Surgical management of a mobile floating carotid plaque.

A mobile floating carotid plaque (MFCP) is an infrequent pathological lesion with an unknown natural history caused by thinning and rupture of the fibrous cap of the atheromatous plaque; it may result in repeated ischaemic strokes. Duplex carotid ultrasound is a non-invasive technique useful in defining the plaque morphology with high sensitivity and specificity. Due to the lack of evidence, treatment remains controversial.

Application of the iris filter for automatic detection of pulmonary nodules on computed tomography images.

We have developed a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system to detect pulmonary nodules on thin-slice helical computed tomography (CT) images. We have also investigated the capability of an iris filter to discriminate between nodules and false-positive findings. Suspicious regions were characterized with features based on the iris filter output, gray level and morphological features, extracted from the CT images.

Computerized detection of breast masses in digitized mammograms.

We propose a system to detect malignant masses on mammograms. We investigated the behavior of an iris filter at different scales. After iris filter was applied, suspicious regions were segmented by means of an adaptive threshold.

Effects of JPEG2000 data compression on an automated system for detecting clustered microcalcifications in digital mammograms.

The functionalities of the JPEG2000 standard have led to its incorporation into digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM), which makes this compression method available for medical systems. In this study, we evaluated the compression of mammographic images with JPEG2000 (16 : 1, 20 : 1, 40 : 1, 60.4 : 1, 80: 1, and 106 : 1) for applications with a computer-aided detection (CAD) system for clusters of microcalcifications.

Free-response receiver operating characteristic evaluation of lossy JPEG2000 and object-based set partitioning in hierarchical trees compression of digitized mammograms.

Purpose: To assess the effects of two irreversible wavelet-based compression algorithms--Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) 2000 and object-based set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT)--on the detection of clusters of microcalcifications and masses on digitized mammograms.

Materials And Methods: The use of the images in this retrospective image-collection study was approved by the institutional review board, and patient informed consent was not required. One hundred twelve mammographic images (28 with one or two clusters of microcalcifications, 19 with one mass, 17 with both abnormal findings, and 48 with normal findings) obtained in 60 women who ranged in age from 25 to 79 years were digitized and compressed at 40:1 and 80:1 by using the JPEG2000 and object-based SPIHT methods.

A compression and transmission scheme of computer tomography images for telemedicine based on JPEG2000.

A newly developed lossy compression and transmission scheme valid for telemedicine is described. The system uses computed tomography (CT) images and is based on JPEG2000. Different compression rates were applied to different regions within the image.

Computer aided diagnosis for breast masses detection on a telemammography system.

A Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) scheme for breast masses detection has been developed and integrated as a part of a telemammography system. This work derives from the close cooperation between the Laboratory for Radiologic Image Research of the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and the company Intelsis Sistemas Inteligentes (Santiago de Compostela, Spain). This cooperation has been supported by funds from different projects, mainly from the European Union, the Spanish Health Administration, and the Galician Public Health's Service.

Region-based wavelet coding methods for digital mammography.

Spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity requirements for some types of medical image techniques, including mammography, delay the implementation of new digital technologies, namely, computer-aided diagnosis, picture archiving and communications systems, or teleradiology. In order to reduce transmission time and storage cost, an efficient data-compression scheme to reduce digital data without significant degradation of medical image quality is needed. In this study, we have applied two region-based compression methods to digital mammograms.

A high resolution workstation prototype for diagnosis of digital mammograms.

The development of a total digital high resolution mammography display system must meet a number of requirements that remain a challenge nowadays, most probably because of the special nature of breast imaging. In this paper, we discuss our particular approach to address some problems concerning the complexity of soft-copy diagnosis in digital mammography, such as image quality and user interface evaluation. Based on the experience obtained in the previous implementation of a medical image browser, a more ambitious project is being developed at the Department of Radiology of the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) in collaboration with the Department of Medical Informatics of INTELSIS, an emerging software company in our country.