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According to the WHO, overweight and obesity, defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation, are a major risk factor for many diseases. The bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a commonly used method of assessing body composition in clinical practice and medical research. When the BIA reveals abnormalities, the recommended therapeutic procedure is to modify the diet and implement physical activity. One method that can reinforce or support physical activity is whole-body vibration (WBV). Vibrating devices with stochastic resonance (SR) generate vibrations of variable amplitude and frequency. For people with unhealthy body composition who cannot undertake physical activity for various reasons, procedures with stochastic resonance seems to be a good solution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of stochastic resonance whole-body vibration (SR-WBV) on the body composition of women. Measured BC parameters included fat mass (FM, kg), percent body fat (PBF, %), visceral fat area (VFA, cm2), soft lean mass (SLM, kg), fat-free mass (FFM, kg), skeletal muscle mass (SMM, kg), body cell mass (BCM, kg), protein (kg), minerals (kg), bone mineral contents (BMC, kg), intracellular water (IW, l), extracellular water (EW, l), total body water (TBW, l), extracellular water/total body water (EW/TBW). The study involved 240 healthy young women with normal body composition (BC) and low or moderate physical activity levels. Two groups were randomly formed from among all participants: the V group included 134 women participating in 12 SR-WBV procedure sessions over 6 weeks; the C group included 106 women not participating in SR-WBV procedure sessions over 6 weeks. The stochastic procedure consisted of 12 sessions over 6 weeks. One session lasted 15 min, consisting of nine active series of vibrations lasting 45 s each with 40 s breaks between series. The vibration frequency was 2–8 Hz and the amplitude ranged 0.5–3.5 mm. While observing the effect of SR-WBV vibrations on body composition in the group of women, no statistically significant changes were found. Hence, we conclude that the stochastic resonance vibration procedure cannot be recommended as a way to modify body composition in healthy young women characterized by normal body composition and low or moderate physical activity levels.

The growing popularity of permanent makeup is associated with an increase in the need for treatments that effectively remove pigments from the skin. The risk of the radiation wavelength not being adjusted to the spectral ranges of individual pigments that compose the final color appears because complex dye compositions are used for permanent makeup. Incorrectly selected laser parameters may reduce the effectiveness of the treatment and increase the risk of thermal damage, leading to scarring and discoloration. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of laser permanent makeup removal using hyperspectral imaging. Five different dyes were implemented into the skin of the pig’s ear. Then the dyes were removed using a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. During the study, skin measurements were performed with a hyperspectral camera before and after laser application. The results were analyzed using GLCM, reflectance, and quadratic tree decomposition. Based on the obtained results, it was found that the most difficult dye to remove is white because it is characterized by high reflectivity of electromagnetic radiation. After the dye removal, there was a decrease in reflectance and contrast of GLCM and an increase in homogeneity for all dyes except for white. After the laser application, the pigments were distributed more equally in the skin.

The title and theme of this Special Issue “Application of Image Processing in Medicine” is currently very popular, topical, and important [...]

Abstract Background The Corvis® ST tonometer is an innovative device which, by combining a classic non-contact tonometer with an ultra-fast Scheimpflug camera, provides a number of parameters allowing for the assessment of corneal biomechanics. The acquired biomechanical parameters improve medical diagnosis of selected eye diseases. One of the key elements in biomechanical measurements is the correct corneal contour detection, which is the basis for further calculations. The presented study deals with the problem of outer corneal edge detection based on a series of images from the afore-mentioned device. Corneal contour detection is the first and extremely important stage in the acquisition and analysis of corneal dynamic parameters. Result A total of 15,400 images from the Corvis® ST tonometer acquired from 110 patients undergoing routine ophthalmologic examinations were analysed. A method of outer corneal edge detection on the basis of a series of images from the Corvis® ST was proposed. The method was compared with known and commonly used edge detectors: Sobel, Roberts, and Canny operators, as well as others, known from the literature. The analysis was carried out in MATLAB® version 9.0.0.341360 (R2016a) with the Image Processing Toolbox (version 9.4) and the Neural Network Toolbox (version 9.0). The method presented in this paper provided the smallest values of the mean error (0.16%), stability (standard deviation 0.19%) and resistance to noise, characteristic for Corvis® ST tonometry tests, compared to the methods known from the literature. The errors were 5.78 ± 9.19%, 3.43 ± 6.21%, and 1.26 ± 3.11% for the Roberts, Sobel, and Canny methods, respectively. Conclusions The proposed new method for detecting the outer corneal contour increases the accuracy of intraocular pressure measurements. It can be used to analyse dynamic parameters of the cornea.

Abstract Background Non-contact tonometers based on the method using air puff and Scheimpflug’s fast camera are one of the latest devices allowing the measurement of intraocular pressure and additional biomechanical parameters of the cornea. Biomechanical features significantly affect changes in intraocular pressure values, as well as their changes, may indicate the possibility of corneal ectasia. This work presents the latest and already known biomechanical parameters available in the new offered software. The authors focused on their practical application and the diagnostic credibility indicated in the literature. Discussion An overview of available literature indicates the importance of new dynamic corneal parameters. The latest parameters developed on the basis of biomechanics analysis of corneal deformation process, available in non-contact tonometers using Scheimpflug’s fast camera, are used in the evaluation of laser refractive surgery procedures, e.g. LASIK procedure. In addition, the assessment of changes in biomechanically corrected intraocular pressure confirms its independence from changes in the corneal biomechanics which may allow an intraocular pressure real assessment. The newly developed Corvis Biomechanical Index combined with the corneal tomography and topography assessment is an important aid in the classification of patients with keratoconus. Conclusion New parameters characterising corneal deformation, including Corvis Biomechanical Index and biomechanical compensated intraocular pressure, significantly extend the diagnostic capabilities of this device and may be helpful in assessing corneal diseases of the eye. Nevertheless, further research is needed to confirm their diagnostic pertinence.

Aims: To evaluate the ocular and systemic factors involved in cataract surgery complications in a teaching hospital using artificial intelligence.Methods: One eye of 1,229 patients with a mean age of 70.2 ± 10.3 years old that underwent cataract surgery was selected for this study. Ocular and systemic details of the patients were recorded and then analyzed by means of artificial intelligence. A total of 1.25 billion simulations of artificial intelligence learning and testing were conducted on several variables and a customized model of analysis was developed.Results: A total of 73 complications were recorded in this study. According to the analysis performed, the main factors involved in cataract surgery complications were: a surgeon in training, axial length and intraocular lens power. The model predicted how long surgery would last with an error of

Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD) is a chronic disease of various etiologies. Correct TMD diagnosis enables to apply effective treatment and significantly improves the quality of patients’ lives. One of the diagnostic methods subjected to evaluation in recent years is thermography, which enables safe, noninvasive, and quick imaging of the temperature distribution of temporomandibular joint-associated tissues. This paper, based on Medline, Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source, Academic Search Ultimate, Medline Complete databases, presents basic information related to thermovision imaging and outlines the direction of research conducted in recent years which fight with difficulties in the interpretation of thermograms that require specialized, dedicated analysis and processing of the obtained images. The problem concerns also no standardized protocol for measuring masticatory muscle temperature.

Abstract Background To improve accuracy of IOLMaster (Carl Zeiss, Jena, Germany) in corneal power measurement after myopic excimer corneal refractive surgery (MECRS) using multivariate polynomial analysis (MPA). Methods One eye of each of 403 patients (mean age 31.53 ± 8.47 years) was subjected to MECRS for a myopic defect, measured as spherical equivalent, ranging from − 9.50 to − 1 D (mean − 4.55 ± 2.20 D). Each patient underwent a complete eye examination and IOLMaster scan before surgery and at 1, 3 and 6 months follow up. Axial length (AL), flatter keratometry value (K1), steeper keratometry value (K2), mean keratometry value (KM) and anterior chamber depth measured from the corneal endothelium to the anterior surface of the lens (ACD) were used in a MPA to devise a method to improve accuracy of KM measurements. Results Using AL, K1, K2 and ACD measured after surgery in polynomial degree 2 analysis, mean error of corneal power evaluation after MECRS was + 0.16 ± 0.19 D. Conclusions MPA was found to be an effective tool in devising a method to improve precision in corneal power evaluation in eyes previously subjected to MECRS, according to our results.

Abstract This article is a review of the book “Master machine learning algorithms, discover how they work and implement them from scratch” (ISBN: not available, 37 USD, 163 pages) edited by Jason Brownlee published by the Author, edition, v1.10 http://MachineLearningMastery.com. An accompanying commentary discusses some of the issues that are involved with use of machine learning and data mining techniques to develop predictive models for diagnosis or prognosis of disease, and to call attention to additional requirements for developing diagnostic and prognostic algorithms that are generally useful in medicine. Appendix provides examples that illustrate potential problems with machine learning that are not addressed in the reviewed book.

Abstract Background Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is one of the most common diseases observed in clinics and is the leading cause of evaporative dry eye. Today, diagnostics of MGD is not fully automatic yet and is based on a qualitative assessment made by an ophthalmologist. Therefore, an automatic analysis method was developed to assess MGD quantiatively. Materials The analysis made use of 228 images of 57 patients recorded by OCULUS Keratograph® 5 M with a resolution of 1024 × 1360 pixels concern 30 eyes of healthy individuals (14 women and 16 men) and 27 eyes of sick patients (10 women and 17 men). The diagnosis of dry eye was made according to the consensus of DED in China (2013). Methods The presented method of analysis is a new, developed method enabling an automatic, reproducible and quantitative assessment of Meibomian glands. The analysis relates to employing the methods of analysis and image processing. The analysis was conducted in the Matlab environment Version 7.11.0.584, R2010b, Java VM Version: Java 1.6.0_17-b04 with Sun Microsystems Inc. with toolboxes: Statistical, Signal Processing and Image Processing. Results The presented, new method of analysis of Meibomian glands is fully automatic, does not require operator’s intervention, allows obtaining reproducible results and enables a quantitative assessment of Meibomian glands. Compared to the other known methods, particularly with the method described in literature it allows obtaining better sensitivity (98%) and specificity (100%) results by 2%.

Background: Orthodontic elastics are used in orthodontic treatment with fixed braces. The effect of class I elastics on changing gingiva temperature as a periodontal component was investigated. Methods: To evaluate the temperature changes, objective and automatic classifiers were used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the measurement. Results: Before putting on the elastics, the average gingival temperature of all 120 patients was 34.72 ± 0.7548 °C. Putting on the elastics for 10 min slightly increased the temperature to 34.81 ± 0.5938 °C; however, this is not a statistically significant change (p > 0.05). Conclusion: It is concluded that putting an elastic band on does not significantly affect the gingiva temperature change. The use of class I elastics in orthodontic treatment in patients with healthy periodontium does not significantly change the periodontal temperature, which indirectly proves the production of safe orthodontic forces that can be used in the clinic. The use of artificial intelligence in the assessment of the temperature of the gingiva makes it possible to exclude factors that may disturb the objective thermographic analysis.

Purpose. To assess the repeatability and reproducibility of dynamic corneal response parameters measured by the Corvis ST (Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany). Methods. One eye randomly selected from 32 healthy volunteers was examined by the Corvis ST. Three different devices were used in an alternated random order for taking three measurements at each device in each subject. Standard intraocular pressure (IOP), the biomechanical-compensated IOP (bIOP), and DCR parameters were evaluated. The within-subject standard deviation (ζw) and coefficient of variation (CV) were assessed. Results. Regarding pressure indices, the ζw was below 1 mmHg for repeatability (0.98 for IOP and 0.89 for bIOP) and the CV was 6.6% for IOP and 6.1% for bIOP. For reproducibility, the ζw was around 1 mmHg (1.12 for IOP and 1.05 for bIOP) and the CV was 7.6% for IOP and 7.1% for bIOP. Most of DCR indices presented CV for repeatability below 4%. For reproducibility, the CV of most of the indices were below 6%. The deformation amplitude (DA) ratio in 1 mm and integrated radius were below 4% (1.2% and 3.8%, resp.). Conclusions. The Corvis ST showed good precision (repeatability and reproducibility) for IOP measurements and for DCR in healthy eyes.

Background. Blood pulsation affects the results obtained using various medical devices in many different ways. Method. The paper proves the effect of blood pulsation on intraocular pressure measurements. Six measurements for each of the 10 healthy subjects were performed in various phases of blood pulsation. A total of 8400 corneal deformation images were recorded. The results of intraocular pressure measurements were related to the results of heartbeat phases measured with a pulse oximeter placed on the index finger of the subject’s left hand. Results. The correlation between the heartbeat phase measured with a pulse oximeter and intraocular pressure is 0.69±0.26 (p

The aim of the present study is to quantitatively assess the expression of selected regulatory molecules, such as leptin, leptin receptor, and adiponectin in the blood of obese patients with type 2 diabetes both before treatment and after six months of pharmacological therapy with the long-lasting insulin analogue, insulin detemir. A significant decrease in the analysed regulatory molecules, i.e., leptin receptor and adiponectin, was found in blood plasma of the patients with untreated type 2 diabetes. These changes were accompanied by an increase in plasma leptin concentrations. Insulin treatment resulted in the normalization of plasma leptin receptor and adiponectin concentrations. The circulating leptin level did not change following anti-diabetic therapy with insulin detemir. Gender was a significant factor modifying the circulating level of all the analysed regulatory active compounds. Bioinformatic analysis was performed using Matlab with the Signal Processing Toolbox. The conducted discriminant analysis revealed that the leptin receptor, Δw(19), and adiponectin, Δw(21), were the parameters undergoing the most significant quantitative changes during the six-month therapy with insulin detemir. The conducted examinations indicated the contribution of adipocytokines—the biologically-active mediators of systemic metabolism, such as leptin and adiponectin in the pathomechanism of disorders being the basis for obesity which leads to development of insulin resistance, which, in turn, results in the occurrence of type 2 diabetes.