A Novel Knowledge Representation Framework for the Statistical Validation of Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers

Quantitative imaging biomarkers are of particular interest in drug development for their potential to accelerate the drug development pipeline. The lack of consensus methods and carefully characterized performance hampers the widespread availability of these quantitative measures. A framework to support collaborative work on quantitative imaging biomarkers would entail advanced statistical techniques, the development of controlled vocabularies, and a service-oriented architecture for processing large image archives. Until now, this framework has not been developed. With the availability of tools for automatic ontology-based annotation of datasets, coupled with image archives, and a means for batch selection and processing of image and clinical data, imaging will go through a similar increase in capability analogous to what advanced genetic profiling techniques have brought to molecular biology. We report on our current progress on developing an informatics infrastructure to store, query, and retrieve imaging biomarker data across a wide range of resources in a semantically meaningful way that facilitates the collaborative development and validation of potential imaging biomarkers by many stakeholders. Specifically, we describe the semantic components of our system, QI-Bench, that are used to specify and support experimental activities for statistical validation in quantitative imaging     

Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers: The Application of Advanced Image Processing and Analysis to Clinical and Preclinical Decision Making

The importance of medical imaging for clinical decision making has been steadily increasing over the last four decades. Recently, there has also been an emphasis on medical imaging for preclinical decision making, i.e., for use in pharamaceutical and medical device development. There is also a drive towards quantification of imaging findings by using quantitative imaging biomarkers, which can improve sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and reproducibility of imaged characteristics used for diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. An important component of the discovery, characterization, validation and application of quantitative imaging biomarkers is the extraction of information and meaning from images through image processing and subsequent analysis. However, many advanced image processing and analysis methods are not applied directly to questions of clinical interest, i.e., for diagnostic and therapeutic decision making, which is a consideration that should be closely linked to the development of such algorithms. This article is meant to address these concerns. First, quantitative imaging biomarkers are introduced by providing definitions and concepts. Then, potential applications of advanced image processing and analysis to areas of quantitative imaging biomarker research are described; specifically, research into osteoarthritis (OA), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cancer is presented. Then, challenges in quantitative imaging biomarker research are discussed. Finally, a conceptual framework for integrating clinical and preclinical considerations into the development of quantitative imaging biomarkers and their computer-assisted methods of extraction is presented.     

Developing the Quantitative Histopathology Image Ontology (QHIO): A case study using the hot spot detection problem

Interoperability across data sets is a key challenge for quantitative histopathological imaging. There is a need for an ontology that can support effective merging of pathological image data with associated clinical and demographic data. To foster organized, cross-disciplinary, information-driven collaborations in the pathological imaging field, we propose to develop an ontology to represent imaging data and methods used in pathological imaging and analysis, and call it Quantitative Histopathological Imaging Ontology – QHIO. We apply QHIO to breast cancer hot-spot detection with the goal of enhancing reliability of detection by promoting the sharing of data between image analysts.     

心肌核素断层显像定量分析系统

介绍了开发设计的计算机心肌核素断层显像定量分析系统.该系统可进行原始数据的读取和格式转换,自动分割左心室,完成SPECT心肌灌注靶心图定量分析、PET心肌代谢靶心图定量分析,对病人数据进行9分区靶心图定量计算等临床数据处理任务.并将结果同医师半定量诊断结果进行对比.     

Preliminary Evaluation of Biplane Correlation (BCI) Stereographic Imaging for Lung Nodule Detection

A biplane correlation (BCI) imaging system obtains images that can be viewed in stereo, thereby minimizing overlapping structures. This study investigated whether using stereoscopic visualization provides superior lung nodule detection compared to standard postero-anterior (PA) image display. Images were acquired at two oblique views of ±3° as well as at a standard PA position from 60 patients. Images were processed using optimal parameters and displayed on a stereoscopic display. The PA image was viewed in the standard format, while the oblique views were paired to provide a stereoscopic view of the subject. A preliminary observer study was performed with four radiologists who viewed and scored the PA image then viewed and scored the BCI stereoscopic image. The BCI stereoscopic viewing of lung nodules resulted in 71 % sensitivity and 0.31 positive predictive value (PPV) index compared to PA results of 86 % sensitivity and 0.26 PPV index. The sensitivity for lung nodule detection with the BCI stereoscopic system was reduced by 15 %; however, the total number of false positives reported was reduced by 35 % resulting in an improved PPV index of 20 %. The preliminary results indicate observer dependency in terms of relative advantage of either system in the detection of lung nodules, but overall equivalency of the two methods with promising potential for BCI as an adjunct diagnostic technique.     

The Theory of Biomedical Knowledge Integration(Ⅳ)

The Theory of BioM edical K now ledge Integration(BM K I) is aim ed at exploring the possibility, feasibility, philosophic principle, strategy, m ethodology, etc of the in-tegration of large-scale and heterogeneous biom edical know ledge, including probin…     

Integration of Imaging Signs into RadLex

Imaging signs form an important part of the language of radiology, but are not represented in established lexicons. We sought to incorporate imaging signs into RSNA''s RadLex® ontology of radiology terms. Names of imaging signs and their definitions were culled from books, journal articles, dictionaries, and biomedical web sites. Imaging signs were added into RadLex as subclasses of the term “imaging sign,” which was defined in RadLex as a subclass of “imaging observation.” A total of 743 unique imaging signs were added to RadLex with their 392 synonyms to yield a total of 1,135 new terms. All included definitions and related RadLex terms, including imaging modality, anatomy, and disorder, when appropriate. The information will allow RadLex users to identify imaging signs by modality (e.g., ultrasound signs) and to find all signs related to specific pathophysiology. The addition of imaging signs to RadLex augments its use to index the radiology literature, create and interpret clinical radiology reports, and retrieve relevant cases and images.     

The Ontology of Clinical Research (OCRe): An informatics foundation for the science of clinical research

To date, the scientific process for generating, interpreting, and applying knowledge has received less informatics attention than operational processes for conducting clinical studies. The activities of these scientific processes – the science of clinical research – are centered on the study protocol, which is the abstract representation of the scientific design of a clinical study. The Ontology of Clinical Research (OCRe) is an OWL 2 model of the entities and relationships of study design protocols for the purpose of computationally supporting the design and analysis of human studies. OCRe’s modeling is independent of any specific study design or clinical domain. It includes a study design typology and a specialized module called ERGO Annotation for capturing the meaning of eligibility criteria. In this paper, we describe the key informatics use cases of each phase of a study’s scientific lifecycle, present OCRe and the principles behind its modeling, and describe applications of OCRe and associated technologies to a range of clinical research use cases. OCRe captures the central semantics that underlies the scientific processes of clinical research and can serve as an informatics foundation for supporting the entire range of knowledge activities that constitute the science of clinical research.     

Patient Identity Management Maturity Model (PIM3) for Imaging Information Technology Systems

In Consolidated Enterprises, there are often more than one set of patient identities or some amount of historic records, such as imaging exams that are still identified by more than one patient identity (also known as a Patient Identifier or Medical Record Number) per person. Information technology systems often need some capability to cross-reference records for the same patient so that the records are linked to the one, correct person. If not, it may create a risk for the patient. Historically, each independent facility or organization managed its own patient identity information, including the unique identifier/Medical Record Number. This can result in a fractured view of a patient’s records. To present a longitudinal, unified-view record of a patient, it is necessary to have functions to manage these multiple domains. Without this capability, multiple patient identity domains result in a broken imaging record for the patient and often prevents the discovery of, access to, and comparison of a patient’s imaging exams. Even worse, without a method to manage patient identity across records where more than one patient identity domain is involved, the records for two different people can be linked to one patient, resulting in a potentially serious risk for harm. This paper proposes a maturity model to assess and categorize the capabilities of different imaging information technology systems, such as Picture Archiving Communication and Archiving System, Vendor Neutral Archive, and other image management and viewing applications.     

正常人内耳MR成像观察及测量研究

目的 :为内耳疾病的定位诊断和显微手术提供正常人内耳的MRI图像及解剖学数据。方法 :选择 33例无任何耳部疾病的正常志愿者 ,采用MRI技术对两侧内耳同时进行三维重建成像 ,观察其形态结构 ,3个半规管和内听道进行测量。结果 :(1) 33例均能满意显示两侧内耳的解剖结构 ,前庭、耳蜗、半规管、内听道显示清晰。 (2 ) 3个半规管内周长、外周长、管腔面积均以后半规管最长 ,上半规管次之 ,外半规管最短。 (3) 3个半规管脚间距以上半规管最大 ,外半规管次之 ,后半规管最小。 (4 ) 3个半规管壶腹端直径均大于 2mm ,外半规管单脚端直径为 (1.37±0 .34)mm ,上、后半规管总脚端直径为 (1.73± 0 .15 )mm。 (5 )内听道四壁中以前壁最长 ,后壁最短。内耳门处上下径小于前后径 ;内听道面积为 35 .4 5mm2 。结论 :利用MRI技术能立体而直观地显示内耳的细微结构。     

The Importance of Body Part Labeling to Enable Enterprise Imaging: A HIMSS-SIIM Enterprise Imaging Community Collaborative White Paper

In order for enterprise imaging to be successful across a multitude of specialties, systems, and sites, standards are essential to categorize and classify imaging data. The HIMSS-SIIM Enterprise Imaging Community believes that the Digital Imaging Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Anatomic Region Sequence, or its equivalent in other data standards, is a vital data element for this role, when populated with standard coded values. We believe that labeling images with standard Anatomic Region Sequence codes will enhance the user’s ability to consume data, facilitate interoperability, and allow greater control of privacy. Image consumption—when a user views a patient’s images, he or she often wants to see relevant comparison images of the same lesion or anatomic region for the same patient automatically presented. Relevant comparison images may have been acquired from a variety of modalities and specialties. The Anatomic Region Sequence data element provides a basis to allow for efficient comparison in both instances. Interoperability—as patients move between health care systems, it is important to minimize friction for data transfer. Health care providers and facilities need to be able to consume and review the increasingly large and complex volume of data efficiently. The use of Anatomic Region Sequence, or its equivalent, populated with standard values enables seamless interoperability of imaging data regardless of whether images are used within a site or across different sites and systems. Privacy—as more visible light photographs are integrated into electronic systems, it becomes apparent that some images may need to be sequestered. Although additional work is needed to protect sensitive images, standard coded values in Anatomic Region Sequence support the identification of potentially sensitive images, enable facilities to create access control policies, and can be used as an interim surrogate for more sophisticated rule-based or attribute-based access control mechanisms. To satisfy such use cases, the HIMSS-SIIM Enterprise Imaging Community encourages the use of a pre-existing body part ontology. Through this white paper, we will identify potential challenges in employing this standard and provide potential solutions for these challenges.     

Magnetic Resonance (MR) Metabolic Imaging in Glioma

This review is focused on describing the use of magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy for metabolic imaging of brain tumors. We will first review the MR metabolic imaging findings generated from preclinical models, focusing primarily on in vivo studies, and will then describe the use of metabolic imaging in the clinical setting. We will address relatively well‐established ¹H MRS approaches, as well as ³¹P MRS, ¹³C MRS and emerging hyperpolarized ¹³C MRS methodologies, and will describe the use of metabolic imaging for understanding the basic biology of glioma as well as for improving the characterization and monitoring of brain tumors in the clinic.     

颅内生殖细胞瘤的MRI影像表现及诊断

目的 探讨颅内生殖细胞瘤的MRI表现,旨在提高对本病的影像诊断准确率。方法 回顾性分析2014年12月~2019年5月我院经手术病理或临床诊断性放射治疗确诊的13例颅内生殖细胞瘤患者的MRI影像资料,分析其临床表现、影像表现及诊断。结果 病变位于松果体区患者9例,MRI检查肿瘤实质部分T1WI呈稍低信号,T2WI和FLAIR 呈高或稍高信号,DWI呈等或稍高信号,增强扫描呈明显强化;肿瘤伴有囊变者1例,伴有钙化者3例,4例患者伴脑积水;3例患者出现转移灶,累及三脑室、侧脑室等,其MRI信号及强化方式与原发灶相似。病变位于鞍区患者3例,肿瘤形态、大小不一,T1WI 呈稍低信号,T2WI和FLAIR 呈稍高信号,增强扫描呈明显强化。1例患者的病变位于右侧基底节区,形态不规则,T1WI呈等信号,T2WI、FLAIR及DWI均呈稍高信号,增强扫描无强化,同侧大脑脚较对侧萎缩。结论 MRI对颅内生殖细胞瘤的影像诊断与鉴别诊断具有重要价值。     

核素肾动态显像的各类肾疾病的图像特征

统计了常见肾脏疾病390例肾动态显像图像,分析了图像表现类型,以及动态图像类型与肾功能(GFR)的关系。结果表明,肾动态显像可灵敏地判断肾实质受损情况;图像类型能较客观估价肾功能状态;不同病因或病理改变的肾疾病在显像时可出现相同类型的影像。     

Development of an Advanced Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) System with Applications for Cancer Detection

An advanced hyper-spectral imaging (HSI) system has been developed having obvious applications for cancer detection. This HSI system is based on state-of-the-art liquid crystal tunable filter technology coupled to an endoscope. The goal of this unique HSI technology being developed is to obtain spatially resolved images of the slight differences in luminescent properties of malignant versus non-malignant tissues. In this report, the development of the instrument is discussed and the capability of the instrument is demonstrated by observing mouse carcinomas in-vivo. It is shown that the instrument successfully distinguishes between normal and malignant mouse skin. It is hoped that the results of this study will lead to advances in the optical diagnosis of cancer in humans.     

Evaluation of Precision and Accuracy Assessment of Different 3-D Surface Imaging Systems for Biomedical Purposes

Three-dimensional (3-D) surface imaging has gained clinical acceptance, especially in the field of cranio-maxillo-facial and plastic, reconstructive, and aesthetic surgery. Six scanners based on different scanning principles (Minolta Vivid 910®, Polhemus FastSCAN™, GFM PRIMOS®, GFM TopoCAM®, Steinbichler Comet® Vario Zoom 250, 3dMD DSP 400®) were used to measure five sheep skulls of different sizes. In three areas with varying anatomical complexity (areas, 1 = high; 2 = moderate; 3 = low), 56 distances between 20 landmarks are defined on each skull. Manual measurement (MM), coordinate machine measurements (CMM) and computer tomography (CT) measurements were used to define a reference method for further precision and accuracy evaluation of different 3-D scanning systems. MM showed high correlation to CMM and CT measurements (both r = 0.987; p < 0.001) and served as the reference method. TopoCAM®, Comet® and Vivid 910® showed highest measurement precision over all areas of complexity; Vivid 910®, the Comet® and the DSP 400® demonstrated highest accuracy over all areas with Vivid 910® being most accurate in areas 1 and 3, and the DSP 400® most accurate in area 2. In accordance to the measured distance length, most 3-D devices present higher measurement precision and accuracy for large distances and lower degrees of precision and accuracy for short distances. In general, higher degrees of complexity are associated with lower 3-D assessment accuracy, suggesting that for optimal results, different types of scanners should be applied to specific clinical applications and medical problems according to their special construction designs and characteristics.     

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering: History, Status, and Potential Impact

This paper describes the history, current status, and objectives and potential impact of the new National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). Three of the authors (Hendee, Chien, and Maynard) have been involved over several years in the effort to raise the identity of biomedical imaging and bioengineering at the National Institutes of Health. The fourth author (Dean) is the Acting Director of the newly formed NIBIB. These individuals have an extensive collective knowledge of the events that led to formation of the NIBIB, and are intimately involved in shaping its objectives and implementation strategy. This special report provides a historical record of activities leading to establishment of the NIBIB, and an accounting of present and potential advances in biomedical engineering and imaging that will be facilitated and enhanced by NIBIB. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering represents a coming of age of biomedical engineering and imaging, and offers great potential to expand the research frontiers of these disciplines to unparalleled heights. © 2002 Biomedical Engineering Society. PAC2002: 8762+n, 8759-e, 0178+p, 0165+g, 8761-c     

Imaging anatomy of the cranio-vertebral junction (occipito-atlanto-axial joint)

The diagnostic value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is directly related to the ability to interpret differences between significant pathology and normal anatomical variations. A multidisciplinary investigation of the cranio-vertebral articulation with CT, MRI, anatomical dissections and sections, 3D reconstruction, and injections of contrast into the joint spaces has demonstrated some of the anatomical structures which can cause differences in CT and MR images. Some of the factors which can contribute to variations observed in clinical imaging include the supraodontoid bursa with varying amounts of fat or containing a Bergmann's ossicle, fat pads related to the transverse ligament or laxity of the ligament, identification of the ossiculum terminale or of the synostosis at the base of the dens, and flow patterns in the vertebral plexus of veins.