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Biomedical subjects

D C Barber

Publications and source records attributed to D C Barber.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

A simple quantitative screening test for the detection of extracranial carotid artery disease.

A simple screening test, using continuous wave Doppler ultrasound, for the detection of all grades of extracranial carotid artery disease has been described. The test is composed of two parts: (1) the determination of the direction of flow at the orbit and (2) on-line principal component factor analysis of the maximum frequency envelope of the Doppler shifted signal obtained from the common carotid artery. A total of 154 vessel segments have been investigated; 69 normal, 41 with a stenosis of 10-49%, 32 with a stenosis of 50-99% and 12 occlusions. Of these, 70 vessel segments were assessed prospectively and they formed the data base from which the principal components and the classification factor were calculated. The remaining 84 vessel segments were analysed prospectively on-line. The combined results gave an overall sensitivity to the detection of disease of 90% and a specificity of 77%. It has been shown that although classification of Doppler waveforms by principal component analysis is a fairly sophisticated technique it is possible, by careful design of the algorithms, to design a near real-time on-line analysis system for derived waveforms such as the maximum frequency envelope.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1989

Applied potential tomography.

Applied Potential Tomography (APT) is a new method of imaging changes in the distribution of electrical resistivity within the human body. Such changes occur during respiration and, because of the movement of blood within the chest, during the cardiac cycle. Changes can also be observed due to redistribution of fluid within the body during simulated weightlessness. As very low electric currents are used to take measurements the method is safe. The equipment is simple and compact and ideal for use in space based measurement of physiological changes in the human body.

Aerospace Medicine↗
PubMed1988

Picket-fence porphyrins as potential phototherapeutic agents.

The synthetic "picket fence" porphyrin, tetra(o-acetamidophenyl)porphine (TAc), as a biological photosensitizer has been evaluated both in vitro and in vivo in mitochondria from the R3230AC mammary tumor. Studies in vitro, consisting of incubation of mitochondria with TAc at a concentration of 4.0 micrograms/ml followed by photolysis, result in the inhibition of cytochrome c oxidase, proton translocating ATPase, succinate dehydrogenase, and malate dehydrogenase. The diminution in activity of the first three enzymes is approximately 2-fold greater than that seen with Photofrin II under the same conditions. Although TAc exists as four isolable atropisomers, no differences among these different forms were observed in their photosensitized inhibition of mitochondrial enzymes. Administration to tumor-bearing rats of TAc i.p. at a dose of 25 mg/kg did result in accumulation of porphyrin within the mitochondria of the R3230AC tumor as determined by subsequent irradiation of isolated mitochondria. The potential utility of TAc and related porphyrins in cancer phototherapy is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Comparison of applied potential tomography and impedance epigastrography as methods of measuring gastric emptying.

Two new non-invasive methods of measuring gastric emptying, impedance epigastrography (IE) and applied potential tomography (APT) have been compared. Measurements in vitro showed that there is a good correlation between the square of the radius of a glass rod placed in the centre of a tank and values obtained by IE or APT. However, if the rod is moved anteriorly in the tank IE values increase markedly, whereas APT values are unchanged. Both APT and IE can be used to follow gastric emptying of liquid meals; however, the results obtained using APT are more reproducible and have a better correlation with those obtained simultaneously by scintigraphy. Neither method was able accurately to follow gastric emptying unless gastric acid secretion was inhibited by cimetidine.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Quantitative assessment of impedance tomography for temperature measurements in microwave hyperthermia.

The objective of this study is a non-invasive assessment of the thermal dose in microwave hyperthermia. We intend to monitor the induced temperature rise via the change in the resistivity of body tissue, and hence control the microwave power during treatment. An initial feasibility study using electrical impedance tomography in vivo has indicated that a microwave induced temperature difference of a suitable magnitude can be mapped from a knowledge of the temperature coefficient of conductivity for tissue (typically 2% per degrees C). The accuracy of the currently employed reconstruction algorithm is assessed from data simulated by finite element prediction methods. A circular arrangement of electrodes surrounding a conductive sheet is used to evaluate the voltage distribution on the boundary of the sheet. A range of regions inside the circular field are chosen and the conductivity is changed uniformly by steps of 1% up to 10%. Images of these changes are produced. It is noticed that the algorithm underestimates the values of resistivity change for the small areas and overestimates the change for the larger areas. We are studying results for a variety of shapes of surface regions of the body that undergo resistivity change with microwave heating applied. Further work is necessary to account for three-dimensional current paths. Preliminary results are also presented of experimental investigations of the microwave-induced temperature rise in layers of carbon-loaded paper sheet.

Body Temperature↗
PubMed1988

The effect of the skull of low-birthweight neonates on applied potential tomography imaging of centralised resistivity changes.

An investigation is presented into the likely effects of the neonatal skull on impedance images produced by applied potential tomography (APT) by imaging impedance changes inside the skull of a human infant of occipito-frontal circumference 30 cm. Measurements have been made with the skull immersed in a tank of saline and electrodes fixed to the perimeter of the tank. Sensitivity measurements have been assessed for imaging a small target close to the centre of the skull as compared with images produced without the skull. The results obtained compare favourably with measurements on a more realistic model of the neonatal head constructed by filling the skull with agar jelly to leave only a thin exterior coating of jelly to simulate the scalp. These experiments suggest that in the central region of the head of a neonate, measured changes by the APT technique are about 44% of that expected from a homogeneous phantom, but that this might vary from 32% to 55% at different points in the image in a very complex manner.

Brain↗
PubMed1988

Problems of cardiac output determination from electrical impedance tomography scans.

Impedance variations within the thorax related to cardiac activity have been localised using cardiac gated electrical impedance images. Since quantitative measurements of local variations can be made from those images, electrical impedance tomography gives more valuable information than impedance cardiography (ICG). However, because of the three-dimensional (3D) and non-uniform nature of the sensitivity function, localised measurements from electrical impedance tomography (EIT) scans are related to the position and geometry of the regions in which a resistivity change occurs. For accurate determination of volume changes from conductivity variations, the 3D sensitivity distribution needs to be known.

Cardiac Output↗
PubMed1988

Applied potential tomography: a new technique for monitoring pulmonary function.

An electrical impedance tomographic imaging system has been developed which can monitor changes in the resistivity of the thorax at a rate of 5 frames per second. There is a high correlation (r greater than 0.95) between changes in resistivity of the lungs and the volume of air inspired. Calibration of the system allows continuous monitoring of the level of ventilation on exercise up to a minute volume of 45 l min-1. The volumetric accuracy of the system is generally within +/- 10% of spirometric measurements. Studies of the effect of changes in posture on the calibration of the system show changes of between +9.5% and -3.8% in normal male subjects. The performance of the system compares favourably with existing techniques for the noninvasive monitoring of ventilation.

Humans↗
PubMed1988

An assessment of dynamic images by applied potential tomography for monitoring pulmonary perfusion.

Applied potential tomography (APT) images can be collected at a rate of 24 per second and data collection can be synchronised with the ECG. Images thus obtained from a thoracic plane allow the spatial separation of impedance changes originating in the heart, aorta and lungs and have raised the possibility of detecting pulmonary perfusion abnormalities from the cardiac-related impedance changes in the lungs. We have recently started a study to compare isotope perfusion scans with APT images and present here a few initial examples which suggest that further investigation of this field may prove rewarding.

Electrodes↗
PubMed1988

Errors in reconstruction of resistivity images using a linear reconstruction technique.

Reconstruction of electrical impedance images using the filtered back projection method of Barber and Brown makes several important assumptions about the object being imaged. These are principally that the object has a circular boundary, is two-dimensional and of impedance close to uniform, and has electrodes equally spaced on its boundary. In practice few of these assumptions are met, yet the method appears to give sensible and useful images. This paper looks at errors of reconstruction produced by non-ideal placement of the electrodes and shows that the reconstruction method is insensitive to such placement errors.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1988

Possibilities and problems of real-time imaging of tissue resistivity.

We show that the surface potential profiles used for electrical impedance tomography are largely determined by body shape and to a much lesser extent by internal resistivity distribution. The results of 2D finite element modelling show that changes of profile amplitude greater than a factor of four can be expected for the thorax. This offers the possibility of determining body shape from surface potential profiles and hence the determination of static images. Some of the other problems and possibilities of impedance imaging are discussed and in particular the design of a system for real time cardiac gated imaging.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Evaluation of applied potential tomography as a new non-invasive gastric secretion test.

Applied potential tomography (APT) is a new, non-invasive technique that can yield sequential images of changes in the resistivity of gastric contents. Studies were performed to investigate the application of APT to measure gastric acid secretion. Experiments in 20 normal volunteers showed that changes in gastric resistivity were closely correlated with changes in the volume (r = 0.80), the acidity (r = 0.83) and the total conductivity of gastric contents (r = 0.87). Studies in 13 patients referred for a pentagastrin test showed that changes in gastric resistivity before pentagastrin were closely correlated with basal acid output measured on a separate occasion (r = 0.85, p less than 0.001), while changes in gastric resistivity after pentagastrin were correlated with maximal acid output (r = 0.58, p less than 0.05). Ingestion of alcohol by six normal subjects decreased gastric resistivity markedly, probably due to alcohol induced gastric acid secretion as it was prevented by cimetidine. Applied potential tomography is a safe non-invasive method of measuring gastric acid secretion. The equipment is simple to use, and the test is comfortable and acceptable to patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Real-time analysis of Doppler waveforms.

The usefulness of objective analysis of Doppler waveforms is now well established but to date such measures have generally not been available in real-time. This Paper describes a real-time data analysis and collection system in use with a duplex scanner which is capable of producing objective measures of waveform shape during the investigation. It is shown as an example that this information can be used to identify, with high accuracy, babies likely to be classified at birth as distressed as early as the 34th week of pregnancy.

Female↗
PubMed1987

Theoretical limits to sensitivity and resolution in impedance imaging.

In any practical impedance imaging system it is important to be able to predict the image quality which can be expected from particular measurements. It is of interest both to establish the smallest object that can be detected for a certain noise level and to determine the maximum resolution for a certain number of electrodes. In impedance imaging this is not straightforward. The reason is that the resolution and the accuracy of an image which represents a conductive region are related to the number of electrodes and to the noise on the measurements. They also vary with position in the image and depend on the particular distribution of conductivity itself. It is therefore not possible, in general, to make quantitative statements about the resolution and accuracy. It is of course possible to make qualitative statements, but they are not of much use in any particular situation. Formulations are presented here which do allow quantitative assessment of the resolution and accuracy in a certain class of conductive regions. The regions to which they apply are two-dimensional and have a circular boundary shape. The details of the approach are included, both mathematically and descriptively. The quantitative improvement in image quality which can be obtained by reducing the noise, is shown both in terms of accuracy and resolution. The limit to the improvement in quality which can be obtained by taking unlimited independent measurements (i.e. using an unlimited number of electrodes) is calculated. It is shown how to predict the smallest sized object that can just be detected by measurements with a known level of noise.

Electric Conductivity↗
PubMed1987

Fast reconstruction of resistance images.

Resistance imaging involves the reconstruction of the distribution of electrical resistivity within a conducting object from measurements of the voltages or voltage gradients developed on the boundary of the object while current is flowing within the object. In general, the relationship between the distribution of resistivity in the object and the voltage profile on the object boundary is non-linear and attempts to reconstruct the distribution of resistivity from these profiles usually appear to involve time consuming iterative solutions. If it is assumed that the required resistivity distribution is close to a known reference distribution then it can be shown that there is an approximately linear relationship between the perturbation of the boundary voltage gradient measurements from those of the reference distribution and the logarithm of the resistivity perturbation from the reference distribution. The reconstruction problem then becomes solvable by linear methods. In particular it has proved possible to construct a single-pass back-projection method which can produce images of resistivity from a 16 electrode data collection system. Although the present implementation of this algorithm also assumes that the data is produced from a two-dimensional distribution of resistivity within a circular boundary and that the reference distribution is always uniform it seems capable of reconstructing useful images using data from three dimensional objects, including human subjects.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1987

Impedance imaging using linear electrode arrays.

The characteristics of using a linear array of electrodes for impedance imaging are examined. The advantages of a linear array include known electrode position, localised resolution, and mobility, but there are some disadvantages. The problems of the choice of data set, and of the range of measurements are examined. The results of investigations into resolution and sensitivity are presented, and also of some preliminary in vivo measurements. It is concluded that a linear array may have possible clinical applications.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Applied potential tomography: a new non-invasive technique for assessing gastric function.

Applied potential tomography is a new, non-invasive technique that yields sequential images of the resistivity of gastric contents after subjects have ingested a liquid or semi-solid meal. This study validates the technique as a means of measuring gastric emptying. Experiments in vitro showed an excellent correlation between measurements of resistivity and either the square of the radius of a glass rod or the volume of water in a spherical balloon when both were placed in an oval tank containing saline. Altering the lateral position of the rod in the tank did not alter the values obtained. Images of abdominal resistivity were also directly correlated with the volume of air in a gastric balloon. Profiles of gastric emptying of liquid meals obtained using APT were very similar to those obtained using scintigraphy or dye dilution techniques provided that acid secretion was inhibited by cimetidine. Profiles of emptying of a mashed potato meal using APT were also very similar to those obtained by scintigraphy. Measurements of the emptying of a liquid meal from the stomach were reproducible if acid secretion was inhibited by cimetidine. Thus, APT is an accurate and reproducible method of measuring gastric emptying of liquids and particulate food. It is inexpensive, well tolerated, easy to use and ideally suited for multiple studies in patients, even those who are pregnant. A preliminary study is also presented that assesses the technique as a means of measuring gastric acid secretion. Comparison of resistivity changes with measured acid secretion following the injection of pentagastrin shows good correlations. APT might offer a non-invasive alternative to the use of a nasogastric tube and acid collection.

Duodenal Ulcer↗