Comparative study of CT-scan modality with MRI modality findings in patients suspected of COVID-19

BackgroundCT-scan and MRI are both best of radiologic modalities with different advantages and disadvantages. In this study, we aimed to evaluate and compare the features of COVID-19 pneumonia in these two modalities. Fifty-three suspected COVID-19 patients who presented to our emergency ward underwent chest CT and, once various features of COVID-19 pneumonia were identified, a dedicated multi-sequence chest MRI was performed on the same day with an institutional protocol. Demographic data and the morphology, laterality and location of the lesions were recorded for each case.ResultsThirty-seven males and sixteen females with the mean age of 47.49 ± 13.86 years old were present in this case series. Fifty-one cases had typical CT features with ground glass opacities and consolidations, readily visible on different MRI sequences. Thirteen cases had atelectasis which were also easily seen on MRI. The comprehensive review of MRI features for each case and representative images has been illustrated.ConclusionWe can suggest MRI as an alternative choice of CT-scan for diagnosis COVID-19 pneumonia according to the revealed results, it can be a logical choice in the suspected cases.

Fractal Analysis in Pulmonary CT Images of COVID-19-Infected Patients

In this paper, we propose to quantitatively compare the loss of human lung health under the influence of the illness with COVID-19, based on the fractal-analysis interpretation of the chest-pulmonary CT pictures, in the case of small datasets, which are usually encountered in medical applications. The fractal analysis characteristics, such as fractal dimension and lacunarity measured values, have been utilized as an effective advisor to interpretation of pulmonary CT picture texture.

Role of Technology in Detection of COVID-19.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus caused coronavirus infection termed as COVID-19, an illness that has spread devastation all over the world. It was developed first in China and had swiftly spread throughout the world. COVID has created imposed burden on health in the lives of all individuals around the globe. This article provides a number of unprecedented detection technologies used in the detection of infection. COVID has created a large number of symptoms in the young, adolescent as well as elderly population. Old age people are susceptible to fatal serious symptoms because of low immunity. With these goals in mind, this article includes substantial condemning descriptions of the majority of initiatives in order to create diagnostic tools for easy diagnosis. It also provides the reader with a multidisciplinary viewpoint on how traditional approaches such as serology and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) along with the frontline techniques such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas and artificial intelligence/machine learning have been utilized to gather information. The story will inspire creative new ways for successful detection therapy and to prevent this pandemic among a wide audience of operating and aspiring biomedical scientists and engineers.

Andover diagnostic centre cardiac imaging workforce planning – implications of richards & GIRFT

ObjectiveHHFT response to Richard’s report & GIRFTMethodsThe Richards report, published in 2020 addressed the strain on diagnostic services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic recommended Community diagnostic hubs should be established to take non-acute diagnostics away from acute hospital sites. Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust (HHFT) Cardiac CT team pivoted to install a CT scanner acquired from the non-installed Canon scanner base from the London Nightingale COVID-19 centre. This was a strategic move to set up vetted ‘cold’ Cardiac CT in a small community hospital, Andover War Memorial hospital.ResultsHHFT (serving a population of 600,000 patients), performed 393 CTCAs in 2021 with 43.5% performed at Andover. This allowed us to retire an older GE HD750 machine from service thus improving image quality and reducing patient dose. With interpretation aided by HeartFlow, we aim to reduce downstream diagnostic invasive coronary angiography. There were 0 adverse events from administration of GTN and IV Metoprolol. The community CTCA innovation has acted as a proof of concept and supported a business plan allowing HHFT to acquire regional approval to develop Andover Community Diagnostic Centre (ACDC).ConclusionStrategically responding to the disruption of a global pandemic and to the opportunity presented by acquiring the aforementioned CT scanner, HHFT pivoted to increase its throughput of COVID ‘cold’ non-acute Cardiac diagnostics. This innovation gave us resilience through the pandemic and has acted as proof of concept for performing community diagnostics, accelerating our business plans, as well as helping to make HHFT successful in its bid for Diagnostic Centre funding.

Fashionable sportswear working as a body measurement collecting tool

Purpose>A two-dimensional (2D) body measurement system was implemented to study the application of sportswear design in measurement garment development. A total of 50 participants were recruited. The basic demographic information and sportswear preference data were collected through a survey to understand consumer preferences and acceptance of the new designs. The body measurements were collected through both the selected 2D measurement system and a commercial three-dimensional scanning booth to evaluate measurement accuracy.Design/methodology/approach>Finding the right size has been a long-existing problem for clothing consumers. Size problem is the most common reason for e-commerce returns and adds a high cost for retailers. One possible solution is to offer consumers an easy-to-use method that extracts accurate body measurements to be used for clothing size selection. The purpose of this research is to apply sportswear design elements on measurement garments to see if consumers’ interest in using the 2D measurement system can be increased without influencing the measurement accuracy.Findings>The results showed that the added design features increased consumers’ interest in using 2D body measuring technology without significantly influencing measurement accuracy.Originality/value>This research applied sportswear elements to convert a 2D measurement bodysuit to a fashionable clothing product. The solution resolved users’ privacy concerns and increased their acceptance and use of the technology. Other studies have not focused on using aesthetic features to improve the 2D measurement technology.

The Application of Web-Based Scientific Computing System in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

In the past ten years, the number of newly added labor forces in China has continued to grow. At the same time, with the increase in the number of university candidates, the number of university employments is also increasing. Due to employment pressure from society and alumni, the government promotes innovation and entrepreneurship and promotes innovative slogans through entrepreneurship. Universities have become the people who are concerned about this slogan. As an important tool for solving large-scale computer problems, scientific computing is increasingly used in various fields of science and engineering. With the development of high-performance computing technology, various parallel computers have appeared and are widely used. This article uses a scientific computing system to conduct research on innovation and entrepreneurship. The entire scientific computing system is a typical three-tier architecture, and the small service program is responsible for analyzing the scientific computing request in the request and generating related calculation expressions. Get the comprehensive evaluation level of innovation and entrepreneurship risk: excellent score is 3.45, good score is 2.56, general score is 1.68, and difference is 0.68.

Optimization of full zirconium crowns manufacturing using hybrid digital approach under the sanitary restrictions during Covid-19 pandemic and limited clinical access to intraoral scanner

PurposeTo assess clinical optimization of hybrid digital approach for full zirconium crowns manufacturing developed under sanitary restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic considering specific economical interaction of “low budget clinic–high budget dental laboratory”.MethodsDeveloped primary approach included following steps: 1) taking analog impression by dental clinician;2) digitalization of impression by mobile dental technician team outside the dental clinic;3) transfer of obtained *.stl file to the dental lab;4) inversion of *.stl file for dental model production with further CAD-CAM manufacturing of zirconium crowns;and 5) delivery of manufactured crowns to the clinic in a non-contact manner. The clinical effectiveness of such an approach was assessed by criteria of clinical time expenditures associated with appropriate crowns fitting and fixation, clinical marginal fit, and risk reduction considering COVID-19 transmission.ResultsAnalysis of 116 cases demonstrated that in 81.89% of cases, time expenditures associated with appropriate crowns fitting and fixation were not statistically different (p > 0.05) from those needed for crowns manufactured by usual digital protocols. Clinical marginal fit in 70.68% cases was classified as “excellent”, in 21.55% cases – as “good”, and in 7.76% cases – as “appropriate”. Risk reduction of COVID-19 transmission considering a possible way of disease spread varied in the range of 34.61-56.78%.ConclusionsA proposed approach for full zirconium crowns manufacturing developed specifically under sanitary restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic optimizes the quality of dental care considering limited clinical access to an intraoral scanner while demonstrating sufficient clinical effectiveness in the means of marginal crowns fit and clinical time expenditures.

Contamination of CT scanner surfaces with SARS-CoV-2 and infective potential after examination of invasively ventilated, non-invasively ventilated and non-ventilated patients with positive throat swabs: prospective investigation using real-time reverse-transcription PCR and viral cell culture

BackgroundDuring the current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, computed tomography (CT) has become widely used in patients with suspected or known coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This prospective observational study in 28 invasively ventilated and 18 non-invasively ventilated patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 contamination aims at investigating SARS-CoV-2 contamination of CT scanner surfaces and its infectiousness.MethodsSwab sampling of the CT table and gantry before and after CT examinations was performed. Additionally, the CT ventilation system air grid was wiped off after each examination. Real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 RNA (ribonucleic acid) and viral cell culture were performed in the virology core lab.ResultsAfter examination of non-invasively ventilated or non-ventilated patients, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was found in 11.1% (4/36) on patient near surfaces (CT table and gantry) and in 16.7% (3/18) on the CT air grid respectively after examination of invasively ventilated patients in 5.4% (3/56) on CT table and gantry and 7.1% (2/28) on the CT air grid. Surface contamination was more common in non-invasively ventilated or non-ventilated patients with a high viral load who were actively coughing. RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) was high (35.96–39.31) in all positive samples and no positive viral cell culture was found.ConclusionOur study suggests that CT scanner surface contamination with SARS-CoV-2 is considerable and more common after examination of non-invasively ventilated or non-ventilated patients compared to invasively ventilated patients. However, no viral cell culture positivity was found, hence the infectious potential seems low.

Increased Radiation Dose Exposure in Thoracic Computed Tomography in Patients with Covid-19

Simple SummaryThe diagnostic imaging with a chest CT in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia is the key point for early screening, differential diagnosis, staging, the severity of the disease and to plan the possible therapy in the intensive care unit. The evolution of pulmonary changes in this setting requires multiple CT scans in a short period, especially for severe illness. The aim of this study is to assess if there was a variation dose in chest CT scans in COVID-19 patients compared to a cohort with pulmonary infectious diseases at the same time of the previous year to value if there is any modification of exposure dose. We compared 1660 chest CT scans of 597 COVID-19 patients with those of patients hospitalized for infectious respiratory diseases in the same period of the previous year. Our results show that COVID-19 patients are exposed to a higher dose of radiation than other patients, especially in the younger age groups.The CT manifestation of COVID-19 patients is now well known and essentially reflects pathological changes in the lungs. Actually, there is insufficient knowledge on the long-term outcomes of this new disease, and several chest CTs might be necessary to evaluate the outcomes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the radiation dose for chest CT scans in COVID-19 patients compared to a cohort with pulmonary infectious diseases at the same time of the previous year to value if there is any modification of exposure dose. The analysis of our data shows an increase in the overall mean dose in COVID-19 patients compared with non-COVID-19 patients. In our results, the higher dose increase occurs in the younger age groups (+86% range 21–30 years and +67% range 31–40 years). Our results show that COVID-19 patients are exposed to a significantly higher dose of ionizing radiation than other patients without COVID infectious lung disease, and especially in younger age groups, although some authors have proposed the use of radiotherapy in these patients, which is yet to be validated. Our study has limitations: the use of one CT machine in a single institute and a limited number of patients.

Fingerprint Scanner Sanitising Module for Kerala Ration Shops

Fingerprint recognition is a safe and convenient technology, increasingly being used for biometric identification of the intended beneficiaries of welfare programmes. Kerala's pubic distribution system, with Ration Shops being its point of contact, also uses fingerprint scanners for identification of beneficiaries. The outbreak of COVID-19 has adversely affected the safety of fingerprint authentication. Touching the sensors by multiple persons can cause the transmission of viruses. Studies have shown that COVID-19 can survive on common surfaces like wood, plastic, metal, and glass for a minimum of 5 days. Despite all the standard operating procedures, it is a common sight to see people crowding at public spaces like Ration Shops that has increased the risk of transmission of the virus. In this context, the present work aims to create a safe and healthy environment for the consumers of Kerala's ration shops, through a UVC based self-sanitizing system for fingerprint scanners. © 2022 IEEE.

Simulation of Aerosol Dispersion in PCR Test Container

To prevent nosocomial transmission of new coronavirus variants and strains (COVID-19), containers that can be used for PCR testing outside hospitals is under development. In this study, to investigate the risk of COVID-19 infection while in a container for PCR testing, we performed computational fluid dynamics simulations of the airflow in the container and the aerosol dispersion emitted from the subject. The 3D model of the container, consisting of a doctorʼs room, a PCR examination room, and a waiting room, was configured based on a container installed at the Higashi Chiba Medical Center. Models of the subject and examiner were configured based on measurements of shape and posture obtained using a 3D scanner. Simulations were performed by varying theaverageparticlesizeof theaerosol (1 μm, 10 μm, 80 μm) and the orientation of a seated subject (four equally spaced orientations). Aerosol contamination in the container was evaluated by counting the aerosols suspended in the air and deposited in the room. From the results, contamination outside the PCR test room may be prevented by installing an exhaust port in the testing room and using an air conditioning system to control airflow. The ratio of aerosols suspended and deposited in the PCR room to the total number of emissions varied from 16％ to 46％ (1 μm) and from 22％ to 69％ (10 μm) for small-sized particles and depended on the orientation of thesubject. This ratio was found to belowest when theairflow from thesubject to theexhaust port was not blocked by the examiner. For large-sized particles (80 μm), theratio was approximately 94％ regardless of the orientation of the subject, indicating that most of the aerosols had deposited either on the subject or the floor. © 2021, Japan Soc. of Med. Electronics and Biol. Engineering. All rights reserved.

Design of Contact Force for Ultrasonic Scanner

The global hospital's capacity can gradually decline, especially after the outbreak of the COVID-19, and thus traditional medical methods can no longer bear a large number of patients. At present, most hospitals rely on doctors and nursing staff to diagnose and treat patients. This not only increases the burden on doctors and nursing staff but also greatly reduces the burden on health care quality. In order to obtain better health care quality, automation is one of the important factors in solving medical quality problems. We are conducting automated introduction research for the ultrasonic scanner. Robotic arms are used to replace doctors for consultations by adding jelly and injection buttons to the robotic arm. In terms of the contact between the end of the robotic arm and the human body, we introduced the force sensor and the depth camera into the robotic arm. With the force sensor and the depth camera feedback data, we perceive the feedback of the ultrasonic scanner and the human body contact force. The results show that our design can greatly increase the amount of hospital's capacity and reduce the burden on doctors. © 2021 IEEE.

Changes of Routine Hematological Parameters in COVID-19 Patients: Correlation with Imaging Findings, RT-PCR and Outcome.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is progressively spreading, and many researchers have focused on the prognostic value of laboratory analyses. This study reviewed routine blood parameters, upper respiratory viral load, and chest imaging in recovered and expired COVID-19 patients and evaluated possible correlations. METHODS: In this retrograde study, 138 COVID-19 cases were enrolled. Chest tomography scores of patients, routine hematologic and biochemical parameters, and respiratory viral loads were measured. Furthermore, their correlation with severity of disease and the outcome was investigated during a week of admission. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 58.6±16; 36.2% of whom were diagnosed as critical, 8.7% expired, and 46% showed less than 50% lung opacity. The expiring rate was only correlated to the severity of illness and viral load. During admission, hemoglobin concentration was decreased in critical patients (from 11.49±0.27 to 10.59±0.36, P=0.042) and also among CT-scan scoring groups (P=0.000), while neutrophils (P=0.04), WBC (P=0.03), and platelets (P=0.000) count were increased. In patients with more than 50% lung opacity, leukocyte counts were decreased, but neutrophil and platelets counts showed raise (all P<0.05), while other hematologic parameters did not change. CRP and LDH demonstrated no increase based on the severity of the illness, RT-PCR viral loads and/or outcome. However, both CRP and LDH were increased in patients with more than 50% lobal opacity (CRP: 69.3±9.9 to 1021.1±7.5 and LDH:589.5±93.2 to 1128.6±15.81, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: We found that hemoglobin, white blood cells, neutrophil, lymphocytes, and platelets count together with chest tomography score might be beneficial for expedition the diagnosis, assessmen the severity of the disease, and outcome in the hospitalized cases, while CRP and LDH might be considered as the consequence of lung involvement.

Automated Quantitative Lung CT Improves Prognostication in Non-ICU COVID-19 Patients beyond Conventional Biomarkers of Disease.

(1) Background: COVID-19 continues to represent a worrying pandemic. Despite the high percentage of non-severe illness, a wide clinical variability is often reported in real-world practice. Accurate predictors of disease aggressiveness, however, are still lacking. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the impact of quantitative analysis of lung computed tomography (CT) on non-intensive care unit (ICU) COVID-19 patients' prognostication; (2) Methods: Our historical prospective study included fifty-five COVID-19 patients consecutively submitted to unenhanced lung CT. Primary outcomes were recorded during hospitalization, including composite ICU admission for the need of mechanical ventilation and/or death occurrence. CT examinations were retrospectively evaluated to automatically calculate differently aerated lung tissues (i.e., overinflated, well-aerated, poorly aerated, and non-aerated tissue). Scores based on the percentage of lung weight and volume were also calculated; (3) Results: Patients who reported disease progression showed lower total lung volume. Inflammatory indices correlated with indices of respiratory failure and high-density areas. Moreover, non-aerated and poorly aerated lung tissue resulted significantly higher in patients with disease progression. Notably, non-aerated lung tissue was independently associated with disease progression (HR: 1.02; p-value: 0.046). When different predictive models including clinical, laboratoristic, and CT findings were analyzed, the best predictive validity was reached by the model that included non-aerated tissue (C-index: 0.97; p-value: 0.0001); (4) Conclusions: Quantitative lung CT offers wide advantages in COVID-19 disease stratification. Non-aerated lung tissue is more likely to occur with severe inflammation status, turning out to be a strong predictor for disease aggressiveness; therefore, it should be included in the predictive model of COVID-19 patients.

Contamination inside CT gantry in the SARS-CoV-2 era.

We investigated whether the internal gantry components of our computed tomography (CT) scanner contain severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ribonucleic acid (RNA), bacterial or fungal agents. From 1 to 27 March 2020, we performed 180 examinations of patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection using a dedicated CT scanner. On 27 March 2020, this CT gantry was opened and sampled in each of the following components: (a) gantry case; (b) inward airflow filter; (c) gantry motor; (d) x-ray tube; (e) outflow fan; (f) fan grid; (g) detectors; and (h) x-ray tube filter. To detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA, samples were analysed using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). To detect bacterial or fungal agents, samples have been collected using "replicate organism detection and counting" contact plates of 24 cm2, containing tryptic soy agar, and subsequently cultured. RT-PCR detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the inward airflow filter sample. RT-PCR of remaining gantry samples did not reveal the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Neither bacterial nor fungal agents grew in the agar-based growth medium after the incubation period. Our data showed that SARS-Cov-2 RNA can be found inside the CT gantry only in the inward airflow filter. All remaining CT gantry components were devoid of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.

Correlation between Chest Computed Tomography Scan Findings and Mortality of COVID-19 Cases; a Cross sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: Predicting the outcomes of COVID-19 cases using different clinical, laboratory, and imaging parameters is one of the most interesting fields of research in this regard. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between chest computed tomography (CT) scan findings and outcomes of COVID-19 cases. METHODS: This cross sectional study was carried out on confirmed COVID-19 cases with clinical manifestations and chest CT scan findings based on Iran's National Guidelines for defining COVID-19. Baseline and chest CT scan characteristics of patients were investigated and their correlation with mortality was analyzed and reported using SPSS 21.0. RESULTS: 380 patients with the mean age of 53.62 ± 16.66 years were evaluated (66.1% male). The most frequent chest CT scan abnormalities were in peripheral (86.6%) and peribronchovascular interstitium (34.6%), with ground glass pattern (54.1%), and round (53.6%) or linear (46.7%) shape. There was a significant correlation between shape of abnormalities (p = 0.003), CT scan Severity Score (CTSS) (p <0.0001), and pulmonary artery CT diameter (p = 0. 01) with mortality. The mean CTSS of non-survived cases was significantly higher (13.68 ± 4.59 versus 8.72 ± 4.42; <0.0001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of CTSS in predicting the patients' mortality was 0.800 (95% CI: 0.716-0.884). The best cut off point of chest CTSS in this regard was 12 with 75.82% (95% CI: 56.07%-88.98%) sensitivity and 75.78% (95% CI: 70.88%-80.10%) specificity. The mean main pulmonary artery diameter in patients with CTSS ≥ 12 was higher than cases with CTSS < 12 (27.89 ± 3.73 vs 26.24 ± 3.14 mm; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the present study it seems that there is a significant correlation between chest CT scan characteristics and mortality of COVID-19 cases. Patients with lower CTSS, lower pulmonary artery CT diameter, and round shape opacity had lower mortality.

An Ounce of Prevention: Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Mass Gatherings.

Widespread, non-stop, and often sensational coverage of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has caught many governments flat-footed in efforts to protect the health and safety of their citizens. In response to the current global health event, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Mass gatherings present a historic challenge in protecting the health and safety of attendees. The majority of the prominent mass gatherings are religious in nature. Global sporting events, such as the Olympics and the World Cup, pose unique health risks to attendees and host nations. Deferment or cancellation of such mass gatherings may exert an extraordinary economic loss to the host nation. Universal adoption of best practices for infection control is the surest way for governments to prepare for mass gatherings. In these uncertain times, it is up to intergovernmental organizations to be the voice of reason.