The evolution of IoT has revolutionized industrial automation. Industrial devices at every level such as field devices, control devices, enterprise level devices etc., are connected to the Internet, where they can be accessed easily. It has significantly changed the way applications are developed on the industrial automation systems. It led to the paradigm shift where novel IoT application development tools such as Node-RED can be used to develop complex industrial applications as IoT orchestrations. However, in the current state, these applications are bound strictly to devices from specific vendors and ecosystems. They cannot be re-used with devices from other vendors and platforms, since the applications are not semantically interoperable. For this purpose, it is desirable to use platform-independent, vendor-neutral application templates for common automation tasks. However, in the current state in Node-RED such reusable and interoperable application templates cannot be developed. The interoperability problem at the data level can be addressed in IoT, using Semantic Web (SW) technologies. However, for an industrial engineer or an IoT application developer, SW technologies are not very easy to use. In order to enable efficient use of SW technologies to create interoperable IoT applications, novel IoT tools are required. For this purpose, in this paper we propose a novel semantic extension to the widely used Node-RED tool by introducing semantic definitions such as iot.schema.org semantic models into Node-RED. The tool guides a non-expert in semantic technologies such as a device vendor, a machine builder to configure the semantics of a device consistently. Moreover, it also enables an engineer, IoT application developer to design and develop semantically interoperable IoT applications with minimal effort. Our approach accelerates the application development process by introducing novel semantic application templates called Recipes in Node-RED. Using Recipes, complex application development tasks such as skill matching between Recipes and existing things can be automated.We will present the approach to perform automated skill matching on the Cloud or on the Edge of an automation system. We performed quantitative and qualitative evaluation of our approach to test the feasibility and scalability of the approach in real world scenarios. The results of the evaluation are presented and discussed in the paper. / Die Entwicklung des Internet der Dinge (IoT) hat die industrielle Automatisierung revolutioniert. Industrielle Geräte auf allen Ebenen wie Feldgeräte, Steuergeräte, Geräte auf Unternehmensebene usw. sind mit dem Internet verbunden, wodurch problemlos auf sie zugegriffen werden kann. Es hat die Art und Weise, wie Anwendungen auf industriellen Automatisierungssystemen entwickelt werden, deutlich verändert. Es führte zum Paradigmenwechsel, wo neuartige IoT Anwendungsentwicklungstools, wie Node-RED, verwendet werden können, um komplexe industrielle Anwendungen als IoT-Orchestrierungen zu entwickeln. Aktuell sind diese Anwendungen jedoch ausschließlich an Geräte bestimmter Anbieter und Ökosysteme gebunden. Sie können nicht mit Geräten anderer Anbieter und Plattformen verbunden werden, da die Anwendungen nicht semantisch interoperabel sind. Daher ist es wünschenswert, plattformunabhängige, herstellerneutrale Anwendungsvorlagen für allgemeine Automatisierungsaufgaben zu verwenden. Im aktuellen Status von Node-RED können solche wiederverwendbaren und interoperablen Anwendungsvorlagen jedoch nicht entwickelt werden. Diese Interoperabilitätsprobleme auf Datenebene können im IoT mithilfe von Semantic Web (SW) -Technologien behoben werden. Für Ingenieure oder Entwickler von IoT-Anwendungen sind SW-Technologien nicht sehr einfach zu verwenden. Zur Erstellung interoperabler IoT-Anwendungen sind daher neuartige IoT-Tools erforderlich. Zu diesem Zweck schlagen wir eine neuartige semantische Erweiterung des weit verbreiteten Node-RED-Tools vor, indem wir semantische Definitionen wie iot.schema.org in die semantischen Modelle von NODE-Red einführen. Das Tool leitet einen Gerätehersteller oder Maschinebauer, die keine Experten in semantische Technologien sind, an um die Semantik eines Geräts konsistent zu konfigurieren. Darüber hinaus ermöglicht es auch einem Ingenieur oder IoT-Anwendungsentwickler, semantische, interoperable IoT-Anwendungen mit minimalem Aufwand zu entwerfen und entwicklen Unser Ansatz beschleunigt die Anwendungsentwicklungsprozesse durch Einführung neuartiger semantischer Anwendungsvorlagen namens Rezepte für Node-RED. Durch die Verwendung von Rezepten können komplexe Anwendungsentwicklungsaufgaben wie das Abgleichen von Funktionen zwischen Rezepten und vorhandenen Strukturen automatisiert werden. Wir demonstrieren Skill-Matching in der Cloud oder am Industrial Edge eines Automatisierungssystems. Wir haben dafür quantitative und qualitative Bewertung unseres Ansatzes durchgeführt, um die Machbarkeit und Skalierbarkeit des Ansatzes in realen Szenarien zu testen. Die Ergebnisse der Bewertung werden in dieser Arbeit vorgestellt und diskutiert.

Nowadays, prolonged sitting among office workers is a widespread problem, which is highly related to several health problems. Many proposals have been reported and evaluated to address this issue. However, motivating and engaging workers to change health behavior to a healthier working life is still a challenge. In this project, a specific application has been deployed for real-time monitoring and alerting office workers for prolonged sitting. The proposed system consists of three distinct parts: The first one is an android smartwatch, which was used to collect sensor data e.g., accelerometer and gyro data, with a custom android wear app. The second one is an android application, which was developed to act as a gateway for receiving the smartwatch’s data and sending them to IBM Bluemix cloud with MQTT protocol. The final part is a Node-Red cloud application, which was deployed for storing, analyzing and processing of the sensor data for activity detection i.e., sitting or walking/standing. The main purpose of the last one was to return relevant feedback to the user, while combining elements from gaming contexts (gamification methods), for motivating and engaging office workers to a healthier behavior. The system was firstly tested for defining appropriate accelerometer thresholds to five participants (control group), and then evaluated with five different participants (treatment group), in order to analyze its reliability for prolonged sitting detection. The results showed a good precession for the detection. No confusing between sitting and walking/standing was noticed. Communication, storage and analysis of the data was successfully done, while the push notifications to the participants, for alerting or rewarding them, were always accurate and delivered on time. Every useful information was presented to the user to a web-based dashboard accessed through a smartphone, tablet or a PC.     The proposed system can easily be implemented at a real-life scenario with office workers. Certainly, there is a lot space for improvement, considering mostly the type of data registered at the system, the method for sitting detection, and the user interface for presenting relevant information. / Numera är förlängt sittande bland kontorsarbetare ett utbrett problem som är väldigt relaterat till flera hälsoproblem. Många förslag har rapporterats och utvärderas för att ta itu med denna fråga. Tydligen är det fortfarande en utmaning att motivera och engagera arbetstagare för att förändra deras hälsobeteende till hälsosammare arbetsliv. I detta projekt har en särskild applikation använts för realtidsövervakning och varnar kontorsarbetare för förlängt sittande. Det föreslagna systemet består av tre olika delar: Den första är en android smartwatch, som användes för att samla sensordata t.ex. accelerometer och gyrodata, med en anpassad android wear app. Den andra är en en androidapplikation som fungerade som en gateway för att ta emot smartwatchens data och skickar datan till IBM Bluemix-Cloud med MQTT-protokollet. Den sista delen är en Node-RED Cloud-Applikation som användes för lagring, analysering och behandling av sensordata för aktivitetsdetektering. Detta innebär sittande eller gå/stående med det huvudsakliga ändamålet att returnera relevant återkoppling till användaren, samtidigt som man kombinerar element från spelkontekster (gamification metoder), för att motivera och engagera arbetarna till ett hälsosammare beteende. Systemet testades först för att definiera lämpliga accelerometertrösklar till fem deltagare (kontroll grupp) och utvärderades sedan med fem olika deltagare (behandingsgrupp) för att analysera dess tillförlitlighet för långvarig sittdetektering. Resultaten visade en bra precession för detektionen. Ingen förvirring mellan att sitta och gå / stående märktes. Kommunikation, lagring och analys av data gjordes framgångsrikt, medan push-meddelandena till deltagarna, för att varna eller belöna dem, var alltid korrekta och levererade i tid. All användbar information presenterades för användaren på en webbaserad dashboard som nås via en smartphone surfplatta eller en dator. Det föreslagna systemet kan enkelt implementeras i ett verkligt scenario med kontorsarbetare. Visst finns det mycket utrymme för förbättring om man tänker på majoriteten av data som registrerats i systemet, metoden för sittande detektion och användargränssnittet för presentering av relevant information.

Belastningsskador är idag ett allt större problem i samhället som leder till flera sociala och ekonomiska problem. Tillsammans med en ökande ålder på befolkningen kan belastningsbesvär skapa ännu mer utmaningar i framtiden. Att utöka kunskapen om ergonomi är ett bra sätt att minska risken för att drabbas av belastningsskador. Idag används primärt en visuell bedömning av ergonomi, men varje bedömning är individuella och inte konsistenta. Tillgängligheten av små och billiga Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) har ökat möjligheten att mäta objektivt istället för subjektivt. I detta exjobb har Texas Instruments SensorTag CC2650 använts som sensor, då den är billig och har många inbyggda sensorer där den 9-axliga rörelsesensorn var den eftersökta. En webbaserad utvecklingsmiljö kallad Node-RED användes för utveckling av en prototyp och sensorn kopplades till en smarttelefon tillsammans med Texas Instruments egna applikation. Data från sensorn skickades från smarttelefonen till webbapplikationen. Mätningar utfördes på en arm för att mäta belastningen på en axel, när handens position passerade axelns höjd finns det risk för belastningsskador efter en längre tid. För att beräkna vinkel av armen användes accelerometer samt gyroskop tillsammans med ett komplementärt filter. Prototypen testades i flera tester, där ena testet undersökte en högre risk t.ex. rita på en tavla samt lägre risk t.ex. papperssortering. Det visade sig att sensorn är kapabel att utföra bedömningar av belastningsriskerna. Men det finns kända begränsningar i form av låg samplingshastighet på 5 Hz (begränsningar i Texas Instruments applikation). Nästa steg för vidare arbete är att lägga till en magnetometer till prototypens sensor fusion och undersöka dess tillförlitlighet. / Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) is a rising problem in society leading to several socio-economic problems. In combination of the trend of an aging population, MSD can cause even more challenges in the future. Expanding the knowledge of ergonomics is a good way to reduce the risk of stress injury. Today, a visual assessment of ergonomics is primarily used. These observations are individual and not consistent. Availability of cheaper and smaller Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) has increased the possibility of using objective measurements instead of subjective observations. In this thesis work, the Texas Instruments SensorTag CC2650 was used as a sensor, because it is cheap and has many built-in sensors where the 9-axis motion sensor was the most sought one. A web-based development environment called Node-RED was used to develop a prototype and the sensor was connected to a smartphone along with Texas Instruments own application. The data from the sensor was sent from the smartphone to the web application. Measurements were performed on an arm to measure the load on a shoulder, when the hand's position passed the height of the shoulder it indicates that there is a risk of musculoskeletal disorders after an amount of time. To calculate the angle of the arm, sensor fusion of an accelerometer and a gyroscope were used together with a complementary filter. Developed system was evaluated by series of tasks exposing the shoulder to a higher risk e.g., painting compare to lower risk tasks e.g., paper sorting. It turned out that measurement are useful for assessment of the risk. However, there are known limitations like low sampling rate of 5Hz (due to limitation in the android app from Texas Instruments). Adding magnetometer to the sensor fusion and evaluation of reliability of calculations are the next natural steps for future work.

No description available.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have become excessively popular and prominent deep learning techniques to analyze structural graph data for their ability to solve complex real-world problems. Because graphs provide an efficient approach to contriving abstract hypothetical concepts, modern research overcomes the limitations of classical graph theory, requiring prior knowledge of the graph structure before employing traditional algorithms. GNNs, an impressive framework for representation learning of graphs, have already produced many state-of-the-art techniques to solve node classification, link prediction, and graph classification tasks. GNNs can learn meaningful representations of graphs incorporating topological structure, node attributes, and neighborhood aggregation to solve supervised, semi-supervised, and unsupervised graph-based problems. In this study, the usefulness of GNNs has been analyzed primarily from two aspects - clustering and classification. We focus on these two techniques, as they are the most popular strategies in data mining to discern collected data and employ predictive analysis.

Nowadays, wireless sensor networks can be found in many new application areas. In these sensor networks there may exit a part of the network which are difficult to access or lie in a wide area, far apart. A change in the software (e.g., function update or bug fix) can entail reprogramming of all sensor nodes. This is very time consuming and labour intensive, if the patching has to be done manually for each individual sensor nodes. In the area of mobile phones, the over the air (OTA) update function has been established very well with good reliability. In embedded systems such as sensor nodes, where resources are severely restricted, an update cannot be stored but must be programmed directly with the transfer. For this to be possible, a lot of basic functionality is needed to be established to correct errors or to be able to resume a failed programming. Within the framework of this thesis a concept for the transmission and distribution of the firmware and programming the sensor node is established. Focus here is to optimize the use of resources and to provide basic functionality within the programming mode.

Master of Science / Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Todd W. Easton / Graph Theory is a widely studied topic. A graph is defined by two important features: nodes and edges. Nodes can represent people, cities, variables, resources, products, while the edges represent a relationship between two nodes. Using graphs to solve problems has played a major role in a diverse set of industries for many years. Integer Programs (IPs) are mathematical models used to optimize a problem. Often this involves maximizing the utilization of resources or minimizing waste. IPs are most notably used when resources must be of integer value, or cannot be split. IPs have been utilized by many companies for resource distribution, scheduling, and conflict management. The node packing or independent set problem is a common combinatorial optimization problem. The objective is to select the maximum nodes in a graph such that no two nodes are adjacent. Node packing has been used in a wide variety of problems, which include routing of vehicles and scheduling machines. This thesis introduces several new graph structures, cliqued hole, odd bipartite hole, and odd k-partite hole, and their corresponding valid inequalities for the node packing polyhedron. These valid inequalities are shown to be new valid inequalities and conditions are provided for when they are facet defining, which are known to be the strongest class of valid inequalities. These new valid inequalities can be used by practitioners to help solve node packing instances and integer programs.

Sulfatide is a galactolipid and a major lipid component of the myelin sheath. Its production is catalyzed by the enzyme cerebroside sulfotransferase (CST). To determine the functions of sulfatide, the gene encoding CST was genetically disrupted resulting in mice incapable of sulfatide synthesis. Using these mice, it has been shown in the central nervous system (CNS) that sulfatide is essential for normal myelin synthesis and stability even though the onset of myelination is not impaired. Additionally, proper initial clustering of paranodal proteins and cluster maintenance of nodal proteins is impaired suggesting that paranodal domains are important for long-term node stability. In contrast to the CNS, a requirement for sulfatide in the initiation of myelination, and in initiation of paranodal and nodal clustering or in the long-term maintenance of these clusters in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) has not been analyzed. Therefore, we have employed a combination of electron microscopic, immunocytochemical, and confocal microscopic analyses of the CST KO mice to determine the role of sulfatide in PNS myelination and onset of protein domain formation and maintenance. For these studies we have quantified myelin thickness, paranodal structural integrity, and the number of paranodal and nodal protein clusters in the CST KO and wild type mice at 4 days, 7 days, and 10 months of age. Our findings indicate that myelination onset is not delayed in the absence of sulfatide and that both the node and paranode are grossly normal; however, closer analysis reveals that paranodal junctions are compromised, Schwann cell microvilli are disoriented and the myelin-axon interface along the internodal region is transiently disrupted. In addition, we report that the paranodal myelin protein neurofascin 155 (Nfasc155) shows a transient decrease in initial clustering in the CST null mice at 4 days of age that is restored to WT levels by 7 days of age that is also maintained in the adult mice. Whereas nodal clustering of neuronal voltage-gated sodium channels is initially normal, cluster number is significantly but also transiently reduced by 7 days of age. By 10 months of age, the number of sodium channel clusters is restored to normal levels. In contrast, clustering of neither the paranodal neuronal protein contactin nor the myelin nodal protein gliomedin is altered at any of the ages studied. Together our findings suggest that sulfatide is not essential for PNS myelination or for protein domain formation in contrast to its more vital role in the development and maintenance of the CNS.

L’adhésion, la migration cellulaire et l’environnement stromal sont intimement liés pour garantir l’homéostasie du système immuno-hématopoïétique. Néanmoins, nos connaissances des mécanismes responsables du maintien de ce processus fonctionnel restent fragmentaires. Notre étude a permis de mieux caractériser le stroma ganglionnaire et médullaire dans lesquels nous avons démontré de nouveaux rôles immuno-régulateurs des molécules d’adhésion jonctionnelle JAM-B et JAM-C. Dans la zone T des ganglions lymphatiques, les cellules réticulaires fibroblastiques (FRC) sécrètent des composés de la matrice extracellulaire et des chimiokines homéostatiques, nécessaires à la migration intranodale des lymphocytes T naïfs. La génération de nouveaux anticorps monoclonaux a permis d’identifier une diversité phénotypique et fonctionnelle au sein de la population FRC. L’un d’entre eux reconnaît la Thrombomoduline permettant d’identifier une population de FRC exprimant les protéines JAM-C et PDGFRα. Cette population cellulaire, dénommée FRCDP (Double Positive) sécrète des chimiokines homéostatiques, ce qui la distingue de la population FRCDN (Double Negative). Les souris sauvages traitées avec l’anticorps anti-JAM-C présentent une diminution significative du taux intranodal des chimiokines CXCL12, CCL19, CCL21 affectant la recirculation des cellules T naïves. De façon similaire, les cellules stromales des niches hématopoïétiques fournissent un environnement fonctionnel, nécessaire à l’homéostasie du système hématopoïétique. Les molécules d’adhésion sont connues pour contrôler ces mécanismes. JAM-C est exprimée à la surface des cellules souches hématopoïétiques (CSH) mais son rôle dans l’hématopoïèse reste inconnu. Notre étude montre que la molécule JAM-B est exprimée par l’environnement médullaire et interagit spécifiquement avec JAM-C sur les CSH. Les souris déficientes pour le gène jam-b présentent une diminution du nombre de CSH quiescentes et une réponse accrue aux agents mobilisants, démontrant ainsi que le couple JAM-B/JAM-C est nécessaire au maintien et à la rétention des CSH dans la moelle osseuse. / Homeostasis of the immune and hematopoietic system is dependent of cell adhesion, cell migration and stromal environment. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms involved in the crosstalk between hematopoietic and stromal cells have remained elusive. Our studies allowed to better characterize lymph node (LN) and bone marrow (BM) stromal compartments through the demonstration that expression of junctional adhesion molecules (JAM) in these compartments is necessary for the maintenance of immune and hematopoietic homeostasis. In the T cell zone (LN), extracellular matrix and homeostatic chemokines are secreted by fibroblastic reticular cells (FRC) which control naive T cell migration. We have identified new FRC subsets using a monoclonal antibody based approach to identify new cell surface markers of stromal cells. We have found that the FRC population expressing JAM-C, Thrombomodulin and PDGFRα (FRCDP, for Double Positive) secretes homeostatic chemokines such as CCL21, CCL19 and CXCL12. In contrast, FRCDN (Double Negative) that lack JAM-C and Thrombomodulin expression do not. Functionally, we have shown that JAM-C controls the secretion of CCL21, CCL19 and CXCL12 by FRCDP and that anti-JAM-C treated mice exhibit a decrease of intranodal chemokine contents. These results suggest that JAM-C may regulate homeostasis through the control of homeostatic chemokine secretion. We therefore asked the question whether similar function for JAM-C or its ligand JAM-B may be identified in the bone marrow. In the BM, Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSC) are maintained quiescent and undifferentiated in specific stromal structures called HSC niches. HSC/niche interactions via adhesion molecules and chemokines are known to be active player of HSC homeostasis. Recently, JAM-C expression by HSC has been reported, but its role in hematopoiesis has remained elusive. We have demonstrated that HSC interact with JAM-B expressed by BM stromal cells in a JAM-C dependent manner. Moreover, we have observed a decreased pool of quiescent HSC in jam-b deficient mice. Finally, we have found that jam-b deficient mice exhibit an increase in intramedullary CXCL12 content and an exacerbated response to mobilizing agents. Collectively, these data demonstrate that JAM-B and JAM-C play a dual function in lymph node and bone marrow microenvironments through the regulation of leuko-stromal adhesion and chemokine secretion.

O câncer de mama (CA de mama), com exceção do câncer de pele do tipo não melanoma, é o tumor de maior incidência dentre as mulheres, sendo que no Brasil são encontrados principalmente nas regiões Sul e Sudeste. Seu principal tratamento é o cirúrgico. A disseminação do tumor pode ocorrer por via linfática, acometendo linfonodos regionais. A biópsia do linfonodo sentinela (BLNS) é um procedimento altamente relevante, é altamente sensível na identificação de metástases. A técnica de linfocintilografia (LINCT) pré-operatória é essencial, pois permite avaliar a cadeia linfática acometida e possibilita a visualização do linfonodo sentinela (LNS) durante a cirurgia. O objetivo é descrever os padrões de drenagem linfática e avaliar a contribuição da LCINT na localização dos LNS em pacientes com CA de mama. No período de março de 2009 a agosto de 2011 foram estudados 70 casos sequenciais da rotina clínica, submetidos ao tratamento cirúrgico do CA de mama com estudo do LNS através da técnica de LCINT. Na LCINT foram aplicadas 4 injeções intradérmicas contendo 37 MBq (1,0 mCi) do FITATO-Tecnécio99m, ao redor da aréola mamária. Após a localização do LNS foi realizado marcações na pele, nas incidências anterior, oblíqua e lateral, para auxiliar o cirurgião na abordagem cirúrgica ulterior, juntamente com a sonda gama intra-operatória e corante azul patente. Dos 70 casos submetidos ao estudo, todos são do sexo feminino (100%) com faixa etária entre 28 e 77 anos, média de 54 anos. O tamanho médio do tumor encontrado nos pacientes foi de 1,4 cm. Os tipos histológicos mais incidentes foram o carcinoma ductal invasivo com 45 (64,4%) pacientes, seguido de carcinoma ductal in situ com 16 (22,8%). No exame de LCINT, todos os pacientes apresentaram drenagem linfática do radiofármaco a partir do local da injeção. Em 43 (61.5%) pacientes, observamos drenagem para 1 LNS, em 21 (30%) para 2 LNS/LNNS (linfonodo não sentinela), em 5 (7%) para 3 LNS/LNNS e em 1 (1.5%) para 4LNS/LNNS. Dos 70 pacientes, 68 (97%) apresentaram drenagem linfática ipsilateral e 2 (3%) apresentaram drenagem linfática bilateral. Em relação aos territórios de drenagem linfática dos LNS/LNNS, em 68 (97%) pacientes apresentaram drenagem para a região axilar, 1 (1,5%) para a região mamária interna e 1 (1,5%) para as regiões axilar e mamária interna. Os LNS/LNNS presentes na cadeia mamária interna não foram retirados. No intra-operatório, os cirurgiões utilizaram o corante azul patente em 35 (50%) pacientes, destes o corante identificou os LNS/LNNS em 79% dos casos. A técnica de LCINT possibilitou a visualização de todos os LNS e em alguns casos não foi possível a visualização do LNNS, o qual foi localizado e retirado com a sonda gama. Com isso, a técnica de LCINT foi eficaz em 88,5% dos casos. Dos 69 pacientes submetidos à BLNS apenas 13 (18,8%) pacientes apresentaram LNS/LNNS metastáticos, sendo estes submetidos à linfadenectomia axilar. Conclui-se que o exame pré-operatório de LCINT foi muito eficiente para o estudo da drenagem linfática, visualizando os canais linfáticos, linfonodos funcionalmente ativos e seus respectivos territórios de drenagem. Por tanto, esta técnica auxiliou o cirurgião na abordagem cirúrgica juntamente com a sonda gama intra-operatória e corante azul patente para a realização da BLNS. / With the exception of non-melanoma skin cancer, the Breast cancer (breast CA) is the most incident cancer in women. In Brazil, the breast CA is more often found in South and Southeast regions. The main treatment of breast CA is the surgery. The main pathway for the tumor spreading is the lymphatic system, which may affect the regional lymph nodes. The sentinel node biopsy (SLNB) is of considerable importance, once it has a high sensitivity in identifying metastases. The technique of preoperative lymphoscintigraphy (LINCT) is essential because it allows evaluating the lymphatic drainage chain and enables the visualization of sentinel lymph node (SLN) during surgery. We aim here to describe the lymphatic drainage patterns and to evaluate the contribution of LCINT to the location of SLN in patients with breast CA. We evaluated 70 patients sequentially selected from the clinical routine, between march 2009 and august 2011, and that underwent the surgical treatment for breast CA, including the usage of the technique of LCINT for the SLN location. The LCINT were performed by the injection of four periareolar intradermal injections containing 37 MBq (1.0 mCi) of the radiopharmaceutical PHYTATE-99m-Technetium. Based on the LCINT images, we performed skin marks in the dermal projections of the SLN in all anterior/posterior, oblique and lateral views. Additionally, the gamma probe and blue dye were used to help surgeons in the surgical location of the SLN. All of the 70 patients of our study were female, ranging from 28 to 77 years, mean 54 years. The average tumor size was 1.4 cm. The most commonly found histological types were invasive ductal carcinoma (45 patients, 64.4%), followed by the in situ ductal carcinoma (16 patients, 22.8%). All LCINT procedures were well succeeded in demonstrating at least one SLN in our sample of patients. We observed lymphatic drainage for only one SLN in 43 patients (61.5%), for 2 SLN/SLNN in 21 (30%) (non sentinel lymph node), for 3 SLN/SLNN in 5 (7%) and for 4 SLN/SLNN in one patient (1.5%). From the 70 patients, 68 (97%) exhibited ipsilateral and 2 (3%) exhibited bilateral lymphatic drainage. Concerning the lymphatic territories, 68 patients (97%) exhibited drainage to SLN/SLNN in the axillary region, 1 patient (1.5%) in the internal mammary region and another patient (1.5%) in both axillary and internal mammary regions. The two SLN/SLNN found in the internal mammary chain were not removed. Complimentary to the LCINT, the surgeons used blue dye in 35 patients (50%), which enabled them to identify the SLN/SLNN in 79% of cases. On the other hand, LCINT allowed the visualization of all SLN (100%). In some cases, in which was not possible to visualize the SLNN, these ones were found by the use of the gamma probe. Thus, the LCINT technique was effective to localize the SLN in 88.5% of cases. From the 69 patients who underwent SLN biopsy, only 13 patients (18.8%) exhibited metastatic infiltration of the SLN/ SLNN. All these patients were submitted to the axillary dissection. We conclude that the preoperative LCINT was very effective for the study of lymphatic drainage, enabling the visualization of the lymphatic channels, functionally active nodes and their drainage areas. Therefore, this technique helped surgeons in the surgical approach with intraoperative gamma probe and patent blue dye for SLNB.