Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment Commons^™

Detection Of Diabetic Foot Ulcers Using Svm Based Classification, Lei Wang, Peder Pedersen, Diane Strong, Bengisu Tulu, Emmanuel Agu, Qian He, Ronald Ignotz, Raymond Dunn, David Harlan, Sherry Pagoto

Emmanuel O. Agu

Diabetic foot ulcers represent a significant health issue, for both patients’ quality of life and healthcare system costs. Currently, wound care is mainly based on visual assessment of wound size, which suffers from lack of accuracy and consistency. Hence, a more quantitative and computer-based method is needed. Supervised machine learning based object recognition is an attractive option, using training sample images with boundaries labeled by experienced clinicians. We use forty sample images collected from the UMASS Wound Clinic by tracking 8 subjects over 6 months with a smartphone camera. To maintain a consistent imaging environment and facilitate the capture process …

Partial Covariance Based Functional Connectivity Computation Using Ledoit-Wolf Covariance Regularization, Matthew R. Brier, Anish Mitra, John E. Mccarthy, Beau M. Ances, Abraham Z. Snyder

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Highlights •We use the well characterized matrix regularization technique described by Ledoit and Wolf to calculate high dimensional partial correlations in fMRI data. •Using this approach we demonstrate that partial correlations reveal RSN structure suggesting that RSNs are defined by widely and uniquely shared variance. •Partial correlation functional connectivity is sensitive to changes in brain state indicating that they contain functional information. Functional connectivity refers to shared signals among brain regions and is typically assessed in a task free state. Functional connectivity commonly is quantified between signal pairs using Pearson correlation. However, resting-state fMRI is a multivariate process exhibiting a …

Hyperpolarized 129xe Magnetic Resonance Imaging Of Radiation-Induced Lung Injury, Ozkan Doganay

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Lung cancer is the largest contributor to cancer-related mortality worldwide. Only 20% of stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients survive after 5-years post radiation therapy (RT). Although RT is an important treatment modality for lung cancer, it is limited by Radiation-Induced Lung Injury (RILI). RILI develops in two phases: (i) the early phase (days-weeks) referred to radiation pneumonitis (RP), and (ii) the late phase (months). There is a strong interest in early detection of RP using imaging to improve outcomes of RT for lung cancer. This thesis describes a promising approach based on ¹²⁹Xe gas as a contrast …

Lpcoms: Towards A Low Power Wireless Smart-Shoe System For Gait Analysis In People With Disabilities, Ishmat Zerin

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Gait analysis using smart sensor technology is an important medical diagnostic process and has many applications in rehabilitation, therapy and exercise training. In this thesis, we present a low power wireless smart-shoe system (LPcomS) to analyze different functional postures and characteristics of gait while walking. We have designed and implemented a smart-shoe with a Bluetooth communication module to unobtrusively collect data using smartphone in any environment. With the design of a shoe insole equipped with four pressure sensors, the foot pressure is been collected, and those data are used to obtain accurate gait pattern of a patient. With our proposed …

Preparedness Of Hospitals In The Republic Of Ireland For An Influenza Pandemic, An Infection Control Perspective, Mary Reidy, Fiona Ryan, Dervla Hogan, Seán Lacey, Claire Buckley

Department of Mathematics Publications

When an influenza pandemic occurs most of the population is susceptible and attack rates can range as high as 40–50 %. The most important failure in pandemic planning is the lack of standards or guidelines regarding what it means to be ‘prepared’. The aim of this study was to assess the preparedness of acute hospitals in the Republic of Ireland for an influenza pandemic from an infection control perspective.

Quantifying Measurement Error In Digital Instruments, William B. Laing Iii, Sean Bryant

Faculty Works

A first lab experiment clearly illustrates that a glucose meter is actually an excellent source of both random and systematic error, much to the surprise to students and physicians alike. A histogram is constructed and the utility of the standard deviation and standard error to quantify the uncertainty in each measurement and in the mean value, respectively, is demonstrated. From the first lab on, students are challenged to express and interpret confidence intervals in order to form quantitative conclusions. Assessments reveal that many students find this to be surprisingly challenging.

A New Computationally Efficient Cad System For Nodule Detection In Ct Imagery, Temesguen Messay, Russell Hardie, Steven Rogers

Russell C. Hardie

Early detection of lung nodules is extremely important for the diagnosis and clinical management of lung cancer. In this paper, a novel computer aided detection (CAD) system for the detection of pulmonary nodules in thoracic computed tomography (CT) imagery is presented. The paper describes the architecture of the CAD system and assesses its performance on a publicly available database to serve as a benchmark for future research efforts. Training and tuning of all modules in our CAD system is done using a separate and independent dataset provided courtesy of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). The publicly available testing …

The Importance Of A Pictorial Medical History In Assisting Medical Diagnosis Of Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities: A Telemedicine Approach, Grace Bonanno

CCE Theses and Dissertations

When face-to-face physical medical exams are not possible, virtual physical exams, in the form of a pictorial medical exam/history, can be substituted, and telemedicine can be the means to deliver these virtual exams. The goal of this work was to determine if presence in the form of a visual and/or pictorial medical history can be of benefit to clinicians in the diagnosis of medical conditions of individuals with developmental disabilities (DDs) and/or intellectual disabilities (IDs), in particular those who cannot, because of their cognitive and/or physical disabilities, verbally relate their illness to a clinician. Virtual exams can also be useful …

Developing A Bilingual, Computer-Tailored, Hpv Vaccination Promotion Intervention Targeting Latino Parents, Angela Chia-Chen Chen, Ashish Amresh

Publications

In this paper we present an innovative, computer-tailored application aimed at increasing Latino parents' intention to vaccinate their adolescent children against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). HPV infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Latinas have the highest age-adjusted incidence rate for HPV-associated cervical cancer compared with their counterparts in other racial/ethnic groups. HPV vaccines offer hope against HPV-associated diseases. Because parental consent is required for children under age 18 to receive t h e HPV vaccination in most U. S. states, parents' attitudes and intention to have their children vaccinated are keys for promoting HPV …

Raman Micro Spectroscopy For In Vitro Drug Screening: Subcellular Localisation And Interactions Of Doxorubicin, Zeineb Farhane, Franck Bonnier, Alan Casey, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Vibrational spectroscopy, including Raman spectroscopy, has been widely used over the last few years to explore potential biomedical applications. Indeed, Raman spectroscopy has been demonstrated to be a powerful non-invasive tool in cancer diagnosis and monitoring. In confocal microscopic mode, the technique is also a molecularly specific analytical tool with optical resolution which has potential applications in subcellular analysis of biochemical processes, and therefore as an in vitro screening tool of the efficacy and mode of action of, for example, chemotherapeutic agents.

In order to demonstrate and explore the potential in this field, established, model chemotherapeutic agents can be valuable. …

Interactive Cause And Effect Comic-Book Storytelling For Improving Nutrition Outcomes In Children, Ashish Amresh, Madhumita Sinha, Rebecca Birr, Rahul Salla

Publications

Obesity among children and adolescents is increasingly becoming a major public health problem. Poverty and lower socio-economic status as well as lack of parental awareness regarding a balanced diet and adequate exercise all contribute towards childhood obesity. Unfortunately minority children have been especially vulnerable, among them inner-city Latino children continue to have the highest incidence rates of overweight and obesity; hence targeted intervention for this population group is of paramount importance. Access and affordability of smartphones and mobile internet devices provide an opportunity to create nutrition education interventions that can significantly impact and change attitude and knowledge regarding healthy diet …

Optical Diagnostics – Spectropathology For The Next Generation, Malgorzata Baranska, Hugh Byrne

Articles

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Image Enhancement Of Cancerous Tissue In Mammography Images, Richard Thomas Richardson

CCE Theses and Dissertations

This research presents a framework for enhancing and analyzing time-sequenced mammographic images for detection of cancerous tissue, specifically designed to assist radiologists and physicians with the detection of breast cancer. By using computer aided diagnosis (CAD) systems as a tool to help in the detection of breast cancer in computed tomography (CT) mammography images, previous CT mammography images will enhance the interpretation of the next series of images. The first stage of this dissertation applies image subtraction to images from the same patient over time. Image types are defined as temporal subtraction, dual-energy subtraction, and Digital Database for Screening Mammography …

Spectropathology For The Next Generation: Quo Vadis?, Hugh Byrne, Malgorzata Baranska, Gerwin J. Pupples, Nick Stone, Bayden Wood, Kathleen M. Gough, Peter Lasch, Phil Heraud, Josep Sulé-Suso, Ganesh Sockalingum

Articles

Although the potential of vibrational spectroscopy for biomedical applications has been well demonstrated, translation into clinical practice has been relatively slow. This Editorial assesses the challenges facing the field and the potential way forward. While many technological challenges have been addressed to date, considerable effort is still required to gain acceptance of the techniques among the medical community, standardise protocols, extend to a clinically relevant scale, and ultimately assess the health economics underlying clinical deployment. National and international research networks can contribute much to technology development and standardisation. Ultimately, large-scale funding is required to engage in clinical trials and instrument …

Facile Methods For The Analysis Of Lysophosphatidic Acids In Human Plasma, Jialu Wang

Dissertations and Theses

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) influences many physiological processes, such as brain and vascular development. It is associated with several diseases including ovarian cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, multiple myeloma atherosclerotic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary inflammatory diseases and renal diseases. LPA plasma and serum levels have been reported to be important values in diagnosing ovarian cancer and other diseases. However, the extraction and quantification of LPA in plasma are very challenging because of the low physiological concentration and similar structures of LPA to other phospholipids. Many previous studies have not described the separation of LPA from other phospholipids, …

Vibrational Microspectroscopy For Cancer Screening, Fiona Lyng, Ines Ramos, Ola Ibrahim, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Vibrational spectroscopy analyses vibrations within a molecule and can be used to characterise a molecular structure. Raman spectroscopy is one of the vibrational spectroscopic techniques, in which incident radiation is used to induce vibrations in the molecules of a sample, and the scattered radiation may be used to characterise the sample in a rapid and non-destructive manner. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a complementary vibrational spectroscopic technique based on the absorption of IR radiation by the sample. Molecules absorb specific frequencies of the incident light which are characteristic of their structure. IR and Raman spectroscopy are sensitive to subtle biochemical changes …

Multivariate Statistical Methodologies Applied In Biomedical Raman Spectroscopy: Assessing The Validity Of Partial Least Squares Regression Using Simulated Model Datasets, Mark E. Keating, Haq Nawaz, Franck Bonnier, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Raman spectroscopy is fast becoming a valuable analytical tool in a number of biomedical scenarios, most notably disease diagnostics. Importantly, the technique has also shown increasing promise in the assessment of drug interactions on a cellular and subcellular level, particularly when coupled with multivariate statistical analysis. However, an important consideration, both with Raman spectroscopy and the associated statistical methodologies, is the accuracy of these techniques and more specifically the sensitivities which can be achieved and ultimately the limits of detection of the various methods. The purpose of this study is thus the construction of a model simulated data set with …

Development Of A Novel Screening Strategy Designed To Discover A New Class Of Hiv Drugs, Nancy Cheng, Sook-Kyung Lee, P. Donover, Mel Reichman, Celia Schiffer, Emily Hull-Ryde, Ronald Swanstrom, William Janzen

Celia A. Schiffer

Current antiretroviral treatments target multiple pathways important for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) multiplication, including viral entry, synthesis and integration of the DNA provirus, and the processing of viral polyprotein precursors. However, HIV is becoming increasingly resistant to these "combination therapies." Recent findings show that inhibition of HIV Gag protein cleavage into its two structural proteins, matrix (MA) and capsid (CA), has a devastating effect on viral production, revealing a potential new target class for HIV treatment. Unlike the widely used HIV protease inhibitors, this new class of inhibitor would target the substrate, not the protease enzyme itself. This approach offers …

Real-Time Mri-Guided Catheter Tracking Using Hyperpolarized Silicon Particles, Nicholas Whiting, Jingzhe Hu, Jay V. Shah, Maja C. Cassidy, Erik Cressman, Niki Zacharias Millward, David G. Menter, Charles M. Marcus, Pratip K. Bhattacharya

Nicholas Whiting

Diffuse Optical Measurements Of Head And Neck Tumor Hemodynamics For Early Prediction Of Chemo-Radiation Therapy Outcomes, Lixin Dong

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Chemo-radiation therapy is a principal modality for the treatment of head and neck cancers, and its efficacy depends on the interaction of tumor oxygen with free radicals. In this study, we adopted a novel hybrid diffuse optical instrument combining a commercial frequency-domain tissue oximeter (Imagent) and a custom-made diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) flowmeter, which allowed for simultaneous measurements of tumor blood flow and blood oxygenation. Using this hybrid instrument we continually measured tumor hemodynamic responses to chemo-radiation therapy over the treatment period of 7 weeks. We also explored monitoring dynamic tumor hemodynamic changes during radiation delivery. Blood flow data analysis …

Seniors With Diabetes-Investigation Of The Impact Of Semantic Auditory Distractions On The Usability Of A Blood Glucose Tracking Mobile Application, Jose A. Rivera Rodriguez

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. With the population rapidly aging, it is expected that 1 out of 3 Americans will have diabetes by 2050. Mobile devices and mobile applications have the potential to contribute to diabetes self-care by allowing users to manage their diabetes by keeping track of their blood glucose levels. Usability is important for systems that help people self-manage conditions such as diabetes. Age and diabetes-related cognitive decline might intensify the impact of usability issues for the users who need these mobile applications the most. As highlighted by usability researchers, the …

Femtosecond Laser Beam Propagation Through Corneal Tissue: Evaluation Of Therapeutic Laser-Stimulated Second And Third-Harmonic Generation, William R. Calhoun Iii

Theses and Dissertations

One of the most recent advancements in laser technology is the development of ultrashort pulsed femtosecond lasers (FSLs). FSLs are improving many fields due to their unique extreme precision, low energy and ablation characteristics. In the area of laser medicine, ophthalmic surgeries have seen very promising developments. Some of the most commonly performed surgical operations in the world, including laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK), lens replacement (cataract surgery), and keratoplasty (cornea transplant), now employ FSLs for their unique abilities that lead to improved clinical outcome and patient satisfaction.

The application of FSLs in medical therapeutics is a recent development, and although …

Additional Results For "Joint Entropy Of Continuously Differentiable Ultrasonic Waveforms" [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 133(1), 283-300 (2013)], M S. Hughes, J N. Marsh, S A. Wickline, John E. Mccarthy

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Previous results on the use of joint entropy for detection of targeted nanoparticles accumulating in the neovasculature of MDA435 tumors [Fig. 7 of M. S. Hughes et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 133, 283–300 (2013)] are extended, with sensitivity improving by nearly another factor of 2. This result is obtained using a “quasi-optimal” reference waveform in the computation of the joint entropy imaging technique used to image the accumulating nanoparticles.

Spin-Exchange Optical Pumping At High Xenon Densities And Laser Fluxes: Principles And Practice, Boyd M. Goodson, Nicholas Whiting, Hayley Newton, Jason G. Skinner, Kaili Ranta, Panayiotis Nikolaou, Michael J. Barlow, Eduard Y. Chekmenev

Nicholas Whiting

Hyperpolarization Methods For Mrs, Boyd M. Goodson, Nicholas Whiting, Aaron M. Coffey, Panayiotis Nikolaou, Fan Shi, Brogan M. Gust, Maxwell E. Gemeinhardt, Roman Shchepin, Jason G. Skinner, Jonathan R. Birchall, Michael J. Barlow, Eduard Y. Chekmenev

Nicholas Whiting