Improved Centerline Extraction in Fully Automated Coronary Ostium Localization and Centerline Extraction Framework using Deep Learning.

Coronary artery extraction in cardiac CT angiography (CCTA) image volume is a necessary step for any quantitative assessment of stenoses and atherosclerotic plaque. In this work, we propose a fully automated workflow that depends on convolutional networks to extract the centerlines of the coronary arteries from CCTA image volumes, starting from identifying the ostium points and then tracking the vessel till its end based on its radius and direction. First, a regression U-Net is employed to identify the ostium points in the image volume, then these points are fed to an orientation and radius predictor CNN model to track and extract each artery till its end point.

Early experimental results of using a novel delivery carrier, hyaluronan-phosphatidylethanolamine (HA-PE), which may allow simple bladder instillation of botulinum toxin A as effectively as direct detrusor muscle injection.

Introduction: Botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) is a neurotoxin that inhibits acetylcholine release by cleaving cytosolic synaptosome-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) and results in bladder relaxation. A BTX-A intravesical injection has been established as an effective option for treating detrusor overactivity.

Study Design: Sixty female Sprague Dawley rats were equally divided into control and experimental groups.