Dynamic multi feature-class Gaussian process models.

In model-based medical image analysis, three relevant features are the shape of structures of interest, their relative pose, and image intensity profiles representative of some physical properties. Often, these features are modelled separately through statistical models by decomposing the object's features into a set of basis functions through principal geodesic analysis or principal component analysis. However, analysing articulated objects in an image using independent single object models may lead to large uncertainties and impingement, especially around organ boundaries.

A user-centred design framework for mHealth.

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) has the potential to improve access to healthcare, especially in developing countries. The proliferation of mHealth has not been accompanied by a corresponding growth in design guidelines for mHealth applications. This paper proposes a framework for mHealth application design that combines the Information Systems Research (ISR) framework and design thinking.

Engaging Communities on Health Innovation: Experiences in Implementing Design Thinking.

Design thinking is an approach gaining momentum as a strategy for promoting empathy-driven, human-centered innovation. To evaluate the implementation of design thinking for engaging with communities about health and well-being, we undertook a qualitative analysis of an engagement between students and relevant community stakeholders during a project to develop a health intervention aimed at increasing medication compliance in an elderly community in South Africa. Major findings from this research indicated that design thinking offers opportunities for enriching community-university engagements.

Statistical shape-kinematics models of the skeletal joints: Application to the shoulder complex.

Patient-specific biomechanical simulations of joints require accurate reconstruction of bony anatomy from medical image data. The articular geometries of the joints may influence their biomechanics. Statistical shape models (SSMs) have become ubiquitous in the literature and aim to capture the natural variation of biological objects.

Review of 2-D/3-D Reconstruction Using Statistical Shape and Intensity Models and X-Ray Image Synthesis: Toward a Unified Framework.

Patient-specific three-dimensional (3-D) bone models are useful for a number of clinical applications such as surgery planning, postoperative evaluation, as well as implant and prosthesis design. Two-dimensional-to-3-D (2-D/3-D) reconstruction, also known as model-to-modality or atlas-based 2-D/3-D registration, provides a means of obtaining a 3-D model of a patient's bones from their 2-D radiographs when 3-D imaging modalities are not available. The preferred approach for estimating both shape and density information (that would be present in a patient's computed tomography data) for 2-D/3-D reconstruction makes use of digitally reconstructed radiographs and deformable models in an iterative, non-rigid, intensity-based approach.

Nanomedicine for drug delivery in South Africa: a protocol for systematic review.

Background: The emergence of nanomedicine in the past decade has changed the landscape of disease diagnosis and treatment. Nanomedicine makes use of nanostructures for applications in different fields of medicine, including drug delivery, biosensors, neuro-electronic interfaces, in vivo imaging, and cell-specific molecular interactions. Despite its relative infancy, nanomedicine has generated a significant body of research as evidenced by peer reviewed literature and several patents.

A modified stakeholder participation assessment framework for design thinking in health innovation.

Increasing pressure to improve health outcomes of populations with limited resources has prompted an emphasis on innovation. Design thinking has been proposed as a systematic approach to innovation in health, owing to its human-centred methodology that prioritises deep empathy for the end-users' desires, needs and challenges, which results in a better understanding of the problem in order to develop more comprehensive and effective solutions. A key feature of design thinking is stakeholder participation.

Mobile phone-based evaluation of latent tuberculosis infection: Proof of concept for an integrated image capture and analysis system.

Background: The tuberculin skin test is the most widely used method for detecting latent tuberculosis infection in adults and active tuberculosis in children. We present the development of a mobile-phone based screening tool for measuring the tuberculin skin test induration.

Method: The tool makes use of a mobile application developed on the Android platform to capture images of an induration, and photogrammetric reconstruction using Agisoft PhotoScan to reconstruct the induration in 3D, followed by 3D measurement of the induration with the aid of functions from the Python programming language.

Open source modular ptosis crutch for the treatment of myasthenia gravis.

Introduction: Pharmacologic treatment of Myasthenia Gravis presents challenges due to poor tolerability in some patients. Conventional ptosis crutches have limitations such as interference with blinking which causes ocular surface drying, and frequent irritation of the eyes. To address this problem, a modular and adjustable ptosis crutch for elevating the upper eyelid in Myasthenia Gravis patients has been proposed as a non-surgical and low-cost solution.

The Impact of mHealth Interventions on Breast Cancer Awareness and Screening: Systematic Review Protocol.

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) is the use of mobile communication technologies to promote health by supporting health care practices (eg, health data collection, delivery of health care information). mHealth technologies (such as mobile phones) can be used effectively by health care practitioners in the distribution of health information and have the potential to improve access to and quality of health care, as well as reduce the cost of health services. Current literature shows limited scientific evidence related to the benefits of mHealth interventions for breast cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide and contributes a large proportion of all cancer deaths, especially in developing countries.

Towards understanding the drivers of policy change: a case study of infection control policies for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in South Africa.

Background: Explaining policy change is one of the central tasks of contemporary policy analysis. In this article, we examine the changes in infection control policies for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in South Africa from the time the country made the transition to democracy in 1994, until 2015. We focus on MDR-TB infection control and refer to decentralised management as a form of infection control.

Detecting Breast Cancer with a Dual-Modality Device.

Although mammography has been the gold standard for the early detection of breast cancer, if a woman has dense breast tissue, a false negative diagnosis may occur. Breast ultrasound, whether hand-held or automated, is a useful adjunct to mammography but adds extra time and cost. The primary aim was to demonstrate that our second-generation Aceso system, which combines full-field digital mammography (FFDM) and automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) in a single platform, is able to produce improved quality images that provide clinically meaningful results.

The sociology of space as a catalyst for innovation in the health sector.

This paper reviews the role of space in facilitating innovation. It draws on the sociology of space in exploring the social practices, institutional forces and material complexity of how people and spaces interact. We assess how space influences the development of innovative solutions to challenges in the health sector.

The impact of mHealth interventions on health systems: a systematic review protocol.

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) has been described as a health enabling tool that impacts positively on the health system in terms of improved access, quality and cost of health care. The proposed systematic review will examine the impact of mHealth on health systems by assessing access, quality and cost of health care as indicators.

Methods: The systematic review will include literature from various sources including published and unpublished/grey literature.

Minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve implantation for the treatment of rheumatic heart disease in developing countries.

The treatment of rheumatic heart disease presents a medical and surgical challenge, particularly in developing countries, where the disease is prevalent. Most of these countries find it prohibitively expensive to import heart valve prostheses that are required for treatment and are largely manufactured in the United States and Europe. Even if the valves were available, the absence of facilities to conduct open-heart surgery for valve replacement results in many people from developing countries dying needlessly of the disease.

Testing a dual-modality system that combines full-field digital mammography and automated breast ultrasound.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to test a novel dual-modality imaging system that combines full-field digital mammography (FFDM) and automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) in a single platform. Our Aceso system, named after the Greek goddess of healing, was specifically designed for the early detection of cancer in women with dense breast tissue.

Materials And Methods: Aceso was first tested using two industry standards: a Contrast Detail Mammography (CDMAM) phantom as endorsed by European Reference Organisation for Quality Assured Breast Screening and Diagnostic Services was used to assess the FFDM images; and the CIRS 040GSE ultrasound phantom was imaged to evaluate the quality of the ABUS images.

Monte-Carlo simulation of a slot-scanning digital mammography system for tomosynthesis.

Background: Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) reconstructs planar slices of the breast based on two-dimensional angular projections. Early studies and clinical trials show that DBT is an improvement over full field digital mammography (FFDM) because it provides the radiologist with better image quality and more information.

Objective: This paper presents a simulation system to model the performance of a slot-scanning FFDM and DBT system.

Focus areas of cardiovascular medical device research in South Africa.

We investigated the focus of cardiovascular medical device research in South Africa over the 15-year period 2000 - 2014. Information drawn from journal articles was used for the analysis, with attention to articles describing a contribution to the development of a cardiovascular medical device, or a new application of an existing device. The findings suggest that research has focused on diagnostic and monitoring as well as prosthetic cardiovascular medical devices, with specific emphasis on vascular and valvular heart diseases.

Femoral neck anteversion measurement using linear slot scanning radiography.

Measurements between anatomical landmarks on radiographs are useful for diagnosis and treatment planning in the orthopedic field. Direct measurement on single radiographic images, however, does not truly reflect spatial relationships, as depth information is lost. We used stereo images from a slot scanning X-ray machine to estimate coordinates of three-dimensional (3D) bony landmarks for femoral neck anteversion (FNA) measurement.

Monte-Carlo simulation of a slot-scanning X-ray imaging system.

We present a method for simulating slot-scanning X-ray imaging using the general-purpose Monte Carlo simulation package PENELOPE and penEasy Imaging. Different phantoms can be defined with the PENGEOM package, which defines bodies as combinations of volumes limited by quadric surfaces. The source-detector geometry, the position of the object, the collimator, the X-ray tube properties, the detector material and the pixel dimensions are defined.

Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry for Measurement of Phalangeal Bone Mineral Density on a Slot-Scanning Digital Radiography System.

Objective: In this paper, we assess the feasibility of using two detectors in a slot-scanning digital radiography system to acquire images for measuring bone mineral density (BMD) of the middle phalanx of the middle finger using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Methods: Simulations were used to evaluate the spectral separation of the low- and high-energy spectra and detective quantum efficiency was used for assessing image quality. Scan parameters were chosen to optimize spectral separation, image quality, and radiation dose.

Additive manufacturing: From implants to organs.

Additive manufacturing (AM) constructs 3D objects layer by layer under computer control from 3D models. 3D printing is one example of this kind of technology. AM offers geometric flexibility in its products and therefore allows customisation to suit individual needs.

Computer assisted detection of abnormal airway variation in CT scans related to paediatric tuberculosis.

Airway deformation and stenosis can be key signs of pathology such as lymphadenopathy. This study presents a local airway point distribution model (LA-PDM) to automatically analyse regions of the airway tree in CT scans and identify abnormal airway deformation. In our method, the airway tree is segmented and the centreline identified from each chest CT scan.