De-Identification Technique with Facial Deformation in Head CT Images.

Head CT, which includes the facial region, can visualize faces using 3D reconstruction, raising concern that individuals may be identified. We developed a new de-identification technique that distorts the faces of head CT images. Head CT images that were distorted were labeled as "original images" and the others as "reference images.

Reproducibility of Facial Information in Three-Dimensional Reconstructed Head Images: An Exploratory Study.

Background: Facial information acquired via three-dimensional reconstruction of head computed tomography (CT) data may be considered personal information, which can be problematic for neuroimaging studies. However, no study has verified the relationship between slice thickness and face reproducibility. This study determined the relationship and match rate between image slice thickness and face detection accuracy of face-recognition software in facial reconstructed models.

Invention of an Online Interactive Virtual Neurosurgery Simulator With Audiovisual Capture for Tactile Feedback.

Background: Present neurosurgical simulators are not portable.

Objective: To maximize portability of a virtual surgical simulator by providing online learning and to validate a unique psychometric method ("audiovisual capture") to provide tactile information without force feedback probes.

Methods: An online interactive neurosurgical simulator of a posterior petrosectomy was developed.

Threshold field painting saves the time for segmentation of minute arteries.

Purpose: It is often time-consuming to segment fine structures, such as the cerebral arteries from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Moreover, extracting anatomically abnormal structures is generally difficult. The segmentation workflow called threshold field painting was tested for its feasibility in morbid minute artery segmentation with special emphasis on time efficiency.

Augmented reality self-training system for suturing in open surgery: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Existing self-training materials are insufficient to learn open surgical procedures, and a new self-training system that provides three-dimensional procedural information is needed. The effectiveness and usability of a self-training system providing three-dimensional information by augmented reality (AR) were compared to those of an existing self-training system, instructional video, in self-learning of suturing in open surgery.

Materials And Methods: This was a prospective, evaluator-blinded, randomized, controlled study.

Effect of a Virtual Reality Contact-Based Educational Intervention on the Public Stigma of Depression: Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.

Background: Public stigma against depression contributes to low employment rates among individuals with depression. Contact-based educational (CBE) interventions have been shown to reduce this public stigma.

Objective: We investigated the ability of our Virtual Reality Antistigma (VRAS) app developed for CBE interventions to reduce the stigma of depression.

Development of a New Image-Guided Neuronavigation System: Mixed-Reality Projection Mapping Is Accurate and Feasible.

Background: Image-guided systems improve the safety, functional outcome, and overall survival of neurosurgery but require extensive equipment.

Objective: To develop an image-guided surgery system that combines the brain surface photographic texture (BSP-T) captured during surgery with 3-dimensional computer graphics (3DCG) using projection mapping.

Methods: Patients who underwent initial surgery with brain tumors were prospectively enrolled.

A Novel Suture Training System for Open Surgery Replicating Procedures Performed by Experts Using Augmented Reality.

The surgical education environment has been changing significantly due to restricted work hours, limited resources, and increasing public concern for safety and quality, leading to the evolution of simulation-based training in surgery. Of the various simulators, low-fidelity simulators are widely used to practice surgical skills such as sutures because they are portable, inexpensive, and easy to use without requiring complicated settings. However, since low-fidelity simulators do not offer any teaching information, trainees do self-practice with them, referring to textbooks or videos, which are insufficient to learn open surgical procedures.

A comparison between 2- and 3-dimensional approaches to solid component measurement as radiological criteria for sublobar resection in lung adenocarcinoma ≤ 2 cm in size.

Purpose: We compared three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) measurements of the solid component to determine radiological criteria for sublobar resection of lung adenocarcinoma ≤ 2 cm in size.

Methods: We included 233 surgical cases. The maximum size of the solid component for 3D measurement was calculated by delineating the solid component on successive axial images and reconstructing the 3D surface model.

Mice lacking a functional NMDA receptor exhibit social subordination in a group-housed environment.

Social dominance, in which an individual asserts control over others or benefits most after social conflict, has an influence on social behaviour. However, the mechanisms mediating social dominance remain unclear. Social dominance within social groups determines the distribution of rewards such as food and access to mating partners, which can act as reinforcers.

Impact of predicting health-guidance candidates using massive health check-up data: A data-driven analysis.

Introduction: Starting in 2008, specific health checkups and health guidance to prevent non-communicable diseases have been provided in Japan, which has the highest proportion of elderly citizens in the world. The attendance rate for health guidance appointments is 17.7%, which is far from the national goal of the system (45%).

Neurosurgical Virtual Reality Simulation for Brain Tumor Using High-definition Computer Graphics: A Review of the Literature.

Simulation and planning of surgery using a virtual reality model is becoming common with advances in computer technology. In this study, we conducted a literature search to find trends in virtual simulation of surgery for brain tumors. A MEDLINE search for "neurosurgery AND (simulation OR virtual reality)" retrieved a total of 1,298 articles published in the past 10 years.

Wall-to-lumen ratio of intracranial arteries measured by indocyanine green angiography.

Background: The wall-to-lumen ratio (WLR) is an important parameter in vascular medicine because it indicates the character of vascular wall as well as the degree of stenosis. Despite the advances in medical imaging technologies, it is still difficult to measure the thin-walled normal intracranial arteries, and the reports on the WLR of normal intracranial artery are limited. It might be possible to calculate the WLR using the indocyanine green (ICG) angiography, which is used to observe intracranial vessels during microsurgery.

How can machine-learning methods assist in virtual screening for hyperuricemia? A healthcare machine-learning approach.

Object: Our purpose was to develop a new machine-learning approach (a virtual health check-up) toward identification of those at high risk of hyperuricemia. Applying the system to general health check-ups is expected to reduce medical costs compared with administering an additional test.

Methods: Data were collected during annual health check-ups performed in Japan between 2011 and 2013 (inclusive).

Usefulness of high-resolution 3D multifusion medical imaging for preoperative planning in patients with posterior fossa hemangioblastoma: technical note.

Successful resection of hemangioblastoma depends on preoperative assessment of the precise locations of feeding arteries and draining veins. Simultaneous 3D visualization of feeding arteries, draining veins, and surrounding structures is needed. The present study evaluated the usefulness of high-resolution 3D multifusion medical imaging (hr-3DMMI) for preoperative planning of hemangioblastoma.

Marker-less tracking of brain surface deformations by non-rigid registration integrating surface and vessel/sulci features.

Purpose: To compensate for brain shift in image-guided neurosurgery, we propose a new non-rigid registration method that integrates surface and vessel/sulci feature to noninvasively track the brain surface.

Method: Textured brain surfaces were acquired using phase-shift three-dimensional (3D) shape measurement, which offers 2D image pixels and their corresponding 3D points directly. Measured brain surfaces were noninvasively tracked using the proposed method by minimizing a new energy function, which is a weighted combination of 3D point corresponding estimation and surface deformation constraints.

A Microscopic Optically Tracking Navigation System That Uses High-resolution 3D Computer Graphics.

Three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics (CG) are useful for preoperative planning of neurosurgical operations. However, application of 3D CG to intraoperative navigation is not widespread because existing commercial operative navigation systems do not show 3D CG in sufficient detail. We have developed a microscopic optically tracking navigation system that uses high-resolution 3D CG.

Combined use of diffusion tensor tractography and multifused contrast-enhanced FIESTA for predicting facial and cochlear nerve positions in relation to vestibular schwannoma.

Object: The authors assessed whether the combined use of diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) and contrast-enhanced (CE) fast imaging employing steady-state acquisition (FIESTA) could improve the accuracy of predicting the courses of the facial and cochlear nerves before surgery.

Methods: The population was composed of 22 patients with vestibular schwannoma in whom both the facial and cochlear nerves could be identified during surgery. According to DTT, depicted fibers running from the internal auditory canal to the brainstem were judged to represent the facial or vestibulocochlear nerve.

Feasibility of diffusion tensor tractography for preoperative prediction of the location of the facial and vestibulocochlear nerves in relation to vestibular schwannoma.

Background: According to recent findings, diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) only allows prediction of facial nerve location in relation to vestibular schwannoma (VS) with high probability. However, previous studies have not mentioned why only the facial nerve was selectively visualized. Our previous report investigated the optimal conditions of DTT for normal facial and vestibulocochlear nerves.

Diffusion tensor tractography of normal facial and vestibulocochlear nerves.

Purpose: Diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) is not adequately reliable for prediction of facial and vestibulocochlear (VII-VIII) nerve locations, especially relative to a vestibular schwannoma (VS). Furthermore, it is often not possible to visualize normal VII-VIII nerves by DTT (visualization rates were 12.5-63.

Neurosurgical simulation by interactive computer graphics on iPad.

Purpose: Presurgical simulation before complicated neurosurgery is a state-of-the-art technique, and its usefulness has recently become well known. However, simulation requires complex image processing, which hinders its widespread application. We explored handling the results of interactive computer graphics on the iPad tablet, which can easily be controlled anywhere.

Fully automatic segmentation of the femur from 3D-CT images using primitive shape recognition and statistical shape models.

Purpose: Femur segmentation is well established and widely used in computer-assisted orthopedic surgery. However, most of the robust segmentation methods such as statistical shape models (SSM) require human intervention to provide an initial position for the SSM. In this paper, we propose to overcome this problem and provide a fully automatic femur segmentation method for CT images based on primitive shape recognition and SSM.