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This book presents the recent developments in immunomodulatory biomaterials for cell-based therapies in various diseases, including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and bone regeneration. The authors first cover the fundamentals of conventional immunology and immunomodulation, before focusing on the history, advantages, and challenges of cell therapies. Biological cell therapy has gained immense attention for various diseases due to unique advantages it has over chemical drugs regarding cost, ease of production, toxicity, and therapeutic efficacy. However, these cell-based therapies need an inert delivery system that can locally deliver cells and minimally elicit foreign body response. The book discusses the foreign body response to the immunomodulatory biomaterials as well as the current and future strategies for potential mitigation of considerable immune responses toward immunomodulatory biomaterials and devices.

Photobiomodulation for the Brain: Photobiomodulation Therapy in Neurology and Neuropsychiatry collects scientific evidence covering a broad range of topics, including the optimum dosimetry, treatment regimens, irradiation sites, irradiance and fluence, treatment times, and possible side effects of this neuromodulation therapy. Over the past two decades, brain photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy has been introduced as an innovative modality for stimulating neural activity to improve brain function and is predicted to become a promising strategy for neurorehabilitation in the coming years. This book introduces PBM therapy to the worldwide medical community, providing worthwhile scientific insights and promoting the acceptance of this field among neurologists, psychiatrists, neurorehabilitation practitioners, and physiotherapists, as well as neuroscience clinicians and researchers. From a physics point of view, scientists in the photonics, medical physics, and light-dosimetry fields will also benefit from the book.

This book offers readers a series of robotic methods for manipulating zebrafish larva, one of the most popular model vertebrates widely used in biomedical research and clinical applications. The authors leverage advanced control theories, image processing algorithms, and artificial intelligence to establish a robot-assisted automated or semi-automated zebrafish larva-targeted micromanipulation system for different experimental purposes. The methods presented are generic and can be translated to manipulate other types of biological objects, such as embryos or cells. Coverage includes topics that span the procedures of manipulating zebrafish larva, such as in-plane positioning, three-dimensional orientation, deformation-controllable immobilization, organ-targeted microinjection, whole-organism imaging, and high-throughput trajectory tracking of zebrafish larvae group movement.Robotic Micromanipulation of Zebrafish Larva is written in a simple, clear, and easy-to-read style. It is an ideal reference for academic researchers and biomedical operators. It is also a valuable resource for students learning robotics, control and system theories, image processing, artificial intelligence, and biomedical engineering.

This book develops and details a rigorous, canonical modeling approach for analyzing spatio-temporal brain wave dynamics. The nonlinear, nonstationary behavior of brain wave measures and general uncertainty associated with the brain makes it difficult to apply modern system identification techniques to such systems. While there is a substantial amount of literature on the use of stationary analyses for brain waves, relatively less work has considered real-time estimation and imaging of brain waves from noninvasive measurements. This book addresses the issue of modeling and imaging brain waves and biomarkers generally, treating the nonlinear and nonstationary dynamics in near real-time. Using a modal state-space formulation leads to intuitive, physically significant models which are used for analysis and diagnosis.A Modal Approach to the Space-Time Dynamics of Cognitive Biomarkers provides a much-needed reference for practicing researchers in biomarker modeling leveraging the lens of engineering dynamics.

This book highlights recent developments of organic and inorganic nanomedicine that play a major role in anti-angiogenic cancer therapy.  In addition, the authors present examples of nanomedicine based anti-angiogenic agents and their applications in cancer therapy.  Angiogenesis is a pathophysiological phenomenon that modulates cell proliferation and cell migration and plays important roles in cancer.  Anti-angiogenic nanotherapies have gained immense attention in recent times as alternative cost-effective therapies that opened a new dimension in cancer theranostics.  Further the challenges of the anti-angiogenic nanotherapies and possible future perspective are detailed.

Malignant tumors due to breast cancer and masses due to benign disease appear in mammograms with different shape characteristics: the former usually have rough, spiculated, or microlobulated contours, whereas the latter commonly have smooth, round, oval, or macrolobulated contours. Features that characterize shape roughness and complexity can assist in distinguishing between malignant tumors and benign masses. In spite of the established importance of shape factors in the analysis of breast tumors and masses, difficulties exist in obtaining accurate and artifact-free boundaries of the related regions from mammograms. Whereas manually drawn contours could contain artifacts related to hand tremor and are subject to intra-observer and inter-observer variations, automatically detected contours could contain noise and inaccuracies due to limitations or errors in the procedures for the detection and segmentation of the related regions. Modeling procedures are desired to eliminate the artifacts in a given contour, while preserving the important and significant details present in the contour. This book presents polygonal modeling methods that reduce the influence of noise and artifacts while preserving the diagnostically relevant features, in particular the spicules and lobulations in the given contours. In order to facilitate the derivation of features that capture the characteristics of shape roughness of contours of breast masses, methods to derive a signature based on the turning angle function obtained from the polygonal model are described. Methods are also described to derive an index of spiculation, an index characterizing the presence of convex regions, an index characterizing the presence of concave regions, an index of convexity, and a measure of fractal dimension from the turning angle function. Results of testing the methods with a set of 111 contours of 65 benign masses and 46 malignant tumors are presented and discussed. It is shown that shape modeling and analysis can lead to classification accuracy in discriminating between benign masses and malignant tumors, in terms of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, of up to 0.94. The methods have applications in modeling and analysis of the shape of various types of regions or objects in images, computer vision, computer graphics, and analysis of biomedical images, with particular significance in computer-aided diagnosis of breast cancer. Table of Contents: Analysis of Shape / Polygonal Modeling of Contours / Shape Factors for Pattern Classification / Classification of Breast Masses

Recently, immunomodulatory nanomaterials have gained immense attention due to their involvement in the modulation of the body's immune response to cancer therapy. This book highlights various immunomodulatory nanomaterials (including organic, polymer, inorganic, liposomes, viral, and protein nanoparticles) and their role in cancer therapy. Additionally, the mechanism of immunomodulation is reviewed in detail. Finally, the challenges of these therapies and their future outlook are discussed. We believe this book will be helpful to a broad community including students, researchers, educators, and industrialists.

Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field that is rapidly evolving and expanding. Significant advancements have been made in nanotechnology-related disciplines in the past few decades and continued growth and progression in the field are anticipated. Moreover, nanotechnology, omnipresent in innovation, has been applied to resolve critical challenges in nearly every field, especially those related to biological technologies and processes. This book, used as either a textbook for a short course or a reference book, provides state-of-the-art analysis of essential topics in nanotechnology for bioengineers studying and working in biotechnology, chemical/biochemical, pharmaceutical, biomedical, and other related fields. The book topics range from introduction to nanotechnology and nanofabrication to applications of nanotechnology in various biological fields. This book not only intends to introduce bioengineers to the amazing world of nanotechnology, but also inspires them to use nanotechnology to address some of the world's biggest challenges.

Among medical imaging modalities, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) stands out for its excellent soft-tissue contrast, anatomical detail, and high sensitivity for disease detection. However, as proven by the continuous and vast effort to develop new MRI techniques, limitations and open challenges remain. The primary source of contrast in MRI images are the various relaxation parameters associated with the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) phenomena upon which MRI is based. Although it is possible to quantify these relaxation parameters (qMRI) they are rarely used in the clinic, and radiological interpretation of images is primarily based upon images that are relaxation time weighted. The clinical adoption of qMRI is mainly limited by the long acquisition times required to quantify each relaxation parameter as well as questions around their accuracy and reliability. More specifically, the main limitations of qMRI methods have been the difficulty in dealing with the high inter-parameter correlations and a high sensitivity to MRI system imperfections.Recently, new methods for rapid qMRI have been proposed. The multi-parametric models at the heart of these techniques have the main advantage of accounting for the correlations between the parameters of interest as well as system imperfections. This holistic view on the MR signal makes it possible to regress many individual parameters at once, potentially with a higher accuracy. Novel, accurate techniques promise a fast estimation of relevant MRI quantities, including but not limited to longitudinal (T1) and transverse (T2) relaxation times. Among these emerging methods, MR Fingerprinting (MRF), synthetic MR (syMRI or MAGIC), and T1T2 Shuffling are making their way into the clinical world at a very fast pace. However, the main underlying assumptions and algorithms used are sometimes different from those found in the conventional MRI literature, and can be elusive at times. In this book, we take the opportunity to study and describe the main assumptions, theoretical background, and methods that are the basis of these emerging techniques.Quantitative transient state imaging provides an incredible, transformative opportunity for MRI. There is huge potential to further extend the physics, in conjunction with the underlying physiology, toward a better theoretical description of the underlying models, their application, and evaluation to improve the assessment of disease and treatment efficacy.

Dielectrophoresis microfluidic chips have been widely used in various biological applications due to their advantages of convenient operation, high throughput, and low cost.However, most of the DEP microfluidic chips are based on 2D planar electrodes which have some limitations, such as electric field attenuation, small effective working regions, and weak DEP forces. In order to overcome the limitations of 2D planar electrodes, two kinds of thick-electrode DEP chips were designed to realize manipulation and multi-parameter measurement of single cells.Based on the multi-electrode structure of thick-electrode DEP, a single-cell 3D electro-rotation chip of "e;Armillary Sphere"e; was designed. The chip uses four thick electrodes and a bottom planar electrode to form an electric field chamber, which can control 3D rotation of single cells under different electric signal configurations. Electrical property measurement and 3D image reconstruction of single cells are achieved based on single-cell 3D rotation. This work overcomes the limitations of 2D planar electrodes and effectively solves the problem of unstable spatial position of single-cell samples, and provides a new platform for single-cell analysis.Based on multi-electrode structure of thick-electrode DEP, a microfluidic chip with optoelectronic integration was presented. A dual-fiber optical stretcher embedded in thick electrodes can trap and stretch a single cell while the thick electrodes are used for single-cell rotation. Stretching and rotation manipulation gives the chip the ability to simultaneously measure mechanical and electrical properties of single cells, providing a versatile platform for single-cell analysis, further extending the application of thick-electrode DEP in biological manipulation and analysis.

This book has a two-fold purpose:(1) An introduction to the computer-based modeling of influenza, a continuing major worldwide communicable disease.(2) The use of (1) as an illustration of a methodology for the computer-based modeling of communicable diseases.For the purposes of (1) and (2), a basic influenza model is formulated as a system of partial differential equations (PDEs) that define the spatiotemporal evolution of four populations: susceptibles, untreated and treated infecteds, and recovereds. The requirements of a well-posed PDE model are considered, including the initial and boundary conditions. The terms of the PDEs are explained. The computer implementation of the model is illustrated with a detailed line-by-line explanation of a system of routines in R (a quality, open-source scientific computing system that is readily available from the Internet). The R routines demonstrate the straightforward numerical solution of a system of nonlinear PDEs by the method of lines (MOL), an established general algorithm for PDEs.The presentation of the PDE modeling methodology is introductory with a minumum of formal mathematics (no theorems and proofs), and with emphasis on example applications. The intent of the book is to assist in the initial understanding and use of PDE mathematical modeling of communicable diseases, and the explanation and interpretation of the computed model solutions, as illustrated with the influenza model.

The identification and interpretation of the signs of breast cancer in mammographic images from screening programs can be very difficult due to the subtle and diversified appearance of breast disease. This book presents new image processing and pattern recognition techniques for computer-aided detection and diagnosis of breast cancer in its various forms. The main goals are: (1) the identification of bilateral asymmetry as an early sign of breast disease which is not detectable by other existing approaches; and (2) the detection and classification of masses and regions of architectural distortion, as benign lesions or malignant tumors, in a unified framework that does not require accurate extraction of the contours of the lesions. The innovative aspects of the work include the design and validation of landmarking algorithms, automatic Tabar masking procedures, and various feature descriptors for quantification of similarity and for contour independent classification of mammographic lesions. Characterization of breast tissue patterns is achieved by means of multidirectional Gabor filters. For the classification tasks, pattern recognition strategies, including Fisher linear discriminant analysis, Bayesian classifiers, support vector machines, and neural networks are applied using automatic selection of features and cross-validation techniques. Computer-aided detection of bilateral asymmetry resulted in accuracy up to 0.94, with sensitivity and specificity of 1 and 0.88, respectively. Computer-aided diagnosis of automatically detected lesions provided sensitivity of detection of malignant tumors in the range of [0.70, 0.81] at a range of falsely detected tumors of [0.82, 3.47] per image. The techniques presented in this work are effective in detecting and characterizing various mammographic signs of breast disease.

Mechanical testing is a useful tool in the field of biomechanics. Classic biomechanics employs mechanical testing for a variety of purposes. For instance, testing may be used to determine the mechanical properties of bone under a variety of loading modes and various conditions including age and disease state. In addition, testing may be used to assess fracture fixation procedures to justify clinical approaches. Mechanical testing may also be used to test implants and biomaterials to determine mechanical strength and appropriateness for clinical purposes. While the information from a mechanical test will vary, there are basics that need to be understood to properly conduct mechanical testing. This book will attempt to provide the reader not only with the basic theory of conducting mechanical testing, but will also focus on providing practical insights and examples.

Biomedical Signals and Systems is meant to accompany a one-semester undergraduate signals and systems course. It may also serve as a quick-start for graduate students or faculty interested in how signals and systems techniques can be applied to living systems. The biological nature of the examples allows for systems thinking to be applied to electrical, mechanical, fluid, chemical, thermal and even optical systems. Each chapter focuses on a topic from classic signals and systems theory: System block diagrams, mathematical models, transforms, stability, feedback, system response, control, time and frequency analysis and filters. Embedded within each chapter are examples from the biological world, ranging from medical devices to cell and molecular biology. While the focus of the book is on the theory of analog signals and systems, many chapters also introduce the corresponding topics in the digital realm. Although some derivations appear, the focus is on the concepts and how to apply them. Throughout the text, systems vocabulary is introduced which will allow the reader to read more advanced literature and communicate with scientist and engineers. Homework and Matlab simulation exercises are presented at the end of each chapter and challenge readers to not only perform calculations and simulations but also to recognize the real-world signals and systems around them. Table of Contents: Preface / Acknowledgments / Introduction / System Types / System Models / Laplace Transform / Block Diagrams / Stability / Feedback / System Response / Control / Time Domain Analysis / Frequency Domain Analysis / Filters / Author's Biography

Part II of Health Care Engineering begins with statistics on the occurrence of medical errors and adverse events, and includes some technological solutions. A chapter on electronic medical records follows. The knowledge management process divided into four steps is described; this includes a discussion on data acquisition, storage, and retrieval. The next two chapters discuss the other three steps of the knowledge management process (knowledge discovery, knowledge translation, knowledge integration and sharing). The last chapter briefly discusses usability studies and clinical trials. This two-part book consolidates material that supports courses on technology development and management issues in health care institutions. It can be useful for anyone involved in design, development, or research, whether in industry, hospitals, or government.

The first chapter describes the health care delivery systems in Canada and in the U.S. This is followed by examples of various approaches used to measure physiological variables in humans, either for the purpose of diagnosis or monitoring potential disease conditions; a brief description of sensor technologies is included. The function and role of the clinical engineer in managing medical technologies in industrialized and in developing countries are presented. This is followed by a chapter on patient safety (mainly electrical safety and electromagnetic interference); it includes a section on how to minimize liability and how to develop a quality assurance program for technology management. The next chapter discusses applications of telemedicine, including technical, social, and ethical issues. The last chapter presents a discussion on the impact of technology on health care and the technology assessment process. This two-part book consolidates material that supports courses on technology development and management issues in health care institutions. It can be useful for anyone involved in design, development, or research, whether in industry, hospitals, or government.

Architectural distortion is an important and early sign of breast cancer, but because of its subtlety, it is a common cause of false-negative findings on screening mammograms. Screening mammograms obtained prior to the detection of cancer could contain subtle signs of early stages of breast cancer, in particular, architectural distortion. This book presents image processing and pattern recognition techniques to detect architectural distortion in prior mammograms of interval-cancer cases. The methods are based upon Gabor filters, phase portrait analysis, procedures for the analysis of the angular spread of power, fractal analysis, Laws' texture energy measures derived from geometrically transformed regions of interest (ROIs), and Haralick's texture features. With Gabor filters and phase-portrait analysis, 4,224 ROIs were automatically obtained from 106 prior mammograms of 56 interval-cancer cases, including 301 true-positive ROIs related to architectural distortion, and from 52 mammograms of 13 normal cases. For each ROI, the fractal dimension, the entropy of the angular spread of power, 10 Laws' texture energy measures, and Haralick's 14 texture features were computed. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves obtained using the features selected by stepwise logistic regression and the leave-one-image-out method are 0.77 with the Bayesian classifier, 0.76 with Fisher linear discriminant analysis, and 0.79 with a neural network classifier. Free-response ROC analysis indicated sensitivities of 0.80 and 0.90 at 5.7 and 8.8 false positives (FPs) per image, respectively, with the Bayesian classifier and the leave-one-image-out method. The present study has demonstrated the ability to detect early signs of breast cancer 15 months ahead of the time of clinical diagnosis, on the average, for interval-cancer cases, with a sensitivity of 0.8 at 5.7 FP/image. The presented computer-aided detection techniques, dedicated to accurate detection and localization of architectural distortion, could lead to efficient detection of early and subtle signs of breast cancer at pre-mass-formation stages. Table of Contents: Introduction / Detection of Early Signs of Breast Cancer / Detection and Analysis of Oriented Patterns / Detection of Potential Sites of Architectural Distortion / Experimental Set Up and Datasets / Feature Selection and Pattern Classification / Analysis of Oriented Patterns Related to Architectural Distortion / Detection of Architectural Distortion in Prior Mammograms / Concluding Remarks

In addition to being essential for safe and effective patient care, medical equipment also has significant impact on the income and, thus, vitality of healthcare organizations. For this reason, its maintenance and management requires careful supervision by healthcare administrators, many of whom may not have the technical background to understand all of the relevant factors. This book presents the basic elements of medical equipment maintenance and management required of healthcare leaders responsible for managing or overseeing this function. It will enable these individuals to understand their professional responsibilities, as well as what they should expect from their supervised staff and how to measure and benchmark staff performance against equivalent performance levels at similar organizations. The book opens with a foundational summary of the laws, regulations, codes, and standards that are applicable to the maintenance and management of medical equipment in healthcare organizations. Next, the core functions of the team responsible for maintenance and management are described in sufficient detail for managers and overseers. Then the methods and measures for determining the effectiveness and efficiency of equipment maintenance and management are presented to allow performance management and benchmarking comparisons. The challenges and opportunities of managing healthcare organizations of different sizes, acuity levels, and geographical locations are discussed. Extensive bibliographic sources and material for further study are provided to assist students and healthcare leaders interested in acquiring more detailed knowledge. Table of Contents: Introduction / Regulatory Framework / Core Functions of Medical Equipment Maintenance and Management / CE Department Management / Performance Management / Discussion and Conclusions

Fractal analysis is useful in digital image processing for the characterization of shape roughness and gray-scale texture or complexity. Breast masses present shape and gray-scale characteristics in mammograms that vary between benign masses and malignant tumors. This book demonstrates the use of fractal analysis to classify breast masses as benign masses or malignant tumors based on the irregularity exhibited in their contours and the gray-scale variability exhibited in their mammographic images. A few different approaches are described to estimate the fractal dimension (FD) of the contour of a mass, including the ruler method, box-counting method, and the power spectral analysis (PSA) method. Procedures are also described for the estimation of the FD of the gray-scale image of a mass using the blanket method and the PSA method. To facilitate comparative analysis of FD as a feature for pattern classification of breast masses, several other shape features and texture measures are described in the book. The shape features described include compactness, spiculation index, fractional concavity, and Fourier factor. The texture measures described are statistical measures derived from the gray-level cooccurrence matrix of the given image. Texture measures reveal properties about the spatial distribution of the gray levels in the given image; therefore, the performance of texture measures may be dependent on the resolution of the image. For this reason, an analysis of the effect of spatial resolution or pixel size on texture measures in the classification of breast masses is presented in the book. The results demonstrated in the book indicate that fractal analysis is more suitable for characterization of the shape than the gray-level variations of breast masses, with area under the receiver operating characteristics of up to 0.93 with a dataset of 111 mammographic images of masses. The methods and results presented in the book are useful for computer-aided diagnosis of breast cancer. Table of Contents: Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Breast Cancer / Detection and Analysis of\newline Breast Masses / Datasets of Images of Breast Masses / Methods for Fractal Analysis / Pattern Classification / Results of Classification of Breast Masses / Concluding Remarks

This book represents the first in a two-volume set on biological rhythms. This volume focuses on supporting the claim that biological rhythms are universal and essential characteristics of living organisms, critical for proper functioning of any living system. The author begins by examining the potential reasons for the evolution of biological rhythms: (1) the need for complex, goal-oriented devices to control the timing of their activities; (2) the inherent tendency of feedback control systems to oscillate; and (3) the existence of stable and powerful geophysical cycles to which all organisms must adapt. To investigate the second reason, the author enlists the help of biomedical engineering students to develop mathematical models of various biological systems. One such model involves a typical endocrine feedback system. By adjusting various model parameters, it was found that creating a oscillation in any component of the model generated a rhythmic cascade that made the entire system oscillate. This same approach was used to show how daily light/dark cycles could cascade rhythmic patterns throughout ecosystems and within organisms. Following up on these results, the author discusses how the twin requirements of internal synchronization (precise temporal order necessary for the proper functioning of organisms as complex, goal-oriented devices) and external synchronization (aligning organisms' behavior and physiology with geophysical cycles) supported the evolution of biological clocks. The author then investigates the clock systems that evolved using both conceptual and mathematical models, with the assistance of Dr. Bahrad Sokhansanj, who contributes a chapter on mathematical formulations and models of rhythmic phenomena. With the ubiquity of biological rhythms established, the author suggests a new classification system: the F4LM approach (Function; Frequency; waveForm; Flexibility; Level of biological system expressing rhythms; and Mode of rhythm generation) to investigate biological rhythms. This approach is first used on the more familiar cardiac cycle and then on neural rhythms as exemplified and measured by the electroencephalogram. During the process of investigating neural cycles, the author finds yet another reason for the evolution of biological rhythms: physical constraints, such as those imposed upon long distance neural signaling. In addition, a common theme emerges of a select number of autorhythmic biological oscillators imposing coherent rhythmicity on a larger network or system. During the course of the volume, the author uses a variety of observations, models, experimental results, and arguments to support the original claim of the importance and universality of biological rhythms. In Volume 2, the author will move from the establishment of the critical nature of biological rhythms to how these phenomena may be used to improve human health, well-being, and productivity. In a sense, Volume 1 focuses on the chronobio aspect of chronobioengineering while Volume 2 investigates methods of translating this knowledge into applications, the engineering aspect of chronobioengineering. Table of Contents: Time and Time Again / Walking on Air: An Empirical Proof-of-Concept / Clock Tech, Part 1 / Clock Tech II From External to Internal Timers / Clock Tech III Rise of the CircaRhythms / The Circle Game: Mathematics, Models, and Rhythms / The Power of Circular Reasoning

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is the process of retrieval of images from a database that are similar to a query image, using measures derived from the images themselves, rather than relying on accompanying text or annotation. To achieve CBIR, the contents of the images need to be characterized by quantitative features; the features of the query image are compared with the features of each image in the database and images having high similarity with respect to the query image are retrieved and displayed. CBIR of medical images is a useful tool and could provide radiologists with assistance in the form of a display of relevant past cases. One of the challenging aspects of CBIR is to extract features from the images to represent their visual, diagnostic, or application-specific information content. In this book, methods are presented for preprocessing, segmentation, landmarking, feature extraction, and indexing of mammograms for CBIR. The preprocessing steps include anisotropic diffusion and the Wiener filter to remove noise and perform image enhancement. Techniques are described for segmentation of the breast and fibroglandular disk, including maximum entropy, a moment-preserving method, and Otsu's method. Image processing techniques are described for automatic detection of the nipple and the edge of the pectoral muscle via analysis in the Radon domain. By using the nipple and the pectoral muscle as landmarks, mammograms are divided into their internal, external, upper, and lower parts for further analysis. Methods are presented for feature extraction using texture analysis, shape analysis, granulometric analysis, moments, and statistical measures. The CBIR system presented provides options for retrieval using the Kohonen self-organizing map and the k-nearest-neighbor method. Methods are described for inclusion of expert knowledge to reduce the semantic gap in CBIR, including the query point movement method for relevance feedback (RFb). Analysis of performance is described in terms of precision, recall, and relevance-weighted precision of retrieval. Results of application to a clinical database of mammograms are presented, including the input of expert radiologists into the CBIR and RFb processes. Models are presented for integration of CBIR and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) with a picture archival and communication system (PACS) for efficient workflow in a hospital. Table of Contents: Introduction to Content-based Image Retrieval / Mammography and CAD of Breast Cancer / Segmentation and Landmarking of Mammograms / Feature Extraction and Indexing of Mammograms / Content-based Retrieval of Mammograms / Integration of CBIR and CAD into Radiological Workflow

Recent advances in development of sequencing technology has resulted in a deluge of genomic data. In order to make sense of this data, there is an urgent need for algorithms for data processing and quantitative reasoning. An emerging in silico approach, called computational genomic signatures, addresses this need by representing global species-specific features of genomes using simple mathematical models. This text introduces the general concept of computational genomic signatures, and it reviews some of the DNA sequence models which can be used as computational genomic signatures. The text takes the position that a practical computational genomic signature consists of both a model and a measure for computing the distance or similarity between models. Therefore, a discussion of sequence similarity/distance measurement in the context of computational genomic signatures is presented. The remainder of the text covers various applications of computational genomic signatures in the areas of metagenomics, phylogenetics and the detection of horizontal gene transfer. Table of Contents: Genome Signatures, Definition and Background / Other Computational Characterizations as Genome Signatures / Measuring Distance of Biological Sequences Using Genome Signatures / Applications: Phylogeny Construction / Applications: Metagenomics / Applications: Horizontal DNA Transfer Detection

The presence of oriented features in images often conveys important information about the scene or the objects contained; the analysis of oriented patterns is an important task in the general framework of image understanding. As in many other applications of computer vision, the general framework for the understanding of oriented features in images can be divided into low- and high-level analysis. In the context of the study of oriented features, low-level analysis includes the detection of oriented features in images; a measure of the local magnitude and orientation of oriented features over the entire region of analysis in the image is called the orientation field. High-level analysis relates to the discovery of patterns in the orientation field, usually by associating the structure perceived in the orientation field with a geometrical model. This book presents an analysis of several important methods for the detection of oriented features in images, and a discussion of the phase portrait method for high-level analysis of orientation fields. In order to illustrate the concepts developed throughout the book, an application is presented of the phase portrait method to computer-aided detection of architectural distortion in mammograms. Table of Contents: Detection of Oriented Features in Images / Analysis of Oriented Patterns Using Phase Portraits / Optimization Techniques / Detection of Sites of Architectural Distortion in Mammograms

Increasingly, biomedical scientists and engineers are involved in projects, design, or research and development that involve humans or animals. The book presents general concepts on professionalism and the regulation of the profession of engineering, including a discussion on what is ethics and moral conduct, ethical theories and the codes of ethics that are most relevant for engineers. An ethical decision-making process is suggested. Other issues such as conflicts of interest, plagiarism, intellectual property, confidentiality, privacy, fraud, and corruption are presented. General guidelines, the process for obtaining ethics approval from Ethics Review Boards, and the importance of obtaining informed consent from volunteers recruited for studies are presented. A discussion on research with animals is included. Ethical dilemmas focus on reproductive technologies, stem cells, cloning, genetic testing, and designer babies. The book includes a discussion on ethics and the technologies of body enhancement and of regeneration. The importance of assessing the impact of technology on people, society, and on our planet is stressed. Particular attention is given to nanotechnologies, the environment, and issues that pertain to developing countries. Ideas on gender, culture, and ethics focus on how research and access to medical services have, at times, been discriminatory towards women. The cultural aspects focus on organ transplantation in Japan, and a case study of an Aboriginal child in Canada; both examples show the impact that culture can have on how care is provided or accepted. The final section of the book discusses data collection and analysis and offers a guideline for honest reporting of results, avoiding fraud, or unethical approaches. The appendix presents a few case studies where fraud and/or unethical research have occurred. Table of Contents: Introduction to Ethics / Experiments with Human Subjects or Animals / Examples of Ethical Dilemmas in Biomedical Research / Technology and Society / Gender, Culture, and Ethics / Data Collection and Analysis

Transport processes represent important life-sustaining elements in all humans. These include mass transfer processes, including gas exchange in the lungs, transport across capillaries and alveoli, transport across the kidneys, and transport across cell membranes. These mass transfer processes affect how oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged in your bloodstream, how metabolic waste products are removed from your blood, how nutrients are transported to tissues, and how all cells function throughout the body. A discussion of kidney dialysis and gas exchange mechanisms is included. Another element in biomedical transport processes is that of momentum transport and fluid flow. This describes how blood is propelled from the heart and throughout the cardiovascular system, how blood elements affect the body, including gas exchange, infection control, clotting of blood, and blood flow resistance, which affects cardiac work. A discussion of the measurement of the blood resistance to flow (viscosity), blood flow, and pressure is also included. A third element in transport processes in the human body is that of heat transfer, including heat transfer inside the body towards the periphery as well as heat transfer from the body to the environment. A discussion of temperature measurements and body protection in extreme heat conditions is also included. Table of Contents: Biomedical Mass Transport / Biofluid Mechanics and Momentum Transport / Biomedical Heat Transport

There are five different types of eye movements: saccades, smooth pursuit, vestibular ocular eye movements, optokinetic eye movements, and vergence eye movements. The purpose of this book is focused primarily on mathematical models of the horizontal saccadic eye movement system and the smooth pursuit system, rather than on how visual information is processed. A saccade is a fast eye movement used to acquire a target by placing the image of the target on the fovea. Smooth pursuit is a slow eye movement used to track a target as it moves by keeping the target on the fovea. The vestibular ocular movement is used to keep the eyes on a target during brief head movements. The optokinetic eye movement is a combination of saccadic and slow eye movements that keeps a full-field image stable on the retina during sustained head rotation. Each of these movements is a conjugate eye movement, that is, movements of both eyes together driven by a common neural source. A vergence movement is a non-conjugate eye movement allowing the eyes to track targets as they come closer or farther away. In this book, a 2009 version of a state-of-the-art model is presented for horizontal saccades that is 3rd-order and linear, and controlled by a physiologically based time-optimal neural network. The oculomotor plant and saccade generator are the basic elements of the saccadic system. The control of saccades is initiated by the superior colliculus and terminated by the cerebellar fastigial nucleus, and involves a complex neural circuit in the mid brain. This book is the second part of a book series on models of horizontal eye movements. Table of Contents: 2009 Linear Homeomorphic Saccadic Eye Movement Model and Post-Saccade Behavior: Dynamic and Glissadic Overshoot / Neural Network for the Saccade Controller

There are five different types of eye movements: saccades, smooth pursuit, vestibular ocular eye movements, optokinetic eye movements, and vergence eye movements. The purpose of this book is focused primarily on mathematical models of the horizontal saccadic eye movement system and the smooth pursuit system, rather than on how visual information is processed. A saccade is a fast eye movement used to acquire a target by placing the image of the target on the fovea. Smooth pursuit is a slow eye movement used to track a target as it moves by keeping the target on the fovea. The vestibular ocular movement is used to keep the eyes on a target during brief head movements. The optokinetic eye movement is a combination of saccadic and slow eye movements that keeps a full-field image stable on the retina during sustained head rotation. Each of these movements is a conjugate eye movement, that is, movements of both eyes together driven by a common neural source. A vergence movement is a non-conjugate eye movement allowing the eyes to track targets as they come closer or farther away. In this book, early models of saccades and smooth pursuit are presented. The smooth pursuit system allows tracking of a slow moving target to maintain its position on the fovea. Models of the smooth pursuit have been developed using systems control theory, all involving a negative feedback control system that includes a time delay, controller and plant in the forward loop, with unity feedback. The oculomotor plant and saccade generator are the basic elements of the saccadic system. The oculomotor plant consists of three muscle pairs and the eyeball. A number of oculomotor plant models are described here beginning with the Westheimer model published in 1954, and up through our 1995 model involving a 4$^{th}$ order oculomotor plant model. The work presented here is not an exhaustive coverage of the field, but focused on the interests of the author. In Part II, a state-of-art model of the saccade system is presented, including a neural network that controls the system. Table of Contents: Introduction / Smooth Pursuit Models / Early Models of the Horizontal Saccadic Eye Movement System / Velocity and Acceleration Estimation / 1995 Linear Homeomorphic Saccadic Eye Movement Model

Evaluating biomedical technology poses a significant challenge in light of the complexity and rate of introduction in today's healthcare delivery system. Successful evaluation requires an integration of clinical medicine, science, finance, and market analysis. Little guidance, however, exists for those who must conduct comprehensive technology evaluations. The 3Q Method meets these present day needs. The 3Q Method is organized around 3 key questions dealing with 1) clinical and scientific basis, 2) financial fit and 3) strategic and expertise fit. Both healthcare providers (e.g., hospitals) and medical industry providers can use the Method to evaluate medical devices, information systems and work processes from their own perspectives. The book describes the 3Q Method in detail and provides additional suggestions for optimal presentation and report preparation. Table of Contents: Introduction / Question #1: Is It Real? / Question #2: Can We Win? / Question #3: Is It Worth It? / 3Q Case Study Example -- Pershing Medical Company / Appendix A: Health Care Technology Assessment Sample Class Syllabus / Appendix B: How do Hospitals and Clinicians Get Paid? / Appendix C: Technology Assessment PowerPoint Report Guidelines / Appendix D: Class Report Scenario Example / Appendix E: Four-Blocker Slide Templates for 3Q Reports