scholarly journals Days Gained: A Simulation-Based, Response Metric in the Assessment of Glioblastoma

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo De Leon ◽  
Kyle W. Singleton ◽  
Kristin R. Swanson

AbstractWe show the application of a minimally based, patient-specific mathematical model in the evaluation of glioblastoma response to therapy. Days Gained uses computational models of glioblastoma growth dynamics derived from clinically acquired magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare the post-treatment tumor lesion to the expected untreated tumor lesion at the same time point. It accounts for the inter-patient variability in growth dynamics and response to therapy. This allows for the accurate assessment of therapeutic response and provides insight into overall survival as it relates to treatment response.

Author(s):  
Antonio Gallarello ◽  
Andrea Palombi ◽  
Giacomo Annio ◽  
Shervanthi Homer-Vanniasinkam ◽  
Elena De Momi ◽  
...  

Abstract Validation of computational models using in vitro phantoms is a nontrivial task, especially in the replication of the mechanical properties of the vessel walls, which varies with age and pathophysiological state. In this paper, we present a novel aortic phantom reconstructed from patient-specific data with variable wall compliance that can be tuned without recreating the phantom. The three-dimensional (3D) geometry of an aortic arch was retrieved from a computed tomography angiography scan. A rubber-like silicone phantom was manufactured and connected to a compliance chamber in order to tune its compliance. A lumped resistance was also coupled with the system. The compliance of the aortic arch model was validated using the Young's modulus and characterized further with respect to clinically relevant indicators. The silicone model demonstrates that compliance can be finely tuned with this system under pulsatile flow conditions. The phantom replicated values of compliance in the physiological range. Both, the pressure curves and the asymmetrical behavior of the expansion, are in agreement with the literature. This novel design approach allows obtaining for the first time a phantom with tunable compliance. Vascular phantoms designed and developed with the methodology proposed in this paper have high potential to be used in diverse conditions. Applications include training of physicians, pre-operative trials for complex interventions, testing of medical devices for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and comparative Magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI)-based computational studies.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8s1 ◽  
pp. CMC.S15712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Ringenberg ◽  
Makarand Deo ◽  
David Filgueiras-Rama ◽  
Gonzalo Pizarro ◽  
Borja Ibañez ◽  
...  

Myocardial fibrosis detected via delayed-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been shown to be a strong indicator for ventricular tachycardia (VT) inducibility. However, little is known regarding how inducibility is affected by the details of the fibrosis extent, morphology, and border zone configuration. The objective of this article is to systematically study the arrhythmogenic effects of fibrosis geometry and extent, specifically on VT inducibility and maintenance. We present a set of methods for constructing patient-specific computational models of human ventricles using in vivo MRI data for patients suffering from hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and chronic myocardial infarction. Additional synthesized models with morphologically varied extents of fibrosis and gray zone (GZ) distribution were derived to study the alterations in the arrhythmia induction and reentry patterns. Detailed electrophysiological simulations demonstrated that (1) VT morphology was highly dependent on the extent of fibrosis, which acts as a structural substrate, (2) reentry tended to be anchored to the fibrosis edges and showed transmural conduction of activations through narrow channels formed within fibrosis, and (3) increasing the extent of GZ within fibrosis tended to destabilize the structural reentry sites and aggravate the VT as compared to fibrotic regions of the same size and shape but with lower or no GZ. The approach and findings represent a significant step toward patient-specific cardiac modeling as a reliable tool for VT prediction and management of the patient. Sensitivities to approximation nuances in the modeling of structural pathology by image-based reconstruction techniques are also implicated.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Kendall ◽  
Charlotte Vaughn

AbstractThis paper contributes insight into the sources of variability in vowel formant estimation, a major analytic activity in sociophonetics, by reviewing the outcomes of two simulations that manipulated the settings used for linear predictive coding (LPC)-based vowel formant estimation. Simulation 1 explores the range of frequency differences obtained when minor adjustments are made to LPC settings, and measurement timepoints around the settings used by trained analysts, in order to determine the range of variability that should be expected in sociophonetic vowel studies. Simulation 2 examines the variability that emerges when LPC settings are varied combinatorially around constant default settings, rather than settings set by trained analysts. The impacts of different LPC settings are discussed as a way of demonstrating the inherent properties of LPC-based formant estimation. This work suggests that differences more fine-grained than about 10 Hz in F1 and 15–20 Hz in F2 are within the range of LPC-based formant estimation variability.


Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 898
Author(s):  
Marta Saiz-Vivó ◽  
Adrián Colomer ◽  
Carles Fonfría ◽  
Luis Martí-Bonmatí ◽  
Valery Naranjo

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. At present, cardiac ablation is the main treatment procedure for AF. To guide and plan this procedure, it is essential for clinicians to obtain patient-specific 3D geometrical models of the atria. For this, there is an interest in automatic image segmentation algorithms, such as deep learning (DL) methods, as opposed to manual segmentation, an error-prone and time-consuming method. However, to optimize DL algorithms, many annotated examples are required, increasing acquisition costs. The aim of this work is to develop automatic and high-performance computational models for left and right atrium (LA and RA) segmentation from a few labelled MRI volumetric images with a 3D Dual U-Net algorithm. For this, a supervised domain adaptation (SDA) method is introduced to infer knowledge from late gadolinium enhanced (LGE) MRI volumetric training samples (80 LA annotated samples) to a network trained with balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) MR images of limited number of annotations (19 RA and LA annotated samples). The resulting knowledge-transferred model SDA outperformed the same network trained from scratch in both RA (Dice equals 0.9160) and LA (Dice equals 0.8813) segmentation tasks.


Author(s):  
Megan Cummins ◽  
Jenn S. Rossmann

The hemodynamics and fluid mechanical forces in blood vessels have long been implicated in the deposition and growth of atherosclerotic plaque. Detailed information about the hemodynamics in vessels affected by significant plaque deposits can provide insight into the mechanisms and likelihood of plaque weakening and rupture. In the current study, the governing equations are solved in their finite volume formulation in several patient-specific geometries. Recirculation zones, vortex shedding, and secondary flows are captured. The forces on vessel walls are shown to correlate with unstable plaque deposits. The results of these simulations suggest morphological features that may usefully supplement percent stenosis as a predictor of plaque vulnerability.


2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (8) ◽  
pp. 3171-3177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelius J. Clancy ◽  
Victor L. Yu ◽  
Arthur J. Morris ◽  
David R. Snydman ◽  
M. Hong Nguyen

ABSTRACT We tested 32 Candida isolates recovered in the early 1990s from the bloodstreams of patients with candidemia for in vitro susceptibility to fluconazole and determined if MIC and/or the daily dose of fluconazole/MIC ratio correlated with the response to therapy. This is a unique data set since 87.5% (28/32) of patients were treated with fluconazole doses now considered to be inadequate (≤200 mg), which contributed to high therapeutic failure rates (53% [17/32]). The geometric mean MIC and dose/MIC ratio for isolates associated with therapeutic failure (11.55 μg/ml and 14.3, respectively) differed significantly from values associated with therapeutic success (0.95 μg/ml and 219.36 [P = 0.0009 and 0.0004, respectively]). The therapeutic success rates among patients infected with susceptible (MIC ≤ 8 μg/ml), susceptible-dose dependent (S-DD) (MIC = 16 or 32 μg/ml), and resistant (MIC ≥ 64 μg/ml) isolates were 67% (14/21), 20% (1/5), and 0% (0/6), respectively. A dose/MIC ratio >50 was associated with a success rate of 74% (14/19), compared to 8% (1/13) for a dose/MIC ratio ≤50 (P = 0.0003). Our data suggest that both fluconazole MIC and dose/MIC ratio correlate with the therapeutic response to fluconazole among patients with candidemia. In clinical practice, dose/MIC ratio might prove easier to interpret than breakpoint MICs, since it quantitates the effects of increasing fluconazole doses that are alluded to in the S-DD designation.


Author(s):  
Paul N. Watton ◽  
Marc Homer ◽  
Justin Penrose ◽  
Harry Thompson ◽  
Haoyu Chen ◽  
...  

Intracranial aneurysms appear as sac-like outpouchings of the cerebral vasculature wall; inflated by the pressure of the blood that fills them. They are relatively common and affect up to 5% of the adult population. Fortunately, most remain asymptomatic. However, there is a small but inherent risk of rupture: 0.1% to 1% of detected aneurysms rupture every year. If rupture does occur there is a 30% to 50% chance of fatality. Consequently, if an aneurysm is detected, clinical intervention may be deemed appropriate. Therapy is currently aimed at pre-rupture detection and preventative treatment. However, interventional procedures are not without risk to the patient. The improvement and optimization of interventional techniques is an important concern for patient welfare and is necessary for rationalisation of healthcare priorities. Hence there is a need to develop methodologies to assist in identifying those ICAs most at risk of rupture. We focus on the mathematical modelling and computational simulation of ICA evolution. Models must take into consideration: (i) the biomechanics of the arterial wall; (ii) the biology of the arterial wall and (iii) the complex interplay between (i) and (ii), i.e. the mechanobiology of the arterial wall. The ultimate ambition of such models is to aid clinical diagnosis on a patient-specific basis. However, due to the significant biological complexity coupled with limited histological information such models are still in their relative infancy. Current research focuses on simulating the evolution of an ICA with an aim to yield insight into the growth and remodelling (G&R) processes that give rise to inception, enlargement, stabilisation and rupture. We present a novel Fluid-Structure-Growth computational framework for modelling aneurysm evolution.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Ferreira ◽  
Sofia Santos ◽  
João Martins ◽  
Miguel Castelo-Branco ◽  
Joana Gonçalves

Abstract A major mode of rodent communication occurs through ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), which are influenced by environmental factors, mouse strain or genetic background and, importantly, by developmental stage. However, few studies have looked into the age-dependent evolution of spectral features of mouse USVs. Here, we report the existence of a novel vocalization, previously unreported, which we named “Fleeting” consisting of two acoustic elements produced with a narrow silent temporal interval between them. Strikingly, this vocalization pattern was extinguished after the second postnatal week, and this temporal pattern was associated with increased emission of Complex vocalizations, by gradual loss of the inter-element interval, suggesting a maturation process occurring at this time point. Importantly, the Fleeting vocalization was analyzed in a mouse model (Tsc2+/-) of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and showed an abnormal persistence, in particular in females which presented delayed conversion of Fleeting into Complex vocalizations compared with males. The identification of this novel vocalization represents an important insight into the maturation of mouse vocal repertoire and may be used as a developmental milestone in studies on neurodevelopmental disorders with communication impairments.


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