Biomedical subjects

Stephen W Smye

Publications and source records attributed to Stephen W Smye.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Materials for phantoms for terahertz pulsed imaging.

Phantoms are commonly used in medical imaging for quality assurance, calibration, research and teaching. They may include test patterns or simulations of organs, but in either case a tissue substitute medium is an important component of the phantom. The aim of this work was to identify materials suitable for use as tissue substitutes for the relatively new medical imaging modality terahertz pulsed imaging. Samples of different concentrations of the candidate materials TX151 and napthol green dye were prepared, and measurements made of the frequency-dependent absorption coefficient (0.5 to 1.5 THz) and refractive index (0.5 to 1.0 THz). These results were compared qualitatively with measurements made in a similar way on samples of excised human tissue (skin, adipose tissue and striated muscle). Both materials would be suitable for phantoms where the dominant mechanism to be simulated is absorption (approximately 100 cm(-1) at 1 THz) and where simulation of the strength of reflections from boundaries is not important; for example, test patterns for spatial resolution measurements. Only TX151 had a frequency-dependent refractive index close to that of tissue, and could therefore be used to simulate the layered structure of skin, the complexity of microvasculature or to investigate frequency-dependent interference effects that have been noted in terahertz images.

Coloring Agents↗

PubMed2004

Modelling the propagation of terahertz radiation through a tissue simulating phantom.

Terahertz (THz) frequency radiation, 0.1 THz to 20 THz, is being investigated for biomedical imaging applications following the introduction of pulsed THz sources that produce picosecond pulses and function at room temperature. Owing to the broadband nature of the radiation, spectral and temporal information is available from radiation that has interacted with a sample; this information is exploited in the development of biomedical imaging tools and sensors. In this work, models to aid interpretation of broadband THz spectra were developed and evaluated. THz radiation lies on the boundary between regions best considered using a deterministic electromagnetic approach and those better analysed using a stochastic approach incorporating quantum mechanical effects, so two computational models to simulate the propagation of THz radiation in an absorbing medium were compared. The first was a thin film analysis and the second a stochastic Monte Carlo model. The Cole-Cole model was used to predict the variation with frequency of the physical properties of the sample and scattering was neglected. The two models were compared with measurements from a highly absorbing water-based phantom. The Monte Carlo model gave a prediction closer to experiment over 0.1 to 3 THz. Knowledge of the frequency-dependent physical properties, including the scattering characteristics, of the absorbing media is necessary. The thin film model is computationally simple to implement but is restricted by the geometry of the sample it can describe. The Monte Carlo framework, despite being initially more complex, provides greater flexibility to investigate more complicated sample geometries.

Diagnostic Imaging↗

PubMed2002

Mathematical modelling for the new millenium: medicine by numbers.

Physicists, engineers and mathematicians are accustomed to the combination of elegance, rigour and utility that characterise mathematical models. They are familiar with the need to dip into their mathematical toolbox to select the technique of choice. However, medicine and biology have not been characterised, in general, by a mathematical formalism. The relative paucity of mathematical models in biology and medicine reflects in part the difficulty in making accurate and appropriate experimental measurements in the field. Signal noise, the lack of appropriate sensors, and uncertainty as to what constitutes the significant measurements are largely to blame for this. The purpose of this paper is to characterise a 'good' model, encourage the development and application of such models to new areas, and outline future developments in the field. It is proposed that a good model will be accurate, predictive, economical, unique and elegant. These principles will be illustrated with reference to four models: radiosensitisation of tumours, modelling solute clearance in haemodialysis, the myogenic response in reactive hyperaemia and cardiac electrical activity. It is suggested that, in the immediate future, the mathematical model will become a useful adjunct to laboratory experiment (and possibly clinical trial), and the provision of 'in silico' models will become routine.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗