Objectives We had developed a method that can help detect and identify lymph nodes affected by the neoplastic process. Our group evaluated the fractal dimension (FD) and X-ray attenuation (XRA) of lymph nodes in HL and compared to their metabolic activity as measured by 18F-FDG-PET examination. Methods The training set included 72 lymph nodes from 31 consecutive patients, and the tested set of 71 lymph nodes from next 19 patients. The measurement of FD of each lymph node was performed before the start of therapy using original software. X-ray attenuation (XRA) expressed in HU (Hounsfield Units) from CT scans was compared with the metabolic activity of the lymphatic nodes, measured by 18F-FDG-PET examination. Results Significant differences were observed between XRA max and FD max values in assessing the PET(+) and PET(-) nodes. All nodes were scored from 0 to 2. The HUFRA test properly qualified 95% with a score of 2 and 0 points as PET(+) or PET(-).
Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is a relatively new, promising technique for breast cancer diagnostics. A few series of images of the same body region are rapidly acquired before, during and after injection of paramagnetic contrast agent. Propagation of the contrast agent causes modification of MR signal over time. Its analysis provides information on tissue properties, including tumour status, that is not available with the regular MRI. If a patient unintentionally changes position during the examination, then the consecutive image series are not properly aligned and their analysis is difficult, inaccurate or even impossible. The purpose of this work is to design a registration scheme that could be applied to solve the problem in a routine manner, in standard hospital conditions. The proposed registration framework, composed of B-spline transformation, mean squares metric and LBFGSB optimizer, is able to produce satisfactory results within reasonable time.
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