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Purpose: Endovascular revascularization is becoming the established first-line treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD). Ultrasound (US) imaging is used pre-operatively to make the first diagnosis and is often followed by a CT angiography (CTA). US provides a non-invasive and non-ionizing method for the visualization of arteries and lesion(s). This paper proposes to generate a 3D stretched reconstruction of the femoral artery from a sequence of 2D US B-mode frames. Methods: The proposed method is solely image-based. A Mask-RCNN is used to segment the femoral artery on the 2D US frames. In-plane registration is achieved by aligning the artery segmentation masks. Subsequently, a convolutional neural network (CNN) predicts the out-of-plane translation. After processing all input frames and re-sampling the volume according to the vessel's centerline, the whole femoral artery can be visualized on a single slice of the resulting stretched view. Results: 111 tracked US sequences of the left or right femoral arteries have been acquired on 18 healthy volunteers. fivefold cross-validation was used to validate our method and achieve an absolute mean error of 0.28 ± 0.28 mm and a median drift error of 8.98%. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the feasibility of freehand US stretched reconstruction following a deep learning strategy for imaging the femoral artery. Stretched views are generated and can give rich diagnosis information in the pre-operative planning of PAD procedures. This visualization could replace traditional 3D imaging in the pre-operative planning process, and during the pre-operative diagnosis phase, to identify, locate, and size stenosis/thrombosis lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work was to study the elastic recovery of EPDM samples crosslinked either by a phenolic resin (resol) or by a radical peroxide (dicumyl peroxide, DCP). From compression set experiments, it was observed that radically crosslinked EPDMs have better elastic recovery properties. On the other hand, for the same crosslinking density, radically crosslinked EPDM shows better compression set than EPDM crosslinked with phenolic resins. The Chasset-Thirion equation was then used to successfully fit the experimental relaxation curves. As a notable result, the preferential statistics of a peroxide-crosslinked network over a phenolic resin (resol) showed that better elastic recovery properties were obtained. Finally, the influence of fillers (carbon black and silica) was also studied. Carbon black with DCP crosslinking was shown to improve elasticity recovery whereas silica fillers lead to worse properties. It was then assumed that the interaction between particle surface and a voir comme dans autre publi à modifier ce crosslinking agent induced crosslinking gradients in the inter-particle volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding what controls the travelling distance of large landslides has been the topic of considerable debate. By combining observation and experimental data with depth-averaged continuum modelling of landslides and generated seismic waves, it was empirically observed that lower effective friction had to be taken into account in the models to reproduce the dynamics and runout distance of larger volume landslides. Moreover, such simulation and observation results are compatible with a friction weakening with velocity as observed in earthquake mechanics. We investigate here as to whether similar empirical reduced friction should be put into discrete element models (DEM) to reproduce observed runout of large landslides on Earth and on Mars. First we show that, in the investigated parameter range and for a given volume, the runout distance simulated by 3D DEM is not much affected by the number (i.e. size) of grains once this number attains ~ 8000. We then calibrate the model on laboratory experiments and simulate other experiments of granular flows on inclined planes, making it possible for the first time to reproduce the observed effect of initial volume and aspect ratio on runout distances. In particular, the normalised runout distance starts to depend on the volume involved only above a critical slope angle > 16–19°, as observed experimentally. Finally, based on field data (volume, topography, deposit), we simulate a series of landslides on simplified inclined topography. The empirical friction coefficient, calibrated to reproduce the observed runout for each landslide, is shown to decrease with increasing landslide volume (or velocity), going down to values as low as 0.1–0.2. No distinguishable difference is observed between the behaviour of terrestrial and Martian landslides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Interventional endovascular treatment has become the first line of management in the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, contrast and radiation exposure continue to limit the feasibility of these procedures. This paper presents a novel hybrid image fusion system for endovascular intervention of PAD. We present two different roadmapping methods from intra- and pre-interventional imaging that can be used either simultaneously or independently, constituting the navigation system.Methods: The navigation system is decomposed into several steps that can be entirely integrated within the procedure workflow without modifying it to benefit from the roadmapping. First, a 2D panorama of the entire peripheral artery system is automatically created based on a sequence of stepping fluoroscopic images acquired during the intra-interventional diagnosis phase. During the interventional phase, the live image can be synchronized on the panorama to form the basis of the image fusion system. Two types of augmented information are then integrated. First, an angiography panorama is proposed to avoid contrast media re-injection. Information exploiting the pre-interventional computed tomography angiography (CTA) is also brought to the surgeon by means of semiautomatic 3D/2D registration on the 2D panorama. Each step of the workflow was independently validated.Results: Experiments for both the 2D panorama creation and the synchronization processes showed very accurate results (errors of 1.24 and 2.6±1.4 mm, respectively), similarly to the registration on the 3D CTA (errors of 1.5±0.7 mm), with minimal user interaction and very low computation time. First results of an on-going clinical study highlighted its major clinical added value on intraoperative parameters.Conclusion: No image fusion system has been proposed yet for endovascular procedures of PAD in lower extremities. More globally, such a navigation system, combining image fusion from different 2D and 3D image sources, is novel in the field of endovascular procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a localized, permanent and irreversible enlargement of the artery, with the formation of thrombus into the inner wall of the aneurysm. A precise patient-specific segmentation of the thrombus is useful for both the pre-operative planning to estimate the rupture risk, and for post-operative assessment to monitor the disease evolution. This paper presents a generic approach for 3D segmentation of thrombus from patients suffering from AAA using computed tomography angiography (CTA) scans. Methods: A fast and versatile thrombus segmentation approach has been developed. It is composed of initial centerline detection and aorta lumen segmentation, an optimized pre-processing stage and the use of a 3D deformable model. The approach has been designed to be very generic and requires minimal user interaction. The proposed method was tested on different datasets with 145 patients overall, including pre- and post-operative CTAs, abdominal aorta and iliac artery sections, different calcification degrees, aneurysm sizes and contrast enhancement qualities. Results: The thrombus segmentation approach showed very accurate results with respect to manual delineations for all datasets ( $$\hbox {Dice} = 0.86 \pm 0.06, 0.81 \pm 0.06$$ and $$0.87 \pm 0.03$$ for abdominal aorta sections on pre-operative CTA, iliac artery sections on pre-operative CTAs and aorta sections on post-operative CTA, respectively). Experiments on the different patient and image conditions showed that the method was highly versatile, with no significant differences in term of precision. Comparison with the level-set algorithm also demonstrated the superiority of the 3D deformable model. Average processing time was $$8.2 \pm 3.5 \hbox { s}$$ . Conclusion: We presented a near-automatic and generic thrombus segmentation algorithm applicable to a large variability of patient and imaging conditions. When integrated in an endovascular planning system, our segmentation algorithm shows its compatibility with clinical routine and could be used for pre-operative planning and post-operative assessment of endovascular procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The equatorial regions of Saturn's moon Titan are covered by linear dunes that propagate eastwards. Global climate models (GCMs), however, predict westward mean surface winds at low latitudes on Titan, similar to the trade winds on Earth. This apparent contradiction has been attributed to Saturn's gravitational tides, large-scale topography and wind statistics, but none of these hypotheses fully explains the global eastward propagation of dunes in Titan's equatorial band. However, above altitudes of about 5 km, Titan's atmosphere is in eastward super-rotation, suggesting that this momentum may be delivered to the surface. Here we assess the influence of equatorial tropical methane storms-which develop at high altitudes during the equinox-on Titan's dune orientation, using mesoscale simulations of convective methane clouds with a GCM wind profile that includes super-rotation. We find that these storms produce fast eastward gust fronts above the surface that exceed the normal westward surface winds. These episodic gusts generated by tropical storms are expected to dominate aeolian transport, leading to eastward propagation of dunes. We therefore suggest a coupling between super-rotation, tropical methane storms and dune formation on Titan. This framework, applied to GCM predictions and analogies to some terrestrial dune fields, explains the linear shape, eastward propagation and poleward divergence of Titan's dunes, and implies an equatorial origin of dune sand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear sand dunes cover the equatorial latitudes of Saturn's moon Titan and are shaped by global wind patterns. These dunes are thought to reflect present-day diurnal, tidal and seasonal winds, but climate models have failed to reproduce observed dune morphologies with these wind patterns. Dunes diagnostic of a specific wind or formative timescale have remained elusive. Here we analyse radar imagery from NASA's Cassini spacecraft and identify barchan, star and reoriented dunes in sediment-limited regions of Titan's equatorial dune fields that diverge by 23° on average from the orientation of linear dunes. These morphologies imply shifts in wind direction and sediment availability. Using a numerical model, we estimate that the observed reorientation of dune crests to a change in wind direction would have taken around 3,000 Saturn years (1 Saturn year  29.4 Earth years) or longer-a timescale that exceeds diurnal, seasonal or tidal cycles. We propose that shifts in winds and sediment availability are the product of long-term climate cycles associated with variations in Saturn's orbit. Orbitally controlled landscape evolution-also proposed to explain the distribution of Titan's polar lakes-implies a dune-forming climate on equatorial Titan that is analogous to Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decay of the martian atmosphere-which is dominated by carbon dioxide-is a component of the long-term environmental change on Mars from a climate that once allowed rivers to flow to the cold and dry conditions of today. The minimum size of craters serves as a proxy for palaeopressure of planetary atmospheres, because thinner atmospheres permit smaller objects to reach the surface at high velocities and form craters. The Aeolis Dorsa region near Gale crater on Mars contains a high density of preserved ancient craters interbedded with river deposits and thus can provide constraints on atmospheric density at the time of fluvial activity. Here we use high-resolution images and digital terrain models from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to identify ancient craters in deposits in Aeolis Dorsa that date to about 3.6 Gyr ago and compare their size distribution with models of atmospheric filtering of impactors. We obtain an upper limit of 0.9 ± 0.1 bar for the martian atmospheric palaeopressure, rising to 1.9 ± 0.2 bar if rimmed circular mesas-interpreted to be erosionally-resistant fills or floors of impact craters-are excluded. We assume target properties appropriate for desert alluvium: if sediment had rock-mass strength similar to bedrock at the time of impact, the paleopressure upper limit increases by a factor of up to two. If Mars did not have a stable multibar atmosphere at the time that the rivers were flowing-as suggested by our results-then a warm and wet CO2/H2O greenhouse is ruled out, and long-term average temperatures were most likely below freezing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2018, for the first time a dedicated geophysical station, the InSight lander, will be deployed on the surface of Mars. Along with the two main geophysical packages, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) and the Heat-Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), the InSight lander holds a highly sensitive pressure sensor (PS) and the Temperature and Winds for InSight (TWINS) instrument, both of which (along with the InSight FluxGate (IFG) Magnetometer) form the Auxiliary Sensor Payload Suite (APSS). Associated with the RADiometer (RAD) instrument which will measure the surface brightness temperature, and the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) which will be used to quantify atmospheric opacity, this will make InSight capable to act as a meteorological station at the surface of Mars. While probing the internal structure of Mars is the primary scientific goal of the mission, atmospheric science remains a key science objective for InSight. InSight has the potential to provide a more continuous and higher-frequency record of pressure, air temperature and winds at the surface of Mars than previous in situ missions. In the paper, key results from multiscale meteorological modeling, from Global Climate Models to Large-Eddy Simulations, are described as a reference for future studies based on the InSight measurements during operations. We summarize the capabilities of InSight for atmospheric observations, from profiling during Entry, Descent and Landing to surface measurements (pressure, temperature, winds, angular momentum), and the plans for how InSight’s sensors will be used during operations, as well as possible synergies with orbital observations. In a dedicated section, we describe the seismic impact of atmospheric phenomena (from the point of view of both “noise” to be decorrelated from the seismic signal and “signal” to provide information on atmospheric processes). We discuss in this framework Planetary Boundary Layer turbulence, with a focus on convective vortices and dust devils, gravity waves (with idealized modeling), and large-scale circulations. Our paper also presents possible new, exploratory, studies with the InSight instrumentation: surface layer scaling and exploration of the Monin-Obukhov model, aeolian surface changes and saltation / lifing studies, and monitoring of secular pressure changes. The InSight mission will be instrumental in broadening the knowledge of the Martian atmosphere, with a unique set of measurements from the surface of Mars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]