No description available.

<p>Research using mice and rats has gained interest because they are robust test beds for clinical drug development and are used to elucidate disease etiologies. Blood vessel visualization and blood flow measurements are important anatomic and physiologic indicators to drug/disease stimuli or genetic modification. Cardio-pulmonary blood flow is an important indicator of heart and lung performance. Small animal functional imaging provides a way to measure physiologic changes minimally-invasively while the animal is alive, thereby allowing for multiple measurements in the same animal with little physiologic perturbation. Current methods of measuring cardio-pulmonary blood flow suffer from some or all of these limitations-they produce relative measurements, are limited to global or whole animal or organ regions, do not provide vasculature visualization, limited to a few or singular samples per animal, are not able to measure acute changes, or are very invasive or requires animal sacrifice. The focus of this work was the development of a small animal x-ray imaging system capable of minimally invasive real-time, high resolution vascular visualization, and cardio-pulmonary blood flow measurements in the live animal. The x-ray technique used was digital subtraction angiography (DSA). This technique is a particularly appealing approach because it is easy to use, can capture rapid physiological changes on a heart beat-to-beat basis, and provides anatomical and functional vasculature information. This DSA system is special because it was designed and implemented from the ground up to be optimized for small animal imaging and functional measurements. This system can perform: 1) minimally invasive in vivo blood flow measurements, 2) multiple measurements in the same animal in a rapid succession (every 30 seconds-a substantial improvement over singular measurements that require minutes to acquire by the Fick method), 3) very high resolution (up to 46 micron) vascular visualization, 4) quantitative blood flow measurements in absolute metrics (mL/min instead of arbitrary units or velocity) and relative blood volume dynamics from discrete ROIs, and 5) relative mean transit time dynamics on a pixel-by-pixel basis (100 µm x 100 µm). The end results are 1) anatomical vessel time course images showing the contrast agent flowing through the vasculature, 2) blood flow information of the live rat cardio-pulmonary system in absolute units and relative blood volume information at discrete ROIs of enhanced blood vessels, and 3) colormaps of relative transit time dynamics. This small animal optimized imaging system can be a useful tool in future studies to measure drug or disease modulated blood flow dynamics in the small animal.</p> / Dissertation

Das Ziel: der Arbeit war die Überprüfung der Aussagekraft der MRA in time-of-flight-technique der Arteria caroits bei 1,0 Tesla im Vergleich zur intaarteriellen DSA und der Wertigkeit in der Einsatzfähigkeit in der klinischen Routine bei der Diagnostik von Carotisstenosen. 101 Patienten wurden zur Abklärung einer Stenose der Arteria carotis vergleichend mittels TOF-MRA und i.a. DSA der Arteriae carotis untersucht. Morphologische Veränderungen wurden für sämliche Gefässe erfasst, wobei die Stenosen der Arteriae carotis entsprechend den NASCET-Kriterien graduiert wurden (geringgrade, mittelgradige,hochgradige Stenose oder Verschluss).Die Ergebnisse wurden mit folgenden drei verschiedenen statistischen Tests ausgewertet: Kappa Test, gewichteter Kappa Test und Intraklassenkorrelationskoeffizient. Von den 84 in die Auswertung eingebezogenen Gefässen wurden 66 Stenosen in der DSA als geringgradig klassifiziert. In dieser Kategorie wurden 60 dieser Stenosen von der MRA korrekt als geringgradig klassifiziert. In der DSA wurden 60 Stenosen der Arteria carotis als mittelgradig klassifiziert. 29 dieser Stenosen wurden von der MRA korrekt als mittelgradig eingeschätzt. 21 Stenosen wurden von der DSA als hochgradig klassifiziert. 20 dieser Stenosen wurden von der MRA korrekt als hochgradige Stenosen eingeschätzt. Die 16 kompletten Gefäsverschlüsse wurden alle von der MRA detektiert. Der Kappa Test ergab eine starke Korrelation der Ergebnisse. Insgesamt zeigte sich eine gute Überstimmung zwischen MRA und DSA. Aber gerade im Bereich der mittelgradigen Stenosen neigte die MRA dazu den Stenosegrad zu überschätzen. Das Ziel der Gefässdiagnostik ist eine präzise und reproduzierbare Bestimmung des Stenosegrades. Die Magnetresonanzangiographie kann als eine akkurate und zuverlässige Methode zur Bestimmung von Carotisstenosen angesehen werden / The purpose was to evaluate the efficiacy of the time-of-flight MRA of the carotid artery with a 1.0 Tesla system in comparison to intraarterial digital subtraction angiography for the assessment of carotid artery disease. 101 patients with suspected stenosis of the carotid artery were examined with a 1.0 Tesla scanner in time-of-flight-technique and with the selective i.a. DSA in parallel. Morphological pathologies were registered for all arteries, stenosis of the internal carotid artery of both examinations were blindly graded by applying the NASCET criteria (mild, moderately, severely or occluded). Three different assessment methods were conducted for the MRA data. Kappa, weighted kappa, intraclass correlation were calculated for MRA results compared to DSA. Of the 84 common carotid bifurcation, 66 were classified as mild stenosis by DSA. In this category, MRA correctly identified 60 of these as mild stenosis. Among 60 common carotid artery bifurcation graded as moderate by DSA, 29 were correctly graded as moderate by MRA. Among 21 common carotid artery bifurcation graded as severe by DSA, 20 of these were correctly graded by the MRA. There were 16 complete occlusions which were all correctly graded by MRA. A good kappa value was calculated for the data. In general the MRA were considered to find a good agreement with the DSA, but tended to overestimate stenosis, especially in the range of moderate stenosis. The aim of diagnosis is exact grading of carotid stenosis. MRA with its high agreement with DSA can be regarded as an accurate screening method of the common carotid bifurcation.

Die Thrombozytenaktivierung ist von zentraler Bedeutung für die Pathogenese der Arteriosklerose und wird bei Patienten mit instabiler Angina pectoris, Myokardinfarkt und TIA sowie nach koronarangioplastischen und operativen Eingriffen als Verursacher okklusiver vaskulärer Ereignisse in Betracht gezogen. Wir gingen der Frage nach, ob ein Zusammenhang zwischen peripherer arterieller Verschlußkrankheit (PAVK) und der Aktivierung zirkulierender Thrombozyten besteht und ob die intraarterielle digitale Subtraktionsangiographie (DSA) sowie die perkutane transluminale Angioplastie (PTA) im Bereich der unteren Extremitäten die Aktivierung zirkulierender Plättchen beeinflussen. Unsere Studie schloß 16 Kontrollprobanden mit PAVK, 25 gesunde Kontrollprobanden und 36 Patienten ein, von denen 14 einer DSA, 12 einer PTA und 10 beiden Eingriffen unterzogen wurden. Wir entnahmen Blutproben aus einer peripheren Vene oder aus Einführungsbestecken in der Arteria und Vena femoralis vor, direkt nach und 4 h nach den Interventionen. Die Plättchenaktivierung wurde anhand durchflußzytometrischer Messungen der Expression aktivierungsspezifischer Antigene (CD62 und CD63) bestimmt, die Sensibilität der Thrombozyten analysierten wir mittels einer zusätzlichen in-vitro-Aktivierung. Wir beobachteten 4 h nach der DSA einen Abfall der Aktivierung und eine erhöhte Sensibilität von Plättchen im arteriellen und venösen Strombereich (p < 0,02). Wir sehen diese Wirkungen als Kontrastmittel(KM)-induziert an und führen die Abnahme der Relativzahl aktivierter Thrombozyten hauptsächlich auf ihre verkürzte Lebensdauer zurück. 4 h nach der PTA kam es arteriell und venös zu einem Abfall der Relativzahl aktivierter Thrombozyten (p < 0,02). Weiterhin beobachteten wir unmittelbar nach der PTA eine Verringerung des prozentualen Anteils aktivierter Plättchen in der arteriellen Zirkulation (p = 0,021) in Korrelation mit zunehmenden Dilatationszeiten und Ballonlängen (p < 0,03). Diese Beobachtungen führen wir auf eine geringe Anlagerung bzw. reduzierte Lebensdauer aktivierter Thrombozyten zurück. Von geringer quantitativer Bedeutung waren Einflüsse des Heparins und KM. Die Wirkung der DSA und PTA auf die Thrombozytenfunktionen schien sich in den 4 postinterventionellen Stunden abzuschwächen. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, daß die Angioplastie in peripheren Gefäßen eine Aktivierung und vermutlich geringe Anlagerung bzw. verkürzte Lebensdauer zirkulierender Plättchen unmittelbar nach der PTA und 4 Stunden später verursacht. Diese Prozesse führen wir in erster Linie auf Endothelläsionen als Folge der Dilatation zurück. Die DSA führt 4 h nach dem Eingriff zu einer Aktivierung, Sensibilisierung und in wahrscheinlich sehr geringem Umfang zu einer Anlagerung bzw. verringerten Lebensdauer der Plättchen. PAVK-Patienten im Stadium II nach Fontaine mit kardiovaskulären Risikofaktoren wiesen im Vergleich zu gesunden Probanden eine höhere Relativzahl aktivierter und sensibilisierter Plättchen auf (p = 0,0001). Deshalb vermuten wir, daß präinterventionell aktivierte Plättchen besonders in die Prozesse Aktivierung, Sensibilisierung und Anlagerung involviert bzw. von einer verkürzten Lebensdauer betroffen sind. / Platelet activation plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of artherosclerosis. Circulating activated platelets are thought to trigger thrombotic events in patients with instable angina pectoris, myocardial infarction and transient ischaemic attacks as well as after coronary angioplasty and surgery. We studied the effect of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) on activation of circulating thrombocytes and evaluated the influence on platelet activation of intraarterial digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) in the area of the lower extremities. Our study included sixteen control subjects with PAD, twenty-five healthy control subjects and thirty-six patients, fourteen of whom were undergoing DSA, twelve were undergoing PTA and ten we examined during both interventions. Blood samples were obtained from a peripheral vein or from the arterial and venous catheter introducer before and directly and four ours after the procedures. To characterize platelet activation, the expression of activation-dependent platelet antigens (CD62 and CD63) was measured using flow cytometry. Platelet sensibility was analysed by an additional in-vitro-activation. Four hours after DSA, we observed a decrease in activation and an increase in sensibility of thrombocytes in both arterial and venous circulation (p < 0.02), most likely due the contrast medium (CM). We assume, that the relative decrease of platelet activation is caused by a reduced life-time. The relative number of activated thrombocytes decreased in both arterial and venous circulation (p < 0.02) four hours after PTA. Furthermore, we observed reduced amounts of activated platelets in the arterial circulation (p = 0.021) immediately after PTA, in correlation with increased times of dilatation and larger ballon-catheters (p < 0.03). This could be explained by slight migration or shortened life-time of activated thrombocytes. The amount of CM and heparin did not have a pronounced effect. The influence of both interventions on the platelet features and functions seemed to attenuate in the four postinterventional hours. Our results show that angioplasty in peripheral vessels causes activation and presumably slight migration or reduced life-time of circulating thrombocytes immediately and four hours after PTA. We postulate that this is mainly induced by dilatation. DSA was also found to be associated with platelet activation, sensibilisation and presumptive minor migration or shortened life-time of circulating platelets. More activated and sensitized thrombocytes circulated in patients with PAD (clinical stage II according to Fontaine) with cardiovascular risk-factors compared to healthy control subjects (p = 0.001). This supports our assumption that preactivated platelets are particularly involved in activation, sensitizing and migration processes or affected by a reduced life-time.

Η CT αγγειογραφία εγκεφάλου (CTA) είναι μέθοδος καθιερωμένη για την διερεύνηση και την θεραπεία των ενδοκρανιακών ανευρυσμάτων. Σκοπός της μελέτης μας ήταν η σύγκριση των ευρημάτων της ψηφιακής αγγειογραφίας (DSA) με αυτά της CTA και με τα χειρουργικά ευρήματα σε ασθενείς με οξεία υπαραχνοειδή αιμορραγία, καθώς επίσης και η αξιολόγηση της κλινικής χρησιμότητας της μεθόδου. Κατά την διάρκεια τριών ετών, 82 ασθενείς προσήλθαν με κλινική εικόνα και σημειολογία συμβατή με υπαραχνοειδή αιμορραγία. Η CTA έγινε αμέσως μετά την απλή CT, ενώ η DSA εντός των πρώτων 48 ωρών από την εισαγωγή. Όλα τα ανευρύσματα που ευρέθησαν με τις δύο μεθόδους υπεβλήθησαν σε χειρουργική αποκατάσταση ή ενδαγγειακό εμβολισμό. Σε όσους ασθενείς βρέθηκε αρνητικό αποτέλεσμα και με τις δύο μεθόδους, έγινε επαναληπτική DSA 15 ημέρες μετά το επεισόδιο με σκοπό την επιβεβαίωση της απουσίας ανευρύσματος. Οι CTA εξετάσεις καθώς και οι κλασσικές αγγειογραφίες μελετήθηκαν από μια ομάδα δύο ακτινολόγων για κάθε τεχνική, οι οποίοι έπρεπε να καταγράψουν την ύπαρξη ή μη ανευρύσματος, να περιγράψουν τα χαρακτηριστικά του και να αξιολογήσουν την μέθοδο. Χειρουργική ή και ενδαγγειακή θεραπεία έγινε σε 45 ασθενείς και ανευρέθησαν 53 ανευρύσματα. Χρησιμοποιώντας την CTA, ευρέθησαν 47 ανευρύσματα σε 42 ασθενείς. Η DSA ανίχνευσε 43 ανευρύσματα σε 39 ασθενείς. Η ευαισθησία της CTA για τον εντοπισμό όλων των ανευρυσμάτων με βάση το χειρουργικό/θεραπευτικό αποτέλεσμα ήταν 88,7%, η ειδικότητα 100%, η θετική προβλεπτική αξία (PPV) 100%, η αρνητική προβλεπτική αξία (NPV) 80,7% και η ακρίβεια 92,3%. Αντίστοιχα, η ευαισθησία της DSA ήταν 87,8%, η ειδικότητα 98%, η PPV 97,7%, η NPV 89,1% και η ακρίβεια 92,9%. Όσον αφορά στα ανευρύσματα ≥3 mm, η CTA είχε ευαισθησία που κυμαινόταν μεταξύ 93,3 έως 100%, ίση με αυτή της DSA. Η CTA εμφάνισε τα ίδια ποσοστά ευαισθησίας με αυτά της DSA σε ανευρύσματα ≥3 mm. Εμφάνισε επίσης 100% ποσοστό ανίχνευσης σε ανευρύσματα της πρόσθιας αναστομωτικής και του διχασμού της μέσης εγκεφαλικής αρτηρίας, ενώ μερικές εντοπίσεις όπως η οπίσθια αναστομωτική αρτηρία παραμένουν προβληματικές. 80 Κατά την διάρκεια της παρούσας μελέτης προσπαθήσαμε να δημιουργήσουμε μια τεχνική προσομοίωσης της διεγχειρητικής εικόνας των ραγέντων ενδοκρανιακών ανευρυσμάτων, με τη χρήση volume rendering techniques σε εικόνες που προκύπτουν από CT αγγειογραφία. Η τρισδιάστατη κατασκευή των εικόνων προέκυψε από την συνεργασία μιας ομάδας αποτελούμενης από τέσσερις ακτινολόγους, έναν νευροχειρουργό και έναν ιατρικό φυσικό. Το αποτέλεσμα αυτής της συνεργασίας ήταν η παραγωγή μιας εικόνας οριοθετημένης στο χώρο, με οδηγά σημεία που εύκολα μπορούσαν να αναπαραχθούν κατά την διάρκεια του χειρουργείου. Οι εικόνες χειρουργικής προσομοίωσης ενός ανευρύσματος είναι πιθανώς χρήσιμο εργαλείο για τον προεγχειρητικό σχεδιασμό των ενδοκρανιακών ανευρυσμάτων. / Cerebral CT angiography is an established method applied to both the detection and treatment planning of intracranial aneurysms. The aim of our study was to compare DSA to CTA findings and with the surgical results mainly in patients with acute SAH and to evaluate the clinical usefulness of CTA. During the last three years, 82 consecutive patients were admitted under clinical symptoms and signs suggestive of harbouring an intracranial aneurysm. CT angiography performed immediately afterwards the plain CT, while DSA was performed within the first 48 hours of admission. All aneurysms detected, were confirmed during surgery or endovascular embolization. Repeat DSA was performed in all patients having both the initial CTA and the DSA 15 days after the onset of symptoms negative. CT angiograms and conventional angiographies were studied by a consensus of two radiologists for each technique, who performed aneurysm detection, morphological features characterization and evaluation of the technique. Surgical or/and endovascular treatment was performed in 45 patients and 53 aneurysms were confirmed. Using 3D-CT angiography we detected 47 aneurysms in 42 patients. Conventional angiography depicted 43 aneurysms in 39 patients. The sensitivity of CTA for the detection of all aneurysms versus surgery was 88.7%, the specificity 100%, the positive predictive value (PPV) 100%, the negative predictive value (NPV) 80.7% and the accuracy 92.3%. Consequently, the sensitivity of DSA was 87.8%, the specificity 98%, the PPV 97.7%, the NPV 89.1% and the accuracy 92.9%. Considering the aneurysms ≥ 3 mm, CTA showed a sensitivity ranging from 93.3% to 100%, equal to that of DSA. Cerebral CT angiography has an equal sensitivity to DSA in the detection of intracranial aneurysms greater than 3 mm. It has also 100% detection rate in AcoA and MCA bifurcation aneurysms, while some locations like posterior communicating artery aneurysms remain problematic. The delineating features of each aneurysm are better depicted with CTA due to 3D visualization. The use of Digital Subtraction Angiography as a diagnostic tool can be limited in equivocal cases. A supplement to the above work is our effort to describe a technique for simulating the surgical view of ruptured intracranial aneurysms, using volume 82 rendering techniques in spiral CT angiography data. The 3D rendered images were assessed by a team consisted of four radiologists, one neurosurgeon and one medical physicist. The resultant ‘surgical view’ image was standardized in space using a three-dimensional coordinate system, which allowed for its reproduction in the operating theatre. The surgical views are easily reproducible and αποτελούν a useful tool for the surgical planning of intracranial aneurysms.

Submitted by Irene Nascimento (irene.kessia@ufpe.br) on 2017-03-21T19:51:42Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE FINAL versão digital.pdf: 2839254 bytes, checksum: 962b7ff83b975bcd276b612274de7368 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-21T19:51:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE FINAL versão digital.pdf: 2839254 bytes, checksum: 962b7ff83b975bcd276b612274de7368 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-15 / Facepe / Dentre os diversos procedimentos intervencionistas com fins terapêuticos, a quimioembolização hepática tem se destacado por ser de alta complexidade e resultar em altas doses de radiação aos pacientes e à equipe médica. Em alguns casos, o paciente requer várias sessões para tratar a mesma lesão, o que aumenta a probabilidade de ocorrência de lesões na pele e/ou efeitos estocásticos. Embora seja uma técnica altamente utilizada no Brasil, a quimioembolização não tem sido alvo de estudos dosimétricos. Este estudo apresenta os resultados da avaliação dosimétrica realizada na equipe médica e pacientes durante 109 procedimentos de quimioembolização hepática, realizados em seis serviços de hemodinâmica na cidade de Recife, Pernambuco. Os procedimentos foram realizados utilizando equipamentos de angiografia digital de diferentes fabricantes e tecnologias. A dosimetria dos pacientes foi caracterizada através das estimativas da máxima dose na pele (MDP), do produto kerma ar-área (PKA) e do kerma ar de referência (Ka,r). A MDP foi estimada a partir da utilização de filmes radiocrômicos do tipo Gafchromic XR RV3. Para avaliar o risco de efeitos estocásticos, foi estimada a dose absorvida em órgãos a partir de simulações Monte Carlo utilizando fantomas antropomórficos femininos e masculinos da serie FASH e MASH. Os resultados da dosimetria com filme radiocrômico mostraram valores da MDP variando de 180 a 5650 mGy; sendo que 40% dos pacientes apresentaram valores de dose na entrada da pele que ultrapassaram o limiar de dose para ocorrência de eritema transitório, que é de 2 Gy. O estudo das correlações entre a MDP, PKA e Ka,r mostrou que o Ka,r pode ser utilizado para avaliar a possibilidade de ocorrência de reações tissulares na pele dos pacientes submetidos a procedimentos de quimioembolização. Os resultados das simulações mostraram que alguns órgãos internos dos pacientes podem receber doses entre 500 mGy e 1 Gy. A dosimetria ocupacional foi realizada utilizando dosímetros termoluminescentes e dispositivos eletrônicos pessoais distribuídos em varias regiões do corpo dos profissionais. Os resultados mostraram que, com apenas uma quimioembolização por semana, o médico principal pode ultrapassar o limite anual de 20 mSv para o cristalino quando não são utilizados dispositivos de radioproteção como óculos ou telas de acrílico plumbíferos. O valor mais alto de equivalente de dose pessoal Hp(d) por procedimento medido no corpo do médico principal foi 5135,3 μSv no pé esquerdo. A ausência da cortina plumbífera durante a realização dos procedimentos é uma explicação para os valores altos registrados. Os valores médios de dose efetiva por procedimento para o médico principal, médico auxiliar e anestesista numa das instituições acompanhadas foram: 13 μSv, 6,1 μSv e 13,7 μSv, respectivamente. Estes resultados mostram que os níveis de exposição recebidos pelo anestesista em procedimentos de quimioembolização podem ser superiores aos do médico principal. Os resultados da dosimetria ocupacional com dosimetros eletrônicos mostraram que estes dispositivos podem ser utilizados de forma complementar na estimativa da dose ocupacional no cristalino em procedimentos de quimioembolização hepática. Nas seis instituições avaliadas observou-se uma alta variabilidade nos valores de dose no paciente e equipe médica, devido, principalmente, ao desempenho dos equipamentos, complexidade dos procedimentos, características físicas dos pacientes e experiência dos médicos. / Among interventional procedures, hepatic chemoembolization has been recognized as a complex procedure where high radiation doses to patients and medical staff are delivered. In some cases the patient has to endure several sessions to treat the same lesion, which increases even more the probability of skin injuries or stochastic effects. In Brazil, chemoembolization is widely used; however few dosimetric studies have been done so far. This study presents dosimetric results for medical staff and patients based on 109 hepatic chemoembolization procedures conducted in six hemodynamic departments in Recife, Pernambuco. The procedures were performed using digital angiography equipments from different manufacturers, using different technologies. Patient dosimetry comprised the measurement of the maximum skin dose (MSD), air kerma-area product (PKA) and reference air kerma (Ka,r). The MSD was measured using radiochromic films of type Gafchromic XR RV3. To assess the risk of stochastic effects, organ absorbed doses were calculated by Monte Carlo simulations using female and male anthropometric phantoms of the FASH and MASH series. MSDs between 180 and 5650 mGy were found based on the radiochromic film measurements. 40% of the patients monitored with radiochromic films received MSDs above the 2 Gy threshold for transient skin erythema. The findings of this study showed that the Ka,r can be used for risk estimates of tissue reactions in patients undergoing chemoembolization procedures. The Monte Carlo simulations showed that patients may receive organ doses between 500 mGy and 1 Gy. Occupational dosimetry was performed using thermoluminescent dosimeters and personal electronic devices distributed over various regions of the physician’s body. The results showed that the main operator could reach the annual limit of 20 mSv for the equivalent dose in the lens of the eyes with just one procedure per week if the radiation shields such as the ceiling suspended screen and goggles are not used. The highest values of personal dose equivalent Hp(d), measured in the body of the main operator was 5135.3 μSv in the left foot. Lack of table curtains explains the registered high values. Mean effective doses for the main operator, the auxiliary physician and the anesthesiologist in one of the institutions were 13 μSv, 6.1 μSv e 13.7 μSv, respectively. These results show that occupational doses received by the anesthesiologist in chemoembolization procedures may be higher than those received by the main operator. The results of the occupational dosimetry using electronic dosimeters showed that these devices can be used in a complementary way to estimate the occupational eye lens doses in hepatic chemoembolization procedures. High variability of radiation doses to patients and medical staff was observed among the six medical institutions, mainly because of the performance of X-ray equipments, complexity of the procedures, physical characteristics of the patients and the physician´s experience

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Σκοπός: Διεξάγαμε την παρούσα μελέτη για να καταδείξουμε την ύπαρξη των βρογχικο-στεφανιαίων αναστομώσεων στο πειραματικό μοντέλο του χοίρου. Επιπλέον διερευνήσαμε την επίπτωση της αρτηριοσκλήρυνσης στις βρογχικές αρτηρίες. Υλικό – Μέθοδος: Χρησιμοποιήθηκαν τα παρασκευάσματα καρδιάς και πνευμόνων από 6 χοίρους. Επιπλέον, δείγματα βρογχικών αρτηριών ελήφθησαν από 40 ασθενείς που υποβάλλονταν σε θωρακοτομή. Σημειώθηκαν αναλυτικά οι κλινικοί και εργαστηριακοί παράγοντες κινδύνου για ανάπτυξη αρτηριοσκλήρυνσης. Αποτελέσματα: Με υπολογιστική τομογραφία, ψηφιακή αγγειογραφία και χορήγηση χρωστικής ρητίνης καταδείξαμε το αναστομωτικό δίκτυο μεταξύ των βρογχικών και κυρίως των αριστερών στεφανιαίων αρτηριών σε 5 από τα 6 παρασκευάσματα. Η μικροσκοπική εξέταση των δειγμάτων δεν στοιχειοθέτησε ύπαρξη αθηροσκλήρυνσης, παρά μόνο ύπαρξη ασβεστοποιού σκλήρυνσης του μέσου χιτώνα σε ποσοστό 2.5%, που δεν συσχετίστηκε με τους παράγοντες κινδύνου αρτηριοσκλήρυνσης. Συμπεράσματα: Με δεδομένο ότι βρογχικές αρτηρίες παρουσιάζουν ελάχιστο βαθμό ασβεστοποιού σκλήρυνσης του μέσου χιτώνα., υποθέτουμε ότι θα μπορούσαν να συνδράμουν στη στεφανιαία κυκλοφορία μέσω των προαναφερθεισών αναστομώσεων σε καταστάσεις εκσεσημασμένης στεφανιαίας νόσου. Η μελέτη μας υπογραμμίζει την σπουδαιότητα των βρογχικών αρτηριών και των βρογχικο-στεφανιαίων αναστομώσεων σε περιπτώσεις εμβολισμού των βρογχικών αρτηριών, μεταμοσχεύσεων καρδιάς-πνευμόνων και αντιμετώπισης ανευρυσμάτων θωρακικής αορτής. / Aim of the study: We conducted this study to demonstrate the coronary-bronchial anastomotic routes in a porcine model. Additionally, we estimated the incidence of bronchial arteries arteriosclerosis. Material and Methods: Six heart-lung porcine blocks were used. Furthermore, 40 bronchial arteries were obtained from patients who underwent thoracotomy. Detailed clinical and laboratory atherosclerotic risk factors of the patients were documented. Results: Using CT-scan, Digital Subtraction Angiography and colored latex, we demonstrated communications between the bronchial and coronary circulation in 5 of 6 subjects. Histology revealed no established atherosclerotic lesion and narrowing of the lumen, but medial calcific sclerosis in 2.5%, that was independent from the arteriosclerotic risk factors. Conclusions: As evidence suggests that bronchial arteries only exhibit medial calcific sclerosis, we hypothesize that bronchial arteries can contribute to the coronary flow through the broncho-coronary anastomoses in cases of severe coronary artery disease. Our study emphasizes their importance and their anastomoses to coronaries in cases of embolization, heart-lung transplantation and thoracic aorta aneurysms repair.

This thesis addresses three problems related to image registration, prediction and tracking, applied to Angiography and Oncology. For image analysis, various probabilistic models have been employed to characterize the image deformations, target motions and state estimations. (i) In Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA), having a high quality visualization of the blood motion in the vessels is essential both in diagnostic and interventional applications. In order to reduce the inherent movement artifacts in DSA, non-rigid image registration is used before subtracting the mask from the contrast image. DSA image registration is a challenging problem, as it requires non-rigid matching across spatially non-uniform control points, at high speed. We model the problem of sub-pixel matching, as a labeling problem on a non-uniform Markov Random Field (MRF). We use quad-trees in a novel way to generate the non uniform grid structure and optimize the registration cost using graph-cuts technique. The MRF formulation produces a smooth displacement field which results in better artifact reduction than with the conventional approach of independently registering the control points. The above approach is further improved using two models. First, we introduce the concept of pivotal and non-pivotal control points. `Pivotal control points' are nodes in the Markov network that are close to the edges in the mask image, while 'non-pivotal control points' are identified in soft tissue regions. This model leads to a novel MRF framework and energy formulation. Next, we propose a Gaussian MRF model and solve the energy minimization problem for sub-pixel DSA registration using Random Walker (RW). An incremental registration approach is developed using quad-tree based MRF structure and RW, wherein the density of control points is hierarchically increased at each level M depending of the features to be used and the required accuracy. A novel numbering scheme of the control points allows us to reuse the computations done at level M in M + 1. Both the models result in an accelerated performance without compromising on the artifact reduction. We have also provided a CUDA based design of the algorithm, and shown performance acceleration on a GPU. We have tested the approach using 25 clinical data sets, and have presented the results of quantitative analysis and clinical assessment. (ii) In External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT), in order to monitor the intra fraction motion of thoracic and abdominal tumors, the lung diaphragm apex can be used as an internal marker. However, tracking the position of the apex from image based observations is a challenging problem, as it undergoes both position and shape variation. We propose a novel approach for tracking the ipsilateral hemidiaphragm apex (IHDA) position on CBCT projection images. We model the diaphragm state as a spatiotemporal MRF, and obtain the trace of the apex by solving an energy minimization problem through graph-cuts. We have tested the approach using 15 clinical data sets and found that this approach outperforms the conventional full search method in terms of accuracy. We have provided a GPU based heterogeneous implementation of the algorithm using CUDA to increase the viability of the approach for clinical use. (iii) In an adaptive radiotherapy system, irrespective of the methods used for target observations there is an inherent latency in the beam control as they involve mechanical movement and processing delays. Hence predicting the target position during `beam on target' is essential to increase the control precision. We propose a novel prediction model (called o set sine model) for the breathing pattern. We use IHDA positions (from CBCT images) as measurements and an Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) for state estimation. The results based on 15 clinical datasets show that, o set sine model outperforms the state of the art LCM model in terms of prediction accuracy.