Lossless and near-lossless digital angiography coding using a two-stage motion compensation approach.

This paper presents a two-stage motion compensation coding scheme for image sequences in hemodynamics. The first stage of the proposed method implements motion compensation, and the second stage corrects local pixel intensity distortions with a context adaptive linear predictor. The proposed method is robust to the local intensity distortions and the noise that often degrades these image sequences, providing lossless and near-lossless quality. Our experiments with lossless compression of 12bits/pixel studies indicate that, potentially, our approach can perform 3.8%, 2% and 1.6% better than JPEG-2000, JPEG-LS and the method proposed by Scharcanski [1], respectively. The performance tends to improve for near-lossless compression. Therefore, this work presents experimental evidence that for coding image sequences in hemodynamics, an adequate motion compensation scheme can be more efficient than the still-image coding methods often used nowadays.

Context adaptive lossless and near-lossless coding for digital angiographies.

This paper presents a context adaptive coding method for image sequences in hemodynamics. The proposed method implements motion compensation through of a two-stage context adaptive linear predictor. It is robust to the local intensity changes and the noise that often degrades these image sequences, and provides lossless and near-lossless quality. Our preliminary experiments with lossless compression of 12 bits/pixel studies indicate that, potentially, our approach can perform 3.8%, 2% and 1.6% better than JPEG-2000, JPEG-LS and the method proposed in [1], respectively. The performance tends to improve for near-lossless compression.

Histologic analysis of zafirlukast's effect on capsule formation around silicone implants.

BACKGROUND: The most common complication experienced by patients who have undergone mammary implant surgery is capsular contracture. This matter concerns physicians and patients, but to date, there is no effective way to avoid this complication. Surgical intervention usually is required. In 2002, the use of zafirlukast, a leukotriene inhibitor (a drug used for asthma treatment), was reported for the treatment of capsular contracture, with good results. METHODS: For this study, 30 female Wistar rats were used. These animals received two silicone implants each: one with a smooth surface and one with a textured surface. All the animals received daily intraperitoneal injections for 90 days and were divided as follows: control group (C) receiving only saline solution, experimental group 1 (E-I) receiving 1.25 mg/kg/day of zafirlukast, and experimental group 2 (E-II) receiving 5 mg/kg/day of zafirlukast. Histologic analysis used hematoxilin and eosin to verify vessels, capsule thickness, and inflammatory cells. Immunoistochemical analysis with smooth muscle anti-actin antibody was used for myofibroblast verification. Picro-Sirius under polarized light was used for collagen analysis. RESULTS: Textured implant experimental groups presented smaller numbers of vessels, thinner capsules, lower collagen density, and smaller numbers of mastocytes and eosinophils than the control group. No significant differences were found in smooth surface implants, as compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: Zafirlukast reduced the occurrence of factors directly and indirectly connected with capsular contracture.

Facial nerve in rhytidoplasty: anatomic study of its trajectory in the overlying skin and the most common sites of injury.

The anatomic study of the facial nerve is closely related to the prevention of nerve injury that may occur in facial surgeries. The purpose of this study is to analyze the most susceptible areas in the face regarding the probability of facial nerve injury, based on the demarcation of its trajectory in the overlying skin. Three hundred cadaveric hemifaces were dissected (172 male, 128 female) and the facial nerve trajectory was followed from the stylomastoids foramen to the mimic muscles. The trajectory of the facial branches was delimited in the overlying skin by six diverging lines, with the following reference points: the upper and lower portions of the tragus, the most cranial wrinkle of the frontal region, the lower facial wrinkle of the frontal muscle, the nasal midpoint, an imaginary point 1 cm caudal to the oral commisura, another imaginary point also caudal to the oral commisura at the lower margin of mandible, and the clavicle midpoint. The temporal branches have the highest probability of being injured, followed by the mandibular marginal and buccal branches. The areas with greater risk of injury are the temporofrontal region (between the hairline and the lateral limit of the frontal muscle), the area near the angle of the mandible, and the preparotid region.