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Background/Aim. Prostate delineation, pre-planning and catheter implantation procedures, in high-dose rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT), are commonly based on the prostate manually segmented transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) images. The aim of this study was to quantitatively analyze the consistency of prostate capsule delineation, done by a single therapist, prior to each HDR-BT fraction and the changes in the shape of the prostate capsule during HDR-BT, using two dimensional (2D) TRUS axial image. Methods. A group of 16 patients were treated at the Medical System Belgrade Brachytherapy Department with definitive HDRBT. The total applied median dose of 52 Gy was divided into four individual fractions, each fraction being delivered 2– 3 weeks apart. Real time prostate axial visualization and the manual segmentation prior to each fraction were performed using B-K Medical ultrasound. Quantitative analyses, analysis of an area and shape were applied on 2D-TRUS axial images of the prostate. Area analyses were used to calculate the average value of the cross-sectional area of the prostate image. The parameters of the prostate shape, the fractal dimension and the circularity ratio of the prostate capsule contour were estimated at the maximum axial cross section of the prostate image. Results. The sample group consisted of four phases, each phase being performed prior to the first, second, third and fourth HDR-BT fraction, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that during HDR-BT fractions there were no significant differences in the average value of area, as well as in the maximum shape of prostate capsule. Conclusions. Quantitative analysis of TRUS axial prostate segmented images shows a successful capsule delineation in the series of manually segmented TRUS images, and the prostate maximum shape remaining unchanged during HDR-BT fractions.

Background/Aim. The most common urinary bladder tumors are superficial tumors. Due to their tension to relapse and progress towards deeper layers after surgical therapy, an adequate therapy significantly contributed to the improvement of the results of urinary bladder tumors treatment. Staging and gradus of the tumor, presence of the carcinoma in situ (CIS) or relapses significantly influenced the choice of the therapy. The aim of this study was to ascertain the effectiveness of the intravesicelly applied BCG (Bacille Colmette - Guerin) vaccine or chemiotherapy in the prevention of the relapses and further progression of superficial urinary bladder tumors. Methods. All of the diagnosed superficial tumors of bladder were removed by transurethral resection (TUR). After receiving the patohistological finding they were subjected to adjuvant therapy, immune BCG vaccine or chemiotherapy (epirubicin, doxorubicin, mitomycin-C). The third group did not accept adjuvant therapy, but had regularly scheduled cystoscopic controls. The appearance of relapses, progression of stage and grades of the tumor, as well as possible unwanted effects of adjuvant therapy were registered. Results. The applied immunotherapy (BCG) influenced decreased tumor relapses (7%) and statistically important difference between patients who had taken adjuvant chemotherapy (relapses 18.4%) and those without this therapy was acknowledged. Grades of tumor did not show statistically significant difference on tumor relapse. A significantly longer period of time in the appearance of tumor relapse after BCG (29.33 months), had significant importance comparing to chemio (9.44 months) or non-taken adjuvant therapy (9.84 months). Very small number of unwanted effects suggested an obligatory undertaking adjuvant therapy after TUR of superficial tumors. Conclusion. A significant decrease of relapses as well as avoidance of further progression of urinary bladder tumors, has introduced adjuvant therapy in all of the protocols, while the dosing scheme is not unique yet due to trying to find the optimal dose, the length of application and possible dose maintenance. .

The main goal of morphometric analysis of neuronal images, except for getting information about their geometry and dendritic branching patterns, is their classification based on laminar organization. The majority of contemporary techniques for image analysis are based on the application of fractal theory, which has some limitations on results analysis. For that reasons, the new, mostly nonfractal techniques for image analysis had been designed in the past few years. This study shows the analysis of morphometry of the human spinal cord neurons from the marginal (lamina I) and substantia gelatinosa (laminae I-II). For the analysis of neuron images two techniques of morphometric analysis were used: box-counting method as a mainly used technique for fractal analysis, and circle-counting method as a newly designed technique for measuring the length of dendrites. The use of these methods for neurons of the mentioned regions of human spinal cord showed that circlecounting method had given more accurate results than fractal analysis method. When the proposed method was used for the analysis of neuronal images, it was possible to classify neurons according to their laminar position.