ABSTRACT
Objective: To quantitatively evaluate the changes of texture features extracted from two-dimensional high frequency ultrasonograms of human muscle injured by acute contusion using the multiscale decomposition of echo intensity of interface reflections, and to preliminarily explore its clinical value. Methods: Two-dimensional ultrasound images of local muscles of 10 male patients with acute upper limb muscle contusion were obtained using high-frequency ultrasound. The region of interest (ROI) of normal muscle texture and the ROI of muscle texture with suspected injury on the same image of the patients were selected by Matlab 7.0 software in offline state. Eight texture parameters including mean of gray scale (Mean), standard variance of gray scale (SDev), number of blobs (NOB) of texture density, irregularity (IRGL) of texture primitive shape, mean size of blobs (SOB) of texture primitive, homogeneity of distribution (HOD) of texture uniformity, directionality of texture distribution (DOD) and periodicity of texture distribution (POD) of the two ROIs were extracted. The similarity difference values of the eight texture parameters between the two ROIs were automatically calculated by the multiscale decomposition of echo intensity of interface reflections. Two-dimensional ultrasound images of normal muscles in the same part of 10 healthy male volunteers were selected as controls, and two ROIs were randomly selected to calculate the similarity difference values of the above eight texture features between them. The similarity difference values of the eight texture features between patients with upper limb muscle contusion and healthy volunteers were compared. Results: Local hyperechoic lesions were found with disordered muscle fibers and fuzzy textures in the patients with acute upper extremity muscle contusion. There were significant differences in the similarity difference of fve textural parameters (IRGL, DOD, POD, Mean and SDev) between patients with acute upper limb muscle contusion and healthy controls (P<0.01). Conclusion: Computer-aided quantitative evaluation based on multiscale decomposition of echo intensity of interface reflections can lead to more accurate and detailed quantitative diagnosis of texture features extracted from two-dimensional high frequency ultrasonic images of muscle injured by acute contusion than human eyes, and it may have clinical values.
ABSTRACT
Objective To quantitatively analyze the ultrasonic texture changes in the repair process of rabbit skeletal muscle acute injury caused by microwave ablation of different powers by computer-aided diagnosis technology. Methods Four of 44 healthy New Zealand white rabbit served as a normal control group (without microwave ablation), and the other 40 rabbits were randomly divided into 30 W and 50 W groups (n=20). Under the guidance of high-resolution ultrasound, the right femoral muscle was ablated with 30 W or 50 W powers for 3 min. Two-dimensional ultrasound images of long-axis section of femoral artery trunk and femoral muscle of right lower limb were acquired at 1 h, 1 day, 2 days, 7 days and 28 days after microwave ablation, while images of normal control group were acquired at the same time points. Eight muscle fiber texture features (texture grayscale mean, texture grayscale standard deviation, texture number of blobs, texture irregularity of blobs, texture average size of blobs, texture homogeneity of distribution, texture directionality of distribution, and texture periodicity of distribution) included in each image region of interest were extracted by Matlab 7.0 software for quantitative analysis. Results The eight texture features of 30 W group and 50 W group were significantly higher than those of normal control group at 1 h, 1 day, 2 days after microwave ablation (all P<0.05). Seven days after microwave ablation, the rabbit skeletal muscle texture grayscale mean, texture number of blobs, texture average size of blobs, texture homogeneity of distribution and texture periodicity of distribution in the 30 W group and 50 W group were all significantly higher than those in the normal control group, and texture grayscale standard deviation in the 50 W group was also significantly higher than that in the normal control group (all P<0.05). On the 28th day after microwave ablation, the rabbit skeletal muscle texture periodicity of distribution in the 30 W group and 50 W group was significantly higher than that in the normal control group, and the rabbit skeletal muscle texture grayscale mean, texture grayscale standard deviation, texture number of blobs, and texture average size of blobs in the 50 W group were also significantly higher than those in the normal control group (all P<0.05). After microwave ablation, the texture grayscale mean of the 50 W group was higher than that of the 30 W group at 1 h, 2 days and 7 days, the texture grayscale standard deviation of the 50 W group was higher than that of the 30 W group at 1 h, 1 day, 2 days, 7 days and 28 days, the texture number of blobs of the 50 W group was higher than that of the 30 W group at 1 h and 1 day, the texture irregularity of blobs of the 50 W group was higher than that of the 30 W group at 2 days, the texture average size of blobs in the 50 W group was higher than that in the 30 W group at 1 day, 2 days, 7 days and 28 days, the texture homogeneity of distribution in the 50 W group was higher than that in the 30 W group at 1 day, and the texture periodicity of distribution in the 50 W group was higher than that in the 30 W group at 1 h and 2 days, the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Conclusion Ultrasonic texture features of acute muscle injury repair in rabbits at different stages induced by microwave ablation extracted by computer technology could quantitatively describe the geometric features of muscle fibers after skeletal muscle injury in rabbits, which will be expected to provide evidence for clinical ultrasonic quantitative diagnosis of skeletal muscle injury repair.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To use ultrasound elastography for observing the natural recovery of rabbit muscle elasticity after skeletal muscle injury induced by microwave ablation of different powers. Methods: Forty New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into 30 W group and 50 W group, with 20 in each group. Another 4 rabbits served as normal controls (normal group). Rabbit models of skeletal muscle injury were established by microwave thermocoagulation with different powers (30 W and 50 W) for the right medial femoral muscle for 3 min using the KY-2100 microwave ablation instrument (2 450 MHz). One hour, and 1, 2, 7 and 28 d after microwave ablation, ultrasound elastography feature strain ratio (SR) values in ablation areas were calculated. At each time point, the thermocoagulated muscle tissue of the right medial femoral muscle in the 30 W and 50 W groups and the muscle tissue of the same area on the same side in the normal group were harvested for pathological observation. Results: The ablation areas extracted from ultrasound elastography were mainly blue in the 30 W and 50 W groups, while green area appeared in those areas 7 d after microwave ablation. More blue areas were seen in 50 W group compared with 30 W group 28 d after microwave ablation. Compared with the normal group, the SR values in the 30 W and 50 W groups were significantly increased 1 h, 1 d, and 2 d after microwave ablation (P0.05). H-E staining showed different degrees of tissue damage, carbonization, and coagulation necrosis of peripheral muscle fibers. Inflammatory cell infiltration was seen at the injured junction 1-2 d after microwave ablation, and the macrophages in the 50 W group was more than that in the 30 W group. A large number of neovascularization, fibroblasts and scar formation were observed at the junction 7-28 d after microwave ablation, and inflammation and turbidity swelling were alleviated in the 30 W and 50 W groups. Masson staining showed less fiber contents and no obvious fiber proliferation 1 h after microwave ablation in the 30 W and 50 W groups. At 1-2 d after microwave ablation, different degrees of new collagen fibers and muscle interstitial fiber proliferation were observed in the 30 W and 50 W groups. At 7-28 d after microwave ablation, a large number of newborn collagen fibers were observed in the 30 W and 50 W groups, accompanied by a significant increase in peripheral fibers of vascular wall. Sirius red staining showed that a large number of newborn collagen gradually appeared in the 30 W and 50 W groups. Immediately and 1 d after microwave ablation, there were mainly type I collagen fibers, and type II collagen fibers were found 2 d after microwave ablation. At 7 d and 28 d after microwave ablation, there were more type II collagen fibers reticulated in the 30 W and 50 W groups. Conclusion: Microwave ablation with different powers can cause acute muscle injury in rabbits, the injury intensifes during 1-2 d after microwave ablation, and begin to repair 7-28 d after microwave ablation; the repair of 50 W group is later than the 30 W group. The dynamic changes of ultrasound elastography are consistent with the pathological findings. Ultrasound elastography can noninvasively evaluate the dynamic changes of skeletal muscle tissue repair after muscle injury, and it is a complement to the conventional ultrasound examination.
ABSTRACT
[Abstract] Since the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), remarkable achievements have been made in many research fields and industries, which greatly promote the development of medical ultrasound imaging, which is highly dependent on machine manipulation and massive data analysis. At present, the development of AI in the field of ultrasound medicine is a new focus of the cross-research of medical-industrial integration. More and more medical ultrasound experts, mathematicians and computer scientists are working together to promote the integration of ultrasound medicine and AI, so as to improve the accuracy of ultrasound diagnosis, reduce misdiagnosis rate, shorten reporting time and meet the growing clinical needs. In this review, we summarized the advances on ultrasound medicine in the field of AI, and the opportunities and challenges in the development of ultrasound medicine in China in the era of AI.
ABSTRACT
Polygalae Radix and Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma were first recorded in Shennong's Herbal Classic. Both of them can "improve people's memory". Long-term administration can make body light and macrobian. They have often been used as couplet medicines and the core combination of nootropic and memory improvement prescriptions. At present, traditional Chinese medicine clinicians believes that the principle of Polygalae Radix and Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma in improving memory or intelligence is to supplement the deficiency, remove phlegm and unblock nine orifices, with sufficient evidences for the traditional theory. However, its material basis and mechanism for improving memory have not been fully elucidated. In this paper, we searched the literatures about pharmacological and pharmacodynamics mechanism of Polygalae Radix,Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma and their chemical components on nervous system in recent ten years from Pubmed database and CNKI. The main material basis for improving memory of Polygalae Radix-saponins, oligosaccharides and alone, the main material basis for improving memory of Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma-α-asarone,β-asarone and eugenol, the changes of the quality and quantity of the active substances after combination, and the mechanism of improving memory of the single drugs and their couplet medicines, such as scavenging free radicals, regulating cholinergic system, clearing β-amyloid protein(Aβ), decreasing the level of phosphorylation of Tau protein, improving the rate of apoptosis and regulating synaptic plasticity, were systematically collected, analyzed and summarized. In view of the current research situation, this paper points out the possible shortcomings, with the aim to further explore the mechanism of Polygalae Radix combined with Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma with the mechanism of "1+1>2".
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE To study the differentiation of PC12 cells induced by total salvianolic acid (Tsa) and the mechanism. METHODS MTT assay was used to detect the effect of Tsa 0.01, 0.1 and 1.0 μg·L-1on proliferation of PC12 cells and on the cells damaged by oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD).The number of projections of PC12 cells was statistically analyzed.Western blotting was applied to detect the levels of microtubule-associated protein2 (MAP-2), extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2 (ERK1/2), phosphorylated ERK1/2(p-ERK1/2), mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase1/2(MEK1/2) and p-MEK1/2 proteins.MEK inhibitor U0126 was examined for its effect on expressions of p-ERK1/2 and ERK1/2 protein in PC12 cells induced by Tsa 1.0 μg·L-1.RESULTS Compared with normal control group, Tsa 1.0 μg·L-1could promote PC12 cell proliferation, and the survival rate was increased by 90%, but the survival rate of PC12 cells was not affected by Tsa 0.01 or 0.1 μg·L-1. Compared with OGD injured group,PC12 cells injured by OGD could be repaired by Tsa 0.1 or 1.0 μg·L-1,and the survival rate was increased to (47.7±1.8)% and (63.2±13.0)%, respectively (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with normal control group,Tsa 0.01,0.1 and 1.0 μg·L-1could promote the growth of PC12 cell projections (P<0.01). Western blotting results showed that Tsa could promote the expressions of MAP-2, p-ERK1/2 and p-MEK1/2 proteins, and this effect could be blocked by U0126 inhibitor (P<0.01). CONCLUSION Tsa can induce the proliferation and differentiation of PC12 cells, the mechanism of which is possibly the activation of p-MEK and p-ERK1/2.
ABSTRACT
Skeletal muscle injuries are common in clinic, and the rate of disability caused by frequent natural disasters is increasing in recent years. Prompt diagnosis and accurate assessment of the damage range and severity are critical when a muscular injury occurs. According to our emergency ultrasound experiences, structural disorder and textural changes of damaged thigh muscle of the crush syndrome patients can be dynamically observed by high resolution ultrasound, which has similar texture imaging effect compared with magnetic resonance imaging and has unique imaging advantages. However, visual evaluation of ultrasonograms depends more on the experiences of the ultrasonographers, and thus is quite subjecitve. Besides, there is no unified standard for quantitative diagnosis of injuried muscle by ultrasound. In order to provide references for quantitative evaluation of injured muscle pathology, we performed a series of in vitroexperiments, animal experiments and preliminary clinical studies, and used computer-aided ultrasonsographic texture analysis to quantitatively evaluate the texture changes of skeletal muscle in different periods. We used contrast-enhanced ultrasound to observe the vascular distribution characteristics of skeletal muscles, and compared the muscle fiber structure, collagen distribution, and the degree of vascularization and vascular distribution in different periods, hoping to make quantitative muscle ultrasound as a practical and reliable tool for the muscle injury diagnosis.
ABSTRACT
Objective To quantitatively analyze and compare the texture features of thermal and chemical lesions on the porcine striated muscle, in vitro extracted from high-frequency ultrasonograms using computer-assisted image analysis technique, and to investigate the application values. Methods The thermal lesion and chemical lesion were induced in vitro in porcine striated muscle by microwave ablation and anhydrous acetic acid injection, respectively. The two dimension (2D) ultrasonographic ifndings were qualitatively compared between the groups of thermal and chemical lesion models, in which eight textural features in geometric mathematics extracted from 2D ultrasonograms were quantitatively analyzed by a technique of computer-assisted image analysis named multiscale decomposition method of echo intensity of interface relfections. Results As expected, microwave ablation and anhydrous acetic acid caused signiifcant changes of several texture features extracted from ultrasonograms. There were significant differences between the normal group and microwave ablation group in grayscale mean (Mean), irregularity (IRGL) and periodicity of distribution (POD) as follows (Mean: 1.9143±0.2914 vs 1.2334±0.3357, t=-5.306, P=0.000; IRGL: 0.5577±0.0334 vs 0.5092±0.0459, t=-2.957, P=0.007; POD: 0.000 27±0.000 005 vs 0.000 29±0.000 008, t=4.782, P=0.000). There were signiifcant differences between the normal group and anhydrous acetic acid injection group in number of blobs (NOB), size of blobs (SOB) and periodicity of distribution (POD) as follows (NOB: 51.0324±13.6998 vs 31.6042±4.8315, t=4.633, P=0.000; SOB:16.4843±3.9349 vs 25.6230±2.3555, t=6.903, P=0.000;POD:0.000 26±0.000 015 vs 0.000 29±0.000 008, t=-4.459, P=0.000). For each group of injured regions, there were significant differences between the microwave ablation group and anhydrous acetic acid injection group in Mean, IRGL, NOB and SOB as follows (Mean: 1.2664±0.2688 vs 1.9143±0.2914, t=-5.661, P=0.000; IRGL: 0.5220±0.0422 vs 0.5577±0.0334, t=-2.295, P=0.032;NOB:51.0324±13.6998 vs 34.5856±2.6362, t=4.048, P=0.000;SOB:16.4843±3.9349 vs 25.3176±2.3501, t=-6.676, P=0.000). Conclusion Technique of computer-assisted image analysis named multiscale decomposition method of echo intensity of interface relfections, based on multiscale blob features extraction, was useful to differentiate ultrasonic texture features between the groups injured in our study, which established quantitative muscle ultrasound as a practical and reliable tool for the muscle injury diagnosis to distinguish the structural changes induced by different physiochemical factors.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To analyze the multi-mode ultrasound manifestation of male breast cancer, and to discuss its value in clinical diagnosis and differential diagnosis. Methods: The clinical data of 15 male patients with pathologically-confirmed breast cancer were retrospectively reviewed. All the patients were examined by multi-mode ultrasound (including 2D, 3D, color Doppler flow imaging [CDFI], and intravenous contrast-enhanced ultrasound [CEUS]). The ultrasonic characteristics of the 8 patients were compared with those of 7 patients with hyperplasia. The diagnostic values of the ultrasonic characteristics were summarized. Results: (1) 2D sonogram: 6 of 7 cases with ultrasonically diffused masses, which were all initially interpreted as hyperplasia on ultrasound, were confirmed pathologically, with an accurate rate of 86%. All the 8 patients had unilateral focal masses (ipsilateral in 3 of 8). They were all diagnosed as having breast cancer by ultrasound, with hypoechoes and irregular shape. Three of them had micro-calcification. All the 8 patients were confirmed to have breast cancer pathologically, with the accurate rate of ultrasound being 100%. (2) CDFI and CEUS: hyperplasia patients had weak blood flow signal and breast cancer patients all had rich blood flow signal. High frequency CEUS showed that only 3 breast cancer patients had marked micro-vascular enhancement, while low-frequency CEUS showed prominent enhancement in all cancer cases. (3) 3D reconstruction: coronary display of 2 focal masses showed "convergent sign". Conclusion: Multi-mode ultrasound imaging can provide comprehensive information of male patients with breast disorders; it may facilitate the early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment for male breast cancer.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the feasibility of creating a 3D-CAD model of craniofacial prostheses through mirror technique to repair the unilateral craniofacial defects and restore craniofacial symmetry.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Patients with unilateral craniofacial defects underwent spiral CT scanning. CAD3-D image was reconstructed ad 3-D CAD model of craniofacial prosthesis was created with mirror technique, Boolean operation and rapid prototyping technique. Then the prosthesis made of bioactive artificial bone was made through plaster cavity block.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>15 cases were treated with no complications. Good symmetry was achieved after operation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Designing the craniofacial prosthesis with mirror technique guarantees excellent functional and cosmetic results for repairing the unilateral craniofacial defects.</p>