A safe transmission line for MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been established as a reliable and safe imaging method for the human body. However, electric conductors, such as cables situated near or in the human body, should be avoided because induced currents in the cables can cause hazardous heating in the surrounding tissue. In this paper, a new principle for the design of a transmission line is introduced and demonstrated, which is capable of avoiding dangerous heating of cables. The principle is based on transformers placed along the line, splitting the long line into several short not resonant and thus safe sections. A transformer design is introduced along with the theoretical aspects for both the avoidance of the undesired induced currents and the reduction of signal attenuation. Furthermore, the design fulfills the geometrical requirements of the side lumen of a standard catheter. Matching networks, whose elements are determined by power matching, are used to reduce signal attenuation by the transformers. A prototype was built to validate both theory and the simulations. As demonstrated in this work, it is possible to build safe transmission lines for MRI, making applications such as active catheter tracking possible. We expect that even new applications, such as safe intravascular imaging will be possible in a safe manner in the future.     

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Compensation of sound speed deviations in 3-D B-mode ultrasound for intraoperative determination of the anterior pelvic plane

An accurate determination of the pelvic orientation is inevitable for the correct cup prosthesis placement of navigated total hip arthroplasties. Conventionally, this step is accomplished by percutaneous palpation of anatomic landmarks. Sterility issues and an increased landmark localization error for obese patients lead to the application of B-mode ultrasound imaging in the field of computer-assisted orthopedic surgery. Many approaches have been proposed in the literature to replace the percutaneous digitization by 3-D B-mode ultrasound imaging. However, the correct depth localization of the pelvic landmarks could be significantly affected by the acoustic properties of the penetrated tissues. Imprecise depth estimation could lead to a miscalculation of the pelvic orientation and subsequently to a misalignment of the acetabular cup implant. But so far, no solution has been presented, which compensates for acoustic property differences for correct depth estimation. In this paper, we present a novel approach to determine pelvic orientation from ultrasound images by applying a hierarchical registration scheme based on patch statistical shape models to compensate for differences in speed of sound. The method was validated based on plastic bones and a cadaveric specimen.     

Advances in reflective oxygen saturation monitoring with a novel in-ear sensor system: results of a human hypoxia study

Pulse oximetry is a well-established, noninvasive photoplethysmographic method to monitor vital signs. It allows us to measure cardiovascular parameters, such as heart rate and arterial oxygen saturation, and is considered an essential monitoring tool in clinical routine. However, since many of the conventional systems work in transmission mode, they can only be applied to the thinner or peripheral parts of the body, such as a finger tip. This has the major disadvantage that, in case of shock-induced centralization and a resulting drop in perfusion, such systems cannot ensure valid measurements. Therefore, we developed a reflective in-ear sensor system that can be worn in the ear channel like a headphone. Because the sensor is integrated in an ear mold and positioned very close to the trunk, reliable measurement is expected even in case of centralization. An additional advantage is that the sensor is comfortable to wear and has considerable resistance to motion artifacts. In this paper, we report on hypoxia studies with ten healthy participants which were performed to analyze the system with regard to the detection of heart rate and arterial oxygen saturation. It was shown earlier that, due to the high signal quality, heart rate can easily be detected. Using the conventional calculation principle, based on Beer-Lambert's law combined with a single-point calibration method, we now demonstrate that the detection of arterial oxygen saturation in the human ear canal is possible using reflective saturation sensors.     

A comprehensive approach to the analysis of contrast enhanced cardiac MR images

Current magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology allows the determination of patient-individual coronary tree structure, detection of infarctions, and assessment of myocardial perfusion. Joint inspection of these three aspects yields valuable information for therapy planning, e.g., through classification of myocardium into healthy tissue, regions showing a reversible hypoperfusion, and infarction with additional information on the corresponding supplying artery. Standard imaging protocols normally provide image data with different orientations, resolutions and coverages for each of the three aspects, which makes a direct comparison of analysis results difficult. The purpose of this work is to develop methods for the alignment and combined analysis of these images. The proposed approach is applied to 21 datasets of healthy and diseased patients from the clinical routine. The evaluation shows that, despite limitations due to typical MRI artifacts, combined inspection is feasible and can yield clinically useful information.     

MRI-guided focused ultrasound: methodology and applications

Focused ultrasound is very well suited for inducing noninvasive local hyperthermia. Since magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be employed to obtain real-time temperature maps noninvasively the combination of these two technologies offers great advantages specifically aimed toward oncological studies. Real-time identification of the target region and accurate control of the temperature evolution during the treatment has now become possible. Thermal ablation of pathological tissue, local drug delivery using thermosensitive micro-carriers and controlled transgene expression using thermosensitive promoters have recently been demonstrated with this unique technology. Based on these experiments combined focused ultrasound and MRI thermometry holds promise for future oncological diagnostics and treatment. In this paper, we review some of the recent methodological developments as well as experimental and first clinical studies using this approach.     

The Effect of Gradual Fluorination on the Properties of FnZnPc Thin Films and FnZnPc/C60 Bilayer Photovoltaic Cells

Motivated by the possibility of modifying energy levels of a molecule without substantially changing its band gap, the impact of gradual fluorination on the optical and structural properties of zinc phthalocyanine (F_nZnPc) thin films and the electronic characteristics of F_nZnPc/C₆₀ (n = 0, 4, 8, 16) bilayer cells is investigated. UV–vis measurements reveal similar Q‐ and B‐band absorption of F_nZnPc thin films with n = 0, 4, 8, whereas for F₁₆ZnPc a different absorption pattern is detected. A correlation between structure and electronic transport is deduced. For F₄ZnPc/C₆₀ cells, the enhanced long range order supports fill factors of 55% and an increase of the short circuit current density by 18%, compared to ZnPc/C₆₀. As a parameter being sensitive to the organic/organic interface energetics, the open circuit voltage is analyzed. An enhancement of this quantity by 27% and 50% is detected for F₄ZnPc‐ and F₈ZnPc‐based devices, respectively, and is attributed to an increase of the quasi‐Fermi level splitting at the donor/acceptor interface. In contrast, for F₁₆ZnPc/C₆₀ a decrease of the open circuit voltage is observed. Complementary photoelectron spectroscopy, external quantum efficiency, and photoluminescence measurements reveal a different working principle, which is ascribed to the particular energy level alignment at the interface of the photoactive materials.     

On digital smoothing filters: A brief review of closed form solutions and two new filter approaches

The concept of smoothing noisy data using appropriate polynomials turns out to be equivalent to the application of suitable nonrecursive digital filters having the following properties: They process the data in such a way that the moments are conserved up to a desired order while the energy of their impulse response is minimum. Flatness constraints of their frequency response at =0 are equivalent to the moment condition. By using orthogonal polynomials, an explicit solution is known from the literature. A second approach which uses a special decomposition also yields closed form solutions. The realization is simplified, especially in the case where a large number of moments is supposed to be conserved.     

A High-Voltage,Dendrite-Free,and Durable Zn–Graphite Battery

The intrinsic advantages of metallic Zn, like high theoretical capacity (820 mAh g⁻¹), high abundance, low toxicity, and high safety have driven the recent booming development of rechargeable Zn batteries. However, the lack of high-voltage electrolyte and cathode materials restricts the cell voltage mostly to below 2 V. Moreover, dendrite formation and the poor rechargeability of the Zn anode hinder the long-term operation of Zn batteries. Here a high-voltage and durable Zn–graphite battery, which is enabled by a LiPF₆-containing hybrid electrolyte, is reported. The presence of LiPF₆ efficiently suppresses the anodic oxidation of Zn electrolyte and leads to a super-wide electrochemical stability window of 4 V (vs Zn/Zn²⁺). Both dendrite-free Zn plating/stripping and reversible dual-anion intercalation into the graphite cathode are realized in the hybrid electrolyte. The resultant Zn–graphite battery performs stably at a high voltage of 2.8 V with a record midpoint discharge voltage of 2.2 V. After 2000 cycles at a high charge–discharge rate, high capacity retention of 97.5% is achieved with ≈100% Coulombic efficiency.