0000000000117757
AUTHOR
Simone Stumbo
MULTI-SCALE ANALYSIS OF LUNG COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES
A computer-aided detection (CAD) system for the identification of lung internal nodules in low-dose multi-detector helical Computed Tomography (CT) images was developed in the framework of the MAGIC-5 project. The three modules of our lung CAD system, a segmentation algorithm for lung internal region identification, a multi-scale dot-enhancement filter for nodule candidate selection and a multi-scale neural technique for false positive finding reduction, are described. The results obtained on a dataset of low-dose and thin-slice CT scans are shown in terms of free response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) curves and discussed.
Spectroscopic response of a CdZnTe multiple electrode detector
Abstract The spectroscopic performances of a CdZnTe detector (crystal size: 5×5×0.9 mm 3 ) with five electrodes (cathode, anode and three steering electrodes) were studied. The anode layout, which consists of a circular electrode ( φ =80 μm) surrounded by two ring electrodes (gap=100 μm; radial width Δ r =100 μm) and by one electrode that extends to the edge of the crystal, is mostly sensitive to the electron carriers, overcoming the well known effect of the hole trapping in the measured spectra. We report on the spectroscopic response of the detector at different bias voltages of the electrodes and at various photon energies ( 109 Cd, 241 Am and 57 Co sources). The CdZnTe detector exhibits…
A test to evaluate the impact of the CAD tools in mammographic diagnosis
In this work we present the results of a study about the impact of CAD tools on Sensitivity and Specificity in mammographic diagnosis. The approach is aimed to evaluate the statistical significance through the comparison of these figures of merit obtained in different situations. For this purpose two different CAD tools, the CALMA station (INFN project) and the SecondLook™ station (by CADx) have been used as a support for radiologists.
Preprocessing methods for nodule detection in lung CT
Abstract The use of automatic systems in the analysis of medical images has proven to be very useful to radiologists, especially in the framework of screening programs, in which radiologists make their first diagnosis on the basis of images only, most of those corresponding to healthy patients, and have to distinguish pathological findings from non-pathological ones at an early stage. In particular, we are developing preprocessing methods to be applied for pulmonary nodule Computer Aided Detection in low-dose lung Multi Slice CT (computed tomography) images.
FLUXEN portable equipment for direct X-ray spectra measurements
Abstract The proper use of imaging equipment in radiological units is based on an appropriate knowledge of the physical characteristics of the X-ray beam used. The FLUXEN PROJECT is working on a portable apparatus which, together with dedicated software, is able to perform an exact spectral reconstruction of the radiation produced in diagnostic X-ray tubes. The apparatus characterizes the energy spectrum of radiological tubes and also provides a measurement of the emitted flux. The acquisition system is based on a commercial CZT detector (3×3×2 mm 3 ), produced by AMPTEK, cooled by a Peltier cell, with a high efficiency in the diagnostic X-ray energy range and modified in the shaping electr…
GPCALMA: A Grid-based tool for mammographic screening
The next generation of High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments requires a GRID approach to a distributed computing system and the associated data management: the key concept is the Virtual Organisation (VO), a group of distributed users with a common goal and the will to share their resources. A similar approach is being applied to a group of Hospitals which joined the GPCALMA project (Grid Platform for Computer Assisted Library for MAmmography), which will allow common screening programs for early diagnosis of breast and, in the future, lung cancer. HEP techniques come into play in writing the application code, which makes use of neural networks for the image analysis and proved to be useful…
GPCALMA, a mammographic CAD in a GRID connection
Purpose of this work is the development of an automatic system which could be useful for radiologists in the investigation of breast cancer. A breast neoplasia is often marked by the presence of microcalcifications and massive lesions in the mammogram: hence the need for tools able to recognize such lesions at an early stage. GPCALMA (Grid Platform Computer Assisted Library for MAmmography), a collaboration among italian physicists and radiologists, has built a large distributed database of digitized mammographic images (at this moment about 5500 images corresponding to 1650 patients). This collaboration has developed a CAD (Computer Aided Detection) system which, installed in an integrated…
X-ray spectroscopy and dosimetry with a portable CdTe device.
Abstract X-ray spectra and dosimetry information are very important for quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) in medical diagnostic X-ray systems. An accurate knowledge of the diagnostic X-ray spectra would improve the patient dose optimization, without compromising image information. In this work, we performed direct diagnostic X-ray spectra measurements with a portable device, based on a CdTe solid-state detector. The portable device is able to directly measure X-ray spectra at high photon fluence rates, as typical of clinical radiography. We investigated on the spectral performances of the system in the mammographic energy range (up to ∼40 keV). Good system response to monoener…
Comparison of two portable solid state detectors with an improved collimation and alignment device for mammographic x-ray spectroscopy
We describe a portable system for mammographic x-ray spectroscopy, based on a 2 X 2 X 1 mm3 cadmium telluride (CdTe) solid state detector, that is greatly improved over a similar system based on a 3 X 3 X 2 mm3 cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) solid state detector evaluated in an earlier work. The CdTe system utilized new pinhole collimators and an alignment device that facilitated measurement of mammographic x-ray spectra. Mammographic x-ray spectra acquired by each system were comparable. Half value layer measurements obtained using an ion chamber agreed closely with those derived from the x-ray spectra measured by either detector. The faster electronics and other features of the CdTe detecto…