showed 211 and 186% greater trabecular bone area, 118 and 94% greater cortical thickness, 170 and 189% greater trabecular number, and 321 and 404% greater connectivity (node-to-node struts) compared with respective vehicle controls. Increased trabecular and endocortical surface apposition coincided with a 78 and 70% loss of marrow space for males and females treated with PTH, respectively. Biomechanical strength (ultimate load) of the femoral neck increased by 73 and 76%, respectively, in males and ovariectomized females. Cortical bone analyses of the femoral midshaft showed 105 and 72% increases in bone mineral content, 67 and 55% increases in bone mineral density, and 22 and 10% increases in cross-sectional area for males and ovariectomized females, respectively, with altered shape of femora. Biomechanical analyses of the midshaft showed substantial increases in strength and stiffness but a reduction in ultimate strain, which was likely due to the altered geometry of the midshaft for PTH groups. Aging effects on strength of vertebra and femoral midshaft were reversed by PTH treatment. In summary, the 1-year treatment duration, which represents about 50% of lifetime, did not affect survival and was not associated with any treatment-related anomalies in the kidney or skeleton. PTH reversed the aging process in bones but not kidneys and substantially increased bone mass and strength to well beyond normally attained levels. However, compared with short-term studies reported previously, there seemed to be no advantages to extending PTH treatment to 12 months in rat bones.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗

PubMed1997

Tomographic imaging of the angular-dependent coherent-scatter cross section.

A new special-purpose computed tomographic (CT) imaging system is described which produces images based on measurements of the low-angle (0-10 degrees) x-ray diffraction properties of an object. Low-angle scatter in the diagnostic x-ray energy range is dominated by coherent scatter, and the system uses first-generation CT geometry to acquire a diffraction pattern for each pencil beam. The patterns are used to reconstruct a series of images which represent the coherent-scatter intensity at a series of scatter angles. To demonstrate the potential of coherent-scatter CT (CSCT), the scanner has been built and used to image a phantom consisting of a water-filled Lucite cylinder containing rods of polyethylene, Lucite, polycarbonate, and nylon. In this paper, the system is described and a sequence of CSCT images of this phantom is shown. Coherent-scatter cross sections of these materials are generated for each pixel from this sequence of images and compared with cross sections measured separately. The resulting excellent agreement shows that the angular-dependent coherent-scatter cross section can be accurately imaged in a tomographic slice through an object. These cross sections give material-specific information about the object. The long-term goal of this research is to make measurements of bone-mineral content for every pixel in a tomographic slice.

Bone Density↗

PubMed1996

Angular-dependent coherent scatter measured with a diagnostic x-ray image intensifier-based imaging system.

Low-angle scatter of x rays at diagnostic energies is primarily coherent. This coherence gives rise to interference effects resulting in x-ray diffraction patterns that are characteristic of the scattering material. A method is described of imaging these low-angle (0 degree-10 degrees) x-ray diffraction properties of tissue specimens using a diagnostic x-ray beam and image intensifier-based system. The coherent-scatter cross sections of several materials measured this way are presented. It is shown theoretically that the measurements made with this system can be expressed as the mono-energetic cross section "blurred" by the x-ray spectrum using a linear superposition integral. Experimental results using aluminum powder confirm this. Using a 70 kVp x-ray beam filtered with gadolinium to reduce the spectral width, materials such as water, Lucite, and hydroxyapatite all have significantly different diffraction patterns. The cross sections determined from this analysis from the basis of a unique method of characterizing and identifying tissue samples according to their atomic structure rather than x-ray attenuation properties.

Durapatite↗

PubMed1994

A spatial-frequency dependent quantum accounting diagram and detective quantum efficiency model of signal and noise propagation in cascaded imaging systems.

The detective quantum efficiency (DQE) is a system parameter that can be used to accurately describe image noise transfer characteristics through many imaging systems. A simpler approach used by some investigators, particularly when evaluating new ideas and system designs, is to describe the system as a series of cascaded stages. Each stage may correspond to either an increase in the number of quanta (e.g., conversion from x-ray to optical quanta in a radiographic screen), or a loss (a detection or coupling probability). The number of secondary quanta at each stage per incident primary quantum is given by the product of all preceding gains, and can be displayed graphically for convenient interpretation. The stage with the fewest quanta is called the "quantum sink," limiting the pixel signal-to-noise ratio to less than the square root of the number of quanta per pixel. This conventional zero-spatial-frequency "quantum accounting diagram" (QAD), however, neglects the spatial spreading of secondary quanta and can seriously underestimate image noise. It is shown that this problem is avoided with the introduction of a spatial-frequency dependent QAD, expressed as the product of the gains and squared modulation-transfer functions (MTF) of each stage. A generalized expression is developed for the DQE of a cascaded imaging system that is dependent only on the gain, gain Poisson excess (related to the variance), and MTF, of each stage. A direct relationship is then shown to exist between the DQE and values in the QAD. The QAD of a hypothetical system consisting of a charge-coupled device camera and a scintillating screen is evaluated as an illustrative example. The conventional zero-frequency analysis suggests two quantum sinks occur with approximately equal importance: one in the number of x rays, and one in the number of optical quanta. The spatial-frequency dependent analysis, however, shows the optical quantum sink becomes severe and dominates at nonzero frequencies. The necessary increase in gain or optical numerical aperture required to prevent the optical quantum sink for spatial frequencies of interest is determined from the QAD analysis. The visual impact of this nonzero spatial-frequency quantum sink is shown in images generated using a Monte Carlo simulation of the cascading process.

Algorithms↗