Visualization of scientific arts and some examples of applications

In this paper, implementation and visualization of scientific arts are described using some examples of application in subject research areas, such as sculpture, archeology, fine arts and information aesthetics, which have been discussed through the Scientific Art Session at FLUCOME9, Tallahassee, Florida, 2007–9. In the application to sculpture, stereo visualization techniques, such as anaglyph stereo visualization and integral imaging technique, are introduced to realize the three-dimensional geometry of sculpture to enhance visual impact on the art. The second application is the flow visualization technique for archeology, where the vortices behind the river stones are studied to understand the origin of patterns on Jomon pottery. Interestingly, such vortex patterns also appear in the paintings of fine arts. The third example is the visualization of information aesthetics, where the Web information, such as public media and stock market, are visualized through scientific techniques. These examples of visualization of scientific arts provide the present state of the art in interdisciplinary visualization.     

Anaglyph stereo visualization by the use of a single image and depth information

In this paper, an anaglyph stereo visualization is studied by the use of a single image and depth information. The present technique allows the stereo visualization of the target image without binocular camera, which has been used for generating the standard anaglyphs. Three test cases are shown in this work, which covers the generation of monochrome anaglyph from given geometrical information, and that of monochrome and color anaglyph from depth information evaluated from other imaging devises, which are placed in parallel. The experimental depth information of the target image is evaluated from the correlation-based template matching analysis of the random dot patterns optically projected on the target objects. Examples of anaglyph stereo visualization are shown for scientific art, such as the monochrome cube, monochrome plaster figure and the color artificial flowers. These results indicate that the present technique of anaglyph stereo visualization through the depth information is very useful and widely applicable to the general three-dimensional visualization.     

Calibration for stereo vision system based on phase matching and bundle adjustment algorithm

Calibration for stereo vision system plays an important role in the field of machine vision applications. The existing accurate calibration methods are usually carried out by capturing a high-accuracy calibration target with the same size as the measurement view. In in-situ 3D measurement and in large field of view measurement, the extrinsic parameters of the system usually need to be calibrated in real-time. Furthermore, the large high-accuracy calibration target in the field is a big challenge for manufacturing. Therefore, an accurate and rapid calibration method in the in-situ measurement is needed. In this paper, a novel calibration method for stereo vision system is proposed based on phase-based matching method and the bundle adjustment algorithm. As the camera is usually mechanically locked once adjusted appropriately after calibrated in lab, the intrinsic parameters are usually stable. We emphasize on the extrinsic parameters calibration in the measurement field. Firstly, the matching method based on heterodyne multi-frequency phase-shifting technique is applied to find thousands of pairs of corresponding points between images of two cameras. The large amount of pairs of corresponding points can help improve the accuracy of the calibration. Then the method of bundle adjustment in photogrammetry is used to optimize the extrinsic parameters and the 3D coordinates of the measured objects. Finally, the quantity traceability is carried out to transform the optimized extrinsic parameters from the 3D metric coordinate system into Euclid coordinate system to obtain the ultimate optimal extrinsic parameters. Experiment results show that the procedure of calibration takes less than 3 s. And, based on the stereo vision system calibrated by the proposed method, the measurement RMS (Root Mean Square) error can reach 0.025 mm when measuring the calibrated gauge with nominal length of 999.576 mm.     

一种用于时空立体视觉的光源模式设计

时空立体视觉是一种全新的三维重建技术,它利用主动光源来改变图像灰度,通过比较某时间段内的图像序列来完成立体匹配。针对时空立体视觉的特点,设计了一种由多级对偶的和沿一维单调变化的"锯齿式"灰度条纹组成的光源,提高了鲁棒性。三维重建实验结果说明了该光源的有效性。     

A robust security framework for 3D images

Abstract  

Three-dimensional (3D) visualization of spatial and non-spatial data is a well-established practice having numerous applications. The cheapest and the most efficient way to 3D visualization is 3D images/Anaglyphs. 3D images contain 3D information of the objects present in the image. These images are easily obtained by superimposing left and right eye images in different color in a single image. In this paper, a novel security framework, viz., watermarking scheme, is presented to ensure their security. The proposed security framework is employed in fractional Fourier transform domain of secret color channel followed by the embedding using singular value decomposition. The secret channels (SEC) are obtained by applying reversible integer transform on the RGB channels. The experimental results prove the robustness and imperceptibility of the proposed watermarking scheme.     

Fast volumetric spatial-spectral MR imaging of hyperpolarized C-labeled compounds using multiple echo 3D bSSFP

Purpose

The goal of this work was to develop a fast 3D chemical shift imaging technique for the noninvasive measurement of hyperpolarized ¹³C-labeled substrates and metabolic products at low concentration.

Materials and Methods

Multiple echo 3D balanced steady state magnetic resonance imaging (ME-3DbSSFP) was performed in vitro on a syringe containing hyperpolarized [1,3,3-2H3; 1-¹³C]2-hydroxyethylpropionate (HEP) adjacent to a ¹³C-enriched acetate phantom, and in vivo on a rat before and after intravenous injection of hyperpolarized HEP at 1.5 T. Chemical shift images of the hyperpolarized HEP were derived from the multiple echo data by Fourier transformation along the echoes on a voxel by voxel basis for each slice of the 3D data set.

Results

ME-3DbSSFP imaging was able to provide chemical shift images of hyperpolarized HEP in vitro, and in a rat with isotropic 7-mm spatial resolution, 93 Hz spectral resolution and 16-s temporal resolution for a period greater than 45 s.

Conclusion

Multiple echo 3D bSSFP imaging can provide chemical shift images of hyperpolarized ¹³C-labeled compounds in vivo with relatively high spatial resolution and moderate spectral resolution. The increased signal-to-noise ratio of this 3D technique will enable the detection of hyperpolarized ¹³C-labeled metabolites at lower concentrations as compared to a 2D technique.     

Particle imaging techniques for volumetric three-component (3D3C) velocity measurements in microfluidics

Abstract  

The reliable measurement of the 3D3C velocity field in microfluidic devices becomes more and more important for future optimization and developments for lab-on-a-chip applications or point-of-care medical diagnosis systems. In the past years, different particle-based imaging methods, such as confocal scanning microscopy, holography, stereoscopic and tomographic imaging or approaches based on defocused particle images or optical aberrations have been developed and applied successfully to measure velocity fields in microfluidic systems. The benefits and drawbacks of these methods will be discussed in detail as the proper understanding of the measurement principle is essential to select the most appropriate technique for a desired measurement application. Once an imaging method is chosen, the velocity can be estimated by correlation-based methods or tracking approaches. The advantages and disadvantages of both methods and the importance of image preprocessing will also be discussed in detail.     

Macrophage presence is essential for the regeneration of ascending afferent fibres following a conditioning sciatic nerve lesion in adult rats

Background  

Injury to the peripheral branch of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons prior to injury to the central nervous system (CNS) DRG branch results in the regeneration of the central branch. The exact mechanism mediating this regenerative trigger is not fully understood. It has been proposed that following peripheral injury, the intraganglionic inflammatory response by macrophage cells plays an important role in the pre-conditioning of injured CNS neurons to regenerate. In this study, we investigated whether the presence of macrophage cells is crucial for this type of regeneration to occur. We used a clodronate liposome technique to selectively and temporarily deplete these cells during the conditioning phase of DRG neurons.     

Micro-PIV measurement and CFD analysis of a thin liquid flow between rotating and stationary disks

Abstract  

A strongly sheared flow in a thin liquid layer between rotating and stationary disks is studied experimentally and numerically to clarify the characteristics of the flow in rotation-shearing chemical reactors. The disk diameter is 10 mm and the separation between the disks is 500 μm. The rotational speeds that are examined are 300, 500 and 700 rpm. The micro-PIV technique is used to measure the velocity in the liquid layer. A commercial CFD software is also used to obtain the results for the comparison and validation purposes. The overall velocity distributions revealed by the micro-PIV measurement are in good agreement with the CFD results. Both results show some interesting characteristics of the flow field, including the presence of a secondary flow and its influence on the tangential velocity profiles. The near-wall measurement in the micro-PIV technique is appreciably improved by the use of a simple digital, high-pass filtering technique that is applied to the acquired particle images. It is found that the flow characteristics in the thin liquid layer can be evaluated efficiently if the micro-PIV technique is used together with the high-pass filtering technique that is examined here.     

Statistical evaluation of methods for quantifying gene expression by autoradiography in histological sections

Background  

In situ hybridisation (ISH) combined with autoradiography is a standard method of measuring the amount of gene expression in histological sections, but the methods used to quantify gene expression in the resulting digital images vary greatly between studies and can potentially give conflicting results.     

单目多视点立体图像提取及应用

设计并实现了一种基于广角相机和平面镜的单目多视点立体图像摄像系统,给出了硬件装置的设计指标和优化方法;同时,在研究了硬件系统的标定方法基础上,实现了其在三维测距方面的应用。多枚平面镜构成的对称斗型腔体被放置在广角相机前面,物体光线经过不同平面镜反射后,投影到相机图像平面的不同区域,在相机投影平面上生成物体多个影像,形成单目多视点投影图像。该类图像等价于视点不同的多幅图像,可以使用多视点立体视觉算法实现三维测量。     

一种目标空间运动分析系统

针对运动目标空间定位问题,将立体视觉技术与单视频序列下的运动目标检测相结合,设计了一种目标空间运动分析系统,实现目标的空间定位,扩展了单视频序列运动目标检测课题的应用范围。针对从单目向多目过渡过程中面临的问题,从硬件上提出了相应的解决方案,将立体镜头与高速相机相结合,克服了芯片一致性、相机同步、运动拖影等影响。由于立体像对源于同一帧图像,所以可以直接使用传统单序列运动目标检测方法获取运动掩模。使用该空间运动分析系统在光照充足的室外条件下进行单一目标的自由落体和斜坡运动2组实验,实验结果表明:该系统运行稳定,实现了运动目标的空间位置分析功能,1 m范围内,定位绝对误差小于0.01 m。     

Multi-angle observation scheme for bubbles and droplets

Abstract  

The split-screen imaging technique, in which the field of view of a single video/still camera is divided into two (or more) regions, is one of the techniques for observing, using a single camera, liquid droplets, bubbles or particles translating in another fluid from two (or more) different directions. A drawback of the split-screen imaging technique is that it generally requires a longer optical path than the ordinary multi-camera technique that allots each view axis to each of two (or more) synchronized cameras. This study presents an optical arrangement that minimizes the optical path for the two-directional split-screen imaging so as to allow the use of a camera lens with a short working distance. Its modification configured for the three-directional split-screen imaging of translating bubbles or drops is also presented.     

A fast,efficient and automated method to extract vessels from fundus images

Abstract  

We present a fast, efficient, and automatic method for extracting vessels from retinal images. The proposed method is based on the second local entropy and on the gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM). The algorithm is designed to have flexibility in the definition of the blood vessel contours. Using information from the GLCM, a statistic feature is calculated to act as a threshold value. The performance of the proposed approach was evaluated in terms of its sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. The results obtained for these metrics were 0.9648, 0.9480, and 0.9759, respectively. These results show the high performance and accuracy that the proposed method offers. Another aspect evaluated in this method is the elapsed time to carry out the segmentation. The average time required by the proposed method is 3 s for images of size 565 × 584 pixels. To assess the ability and speed of the proposed method, the experimental results are compared with those obtained using other existing methods.     

Study on flow distribution for room air conditioner using visualization technique

Abstract  

Flow distributions of a room air conditioner (RAC) have been analyzed by a visualization technique such as a particle image velocimetry (PIV) in this study. Flow structures have been investigated inside and outside the RAC to improve efficiencies. Accuracies of the measured velocities by the PIV have been confirmed by a Pitot tube at important locations around the RAC. Then, a numerical analysis has been performed by developed computer programs to design parts for the RAC with improved efficiencies. The design guideline has been proposed based on the analyzed results to reduce the condensation problem and increase the flow rate. Finally, shapes of a fan with high flow rates and an outlet with reduced condensation problems have been obtained based on the developed experimental and numerical methods in this study.     

Usefulness of the navigator-echo triggering technique for free-breathing three-dimensional magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography

Purpose

To prospectively compare the navigator-echo triggering technique (navigator technique) and the conventional respiratory triggering technique using bellows (bellows technique) for free-breathing three-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) under clinical conditions.

Materials and methods

Forty patients referred for evaluation of biliary or pancreatic diseases underwent 3D MRCP examination using both navigator and bellows techniques. Two independent radiologists visually evaluated the image quality of 12 segments of the pancreaticobiliary tree in a blinded manner. In addition, the clarity of the lesion was compared between the two techniques in a side-by-side manner.

Result

MRCP images were successfully acquired using both techniques in all patients. No significant difference in acquisition time was found between the two techniques. The image quality was significantly better using the navigator technique than using the bellows technique for the following seven segments: the head, body, and tail of the pancreatic duct; right hepatic duct; anterior and posterior segments of the right hepatic duct; and cystic duct. The other segments (common hepatic and bile duct, left hepatic duct, medial and lateral segments of left hepatic duct, gallbladder) showed no significant difference. The clarity of lesion depiction was significantly better using the navigator technique than using the bellows technique.

Conclusion

Respiratory-triggered 3D MRCP using the navigator technique was shown to be feasible in routine clinical practice. The navigator technique improved the image quality of free-breathing 3D MRCP compared with the bellows technique. The clarity of lesion visualization was also better using the navigator technique than using the bellows technique.     

Usefulness of slice encoding for metal artifact correction (SEMAC) for reducing metallic artifacts in 3-T MRI

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to assess the usefulness of slice encoding for metal artifact correction (SEMAC) in 3.0-T magnetic resonance (MR) in minimizing metallic artifacts in patients with spinal prostheses.

Materials and Methods

Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained for this study. Twenty-seven spine MR scans were performed with metal artifact reduction SEMAC between May 2011 and July 2012 in patients with metallic devices. The MR scans were performed on a 3-T MR system (Achieva; Philips Healthcare, Best, the Netherlands) including SEMAC-corrected T2-weighted axial/sagittal images and two-dimensional fast spin echo (FSE) axial/sagittal images. The SEMAC-corrected images were compared to conventional T2-weighted FSE images. Two musculoskeletal radiologists qualitatively analyzed the images in terms of visualization of the pedicle, vertebral body, dural sac, intervertebral disc, intervertebral neural foramina, screws and metallic artifacts. The paired images were rated using a 5-point scale. P values less than .05 were considered to indicate statistically significant differences.

Results

The SEMAC-corrected MR images significantly reduced the metal-related artifacts. The T2-weighted images with SEMAC sequences enabled significantly improved periprosthetic visualizations of the pedicle, vertebral body, dural sac and neural foramina, with the exception of the intervertebral disc (P < .05). In addition, there was significant improvement in prosthesis visualization (P < .05).

Conclusion

MR images with SEMAC can reduce metal-related artifacts, providing improved delineation of the prosthesis and periprosthetic region. However, for the evaluation of the intervertebral disc, the SEMAC-corrected MR images showed no significant benefits.     

Explicit attention interferes with selective emotion processing in human extrastriate cortex

Background  

Brain imaging and event-related potential studies provide strong evidence that emotional stimuli guide selective attention in visual processing. A reflection of the emotional attention capture is the increased Early Posterior Negativity (EPN) for pleasant and unpleasant compared to neutral images (~150–300 ms poststimulus). The present study explored whether this early emotion discrimination reflects an automatic phenomenon or is subject to interference by competing processing demands. Thus, emotional processing was assessed while participants performed a concurrent feature-based attention task varying in processing demands.     

遥感中的立体成像技术

阐述了用于空间对地观测的立体成像的基本原理，讨论了三种立体成像方法，研制成功了用于机载的三个ＣＣＤ线阵扫描的立体成像系统。完成了实验室立体成像实验，编制了形成立体图所必需的软件，得到了预期的地面三维图像。     

Improved visualization of diffusion-prepared MR neurography (SHINKEI) in the lumbosacral plexus combining high-intensity reduction (HIRE) technique

PurposeThis study attempted to improve visualization of the pelvic nervous system using the high-intensity reduction (HIRE)-nerve-SHeath signal increased with INKed rest-tissue RARE Imaging (SHINKEI) technique that involves subtracting signals of 3D heavily T2W images from SHINKEI images. We identified the optimum TE value for 3D heavily T2W images and assessed the usefulness of the HIRE-SHINKEI technique.Materials and methodsCoronal lumbosacral plexus images were acquired from six healthy volunteers at 3 T. We optimized the TE of the 3D heavily T2-weighted (T2W) images in HIRE-SHINKEI and compared HIRE-SHINKEI images with conventional SHINKEI images with respect to nerve depiction, and vein, bladder, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) signal suppression using a 5-point scale.ResultsIn 3D heavily T2W images optimized by HIRE-SHINKEI technique, the signal corresponding to nerves became significantly lower at TE = 400 ms (p < 0.0005), while that of veins occurred at TE = 400 ms and 600 ms (p < 0.05). The suppression of bladder signals was significant at TE = 400, 600, and 800 ms (p < 0.05); however, there was no difference in signal inhibition from CSF at all TEs tested. Based on these results, an optimal TE of 600 ms was identified for 3D heavily T2W images; these images corresponded to the minimal loss of nerve signal and simultaneous maximum subtraction of signals from the bladder, vein, and CSF with dissimilar T2 values. Compared with SHINKEI images, the optimized HIRE-SHINKEI images selectively delineated nerves in greater detail, and along with significant signal suppression of the bladder (p < 0.0001) and veins (p < 0.05).ConclusionHIRE-SHINKEI can be used to better visualize the lumbosacral plexus with higher signal suppression of other pelvic structures. Such detailed Magnetic resonance neurography and selective depiction of nerves are useful for the diagnosis of peripheral nerve disorders.