Influence of guide wire removal on tip location in peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs): a retrospective cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) malposition and the influence of guide wire removal on tip location in PICCs and determine whether related factors, including age, sex, side of insertion and brand of catheter, influence the PICC tip location.

Setting: Single-centre research institute in China recruiting patients from the hospital.

Participants: A total of 837 adult patients with inserted PICCs were recruited from October 2016 to May 2017.

Assessing the Blood Supply Status of the Focal Ground-Glass Opacity in Lungs Using Spectral Computed Tomography.

Objective: To exploit material decomposition analysis in dual-energy spectral computed tomography (CT) to assess the blood supply status of the ground-glass opacity (GGO) in lungs.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included 48 patients with lung adenocarcinoma, who underwent a contrast-enhanced dual-energy spectral CT scan before treatment (53 GGOs in total). The iodine concentration (IC) and water content (WC) of the GGO, the contralateral and ipsilateral normal lung tissues were measured in the arterial phase (AP) and their differences were analyzed.

[Preliminary study of improved quality of computed tomographic angiography on tumor blood supply arteries of gastrointestinal tract malignant tumors with low tube voltage and low concentration contrast medium].

Objective: To assess the image quality of gastrointestinal tract malignant tumors arteries using low tube voltage, low contrast medium concentration and 50% adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR) algorithm.

Methods: A total of 58 patients with pathologically confirmed gastrointestinal tract malignant tumors and body mass index (BMI) under 22 kg/m² undergoing computed tomography (CT) scanning during March-December 2013. They were randomly divided into group A (270 mgI/ml of contrast medium, 80 kVp tube voltage scanning and 50% ASiR; 21 males and 11 females with an age range of 40-90 years) and group B (350 mgI/ml of contrast medium, 120 kVp routine tube voltage; 22 males and 4 females with an age range of 40-76 years).

An artificial ant colonies approach to medical image segmentation.

The success of image analysis depends heavily upon accurate image segmentation algorithms. This paper presents a novel segmentation algorithm based on artificial ant colonies (AC). Recent studies show that the self-organization of ants is similar to neurons in the human brain in many respects.

[The application of partial 3D reconstruction for the maxillofacial tumor resection with one-stage reconstruction].

Objective: To introduce a novel digital surgery technique based on partial reconstruction of skull and its application in tumor resection and on-sport reconstruction surgery.

Methods: The partial 3d reconstruction according to CT scanning data was obtained to get 3d model of both tumor and normal skull, then to define the resection area on tumor data through people-computer interaction process, do reconstruction the simulation on the remained model, pre-fabricate the cutting template and custom the implant. The resection template to confirm the message in surgery simulation can be transferred to real surgery accurately.