Software for automated classification of probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy videos of colorectal polyps

AIM:To support probe-based confocal laser endomi-croscopy (pCLE) diagnosis by designing software for the automated classification of colonic polyps. METHODS:Intravenous fluorescein pCLE imaging of colorectal lesions was performed on patients under-going screening and surveillance colonoscopies, followed by polypectomies. All resected specimens were reviewed by a reference gastrointestinal pathologist blinded to pCLE information. Histopathology was used as the criterion standard for the differentiation between neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions. The pCLE video sequences, recorded for each polyp, were analyzed off-line by 2 expert endoscopists who were blinded to the endoscopic characteristics and histopathology. These pCLE videos, along with their histopathology diagnosis, were used to train the automated classification software which is a content-based image retrieval technique followed by k-nearest neighbor classification. The performance of the off-line diagnosis of pCLE videos established by the 2 expert endoscopists was compared with that of automated pCLE software classification. All evaluations were performed using leave-one-patient- out cross-validation to avoid bias. RESULTS:Colorectal lesions (135) were imaged in 71 patients. Based on histopathology, 93 of these 135 lesions were neoplastic and 42 were non-neoplastic. The study found no statistical significance for the difference between the performance of automated pCLE software classification (accuracy 89.6%, sensitivity 92.5%, specificity 83.3%, using leave-one-patient-out cross-validation) and the performance of the off-line diagnosis of pCLE videos established by the 2 expert endoscopists (accuracy 89.6%, sensitivity 91.4%, specificity 85.7%). There was very low power (< 6%) to detect the observed differences. The 95% confidence intervals for equivalence testing were:-0.073 to 0.073 for accuracy, -0.068 to 0.089 for sensitivity and -0.18 to 0.13 for specificity. The classification software proposed in this study is not a "black box" but an informative tool based on the query by example model that produces, as intermediate results, visually similar annotated videos that are directly interpretable by the endoscopist. CONCLUSION:The proposed software for automated classification of pCLE videos of colonic polyps achieves high performance, comparable to that of off-line diagnosis of pCLE videos established by expert endoscopists.

An Open CAM System for Dentistry on the Basis of China-made 5-axis Simultaneous Contouring CNC Machine Tool and Industrial CAM Software

China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool and domestically developed industrial computer-aided manufacture （CAM） technology were used for full crown fabrication and measurement of crown accuracy, with an attempt to establish an open CAM system for dental processing and to promote the introduction of domestic dental computer-aided design （CAD）/CAM system. Commercially available scanning equipment was used to make a basic digital tooth model after preparation of crown, and CAD software that comes with the scanning device was employed to design the crown by using domestic industrial CAM software to process the crown data in order to generate a solid model for machining purpose, and then China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool was used to complete machining of the whole crown and the internal accuracy of the crown internal was measured by using 3D-MicroCT. The results showed that China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool in combination with domestic industrial CAM technology can be used for crown making and the crown was well positioned in die. The internal accuracy was successfully measured by using 3D-MicroCT. It is concluded that an open CAM system for den-tistry on the basis of China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool and domestic industrial CAM software has been established, and development of the system will promote the introduction of domestically-produced dental CAD/CAM system.

Regionalization of epididymal duct and epithelium in rats and mice by automatic computer-aided morphometric analysis

Aim： To establish a rat and mouse epididymal map based on the use of the Epiquatre automatic software for histologic image analysis. Methods： Epididymides from five adult rats and five adult mice were fixed in alcoholic Bouin＇s fixative and embedded in paraffin. Serial longitudinal sections through the medial aspect of the organ were cut at 10 jam and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. As determined from major connective tissue septa, nine subdivisions of the rat epididymis and seven for the mouse were determined, consisting of five sub-regions in the caput （rat and mouse）, one （mouse） or three （rat） in the corpus and one in the cauda （rat and mouse）. Using the Epiquatre software, several tubular, luminal and epithelial morphometric parameters were evaluated. Results： Statistical comparison of the quantitative parameters revealed regional differences （2-5 in the rat, 3-6 in the mouse, dependent on parameters） with caput regions 1 and 2 being largely distinguishable from the similar remaining caput and corpus, which were in turn recognizable from the cauda regions in both species. Conclusion： The use of the Epiquatre software allowed us to establish regression curves for different morphometric parameters that can permit the detection of changes in their values under different pathological or experimental conditions. （Asian J Androl 2005 Sep; 7： 267-275）

Accuracy evaluation of a new three-dimensional reproduction method of edentulous dental casts, and wax occlusion rims with jaw relation

The article introduces a new method for three-dimensional reproduction of edentulous dental casts,and wax occlusion rims with jaw relation by using a commercial high-speed line laser scanner and reverse engineering software and evaluates the method’s accuracy in vitro.The method comprises three main steps：（i）acquisition of the three-dimensional stereolithography data of maxillary and mandibular edentulous dental casts and wax occlusion rims;（ii）acquisition of the three-dimensional stereolithography data of jaw relations;and（iii）registration of these data with the reverse engineering software and completing reconstruction.To evaluate the accuracy of this method,dental casts and wax occlusion rims of 10 edentulous patients were used.The lengths of eight lines between common anatomic landmarks were measured directly on the casts and occlusion rims by using a vernier caliper and on the three-dimensional computerized images by using the software measurement tool.The direct data were considered as the true values.The paired-samples t-test was used for statistical analysis.The mean differences between the direct and the computerized measurements were mostly less than 0.04 mm and were not significant（P.0.05）.Statistical significance among 10 patients was assessed using one-way analysis of variance（P,0.05）.The result showed that the 10 patients were considered statistically no significant.Therefore,accurate three-dimensional reproduction of the edentulous dental casts,wax occlusion rims,and jaw relations was achieved.The proposed method enables the visualization of occlusion from different views and would help to meet the demand for the computer-aided design of removable complete dentures.

Computer Aided Composition Design of Prehardened-Mould Steel for Plastic

The improvement of machining behavior of prehardened-mould steel for plastic is realized by using computer-aided composition design in this work. The results showed that the matrix composition of large sectional prehardened mould steel for plastic markedly influences the precipitation of non-metallic inclusion and the control of composition aided by Thermo-Calc software package minimizes the amount of detrimental oxide inclusion. In addition the modification of calcium is optimized in the light of composition design.