Label-free monitoring of spatiotemporal changes in the stem cell cytoskeletons in time-lapse phase-contrast microscopy.

Investigation of the dynamic structural changes in the actin cytoskeleton during cell migration provides crucial information about the physiological conditions of a stem cell during in-vitro culture. Here we proposed a quantitative analytical model associated with texture extraction with cell tracking techniques for in situ monitoring of the cytoskeletal density change of stem cells in phase-contrast microscopy without fluorescence staining. The reliability of the model in quantifying the texture density with different orientation was first validated using a series of simulated textural images.

Quantitative Bioimage Analysis of Passaging Effect on the Migratory Behavior of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells During Spheroid Formation.

The quality of stem cells obtained through serial subcultivation is the pivotal factor determining the therapeutic effectiveness of regenerative medicine. However, an effective quality monitoring system for cell culture is yet to be established. Detailed parameter studies of the migratory behavior of stem cells at different passages may provide insight into the deterioration of stemness.

Characterizing the SEMG patterns with myofascial pain using a multi-scale wavelet model through machine learning approaches.

In this paper, we introduce a newly developed multi-scale wavelet model for the interpretation of surface electromyography (SEMG) signals and validate the model's capability to characterize changes in neuromuscular activation in cases with myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) via machine learning methods. The SEMG data collected from normal (N = 30; 27 women, 3 men) and MPS subjects (N = 26; 22 women, 4 men) were adopted for this retrospective analysis. SMEGs were measured from the taut-band loci on both sides of the trapezius muscle on the upper back while he/she conducted a cyclic bilateral backward shoulder extension movement within 1 min.

Segmentation and tracking of stem cells in time lapse microscopy to quantify dynamic behavioral changes during spheroid formation.

Dynamic behavior of stem cells during in vitro development is diverse. Previous cell tracking studies have focused more on cell proliferation than on cell aggregation. However, the enhancement of cell proliferation in association with cell aggregation has been reported.

Cortical metabolic and nigrostriatal abnormalities associated with clinical stage-specific dementia with Lewy bodies.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to investigate the hypometabolic regions of FDG PET compared with the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway abnormalities in TRODAT-1 scan in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLBs) at mild and dementia stages as well as to validate the correlation among networks being constructed with clinical data.

Materials And Methods: A total of 25 DLB patients were classified into 2 functional groups stratified by the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Scale (CDR 0.5: n = 14, mild stage; CDR 1 or 2: n = 11, dementia stage) compared with 9 age-matched controls.

Long-Term Regeneration and Functional Recovery of a 15 mm Critical Nerve Gap Bridged by Tremella fuciformis Polysaccharide-Immobilized Polylactide Conduits.

Novel peripheral nerve conduits containing the negatively charged Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide (TF) were prepared, and their efficacy in bridging a critical nerve gap was evaluated. The conduits were made of poly(D,L-lactide) (PLA) with asymmetric microporous structure. TF was immobilized on the lumen surface of the nerve conduits after open air plasma activation.

Segmentation of the striatum from MR brain images to calculate the 99mTc-TRODAT-1 binding ratio in SPECT images.

Quantification of regional (99m)Tc-TRODAT-1 binding ratio in the striatum regions in SPECT images is essential for differential diagnosis between Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Defining the region of the striatum in the SPECT image is the first step toward success in the quantification of the TRODAT-1 binding ratio. However, because SPECT images reveal insufficient information regarding the anatomical structure of the brain, correct delineation of the striatum directly from the SPECT image is almost impossible.

Multi-scale surface electromyography modeling to identify changes in neuromuscular activation with myofascial pain.

To solve the limitations in using the conventional parametric measures to define myofascial pain, a 3-D multi-scale wavelet energy variation graph is proposed as a way to inspect the pattern of surface electromyography (SEMG) variation between the dominant and nondominant sides at different frequency scales during a muscle contraction cycle and the associated changes with the upper-back myofascial pain. The model was developed based on the property of the wavelet energy of the SEMG signal revealing the degree of correspondence between the shape of the motor unit action potential and the wavelet waveform at a certain scale in terms of the frequency band. The characteristic pattern of the graph for each group (30 normal and 26 patient subjects) was first derived and revealed the dominant-hand effect and the changes with myofascial pain.

Comparative study of protoporphyrin IX fluorescence image enhancement methods to improve an optical imaging system for oral cancer detection.

Optoelectronics techniques to induce protoporphyrin IX fluorescence with topically applied 5-aminolevulinic acid on the oral mucosa have been developed to noninvasively detect oral cancer. Fluorescence imaging enables wide-area screening for oral premalignancy, but the lack of an adequate fluorescence enhancement method restricts the clinical imaging application of these techniques. This study aimed to develop a reliable fluorescence enhancement method to improve PpIX fluorescence imaging systems for oral cancer detection.

Peripheral nerve regeneration using a microporous polylactic acid asymmetric conduit in a rabbit long-gap sciatic nerve transection model.

The performance of an asymmetric conduit made of microporous polylactic acid (PLA) in promoting the long-term peripheral nerve regeneration across a 20-mm-long sciatic nerve gap was evaluated by a rabbit sciatic nerve transection model. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was employed to monitor the nerve regeneration process. The extents of nerve regeneration and conduit degradation were quantified by image analysis.

Development and verification of a VR platform to evaluate wayfinding abilities.

This study proposes a VR-based tool, named "Virtual City," to evaluate wayfinding abilities that are reported to decline with some cognition dysfunctions, such as dementia. This platform was designed according to cognition theories and took advantage of convenience of real-time recording by using VR techniques to make the evaluations less subjective and more accurate. Our previous study has shown the feasibility of using VR techniques to evaluate the sense of direction; we further use this newly developed tool to assess the effect of "screen type" and "reference landmark" on wayfinding performances.

Virtual hospital--a computer-aided platform to evaluate the sense of direction.

This paper presents a computer-aided platform, named Virtual Hospital (VH), to evaluate the wayfinding ability that is found impaired in senile people with early dementia. The development of the VH takes the advantage of virtual reality technology to make the evaluation of the sense of direction more convenient and accurate then the conventional way. A pilot study was carried out to test its feasibility in differentiating the sense of direction between different genders.

A comparative study of wavelet denoising of surface electromyographic signals.

This study intends to explore the wavelet denoising for optimal MUAP detection through the wavelet analysis of surface electromyographic (SEMG) signals. We first derive an estimator for signal to noise ratio and show that this estimator correlates to the quality of the reconstructed simulated signal. When applying this estimator to evaluate the SEMG signal, we find that the reconstructed signal is insensitive to the selection of denoising methods.

Interactive image registration tool for positioning verification in head and neck radiotherapy.

This paper presents the development of a computer-aided image management tool, named CAIMT, used for patient setup error measurement in radiation treatment planning. The CAIMT incorporates user interaction to facilitate contour detection from both portal film and simulation film. The detected contours were then used as features for image registration through application of the generalized Hough transform (GHT).