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This book presents cutting-edge research and developments in the broad field of medical, biological engineering and computing. This is the first volume of the joint proceedings of the Mediterranean Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing (MEDICON) and the International Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering (CMBEBIH), which were held together on September 14-16, 2023, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Contributions report on advances in biomedical signal processing and bioimaging, medical physics, and pharmaceutical engineering. Further, they cover applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning in healthcare.

This book gathers selected, extended and revised contributions to the 18th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, held on May 3-5, 2023, at Arts Et Métiers - Institute Of Technology, in Paris, France. They highlight cutting-edge advances in computational modelling in biomedical engineering, discusses new developments on imaging and visualization, as well as solutions for applying them in the clinical practice. All in all, this book offers a timely snapshot of the latest research and current challenges at the interface between biomedical engineering, computational biomechanics and biological imaging. It also aims at fostering future, cross-disciplinary collaborations.

This book presents the rapidly developing field of artificial intelligence and machine learning and its application in biomedical imaging. As is known, starting from the diagnosis of fractures by using X-rays to understanding the complex structure and function of the brain, biomedical imaging has contributed immensely toward the development of precision diagnosis and treatment strategies for numerous diseases. While continuous evolution in imaging technologies have enabled the acquisition of images having resolution and contrast far better than ever, it significantly increased the volume of data associated with each image scan—making it increasingly difficult for experts to analyze and interpret. In this context, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools has become one of the most exciting frontlines of contemporary research in biomedical imaging due to their capability to extract minute traces of various disease signatures from large and complicated datasets and providing clear insight into the potential abnormalities with excellent accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. The hallmark of this book will be the contributions from international leaders on different AI-aided advanced biomedical imaging modalities and techniques. Included will be comprehensive description of several of the technology-driven spectacular advances made over the past few years that have allowed early detection and delineation of abnormalities with sub-pixel image segmentation and classification. Starting from the fundamentals of biomedical image processing, the book presents a streamlined and focused coverage of the core principles, theoretical and experimental approaches, and state-of-the-art applications of most of the currently used biomedical imaging techniques powered by AI.

This book describes a new strategy for rehabilitation from injury and/or disease using Crucial Event Therapy. Recent studies have shown that individuals can recuperate more rapidly from surgery and other invasive procedures intended to correct the negative effects of disease or injury through the use of life support systems that operate at the body's natural biofrequencies. The same observation has been clinically shown to reverse the degenerative effects of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Disease. Crucial Event Therapy describes medicine as the operational control of the functions of the human body treated as a network-of-networks, with 1/f-variable crucial events coding the dynamic states of health and disease through information flow within a network and information exchange between biomedical networks. A new way of thinking based on the statistics of Cortical Events is presented and the relevant literature is suitably referenced. This is anideal book for biophysicists and data scientists seeking to understand the connection of complexity measures for the study of consciousness with the clinical aspects of designing a rehabilitation strategy.

This Handbook serves as an authoritative reference book in the field of Neuroengineering. Neuroengineering is a very exciting field that is rapidly getting established as core subject matter for research and education. The Neuroengineering field has also produced an impressive array of industry products and clinical applications. It also serves as a reference book for graduate students, research scholars and teachers. Selected sections or a compendium of chapters may be used as “reference book” for a one or two semester graduate course in Biomedical Engineering. Some academicians will construct a “textbook” out of selected sections or chapters. The Handbook is also meant as a state-of-the-art volume for researchers. Due to its comprehensive coverage, researchers in one field covered by a certain section of the Handbook would find other sections valuable sources of cross-reference for information and fertilization of interdisciplinary ideas. Industry researchers as well as clinicians using neurotechnologies will find the Handbook a single source for foundation and state-of-the-art applications in the field of Neuroengineering. Regulatory agencies, entrepreneurs, investors and legal experts can use the Handbook as a reference for their professional work as well.​

The goal of this textbook is to equip readers with as structured knowledge of soft robotics as possible. Seeking to overcome the limitations of conventional robots by making them more flexible, gentle and adaptable, soft robotics has become one of the most active fields over the last decade. Soft robotics is also highly interdisciplinary, bringing together robotics, computer science, material science, biology, etc. After the introduction, the content is divided into three parts: Design of Soft Robots; Soft Materials; and Autonomous Soft Robots. Part I addresses soft mechanisms, biological mechanisms, and soft manipulation & locomotion. In Part II, the basics of polymer, biological materials, flexible & stretchable sensors, and soft actuators are discussed from a materials science standpoint. In turn, Part III focuses on modeling & control of continuum bodies, material intelligence, and information processing using soft body dynamics. In addition, the latest research resultsand cutting-edge research are highlighted throughout the book. Written by a team of researchers from highly diverse fields, the work offers a valuable textbook or technical guide for all students, engineers and researchers who are interested in soft robotics.

This book describes the application of signal and image processing technologies, artificial intelligence, and machine learning techniques to support Covid-19 diagnosis and treatment. The book focuses on two main applications: critical diagnosis requiring high precision and speed, and treatment of symptoms, including those affecting the cardiovascular and neurological systems.The areas discussed in this book range from signal processing, time series analysis, and image segmentation to detection and classification. Technical approaches include deep learning, transfer learning, transformers, AutoML, and other machine learning techniques that can be considered not only for Covid-19 issues but also for different medical applications, with slight adjustments to the problem under study.The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the entire world and changed how societies and individuals interact. Due to the high infection and mortality rates, and the multiple consequences of the virusinfection in the human body, the challenges were vast and enormous. These necessitated the integration of different disciplines to address the problems. As a global response, researchers across academia and industry made several developments to provide computational solutions to support epidemiologic, managerial, and health/medical decisions. To that end, this book provides state-of-the-art information on the most advanced solutions.

Humans are electric beings. We are managed, monitored, and stimulated electrically. This textbook provides students and practitioners with a solid foundation and understanding of human electricity and the work currently being done to further develop electrical signals for medical purposes and related goals. The book introduces the fundamentals of how biological systems generate electrical signals, covering a wide range of biomedical engineering topics including bioelectricity, biomedical signals, neural engineering, and brain-computer interface. The book is presented in three sections: Part I explains how electrical signals and impulses manage the human body; Part II examines the kinds of electrical signals from the human body and how they are monitored, controlled, and used; Part III looks at clinical use of electrical stimulation toward the human body and how they are being developed for interventions in medicine. The book is also a valuable professional reference for practicing engineers and scientists. Explains humans as electric beings who are managed, monitored, and stimulated electrically;Deals with the electricity of major human organs;Covers a wide range of biomedical engineering topics

This two-volume book provides an enriching insight into the laser, covering different types of lasers, the basic science behind the technology, their role at the cutting-edge of current scientific research, and their wide-ranging applications. With just high school physics as a prerequisite and favoring qualitative yet scientifically sound explanations over high-level mathematics, this book is aimed at a broad spectrum of readers in physics, chemistry, engineering, medicine, and biology. Its engaging and lucid presentation is enhanced with plenty of illustrations, making the world of the laser accessible to undergraduate students in the sciences and any other inquisitive readers with high school physics under their belts. Furthermore, the text is often laced with anecdotes, picked from history, that are bound to pique the minds of the readers. It is ideal for self-study or as a complement to courses on optics and optoelectronics. This volume, Part 1 of 2, explains the fundamentals of optics, what a laser is, how it works, and what is unique about the light it emits, from fundamental quantum theory through population inversion and cavity to common laser types. It is followed by Part 2 which depicts the many advances in science enabled by the laser, including spectroscopy, nonlinear optics, optical cooling and trapping, and optical tweezers, among many others, and provides a glimpse into the ways that the laser affects our lives via its uses in medicine, manufacturing, the nuclear industry, energy, defence, communication, ranging, pollution monitoring, art conservation, fashion, beauty, and entertainment.

Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) continues to mature as a research field and is primed to make a swift transition to routine preclinical and clinical applications. This book will serve two main purposes: Advanced education in QUS by providing a complete and thorough review of all theoretical, physical, and engineering aspects of QUS.Review of recent development of QUS by lead contributors in the research field. This 2nd edition will focus on 6 modern research topics related to quantitative ultrasound of soft tissues: Spectral-based methods for tissue characterization, tissue typing, cancer detection, etc.Attenuation estimation for tissue characterization and improving spectral based methodsEnvelope statistics analysis as a means of quantifying and imaging tissue properties.Ultrasound computed tomography for preclinical and clinical imaging.Scanning acoustic microscopy for formingimages of mechanical properties of soft tissues with micron resolution.Phantoms for quantitative ultrasound.

This classroom-tested textbook is an innovative, comprehensive, and forward-looking introductory undergraduate physics course. While it clearly explains physical principles and equips the student with a full range of quantitative tools and methods, the material is firmly grounded in biological relevance and is brought to life with plenty of biological examples throughout.It is designed to be a self-contained text for a two-semester sequence of introductory physics for biology and premedical students, covering kinematics and Newton's laws, energy, probability, diffusion, rates of change, statistical mechanics, fluids, vibrations, waves, electromagnetism, and optics. Each chapter begins with learning goals, and concludes with a summary of core competencies, allowing for seamless incorporation into the classroom. In addition, each chapter is replete with a wide selection of creative and often surprising examples, activities, computational tasks, and exercises, many of which are inspired by current research topics, making cutting-edge biological physics accessible to the student.

Intended as an introduction to the field of biomedical engineering, this book covers the topics of biomechanics (Part I) and bioelectricity (Part II). Each chapter emphasizes a fundamental principle or law, such as Darcy's Law, Poiseuille's Law, Hooke's Law, Starling's Law, levers, and work in the area of fluid, solid, and cardiovascular biomechanics. In addition, electrical laws and analysis tools are introduced, including Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Laws, Coulomb's Law, capacitors, and the fluid/electrical analogy. Culminating the electrical portion are chapters covering Nernst and membrane potentials and Fourier transforms. Examples are solved throughout the book and problems with answers are given at the end of each chapter. A semester-long Major Project that models the human systemic cardiovascular system, utilizing both a Matlab numerical simulation and an electrical analog circuit, ties many of the book's concepts together. Table of Contents: Ohm's Law: Current, Voltage and Resistance / Kirchhoff's Voltage and Current Laws: Circuit Analysis / Operational Amplifiers / Coulomb's Law, Capacitors and the Fluid/Electrical Analogy / Series and Parallel Combinations / Thevenin Equivalent Circuits / Nernst Potential: Cell Membrane Equivalent Circuit / Fourier Transforms: Alternating Currents (AC)

Intended as an introduction to the field of biomedical engineering, this book covers the topics of biomechanics (Part I) and bioelectricity (Part II). Each chapter emphasizes a fundamental principle or law, such as Darcy's Law, Poiseuille's Law, Hooke's Law, Starling's Law, levers, and work in the area of fluid, solid, and cardiovascular biomechanics. In addition, electrical laws and analysis tools are introduced, including Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Laws, Coulomb's Law, capacitors and the fluid/electrical analogy. Culminating the electrical portion are chapters covering Nernst and membrane potentials and Fourier transforms. Examples are solved throughout the book and problems with answers are given at the end of each chapter. A semester-long Major Project that models the human systemic cardiovascular system, utilizing both a Matlab numerical simulation and an electrical analog circuit, ties many of the book's concepts together. Table of Contents: Basic Concepts / Darcy's Law / Poiseuille's Law: Pressure-Driven Flow Through Tubes / Hooke's Law: Elasticity of Tissues and Compliant Vessels / Starling's Law of the Heart, Windkessel Elements and Volume / Euler's Method and First-Order Time Constants / Muscle, Leverage, Work, Energy and Power

Malignant tumors due to breast cancer and masses due to benign disease appear in mammograms with different shape characteristics: the former usually have rough, spiculated, or microlobulated contours, whereas the latter commonly have smooth, round, oval, or macrolobulated contours. Features that characterize shape roughness and complexity can assist in distinguishing between malignant tumors and benign masses. In spite of the established importance of shape factors in the analysis of breast tumors and masses, difficulties exist in obtaining accurate and artifact-free boundaries of the related regions from mammograms. Whereas manually drawn contours could contain artifacts related to hand tremor and are subject to intra-observer and inter-observer variations, automatically detected contours could contain noise and inaccuracies due to limitations or errors in the procedures for the detection and segmentation of the related regions. Modeling procedures are desired to eliminate the artifacts in a given contour, while preserving the important and significant details present in the contour. This book presents polygonal modeling methods that reduce the influence of noise and artifacts while preserving the diagnostically relevant features, in particular the spicules and lobulations in the given contours. In order to facilitate the derivation of features that capture the characteristics of shape roughness of contours of breast masses, methods to derive a signature based on the turning angle function obtained from the polygonal model are described. Methods are also described to derive an index of spiculation, an index characterizing the presence of convex regions, an index characterizing the presence of concave regions, an index of convexity, and a measure of fractal dimension from the turning angle function. Results of testing the methods with a set of 111 contours of 65 benign masses and 46 malignant tumors are presented and discussed. It is shown that shape modeling and analysis can lead to classification accuracy in discriminating between benign masses and malignant tumors, in terms of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, of up to 0.94. The methods have applications in modeling and analysis of the shape of various types of regions or objects in images, computer vision, computer graphics, and analysis of biomedical images, with particular significance in computer-aided diagnosis of breast cancer. Table of Contents: Analysis of Shape / Polygonal Modeling of Contours / Shape Factors for Pattern Classification / Classification of Breast Masses

Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field that is rapidly evolving and expanding. Significant advancements have been made in nanotechnology-related disciplines in the past few decades and continued growth and progression in the field are anticipated. Moreover, nanotechnology, omnipresent in innovation, has been applied to resolve critical challenges in nearly every field, especially those related to biological technologies and processes. This book, used as either a textbook for a short course or a reference book, provides state-of-the-art analysis of essential topics in nanotechnology for bioengineers studying and working in biotechnology, chemical/biochemical, pharmaceutical, biomedical, and other related fields. The book topics range from introduction to nanotechnology and nanofabrication to applications of nanotechnology in various biological fields. This book not only intends to introduce bioengineers to the amazing world of nanotechnology, but also inspires them to use nanotechnology to address some of the world's biggest challenges.

This book has a two-fold purpose: (1) An introduction to the computer-based modeling of influenza, a continuing major worldwide communicable disease. (2) The use of (1) as an illustration of a methodology for the computer-based modeling of communicable diseases. For the purposes of (1) and (2), a basic influenza model is formulated as a system of partial differential equations (PDEs) that define the spatiotemporal evolution of four populations: susceptibles, untreated and treated infecteds, and recovereds. The requirements of a well-posed PDE model are considered, including the initial and boundary conditions. The terms of the PDEs are explained. The computer implementation of the model is illustrated with a detailed line-by-line explanation of a system of routines in R (a quality, open-source scientific computing system that is readily available from the Internet). The R routines demonstrate the straightforward numerical solution of a system of nonlinear PDEs by the method of lines (MOL), an established general algorithm for PDEs. The presentation of the PDE modeling methodology is introductory with a minumum of formal mathematics (no theorems and proofs), and with emphasis on example applications. The intent of the book is to assist in the initial understanding and use of PDE mathematical modeling of communicable diseases, and the explanation and interpretation of the computed model solutions, as illustrated with the influenza model.

Recently, immunomodulatory nanomaterials have gained immense attention due to their involvement in the modulation of the body's immune response to cancer therapy. This book highlights various immunomodulatory nanomaterials (including organic, polymer, inorganic, liposomes, viral, and protein nanoparticles) and their role in cancer therapy. Additionally, the mechanism of immunomodulation is reviewed in detail. Finally, the challenges of these therapies and their future outlook are discussed. We believe this book will be helpful to a broad community including students, researchers, educators, and industrialists.

Fractal analysis is useful in digital image processing for the characterization of shape roughness and gray-scale texture or complexity. Breast masses present shape and gray-scale characteristics in mammograms that vary between benign masses and malignant tumors. This book demonstrates the use of fractal analysis to classify breast masses as benign masses or malignant tumors based on the irregularity exhibited in their contours and the gray-scale variability exhibited in their mammographic images. A few different approaches are described to estimate the fractal dimension (FD) of the contour of a mass, including the ruler method, box-counting method, and the power spectral analysis (PSA) method. Procedures are also described for the estimation of the FD of the gray-scale image of a mass using the blanket method and the PSA method. To facilitate comparative analysis of FD as a feature for pattern classification of breast masses, several other shape features and texture measures are described in the book. The shape features described include compactness, spiculation index, fractional concavity, and Fourier factor. The texture measures described are statistical measures derived from the gray-level cooccurrence matrix of the given image. Texture measures reveal properties about the spatial distribution of the gray levels in the given image; therefore, the performance of texture measures may be dependent on the resolution of the image. For this reason, an analysis of the effect of spatial resolution or pixel size on texture measures in the classification of breast masses is presented in the book. The results demonstrated in the book indicate that fractal analysis is more suitable for characterization of the shape than the gray-level variations of breast masses, with area under the receiver operating characteristics of up to 0.93 with a dataset of 111 mammographic images of masses. The methods and results presented in the book are useful for computer-aided diagnosis of breast cancer. Table of Contents: Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Breast Cancer / Detection and Analysis of\newline Breast Masses / Datasets of Images of Breast Masses / Methods for Fractal Analysis / Pattern Classification / Results of Classification of Breast Masses / Concluding Remarks

Heredity performs literal communication of immensely long genomes through immensely long time intervals. Genomes nevertheless incur sporadic errors referred to as mutations which have significant and often dramatic effects, after a time interval as short as a human life. How can faithfulness at a very large timescale and unfaithfulness at a very short one be conciliated? The engineering problem of literal communication has been completely solved during the second half of the XX-th century. Originating in 1948 from Claude Shannon's seminal work, information theory provided means to measure information quantities and proved that communication is possible through an unreliable channel (by means left unspecified) up to a sharp limit referred to as its capacity, beyond which communication becomes impossible. The quest for engineering means of reliable communication, named error-correcting codes, did not succeed in closely approaching capacity until 1993 when Claude Berrou and Alain Glavieux invented turbocodes. By now, the electronic devices which invaded our daily lives (e.g., CD, DVD, mobile phone, digital television) could not work without highly efficient error-correcting codes. Reliable communication through unreliable channels up to the limit of what is theoretically possible has become a practical reality: an outstanding achievement, however little publicized. As an engineering problem that nature solved aeons ago, heredity is relevant to information theory. The capacity of DNA is easily shown to vanish exponentially fast, which entails that error-correcting codes must be used to regenerate genomes so as to faithfully transmit the hereditary message. Moreover, assuming that such codes exist explains basic and conspicuous features of the living world, e.g., the existence of discrete species and their hierarchical taxonomy, the necessity of successive generations and even the trend of evolution towards increasingly complex beings. Providing geneticists with an introduction to information theory and error-correcting codes as necessary tools of hereditary communication is the primary goal of this book. Some biological consequences of their use are also discussed, and guesses about hypothesized genomic codes are presented. Another goal is prompting communication engineers to get interested in genetics and biology, thereby broadening their horizon far beyond the technological field, and learning from the most outstanding engineer: Nature. Table of Contents: Foreword / Introduction / A Brief Overview of Molecular Genetics / An Overview of Information Theory / More on Molecular Genetics / More on Information Theory / An Outline of Error-Correcting Codes / DNA is an Ephemeral Memory / A Toy Living World / Subsidiary Hypothesis, Nested System / Soft Codes / Biological Reality Conforms to the Hypotheses / Identification of Genomic Codes / Conclusion and Perspectives

There are five different types of eye movements: saccades, smooth pursuit, vestibular ocular eye movements, optokinetic eye movements, and vergence eye movements. The purpose of this book series is focused primarily on mathematical models of the horizontal saccadic eye movement system and the smooth pursuit system, rather than on how visual information is processed. A saccade is a fast eye movement used to acquire a target by placing the image of the target on the fovea. Smooth pursuit is a slow eye movement used to track a target as it moves by keeping the target on the fovea. The vestibular ocular movement is used to keep the eyes on a target during brief head movements. The optokinetic eye movement is a combination of saccadic and slow eye movements that keeps a full-field image stable on the retina during sustained head rotation. Each of these movements is a conjugate eye movement, that is, movements of both eyes together driven by a common neural source. A vergence movement is a non-conjugate eye movement allowing the eyes to track targets as they come closer or farther away. In Part 1, early models of saccades and smooth pursuit are presented. A number of oculomotor plant models are described therein beginning with the Westheimer model published in 1954, and up through our 1995 model involving a 4th-order oculomotor plant model. In Part 2, a 2009 version of a state-of-the-art model is presented for horizontal saccades that is 3rd-order and linear, and controlled by a physiologically based time-optimal neural network. In this book, a multiscale model of the saccade system is presented, focusing on the neural network. Chapter 1 summarizes a whole muscle model of the oculomotor plant based on the 2009 3rd-order and linear, and controlled by a physiologically based time-optimal neural network. Chapter 2 presents a neural network model of biophysical neurons in the midbrain for controlling oculomotor muscles during horizontal human saccades. To investigate horizontal saccade dynamics, a neural circuitry, including omnipause neuron, premotor excitatory and inhibitory burst neurons, long lead burst neuron, tonic neuron, interneuron, abducens nucleus, and oculomotor nucleus, is developed. A generic neuron model serves as the basis to match the characteristics of each type of neuron in the neural network. We wish to express our thanks to William Pruehsner for drawing many of the illustrations in this book. Table of Contents: Acknowledgments / 2009 Linear Homeomorphic Saccadic Eye Movement Model / A Neuron-Based Time-Optimal Controller of Horizontal Saccadic Eye Movements and Glissades / References / Authors'Biographies

Dielectrophoresis microfluidic chips have been widely used in various biological applications due to their advantages of convenient operation, high throughput, and low cost. However, most of the DEP microfluidic chips are based on 2D planar electrodes which have some limitations, such as electric field attenuation, small effective working regions, and weak DEP forces. In order to overcome the limitations of 2D planar electrodes, two kinds of thick-electrode DEP chips were designed to realize manipulation and multi-parameter measurement of single cells. Based on the multi-electrode structure of thick-electrode DEP, a single-cell 3D electro-rotation chip of'Armillary Sphere'was designed. The chip uses four thick electrodes and a bottom planar electrode to form an electric field chamber, which can control 3D rotation of single cells under different electric signal configurations. Electrical property measurement and 3D image reconstruction of single cells are achieved based on single-cell 3D rotation. This work overcomes the limitations of 2D planar electrodes and effectively solves the problem of unstable spatial position of single-cell samples, and provides a new platform for single-cell analysis. Based on multi-electrode structure of thick-electrode DEP, a microfluidic chip with optoelectronic integration was presented. A dual-fiber optical stretcher embedded in thick electrodes can trap and stretch a single cell while the thick electrodes are used for single-cell rotation. Stretching and rotation manipulation gives the chip the ability to simultaneously measure mechanical and electrical properties of single cells, providing a versatile platform for single-cell analysis, further extending the application of thick-electrode DEP in biological manipulation and analysis.

The biomedical engineering senior capstone design course is probably the most important course taken by undergraduate biomedical engineering students. It provides them with the opportunity to apply what they have learned in previous years, develop their communication, teamwork, project management, and design skills, and learn about the product development process. It prepares students for professional practice and serves as a preview of what it will be like to work as a biomedical engineer. The capstone design experience can change the way engineering students think about technology, themselves, society, and the world around them. It can make them aware of their potential to make a positive contribution to healthcare throughout the world and generate excitement for, and pride in, the engineering profession. Ideas for how to organize, structure, and manage a senior capstone design course for biomedical and other engineering students are presented here. These ideas will be helpful to faculty who are creating a new design course, expanding a current design program, or just looking for some ideas for improving an existing course. The better we can make these courses, the more'industry ready'our students will be, and the better prepared they will be for meaningful, successful careers in biomedical engineering. This book is the second part of a series covering Capstone Design Courses for biomedical engineers. Part I is available online here and in print (ISBN 9781598292923) and covers the following topics: Purpose, Goals, and Benefits; Designing a Course to Meet Student Needs; Enhancing the Capstone Design Courses; Meeting the Changing Needs of Future Engineers. Table of Contents: The Myth of the'Industry-Ready'Engineer / Recent Trends and the Current State of Capstone Design / Preparing Students for Capstone Design / Helping Students Recognize the Value of Capstone Design Courses / Developing Teamwork Skills / Incorporating Design Controls / Learning to Identify Problems, Unmet Needs, and New Product Opportunities / Design Verification and Validation / Liability Issues with Assistive Technology Projects / Standards in Capstone Design Courses and the Engineering Curriculum / Design Transfer and Design for Manufacturability / Learning from other Engineering Disciplines: Capstone Design Conferences / Maintaining a Relevant, Up-to-Date Capstone Design Course / Active Learning in Capstone Design Courses / Showcasing Student Projects: National Student Design Competitions / Managing Student Expectations of the'Real World'/ Career Management and Professional Development / Conclusion

In the last ten years many different brain imaging devices have conveyed a lot of information about the brain functioning in different experimental conditions. In every case, the biomedical engineers, together with mathematicians, physicists and physicians are called to elaborate the signals related to the brain activity in order to extract meaningful and robust information to correlate with the external behavior of the subjects. In such attempt, different signal processing tools used in telecommunications and other field of engineering or even social sciences have been adapted and re-used in the neuroscience field. The present book would like to offer a short presentation of several methods for the estimation of the cortical connectivity of the human brain. The methods here presented are relatively simply to implement, robust and can return valuable information about the causality of the activation of the different cortical areas in humans using non invasive electroencephalographic recordings. The knowledge of such signal processing tools will enrich the arsenal of the computational methods that a engineer or a mathematician could apply in the processing of brain signals. Table of Contents: Introduction / Estimation of the Effective Connectivity from Stationary Data by Structural Equation Modeling / Estimation of the Functional Connectivity from Stationary Data by Multivariate Autoregressive Methods / Estimation of Cortical Activity by the use of Realistic Head Modeling / Application: Estimation of Connectivity from Movement-Related Potentials / Application to High-Resolution EEG Recordings in a Cognitive Task (Stroop Test) / Application to Data Related to the Intention of Limb Movements in Normal Subjects and in a Spinal Cord Injured Patient / The Instantaneous Estimation of the Time-Varying Cortical Connectivity by Adaptive Multivariate Estimators / Time-Varying Connectivity from Event-Related Potentials

This short book provides basic information about bioinstrumentation and electric circuit theory. Many biomedical instruments use a transducer or sensor to convert a signal created by the body into an electric signal. Our goal here is to develop expertise in electric circuit theory applied to bioinstrumentation. We begin with a description of variables used in circuit theory, charge, current, voltage, power and energy. Next, Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws are introduced, followed by resistance, simplifications of resistive circuits and voltage and current calculations. Circuit analysis techniques are then presented, followed by inductance and capacitance, and solutions of circuits using the differential equation method. Finally, the operational amplifier and time varying signals are introduced. This lecture is written for a student or researcher or engineer who has completed the first two years of an engineering program (i.e., 3 semesters of calculus and differential equations). A considerable effort has been made to develop the theory in a logical manner—developing special mathematical skills as needed. At the end of the short book is a wide selection of problems, ranging from simple to complex.

The book presents recent advances in signal processing techniques for modeling, analysis, and understanding of the heart's electrical activity during atrial fibrillation. This arrhythmia is the most commonly encountered in clinical practice and its complex and metamorphic nature represents a challenging problem for clinicians, engineers, and scientists. Research on atrial fibrillation has stimulated the development of a wide range of signal processing tools to better understand the mechanisms ruling its initiation, maintenance, and termination. This book provides undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers and practicing engineers, with an overview of techniques, including time domain techniques for atrial wave extraction, time-frequency analysis for exploring wave dynamics, and nonlinear techniques to characterize the ventricular response and the organization of atrial activity. The book includes an introductory chapter about atrial fibrillation and its mechanisms, treatment, and management. The successive chapters are dedicated to the analysis of atrial signals recorded on the body surface and to the quantification of ventricular response. The rest of the book explores techniques to characterize endo- and epicardial recordings and to model atrial conduction. Under the appearance of being a monothematic book on atrial fibrillation, the reader will not only recognize common problems of biomedical signal processing but also discover that analysis of atrial fibrillation is a unique challenge for developing and testing novel signal processing tools. Table of Contents: Part I / Introduction to Atrial Fibrillation: From Mechanisms to Treatment / Time Domain Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation / Atrial Activity Extraction from the ECG / Time-Frequency Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is the process of retrieval of images from a database that are similar to a query image, using measures derived from the images themselves, rather than relying on accompanying text or annotation. To achieve CBIR, the contents of the images need to be characterized by quantitative features; the features of the query image are compared with the features of each image in the database and images having high similarity with respect to the query image are retrieved and displayed. CBIR of medical images is a useful tool and could provide radiologists with assistance in the form of a display of relevant past cases. One of the challenging aspects of CBIR is to extract features from the images to represent their visual, diagnostic, or application-specific information content. In this book, methods are presented for preprocessing, segmentation, landmarking, feature extraction, and indexing of mammograms for CBIR. The preprocessing steps include anisotropic diffusion and the Wiener filter to remove noise and perform image enhancement. Techniques are described for segmentation of the breast and fibroglandular disk, including maximum entropy, a moment-preserving method, and Otsu's method. Image processing techniques are described for automatic detection of the nipple and the edge of the pectoral muscle via analysis in the Radon domain. By using the nipple and the pectoral muscle as landmarks, mammograms are divided into their internal, external, upper, and lower parts for further analysis. Methods are presented for feature extraction using texture analysis, shape analysis, granulometric analysis, moments, and statistical measures. The CBIR system presented provides options for retrieval using the Kohonen self-organizing map and the k-nearest-neighbor method. Methods are described for inclusion of expert knowledge to reduce the semantic gap in CBIR, including the query point movement method for relevance feedback (RFb). Analysis of performance is described in terms of precision, recall, and relevance-weighted precision of retrieval. Results of application to a clinical database of mammograms are presented, including the input of expert radiologists into the CBIR and RFb processes. Models are presented for integration of CBIR and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) with a picture archival and communication system (PACS) for efficient workflow in a hospital. Table of Contents: Introduction to Content-based Image Retrieval / Mammography and CAD of Breast Cancer / Segmentation and Landmarking of Mammograms / Feature Extraction and Indexing of Mammograms / Content-based Retrieval of Mammograms / Integration of CBIR and CAD into Radiological Workflow

In addition to being essential for safe and effective patient care, medical equipment also has significant impact on the income and, thus, vitality of healthcare organizations. For this reason, its maintenance and management requires careful supervision by healthcare administrators, many of whom may not have the technical background to understand all of the relevant factors. This book presents the basic elements of medical equipment maintenance and management required of healthcare leaders responsible for managing or overseeing this function. It will enable these individuals to understand their professional responsibilities, as well as what they should expect from their supervised staff and how to measure and benchmark staff performance against equivalent performance levels at similar organizations. The book opens with a foundational summary of the laws, regulations, codes, and standards that are applicable to the maintenance and management of medical equipment in healthcare organizations. Next, the core functions of the team responsible for maintenance and management are described in sufficient detail for managers and overseers. Then the methods and measures for determining the effectiveness and efficiency of equipment maintenance and management are presented to allow performance management and benchmarking comparisons. The challenges and opportunities of managing healthcare organizations of different sizes, acuity levels, and geographical locations are discussed. Extensive bibliographic sources and material for further study are provided to assist students and healthcare leaders interested in acquiring more detailed knowledge. Table of Contents: Introduction / Regulatory Framework / Core Functions of Medical Equipment Maintenance and Management / CE Department Management / Performance Management / Discussion and Conclusions

Transport processes represent important life-sustaining elements in all humans. These include mass transfer processes, including gas exchange in the lungs, transport across capillaries and alveoli, transport across the kidneys, and transport across cell membranes. These mass transfer processes affect how oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged in your bloodstream, how metabolic waste products are removed from your blood, how nutrients are transported to tissues, and how all cells function throughout the body. A discussion of kidney dialysis and gas exchange mechanisms is included. Another element in biomedical transport processes is that of momentum transport and fluid flow. This describes how blood is propelled from the heart and throughout the cardiovascular system, how blood elements affect the body, including gas exchange, infection control, clotting of blood, and blood flow resistance, which affects cardiac work. A discussion of the measurement of the blood resistance to flow (viscosity), blood flow, and pressure is also included. A third element in transport processes in the human body is that of heat transfer, including heat transfer inside the body towards the periphery as well as heat transfer from the body to the environment. A discussion of temperature measurements and body protection in extreme heat conditions is also included. Table of Contents: Biomedical Mass Transport / Biofluid Mechanics and Momentum Transport / Biomedical Heat Transport

Take one elephant and one man to the top of a tower and simultaneously drop. Which will hit the ground first? You are a pilot of a jet fighter performing a high-speed loop. Will you pass out during the maneuver? How can you simulate being an astronaut with your feet still firmly placed on planet Earth? In the aerospace environment, human, animal, and plant physiology differs significantly from that on Earth, and this book provides reasons for some of these changes. The challenges encountered by pilots in their missions can have implications on the health and safety of not only themselves but others. Knowing the effects of hypergravity on the human body during high-speed flight led to the development of human centrifuges. We also need to better understand the physiological responses of living organisms in space. It is therefore necessary to simulate weightlessness through the use of specially adapted equipment, such as clinostats, tilt tables, and body suspension devices. Each of these ideas, and more, is addressed in this review of the physical concepts related to space flights, microgravity, and hypergravity simulations. Basic theories, such as Newton's law and Einstein's principle are explained, followed by a look at the biomedical effects of experiments performed in space life sciences institutes, universities, and space agencies. Table of Contents: General Concepts in Physics - Definition of Physical Terms / The Effects of Hypergravity on Biomedical Experiments / The Effects of Microgravity on Biomedical Experiments / References

A medical device is an apparatus that uses engineering and scientific principles to interface to physiology and diagnose or treat a disease. In this Lecture, we specifically consider thosemedical devices that are computer based, and are therefore referred to as medical instruments. Further, the medical instruments we discuss are those that incorporate system theory into their designs. We divide these types of instruments into those that provide continuous observation and those that provide a single snapshot of health information. These instruments are termed patient monitoring devices and diagnostic devices, respectively.Within this Lecture, we highlight some of the common system theory techniques that are part of the toolkit of medical device engineers in industry. These techniques include the pseudorandom binary sequence, adaptive filtering, wavelet transforms, the autoregressive moving average model with exogenous input, artificial neural networks, fuzzy models, and fuzzy control. Because the clinical usage requirements for patient monitoring and diagnostic devices are so high, system theory is the preferred substitute for heuristic, empirical processing during noise artifact minimization and classification. Table of Contents: Preface / Medical Devices / System Theory / Patient Monitoring Devices / Diagnostic Devices / Conclusion / Author Biography

There are five different types of eye movements: saccades, smooth pursuit, vestibular ocular eye movements, optokinetic eye movements, and vergence eye movements. The purpose of this book is focused primarily on mathematical models of the horizontal saccadic eye movement system and the smooth pursuit system, rather than on how visual information is processed. A saccade is a fast eye movement used to acquire a target by placing the image of the target on the fovea. Smooth pursuit is a slow eye movement used to track a target as it moves by keeping the target on the fovea. The vestibular ocular movement is used to keep the eyes on a target during brief head movements. The optokinetic eye movement is a combination of saccadic and slow eye movements that keeps a full-field image stable on the retina during sustained head rotation. Each of these movements is a conjugate eye movement, that is, movements of both eyes together driven by a common neural source. A vergence movement is a non-conjugate eye movement allowing the eyes to track targets as they come closer or farther away. In this book, a 2009 version of a state-of-the-art model is presented for horizontal saccades that is 3rd-order and linear, and controlled by a physiologically based time-optimal neural network. The oculomotor plant and saccade generator are the basic elements of the saccadic system. The control of saccades is initiated by the superior colliculus and terminated by the cerebellar fastigial nucleus, and involves a complex neural circuit in the mid brain. This book is the second part of a book series on models of horizontal eye movements. Table of Contents: 2009 Linear Homeomorphic Saccadic Eye Movement Model and Post-Saccade Behavior: Dynamic and Glissadic Overshoot / Neural Network for the Saccade Controller

E-health is closely related with networks and telecommunications when dealing with applications of collecting or transferring medical data from distant locations for performing remote medical collaborations and diagnosis. In this book we provide an overview of the fields of image and signal processing for networked and distributed e-health applications and their supporting technologies. The book is structured in 10 chapters, starting the discussion from the lower end, that of acquisition and processing of biosignals and medical images and ending in complex virtual reality systems and techniques providing more intuitive interaction in a networked medical environment. The book also discusses networked clinical decision support systems and corresponding medical standards, WWW-based applications, medical collaborative platforms, wireless networking, and the concepts of ambient intelligence and pervasive computing in electronic healthcare systems.

This is the first in a series of short books on probability theory and random processes for biomedical engineers. This text is written as an introduction to probability theory. The goal was to prepare students, engineers and scientists at all levels of background and experience for the application of this theory to a wide variety of problems—as well as pursue these topics at a more advanced level. The approach is to present a unified treatment of the subject. There are only a few key concepts involved in the basic theory of probability theory. These key concepts are all presented in the first chapter. The second chapter introduces the topic of random variables. Later chapters simply expand upon these key ideas and extend the range of application. A considerable effort has been made to develop the theory in a logical manner—developing special mathematical skills as needed. The mathematical background required of the reader is basic knowledge of differential calculus. Every effort has been made to be consistent with commonly used notation and terminology—both within the engineering community as well as the probability and statistics literature. Biomedical engineering examples are introduced throughout the text and a large number of self-study problems are available for the reader.

This book represents the first in a two-volume set on biological rhythms. This volume focuses on supporting the claim that biological rhythms are universal and essential characteristics of living organisms, critical for proper functioning of any living system. The author begins by examining the potential reasons for the evolution of biological rhythms: (1) the need for complex, goal-oriented devices to control the timing of their activities; (2) the inherent tendency of feedback control systems to oscillate; and (3) the existence of stable and powerful geophysical cycles to which all organisms must adapt. To investigate the second reason, the author enlists the help of biomedical engineering students to develop mathematical models of various biological systems. One such model involves a typical endocrine feedback system. By adjusting various model parameters, it was found that creating a oscillation in any component of the model generated a rhythmic cascade that made the entire system oscillate. This same approach was used to show how daily light/dark cycles could cascade rhythmic patterns throughout ecosystems and within organisms. Following up on these results, the author discusses how the twin requirements of internal synchronization (precise temporal order necessary for the proper functioning of organisms as complex, goal-oriented devices) and external synchronization (aligning organisms'behavior and physiology with geophysical cycles) supported the evolution of biological clocks. The author then investigates the clock systems that evolved using both conceptual and mathematical models, with the assistance of Dr. Bahrad Sokhansanj, who contributes a chapter on mathematical formulations and models of rhythmic phenomena. With the ubiquity of biological rhythms established, the author suggests a new classification system: the F4LM approach (Function; Frequency; waveForm; Flexibility; Level of biological system expressing rhythms; and Mode of rhythm generation) to investigate biological rhythms. This approach is first used on the more familiar cardiac cycle and then on neural rhythms as exemplified and measured by the electroencephalogram. During the process of investigating neural cycles, the author finds yet another reason for the evolution of biological rhythms: physical constraints, such as those imposed upon long distance neural signaling. In addition, a common theme emerges of a select number of autorhythmic biological oscillators imposing coherent rhythmicity on a larger network or system. During the course of the volume, the author uses a variety of observations, models, experimental results, and arguments to support the original claim of the importance and universality of biological rhythms. In Volume 2, the author will move from the establishment of the critical nature of biological rhythms to how these phenomena may be used to improve human health, well-being, and productivity. In a sense, Volume 1 focuses on the chronobio aspect of chronobioengineering while Volume 2 investigates methods of translating this knowledge into applications, the engineering aspect of chronobioengineering. Table of Contents: Time and Time Again / Walking on Air: An Empirical Proof-of-Concept / Clock Tech, Part 1 / Clock Tech II From External to Internal Timers / Clock Tech III Rise of the CircaRhythms / The Circle Game: Mathematics, Models, and Rhythms / The Power of Circular Reasoning

Lung sounds auscultation is often the first noninvasive resource for detection and discrimination of respiratory pathologies available to the physician through the use of the stethoscope. Hearing interpretation, though, was the only means of appreciation of the lung sounds diagnostic information for many decades. Nevertheless, in recent years, computerized auscultation combined with signal processing techniques has boosted the diagnostic capabilities of lung sounds. The latter were traditionally analyzed and characterized by morphological changes in the time domain using statistical measures, by spectral properties in the frequency domain using simple spectral analysis, or by nonstationary properties in a joint time–frequency domain using short-time Fourier transform. Advanced signal processing techniques, however, have emerged in the last decade, broadening the perspective in lung sounds analysis. The scope of this book is to present up-to-date signal processing techniques that have been applied to the area of lung sound analysis. It starts with a description of the nature of lung sounds and continues with the introduction of new domains in their representation, new denoising techniques, and concludes with some reflective implications, both from engineers'and physicians'perspective. Issues of nonstationarity, nonlinearity, non-Gaussianity, modeling, and classification of lung sounds are addressed with new methodologies, revealing a more realistic approach to their pragmatic nature. Advanced denoising techniques that effectively circumvent the noise presence (e.g., heart sound interference, background noise) in lung sound recordings are described, providing the physician with high-quality auscultative data. The book offers useful information both to engineers and physicians interested in bioacoustics, clearly demonstrating the current trends in lung sound analysis. Table of Contents: The Nature of Lung Sound Signals / New Domains in LS Representation / Denoising Techniques / Reflective Implications

The biomedical engineering senior capstone design course is probably the most important course taken by undergraduate biomedical engineering students. It provides them with the opportunity to apply what they have learned in previous years; develop their communication (written, oral, and graphical), interpersonal (teamwork, conflict management, and negotiation), project management, and design skills; and learn about the product development process. It also provides students with an understanding of the economic, financial, legal, and regulatory aspects of the design, development, and commercialization of medical technology. The capstone design experience can change the way engineering students think about technology, society, themselves, and the world around them. It gives them a short preview of what it will be like to work as an engineer. It can make them aware of their potential to make a positive contribution to health care throughout the world and generate excitement for and pride in the engineering profession. Working on teams helps students develop an appreciation for the many ways team members, with different educational, political, ethnic, social, cultural, and religious backgrounds, look at problems. They learn to value diversity and become more willing to listen to different opinions and perspectives. Finally, they learn to value the contributions of nontechnical members of multidisciplinary project teams. Ideas for how to organize, structure, and manage a senior capstone design course for biomedical and other engineering students are presented here. These ideas will be helpful to faculty who are creating a new design course, expanding a current design program to more than the senior year, or just looking for some ideas for improving an existing course. Contents: I. Purpose, Goals, and Benefits / Why Our Students Need a Senior Capstone Design Course / Desired Learning Outcomes / Changing Student Attitudes, Perceptions, and Awarenesss / Senior Capstone Design Courses and Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Outcomes / II. Designing a Course to Meet Student Needs / Course Management and Required Deliverables / Projects and Project Teams / Lecture Topics / Intellectual Property Confidentiality Issues in Design Projects / III. Enhancing the Capstone Design Experience / Industry Involvement in Capstone Design Courses / Developing Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy / Providing Students with a Clinical Perspective / Service Learning Opportunities / Collaboration with Industrial Design Students / National Student Design Competitions / Organizational Support for Senior Capstone Design Courses / IV. Meeting the Changing Needs of Future Engineers / Capstone Design Courses and the Engineer of 2020

The monitoring of the effects of retinopathy on the visual system can be assisted by analyzing the vascular architecture of the retina. This book presents methods based on Gabor filters to detect blood vessels in fundus images of the retina. Forty images of the retina from the Digital Retinal Images for Vessel Extraction (DRIVE) database were used to evaluate the performance of the methods. The results demonstrate high efficiency in the detection of blood vessels with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.96. Monitoring the openness of the major temporal arcade (MTA) could facilitate improved diagnosis and optimized treatment of retinopathy. This book presents methods for the detection and modeling of the MTA, including the generalized Hough transform to detect parabolic forms. Results obtained with 40 images of the DRIVE database, compared with hand-drawn traces of the MTA, indicate a mean distance to the closest point of about 0.24mm. This book illustrates applications of the methods mentioned above for the analysis of the effects of proliferative diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity on retinal vascular architecture.

Fundus images of the retina are color images of the eye taken by specially designed digital cameras. Ophthalmologists rely on fundus images to diagnose various diseases that affect the eye, such as diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity. A crucial preliminary step in the analysis of retinal images is the identification and localization of important anatomical structures, such as the optic nerve head (ONH), the macula, and the major vascular arcades. Identification of the ONH is an important initial step in the detection and analysis of the anatomical structures and pathological features in the retina. Different types of retinal pathology may be detected and analyzed via the application of appropriately designed techniques of digital image processing and pattern recognition. Computer-aided analysis of retinal images has the potential to facilitate quantitative and objective analysis of retinal lesions and abnormalities. Accurate identification and localization of retinal features and lesions could contribute to improved diagnosis, treatment, and management of retinopathy. This book presents an introduction to diagnostic imaging of the retina and an overview of image processing techniques for ophthalmology. In particular, digital image processing algorithms and pattern analysis techniques for the detection of the ONH are described. In fundus images, the ONH usually appears as a bright region, white or yellow in color, and is indicated as the convergent area of the network of blood vessels. Use of the geometrical and intensity characteristics of the ONH, as well as the property that the ONH represents the location of entrance of the blood vessels and the optic nerve into the retina, is demonstrated in developing the methods. The image processing techniques described in the book include morphological filters for preprocessing fundus images, filters for edge detection, the Hough transform for the detection of lines and circles, Gabor filters to detect the blood vessels, and phase portrait analysis for the detection of convergent or node-like patterns. Illustrations of application of the methods to fundus images from two publicly available databases are presented, in terms of locating the center and the boundary of the ONH. Methods for quantitative evaluation of the results of detection of the ONH using measures of overlap and free-response receiver operating characteristics are also described. Table of Contents: Introduction / Computer-aided Analysis of Images of the Retina / Detection of Geometrical Patterns / Datasets and Experimental Setup / Detection of the\\Optic Nerve Head\\Using the Hough Transform / Detection of the\\Optic Nerve Head\\Using Phase Portraits / Concluding Remarks

In the past 50 years there has been an explosion of interest in the development of technologies whose end goal is to connect the human brain and/or nervous system directly to computers. Once the subject of science fiction, the technologies necessary to accomplish this goal are rapidly becoming reality. In laboratories around the globe, research is being undertaken to restore function to the physically disabled, to replace areas of the brain damaged by disease or trauma and to augment human abilities. Building neural interfaces and neuro-prosthetics relies on a diverse array of disciplines such as neuroscience, engineering, medicine and microfabrication just to name a few. This book presents a short history of neural interfacing (N.I.) research and introduces the reader to some of the current efforts to develop neural prostheses. The book is intended as an introduction for the college freshman or others wishing to learn more about the field. A resource guide is included for students along with a list of laboratories conducting N.I. research and universities with N.I. related tracks of study. Table of Contents: Neural Interfaces Past and Present / Current Neuroprosthesis Research / Conclusion / Resources for Students

This is the third in a series of short books on probability theory and random processes for biomedical engineers. This book focuses on standard probability distributions commonly encountered in biomedical engineering. The exponential, Poisson and Gaussian distributions are introduced, as well as important approximations to the Bernoulli PMF and Gaussian CDF. Many important properties of jointly Gaussian random variables are presented. The primary subjects of the final chapter are methods for determining the probability distribution of a function of a random variable. We first evaluate the probability distribution of a function of one random variable using the CDF and then the PDF. Next, the probability distribution for a single random variable is determined from a function of two random variables using the CDF. Then, the joint probability distribution is found from a function of two random variables using the joint PDF and the CDF. The aim of all three books is as an introduction to probability theory. The audience includes students, engineers and researchers presenting applications of this theory to a wide variety of problems—as well as pursuing these topics at a more advanced level. The theory material is presented in a logical manner—developing special mathematical skills as needed. The mathematical background required of the reader is basic knowledge of differential calculus. Pertinent biomedical engineering examples are throughout the text. Drill problems, straightforward exercises designed to reinforce concepts and develop problem solution skills, follow most sections.

Recent advances in development of sequencing technology has resulted in a deluge of genomic data. In order to make sense of this data, there is an urgent need for algorithms for data processing and quantitative reasoning. An emerging in silico approach, called computational genomic signatures, addresses this need by representing global species-specific features of genomes using simple mathematical models. This text introduces the general concept of computational genomic signatures, and it reviews some of the DNA sequence models which can be used as computational genomic signatures. The text takes the position that a practical computational genomic signature consists of both a model and a measure for computing the distance or similarity between models. Therefore, a discussion of sequence similarity/distance measurement in the context of computational genomic signatures is presented. The remainder of the text covers various applications of computational genomic signatures in the areas of metagenomics, phylogenetics and the detection of horizontal gene transfer. Table of Contents: Genome Signatures, Definition and Background / Other Computational Characterizations as Genome Signatures / Measuring Distance of Biological Sequences Using Genome Signatures / Applications: Phylogeny Construction / Applications: Metagenomics / Applications: Horizontal DNA Transfer Detection

Intended as an introduction to the field of biomedical engineering, this book covers the topics of biomechanics (Part I) and bioelectricity (Part II). Each chapter emphasizes a fundamental principle or law, such as Darcy's Law, Poiseuille's Law, Hooke's Law, Starling's Law, levers, and work in the area of fluid, solid, and cardiovascular biomechanics. In addition, electrical laws and analysis tools are introduced, including Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Laws, Coulomb's Law, capacitors and the fluid/electrical analogy. Culminating the electrical portion are chapters covering Nernst and membrane potentials and Fourier transforms. Examples are solved throughout the book and problems with answers are given at the end of each chapter. A semester-long Major Project that models the human systemic cardiovascular system, utilizing both a Matlab numerical simulation and an electrical analog circuit, ties many of the book's concepts together. Table of Contents: Basic Concepts / Darcy's Law / Poiseuille's Law: Pressure-Driven Flow Through Tubes / Hooke's Law: Elasticity of Tissues and Compliant Vessels / Starling's Law of the Heart, Windkessel Elements and Volume / Euler's Method and First-Order Time Constants / Muscle, Leverage, Work, Energy and Power

Tremor represents one of the most common movement disorders worldwide. It affects both sexes and may occur at any age. In most cases, tremor is disabling and causes social difficulties, resulting in poorer quality of life. Tremor is now recognized as a public health issue given the aging of the population. Tremor is a complex phenomenon that has attracted the attention of scientists from various disciplines. Tremor results from dynamic interactions between multiple synaptically coupled neuronal systems and the biomechanical, physical, and electrical properties of the external effectors. There have been major advances in our understanding of tremor pathogenesis these last three decades, thanks to new imaging techniques and genetic discoveries. Moreover, significant progress in computer technologies, developments of reliable and unobtrusive wearable sensors, improvements in miniaturization, and advances in signal processing have opened new perspectives for the accurate characterization and daily monitoring of tremor. New therapies are emerging. In this book, we provide an overview of tremor from pathogenesis to therapeutic aspects. We review the definitions, the classification of the varieties of tremor, and the contribution of central versus peripheral mechanisms. Neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, neurochemical, and pharmacological topics related to tremor are pointed out. Our goals are to explain the fundamental basis of tremor generation, to show the recent technological developments, especially in instrumentation, which are reshaping research and clinical practice, and to provide up-to-date information related to emerging therapies. The integrative transdisciplinary approach has been used, combining engineering and physiological principles to diagnose, monitor, and treat tremor. Guidelines for evaluation of tremor are explained. This book has been written for biomedical engineering students, engineers, researchers, medical students, biologists, neurologists, and biomedical professionals of any discipline looking for an updated and multidisciplinary overview of tremor. It can be used for biomedical courses. Table of Contents: Introduction / Anatomical Overview of the Central and Peripheral Nervous System / Physiology of the Nervous System / Characterization of Tremor / Prinipal Disorders Associated with Tremor / Quantification of Tremor / Mechanisms of Tremor / Treatments

Segmentation and landmarking of computed tomographic (CT) images of pediatric patients are important and useful in computer-aided diagnosis (CAD), treatment planning, and objective analysis of normal as well as pathological regions. Identification and segmentation of organs and tissues in the presence of tumors are difficult. Automatic segmentation of the primary tumor mass in neuroblastoma could facilitate reproducible and objective analysis of the tumor's tissue composition, shape, and size. However, due to the heterogeneous tissue composition of the neuroblastic tumor, ranging from low-attenuation necrosis to high-attenuation calcification, segmentation of the tumor mass is a challenging problem. In this context, methods are described in this book for identification and segmentation of several abdominal and thoracic landmarks to assist in the segmentation of neuroblastic tumors in pediatric CT images. Methods to identify and segment automatically the peripheral artifacts and tissues, the rib structure, the vertebral column, the spinal canal, the diaphragm, and the pelvic surface are described. Techniques are also presented to evaluate quantitatively the results of segmentation of the vertebral column, the spinal canal, the diaphragm, and the pelvic girdle by comparing with the results of independent manual segmentation performed by a radiologist. The use of the landmarks and removal of several tissues and organs are shown to assist in limiting the scope of the tumor segmentation process to the abdomen, to lead to the reduction of the false-positive error, and to improve the result of segmentation of neuroblastic tumors. Table of Contents: Introduction to Medical Image Analysis / Image Segmentation / Experimental Design and Database / Ribs, Vertebral Column, and Spinal Canal / Delineation of the Diaphragm / Delineation of the Pelvic Girdle / Application of Landmarking / Concluding Remarks

This lecture book is intended to be an accessible and comprehensive introduction to random signal processing with an emphasis on the real-world applications of biosignals. Although the material has been written and developed primarily for advanced undergraduate biomedical engineering students it will also be of interest to engineers and interested biomedical professionals of any discipline seeking an introduction to the field. Within education, most biomedical engineering programs are aimed to provide the knowledge required of a graduate student while undergraduate programs are geared toward designing circuits and of evaluating only the cardiac signals. Very few programs teach the processes with which to evaluate brainwave, sleep, respiratory sounds, heart valve sounds, electromyograms, electro-oculograms, or random signals acquired from the body. The primary goal of this lecture book is to help the reader understand the time and frequency domain processes which may be used and to evaluate random physiological signals. A secondary goal is to learn the evaluation of actual mammalian data without spending most the time writing software programs. This publication utilizes “DADiSP”, a digital signal processing software, from the DSP Development Corporation.

The identification and interpretation of the signs of breast cancer in mammographic images from screening programs can be very difficult due to the subtle and diversified appearance of breast disease. This book presents new image processing and pattern recognition techniques for computer-aided detection and diagnosis of breast cancer in its various forms. The main goals are: (1) the identification of bilateral asymmetry as an early sign of breast disease which is not detectable by other existing approaches; and (2) the detection and classification of masses and regions of architectural distortion, as benign lesions or malignant tumors, in a unified framework that does not require accurate extraction of the contours of the lesions. The innovative aspects of the work include the design and validation of landmarking algorithms, automatic Tabár masking procedures, and various feature descriptors for quantification of similarity and for contour independent classification of mammographic lesions. Characterization of breast tissue patterns is achieved by means of multidirectional Gabor filters. For the classification tasks, pattern recognition strategies, including Fisher linear discriminant analysis, Bayesian classifiers, support vector machines, and neural networks are applied using automatic selection of features and cross-validation techniques. Computer-aided detection of bilateral asymmetry resulted in accuracy up to 0.94, with sensitivity and specificity of 1 and 0.88, respectively. Computer-aided diagnosis of automatically detected lesions provided sensitivity of detection of malignant tumors in the range of [0.70, 0.81] at a range of falsely detected tumors of [0.82, 3.47] per image. The techniques presented in this work are effective in detecting and characterizing various mammographic signs of breast disease.

Evaluating biomedical technology poses a significant challenge in light of the complexity and rate of introduction in today's healthcare delivery system. Successful evaluation requires an integration of clinical medicine, science, finance, and market analysis. Little guidance, however, exists for those who must conduct comprehensive technology evaluations. The 3Q Method meets these present day needs. The 3Q Method is organized around 3 key questions dealing with 1) clinical and scientific basis, 2) financial fit and 3) strategic and expertise fit. Both healthcare providers (e.g., hospitals) and medical industry providers can use the Method to evaluate medical devices, information systems and work processes from their own perspectives. The book describes the 3Q Method in detail and provides additional suggestions for optimal presentation and report preparation. Table of Contents: Introduction / Question #1: Is It Real? / Question #2: Can We Win? / Question #3: Is It Worth It? / 3Q Case Study Example -- Pershing Medical Company / Appendix A: Health Care Technology Assessment Sample Class Syllabus / Appendix B: How do Hospitals and Clinicians Get Paid? / Appendix C: Technology Assessment PowerPoint Report Guidelines / Appendix D: Class Report Scenario Example / Appendix E: Four-Blocker Slide Templates for 3Q Reports

Mechanical testing is a useful tool in the field of biomechanics. Classic biomechanics employs mechanical testing for a variety of purposes. For instance, testing may be used to determine the mechanical properties of bone under a variety of loading modes and various conditions including age and disease state. In addition, testing may be used to assess fracture fixation procedures to justify clinical approaches. Mechanical testing may also be used to test implants and biomaterials to determine mechanical strength and appropriateness for clinical purposes. While the information from a mechanical test will vary, there are basics that need to be understood to properly conduct mechanical testing. This book will attempt to provide the reader not only with the basic theory of conducting mechanical testing, but will also focus on providing practical insights and examples.

This contributed volume focuses on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and explores the ways in which signaling mechanisms at the biochemical, molecular, and cellular levels in the blood vessels (vascular) and heart contribute to the underlying causes of development and progression of the CVDs. This volume covers unique topics such as oxidant signaling in vascular and heart diseases and health, cytoskeletal signaling in vascular health and disease, phospholipase signaling in CVDs, lipid signaling in vascular and myocardial health and diseases, and drug discovery in cellular signaling for cardiovascular diseases.This book assembles the most important discoveries made by leaders on the cellular signaling mechanisms operating behind the development and progression of life-threatening CVDs. It is an extremely useful resource for the investigators in the field of CVDs, and opens the discussion for further discovery of efficient management and effective treatment of the CVDs.

This contributed volume reviews the latest advances in all the new technologies currently developed for MagnetoEncephaloGraphy (MEG) recordings, as well as sensor technologies and integrated sensor arrays for on-scalp MEG. The book gives an account of the first MEG imaging studies and explores the new field of feasible, experimental paradigms of on-scalp MEG. This is an ideal book for engineers, researchers, and students in the neurosciences interested in MEG imaging.