Bücher der Reihe Synthesis Lectures on Biomedical Engineering

This book provides an introduction to the principles of several of the more widely used methods in medical imaging. Intended for engineering students, it provides a final-year undergraduate- or graduate-level introduction to several imaging modalities, including MRI, ultrasound, and X-Ray CT. The emphasis of the text is on mathematical models for imaging and image reconstruction physics. Emphasis is also given to sources of imaging artefacts. Such topics are usually not addressed across the different imaging modalities in one book, and this is a notable strength of the treatment given here. Table of Contents: Introduction / Diagnostic X-Ray Imaging / X-Ray CT / Ultrasonics / Pulse-Echo Ultrasonic Imaging / Doppler Velocimetry / An Introduction to MRI

This textbook is intended for undergraduate students (juniors or seniors) in Biomedical Engineering, with the main goal of helping these students learn about classical control theory and its application in physiological systems. In addition, students should be able to apply the Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW) Controls and Simulation Modules to mammalian physiology. The first four chapters review previous work on differential equations for electrical and mechanical systems. Chapters 5 through 8 present the general types and characteristics of feedback control systems and foot locus, frequency response, and analysis of stability and margins. Chapters 9 through 12 cover basic LabVIEW programming, the control module with its pallets, and the simulation module with its pallets. Chapters 13 through 17 present various physiological models with several LabVIEW control analyses. These chapters cover control of the heart (heart rate, stroke volume, and cardiac output), the vestibular system and its role in governing equilibrium and perceived orientation, vestibulo-ocular reflex in stabilizing an image on the surface of the retina during head movement, mechanical control models of human gait (walking movement), and the respiratory control model. The latter chapters (Chapters 13-17) combine details from my class lecture notes in regard to the application of LabVIEW control programming by the class to produce the control virtual instruments and graphical displays (root locus, Bode plots, and Nyquist plot). This textbook was developed in cooperation with National Instruments personnel. Table of Contents: Electrical System Equations / Mechanical Translation Systems / Mechanical Rotational Systems / Thermal Systems and Systems Representation / Characteristics and Types of Feedback Control Systems / Root Locus / Frequency Response Analysis / Stability and Margins / Introduction to LabVIEW / Control Design in LabVIEW / Simulation in LabVIEW / LabVIEW Control Design and Simulation Exercise / Cardiac Control / Vestibular Control System / Vestibulo-Ocular Control System / Gait and Stance Control System / Respiratory Control System

Segmentation and landmarking of computed tomographic (CT) images of pediatric patients are important and useful in computer-aided diagnosis (CAD), treatment planning, and objective analysis of normal as well as pathological regions. Identification and segmentation of organs and tissues in the presence of tumors are difficult. Automatic segmentation of the primary tumor mass in neuroblastoma could facilitate reproducible and objective analysis of the tumor's tissue composition, shape, and size. However, due to the heterogeneous tissue composition of the neuroblastic tumor, ranging from low-attenuation necrosis to high-attenuation calcification, segmentation of the tumor mass is a challenging problem. In this context, methods are described in this book for identification and segmentation of several abdominal and thoracic landmarks to assist in the segmentation of neuroblastic tumors in pediatric CT images. Methods to identify and segment automatically the peripheral artifacts and tissues, the rib structure, the vertebral column, the spinal canal, the diaphragm, and the pelvic surface are described. Techniques are also presented to evaluate quantitatively the results of segmentation of the vertebral column, the spinal canal, the diaphragm, and the pelvic girdle by comparing with the results of independent manual segmentation performed by a radiologist. The use of the landmarks and removal of several tissues and organs are shown to assist in limiting the scope of the tumor segmentation process to the abdomen, to lead to the reduction of the false-positive error, and to improve the result of segmentation of neuroblastic tumors. Table of Contents: Introduction to Medical Image Analysis / Image Segmentation / Experimental Design and Database / Ribs, Vertebral Column, and Spinal Canal / Delineation of the Diaphragm / Delineation of the Pelvic Girdle / Application of Landmarking / Concluding Remarks

The auscultation method is an important diagnostic indicator for hemodynamic anomalies. Heart sound classification and analysis play an important role in the auscultative diagnosis. The term phonocardiography refers to the tracing technique of heart sounds and the recording of cardiac acoustics vibration by means of a microphone-transducer. Therefore, understanding the nature and source of this signal is important to give us a tendency for developing a competent tool for further analysis and processing, in order to enhance and optimize cardiac clinical diagnostic approach. This book gives the reader an inclusive view of the main aspects in phonocardiography signal processing. Table of Contents: Introduction to Phonocardiography Signal Processing / Phonocardiography Acoustics Measurement / PCG Signal Processing Framework / Phonocardiography Wavelets Analysis / Phonocardiography Spectral Analysis / PCG Pattern Classification / Special Application of Phonocardiography / Phonocardiography Acoustic Imaging and Mapping