Connectome-based predictive modeling for functional recovery of acute ischemic stroke.

Patients of acute ischemic stroke possess considerable chance of recovery of various levels in the first several weeks after stroke onset. Prognosis of functional recovery is important for decision-making in poststroke patient care and placement. Poststroke functional recovery has conventionally been based on demographic and clinical variables such as age, gender, and severity of stroke impairment.

Automated Cerebral Infarct Detection on Computed Tomography Images Based on Deep Learning.

The limited accuracy of cerebral infarct detection on CT images caused by the low contrast of CT hinders the desirable application of CT as a first-line diagnostic modality for screening of cerebral infarct. This research was aimed at utilizing convolutional neural network to enhance the accuracy of automated cerebral infarct detection on CT images. The CT images underwent a series of preprocessing steps mainly to enhance the contrast inside the parenchyma, adjust the orientation, spatially normalize the images to the CT template, and create a t-score map for each patient.

Development of carbon-graphene-based aptamer biosensor for EN2 protein detection.

In this study, we developed a screen-printed carbon-graphene-based electrochemical biosensor for EN2 protein detection. The engrailed-2 (EN2) protein, a biomarker for prostate cancer, is known to be a strong binder to a specific DNA sequence (5'-TAATTA-3') to regulate transcription. To take advantage of this intrinsic property, aptamer probes with TAATTA sequence was immobilized onto the screen-printed carbon-graphene electrode surface via EDC-NHS coupling approach.

Left-Right Asymmetry in Spectral Characteristics of Lung Sounds Detected Using a Dual-Channel Auscultation System in Healthy Young Adults.

Though lung sounds auscultation is important for the diagnosis and monitoring of lung diseases, the spectral characteristics of lung sounds have not been fully understood. This study compared the spectral characteristics of lung sounds between the right and left lungs and between healthy male and female subjects using a dual-channel auscultation system. Forty-two subjects aged 18-22 years without smoking habits and any known pulmonary diseases participated in this study.

Reduced enhancement of high-frequency component in the cross spectrum of ECG and nostril airflow signals in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic airway disease with increased airway resistance. This study investigated the common characteristics of electrocardiographic (ECG) and nostril airflow signals in COPD patients using cross-spectral analysis. Heart rate variability (HRV) measures and cross-spectral (cs) measures of ECG and nostril airflow were compared in COPD patients and normal subjects, and correlated with their clinical characteristics.

Screen-printed carbon electrode-based electrochemical immunosensor for rapid detection of microalbuminuria.

A urinary microalbumin test is used to detect early signs of kidney damage in people who have a risk of chronic kidney disease, such as those with diabetes or hypertension. In this study, we developed a screen-printed carbon electrode-based immunosensor for the detection of microalbumin in urine. Anti-human albumin antibodies were immobilized on the screen-printed sensor surface by the covalent immobilization method.

Impedimetric method for measuring ultra-low E. coli concentrations in human urine.

In this study, we developed an interdigitated gold microelectrode-based impedance sensor to detect Escherichia coli (E. coli) in human urine samples for urinary tract infection (UTI) diagnosis. E.

Resonant efficiency improvement design of piezoelectric biosensor for bacteria gravimetric sensing.

The piezoelectric biosensor have been widely used in ultra-small mass detection of biomolecular, based on PZT piezoelectric material can create a variety of compositions geometrically; it could widely develop a high-frequency resonator and measure the change of the slightest mass while improve the limited detection simultaneously. Therefore, the piezoelectric biosensor of this study was fabricated by a spin-coating method and backside etching process for improving the characteristic of piezoelectric biosensor. The result exhibited that the 250 μm × 250 μm working size has the most favorable piezoelectric characteristic.

Automated segmentation and quantification of white matter hyperintensities in acute ischemic stroke patients with cerebral infarction.

White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) of presumed vascular origin are common in ageing population, especially in patients with acute cerebral infarction and the volume has been reported to be associated with mental impairment and the risk of hemorrhage from antithrombotic agents. WMHs delineation can be computerized to minimize human bias. However, the presence of cerebral infarcts greatly degrades the accuracy of WMHs detection and thus limits the application of computerized delineation to patients with acute cerebral infarction.

Evaluation of subcortical grey matter abnormalities in patients with MRI-negative cortical epilepsy determined through structural and tensor magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Although many studies have found abnormalities in subcortical grey matter (GM) in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy or generalised epilepsies, few studies have examined subcortical GM in focal neocortical seizures. Using structural and tensor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we evaluated subcortical GM from patients with extratemporal lobe epilepsy without visible lesion on MRI. Our aims were to determine whether there are structural abnormalities in these patients and to correlate the extent of any observed structural changes with clinical characteristics of disease in these patients.

Through diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the original properties of neural pathways of patients with partial seizures and secondary generalization by individual anatomic reference atlas.

To investigate white matter (WM) abnormalities in neocortical epilepsy, we extract supratentorial WM parameters from raw tensor magnetic resonance images (MRI) with automated region-of-interest (ROI) registrations. Sixteen patients having neocortical seizures with secondarily generalised convulsions and 16 age-matched normal subjects were imaged with high-resolution and diffusion tensor MRIs. Automated demarcation of supratentorial fibers was accomplished with personalized fiber-labeled atlases.

Automatic detection and quantification of acute cerebral infarct by fuzzy clustering and histographic characterization on diffusion weighted MR imaging and apparent diffusion coefficient map.

Determination of the volumes of acute cerebral infarct in the magnetic resonance imaging harbors prognostic values. However, semiautomatic method of segmentation is time-consuming and with high interrater variability. Using diffusion weighted imaging and apparent diffusion coefficient map from patients with acute infarction in 10 days, we aimed to develop a fully automatic algorithm to measure infarct volume.

Concept for E.coli detection using interdigitated microelectrode impedance sensor.

This paper presents the concept to detect Escherichia coli O157:H7 based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy at interdigitated microelectrode. Interdigitated microelectrode structures was designed and fabricated, with glass as substrate material and gold electrodes. The performance of the sensors was studied by measuring the capacitance in air and impedance spectra in DI water.

Design and control of a ferromagnetic coded micro-carrier biochip sensor for multiplex detection of antibodies.

This paper describes a method for producing a novel type of ferromagnetic coded micro-carrier. The ferromagnetic coded micro-carriers are about 200 μm in length, 200 μm in width and 50 μm in thickness, and contain eight code elements with two distinguishable codes (hollow and solid), allowing for 2(8) unique codes. The code shapes include rectangle, circle, etc.

In vitro measurement of myocardial impedivity anisotropy with a miniature rectangular tube.

Due to rapid change of fiber orientation, it is difficult to measure myocardial impedivity separately in a longitudinal or transverse fiber direction without mutual influence in the two directions. Previously published values of the longitudinal and the transverse myocardial impedivity were derived indirectly from measurements that mixed the impedivity in all directions. Those values are questionable because the derivations were based on a simplified uniform myocardial fiber model.

Noncontact radio-frequency ablation for obtaining deeper lesions.

Radio-frequency (RF) cardiac catheter ablation has been very successful for treating some cardiac arrhythmias, however, the success rate for ventricular tachycardias is still not satisfactory. Some existing methods for developing deeper lesions include active cooling of the electrode and modifying the electrode shape. We propose a method of noncontact ablation, to solve this problem.

Mechanical compliance of the endocardium.

Radio-frequency (RF) ablation is an accepted treatment for cardiac arrhythmias related to abnormal focal cardiac substrate. The penetration depth of the electrode into the endocardium affects lesion size, a critical determinant of success of RF ablation. We measured the relation between the mechanical compliance and the penetration depth of RF ablation catheter electrode at frequently ablated areas of the endocardium and examined the influence of time after death on mechanical properties of the tissue.

FEM analysis of predicting electrode-myocardium contact from RF cardiac catheter ablation system impedance.

We used the finite-element method (FEM) to model and analyze the resistance between the catheter tip electrode and the dispersive electrode during radio-frequency cardiac catheter ablation for the prediction of myocardium-electrode contact. We included deformation of the myocardial surface to achieve accurate modeling. For perpendicular catheter contact, we measured the side view of myocardial deformation using X-ray projection imaging.

Error analysis of tissue resistivity measurement.

We identified the error sources in a system for measuring tissue resistivity at eight frequencies from 1 Hz to 1 MHz using the four-terminal method. We expressed the measured resistivity with an analytical formula containing all error terms. We conducted practical error measurements with in-vivo and bench-top experiments.

In-vivo measurement of swine myocardial resistivity.

We used a four-terminal plunge probe to measure myocardial resistivity in two directions at three sites from the epicardial surface of eight open-chest pigs in-vivo at eight frequencies ranging from 1 Hz to 1 MHz. We calibrated the plunge probe to minimize the error due to stray capacitance between the measured subject and ground. We calibrated the probe in saline solutions contained in a metal cup situated near the heart that had an electrical connection to the pig's heart.

Using electrical impedance to predict catheter-endocardial contact during RF cardiac ablation.

During radio-frequency (RF) cardiac catheter ablation, there is little information to estimate the contact between the catheter tip electrode and endocardium because only the metal electrode shows up under fluoroscopy. We present a method that utilizes the electrical impedance between the catheter electrode and the dispersive electrode to predict the catheter tip electrode insertion depth into the endocardium. Since the resistivity of blood differs from the resistivity of the endocardium, the impedance increases as the catheter tip lodges deeper in the endocardium.

Modeling bipolar phase-shifted multielectrode catheter ablation.

Atrial fibrillation (AFIB) is a common clinical problem affecting approximately 0.5-1% of the United States population. Radio-frequency (RF) multielectrode catheter (MEC) ablation has successes in curing AFIB.