Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is used to image the electrical property distribution of a tissue under test. An EIT system comprises complex hardware and software modules, which are typically designed for a specific application. Upgrading these modules is a time-consuming process, and requires rigorous testing to ensure proper functioning of new modules with the existing ones. To this end, we developed a modular and reconfigurable data acquisition (DAQ) system using National Instruments' (NI) hardware and software modules, which offer inherent compatibility over generations of hardware and software revisions. The system can be configured to use up to 32-channels. This EIT system can be used to interchangeably apply current or voltage signal, and measure the tissue response in a semi-parallel fashion. A novel signal averaging algorithm, and 512-point fast Fourier transform (FFT) computation block was implemented on the FPGA. FFT output bins were classified as signal or noise. Signal bins constitute a tissue's response to a pure or mixed tone signal. Signal bins' data can be used for traditional applications, as well as synchronous frequency-difference imaging. Noise bins were used to compute noise power on the FPGA. Noise power represents a metric of signal quality, and can be used to ensure proper tissue-electrode contact. Allocation of these computationally expensive tasks to the FPGA reduced the required bandwidth between PC, and the FPGA for high frame rate EIT. In 16-channel configuration, with a signal-averaging factor of 8, the DAQ frame rate at 100 kHz exceeded 110 frames s (-1), and signal-to-noise ratio exceeded 90 dB across the spectrum. Reciprocity error was found to be for frequencies up to 1 MHz. Static imaging experiments were performed on a high-conductivity inclusion placed in a saline filled tank; the inclusion was clearly localized in the reconstructions obtained for both absolute current and voltage mode data.

In 2009, prostate cancer ranks as the most common cancer and the second most fatal cancer in men in the United States. Unfortunately, the current clinical diagnostic methods (e.g. prostatespecific antigen (PSA), digital rectal examination, endorectal MRI, transrectal ultrasound, biopsy) used for detecting and staging prostate cancer are limited. It has been shown that cancerous prostate tissue has significantly different electrical properties when compared to benign tissues. Based on these electrical property findings, a TransRectal Electrical Impedance Tomography (TREIT) system is proposed as a novel prostate imaging modality. The TREIT system is comprised of an array of electrodes interfaced with a clinical TransRectal UltraSound (TRUS) probe. We evaluate this imaging system through series of phantom imaging experiments to assess the system's ability to image high and low contrast objects at various positions. We found that the TREIT system can easily discern high contrast inclusions of 1 cm in diameter at distances centered at 2 times the radius of the TREIT probe away from the probe surface. Furthermore, this technology's ability to detect low contrast inclusions suggests that it has the potential to successfully detect prostate cancer.

Background Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a method that can render continuous graphical cross-sectional images of the brain’s electrical properties. Because these properties can be altered by variations in water content, shifts in Na+ concentration, bleeding, and mass deformation, EIT has promise as a sensitive instrument for head injury monitoring to improve early recognition of deterioration, and to observe the benefits of therapeutic intervention. This study presents a swine model of head injury used to determine the detection capabilities of an inexpensive bed side EIT monitoring system with a novel intracranial pressure (ICP)/EIT electrode combination sensor on induced intraparenchymal mass effect, intraparenchymal hemorrhage, and cessation of brain blood flow. Conductivity difference images are shown in conjunction with ICP data, confirming the effects. Methods Eight domestic piglets (3–4 weeks old, mean 10kg), under general anesthesia, were subjected to four injuries: induced intraparenchymal mass effect using an inflated, and later, deflated 0.15mL Fogarty catheter; hemorrhage by intraparenchymal injection of 1mL arterial blood; and ischemia/infarction by euthanasia. EIT and ICP data were recorded 10 minutes prior to inducing the injury until 10 minutes post-injury. Continuous EIT and ICP monitoring were facilitated by a ring of circumferentially disposed cranial Ag/AgCl electrodes and one intraparenchymal ICP/EIT sensor-electrode combination. Data were recorded at 100 Hz. Two-dimensional tomographic conductivity difference (Δσ) images, rendered using data before and after an injury, were displayed in real-time on an axial circular mesh. Regions of interest (ROI) within the images were automatically selected as the upper or lower 5% of conductivity data depending upon the nature of the injury. Mean Δσ within the ROIs and background were statistically analyzed. ROI Δσ was compared to the background Δσ after an injury event using an unpaired, unequal variance t-test. Conductivity change within an ROI post- injury was likewise compared to the same ROI prior to the injury utilizing unpaired t-tests with unequal variance. Results Eight animal subjects were studied, each undergoing four injury events including euthanasia. Changes in conductivity due to injury showed expected pathophysiologic effects in an ROI identified within the middle of the left hemisphere; this localization is reasonable given the actual site of injury (left hemisphere) and spatial warping associated with estimating a 3D conductivity distribution in two dimensional space. Results are shown as mean ± 1 SD. When averaged across all eight animals, balloon inflation caused the mean Δσ within the ROI to shift by −11.4 ± 10.9 mS/m; balloon deflation by +9.4 ± 8.8 mS/m; blood injection by +19.5 ± 11.5 mS/m; death by −12.6 ± 13.2 mS/m. All induced injuries were detectable to statistical significance (p < 0.0001). Conclusion This study confirms that the bed-side EIT system with ICP/EIT combination sensor can detect induced trauma....

This manuscript presents results relative to the optimization of 3D impedance tomography reconstruction algorithms for execution on multi-core computing platforms. Speed-ups obtainable by the use of modern computing architectures and by an optimized implementation allow the use of much finer FEM meshes in the forward model, leading ultimately to a better image quality. We formulate the reconstruction as widely common in the EIT community: as a non-linear, least squares, Tikhonov regularized, discrete inverse problem. The forward model is based on a FEM solver that implements the Complete Electrode Model. By profiling a plain but careful MATLAB implementation of such an algorithm, we find that, in problems with mesh sizes in the order of 100.000 nodes, typically 95% of the computing time is spent in solving the forward problem and in computing the Jacobian matrix from the forward solutions. We have focused on optimizing the execution of these two functions, and we report relative results. On an octal Xeon 5355 based PC, on problems with forward meshes with a number of nodes in the range of 59,000 nodes to 146,000 nodes, the optimized algorithm has a speed-up of up to 7 times compared to an equivalent MATLAB implementation that makes use of the multithreading capabilities of the platform.

Ferromagnetic heating is an effective and efficient technology for sealing and dividing of vessels. An initial prototype of the FMsealer compared favorably with commercially available products based on ultrasonic and bipolar technologies.