@conference {Kamali2017a, title = {Localization of the transverse processes in ultrasound for spinal curvature measurement}, booktitle = {SPIE Medical Imaging}, volume = {10135}, year = {2017}, month = {02/2017}, pages = {101350I-101350I-7}, abstract = {

PURPOSE: In scoliosis monitoring, tracked ultrasound has been explored as a safer imaging alternative to traditional radiography. The use of ultrasound in spinal curvature measurement requires identification of vertebral landmarks such as transverse processes, but as bones have reduced visibility in ultrasound imaging, skeletal landmarks are typically segmented manually, which is an exceedingly laborious and long process. We propose an automatic algorithm to segment and localize the surface of bony areas in the transverse process for scoliosis in ultrasound.METHODS: The algorithm uses cascade of filters to remove low intensity pixels, smooth the image and detect bony edges. By applying first differentiation, candidate bony areas are classified. The average intensity under each area has a correlation with the possibility of a shadow, and areas with strong shadow are kept for bone segmentation. The segmented images are used to reconstruct a 3-D volume to represent the whole spinal structure around the transverse processes. RESULTS: A comparison between the manual ground truth segmentation and the automatic algorithm in 50 images showed 0.17 mm average difference. The time to process all 1,938 images was about 37 Sec. (0.0191 Sec. / Image), including reading the original sequence file.CONCLUSION: Initial experiments showed the algorithm to be sufficiently accurate and fast for segmentation transverse processes in ultrasound for spinal curvature measurement. An extensive evaluation of the method is currently underway on images from a larger patient cohort and using multiple observers in producing ground truth segmentation.

}, doi = {10.1117/12.2256007}, url = {http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=2615387}, author = {Shahrokh Kamali and Tamas Ungi and Andras Lasso and Christina Yan and Lougheed, Matthew and Gabor Fichtinger} } @article {Yan2017b, title = {Quantification of tumor localization needle displacement prior to tumor excision in navigated lumpectomy}, year = {2017}, author = {Christina Yan and Tamas Ungi and Gabrielle Gauvin and Doris Jabs and Andras Lasso and C. Jay Engel and John Rudan and Gabor Fichtinger} } @conference {Yan2017a, title = {Study into the displacement of tumor localization needle during navigated breast cancer surgery}, booktitle = {SPIE Medical Imaging}, year = {2017}, publisher = {SPIE}, organization = {SPIE}, address = {Orlando, Florida, USA}, author = {Christina Yan and Tamas Ungi and Gabrielle Gauvin and Doris Jabs and Andras Lasso and C. Jay Engel and John Rudan and Gabor Fichtinger} } @article {Tabanfar2016, title = {Clinical feasibility of pediatric scoliosis monitoring using portable ultrasound}, year = {2016}, author = {Reza Tabanfar and Christina Yan and Kempston, M and Daniel P. Borschneck and Tamas Ungi and Gabor Fichtinger} } @conference {Yan2016a, title = {Comparison of portable and conventional ultrasound imaging in spinal curvature measurement}, booktitle = {SPIE Medical Imaging}, year = {2016}, publisher = {SPIE Medical Imaging 2016}, organization = {SPIE Medical Imaging 2016}, address = {San Diego, CA, United States.}, abstract = {

PURPOSE: In scoliosis monitoring, tracked ultrasound has been explored as a safer imaging alternative to traditional radiography. The use of ultrasound in spinal curvature measurement requires identification of vertebral landmarks, but bones have reduced visibility in ultrasound imaging and high quality ultrasound machines are often expensive and not portable. In this work, we investigate the image quality and measurement accuracy of a low cost and portable ultrasound machine in comparison to a standard ultrasound machine in scoliosis monitoring. \ 


METHODS: \ Two different kinds of ultrasound machines were tested on three human subjects, using the same position tracker and software. Spinal curves were measured in the same reference coordinate system using both ultrasound machines. Lines were defined by connecting two symmetric landmarks identified on the left and right transverse process of the same vertebrae, and spinal curvature was defined as the transverse process angle between two such lines, projected on the coronal plane. \ \ 

RESULTS: \ Three healthy volunteers were scanned by both ultrasound configurations. Three experienced observers localized transverse processes as skeletal landmarks and obtained transverse process angles in images obtained from both ultrasounds. The mean difference per transverse process angle measured was 3.00 {\textpm} 2.1{\textdegree}. 94\% of transverse processes visualized in the Sonix Touch were also visible in the Telemed. \ Inter-observer error in the Telemed was 4.5{\textdegree} and 4.3{\textdegree} in the Sonix Touch. \ \ 

CONCLUSION: Price, convenience and accessibility suggest the Telemed to be a viable alternative in scoliosis monitoring, however further improvements in measurement protocol and image noise reduction must be completed before implementing the Telemed in the clinical setting. \ 

}, author = {Christina Yan and Reza Tabanfar and Michael Kempston and Daniel P. Borschneck and Tamas Ungi and Gabor Fichtinger} } @article {Yan2016, title = {Vertebral landmark visualization with portable ultrasound imaging in scoliosis monitoring}, year = {2016}, author = {Christina Yan and Reza Tabanfar and Kempston, M and Daniel P. Borschneck and Tamas Ungi and Gabor Fichtinger} }