Von Békésy and cochlear mechanics.

Georg Békésy laid the foundation for cochlear mechanics, foremost by demonstrating the traveling wave that is the substrate for mammalian cochlear mechanical processing. He made mechanical measurements and physical models in order to understand that fundamental cochlear response. In this tribute to Békésy we make a bridge between modern traveling wave observations and those of Békésy, discuss the mechanical properties and measurements that he considered to be so important, and touch on the range of computational traveling wave models.

Decreased BOLD responses in audiovisual processing.

Audiovisual processing was studied in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study using the McGurk effect. Perceptual responses and the brain activity patterns were measured as a function of audiovisual delay. In several cortical and subcortical brain areas, BOLD responses correlated negatively with the perception of the McGurk effect.

Shaping and timing gradient pulses to reduce MRI acoustic noise.

A method to reduce the acoustic noise generated by gradient systems in MRI has been recently proposed; such a method is based on the linear response theory. Since the physical cause of MRI acoustic noise is the time derivative of the gradient current, a common trapezoid current shape produces an acoustic gradient coil response mainly during the rising and falling edge. In the falling edge, the coil acoustic response presents a 180 degrees phase difference compared to the rising edge.

Acoustic FMRI noise: linear time-invariant system model.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) enables sites of brain activation to be localized in human subjects. For auditory system studies, however, the acoustic noise generated by the scanner tends to interfere with the assessments of this activation. Understanding and modeling fMRI acoustic noise is a useful step to its reduction.

Design and implementation of gradient vector flow snake to detect a reference object in pelvic x-rays for preoperative total hip arthroplasty planning application.

The main interest of this research project is to promote automation in performing preoperative planning for hip joint replacement surgery using a special medical image viewing software, ViewPro. Preoperative planning is performed to carefully prepare the surgery and to accurately select the hip implants. The first step of preoperative planning is to calibrate the x-ray image to adjust the magnification factor.