Med Phys
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The role of imaging and image guidance is increasing in surgery and therapy, including treatment planning and follow-up. Fluoroscopy is used for two-dimensional (2D) guidance or localization; however, many procedures would benefit from three-dimensional (3D) guidance or localization. Three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) using a C-arm mounted x-ray image intensifier (XRII) can provide high-quality 3D images; however, patient dose and the required acquisition time restrict the number of 3D images that can be obtained. ⋯ The tracking precision was +/- 0.65 mm for the out-of-plane translations, +/- 0.05 mm for in-plane translations, and +/- 0.05 degrees for the rotations. The root mean square (RMS) difference between the true and projection-Procrustes calculated location was 1.07 mm. It is believed these results show the potential of this technique for dynamic evaluations or real-time image guidance using a single x-ray source and XRII detector.
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The laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) technique provides the monitoring of microvascular blood flow perfusion. However, LDF monitors based on fiber-optic transducers have the serious drawback of generating TRAnsient Signal High-values (TRASH) in signals. These TRASH correspond to artifacts for clinicians as they prevent interpretations of the signal when they are numerous. ⋯ The results show effective and potential usefulness of this algorithm for an automatic localization of TRASH. Moreover, the method proposed has the advantage of being insensitive to the rapid increases of blood flow induced by post-occlusive hyperemia, which is of interest for clinicians. Because it is both local and fully data adaptive, EMD appears as an appealing processing technique for overcoming some of the limitations of the LDF.