Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Ioannis Pitas

Publications and source records attributed to Ioannis Pitas.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

A new methodology for the comparative study of the root canal instrumentation techniques based on digital radiographic image processing and analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of digital image processing and analysis procedures for the study and comparison of the efficiency of 2 root canal instrumentation techniques. STUDY DESIGN: Forty mandibular incisors with a single canal were randomly divided into 2 groups of 20 teeth. A step-back technique was followed for the instrumentation of the root canals of Group 1 teeth using hand stainless steel Hedström files (Dentsply Maillefer, Switzerland), while a crown-down technique using ProFile engine-driven nickel-titanium instruments (Dentsply Maillefer) was followed for the instrumentation of the Group 2 root canals. Radiographs of each tooth were taken in bucco-lingual and mesio-distal projections, both before and after instrumentation, under constant conditions and by using a direct digital intraoral radiography system. The postoperative radiographs were digitally subtracted from their respective preoperative radiographs. A contrast enhancement process was applied to the resultant digital subtractive images. The enlargement of the root canals created by each instrumentation technique regarding the apical 6 mm was assessed through the application of region segmentation and area measurement processes. RESULTS: Using this methodology no significant difference between the 2 preparation techniques was found in terms of configuration and enlargement of the root canals. CONCLUSIONS: The application of this methodology provided the ability to (1) visualize dentin lost during root canal instrumentation, (2) simultaneously compare root canal morphology before and after instrumentation, and (3) quantitatively evaluate the enlargement of the root canal area induced by each of the instrumentation techniques.

Dental Pulp Cavity↗
PubMed2006

Digital image processing techniques for the detection and removal of cracks in digitized paintings.

An integrated methodology for the detection and removal of cracks on digitized paintings is presented in this paper. The cracks are detected by thresholding the output of the morphological top-hat transform. Afterward, the thin dark brush strokes which have been misidentified as cracks are removed using either a median radial basis function neural network on hue and saturation data or a semi-automatic procedure based on region growing. Finally, crack filling using order statistics filters or controlled anisotropic diffusion is performed. The methodology has been shown to perform very well on digitized paintings suffering from cracks.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

Exploiting discriminant information in nonnegative matrix factorization with application to frontal face verification.

In this paper, two supervised methods for enhancing the classification accuracy of the Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) algorithm are presented. The idea is to extend the NMF algorithm in order to extract features that enforce not only the spatial locality, but also the separability between classes in a discriminant manner. The first method employs discriminant analysis in the features derived from NMF. In this way, a two-phase discriminant feature extraction procedure is implemented, namely NMF plus Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). The second method incorporates the discriminant constraints inside the NMF decomposition. Thus, a decomposition of a face to its discriminant parts is obtained and new update rules for both the weights and the basis images are derived. The introduced methods have been applied to the problem of frontal face verification using the well-known XM2VTS database. Both methods greatly enhance the performance of NMF for frontal face verification.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2005

Fast free-vibration modal analysis of 2-D physics-based deformable objects.

This paper presents an accurate, very fast approach for the deformations of two-dimensional physically based shape models representing open and closed curves. The introduced models are much faster than other deformable models (e.g., finite-element methods). The approach relies on the determination of explicit deformation governing equations that involve neither eigenvalue decomposition, nor any other computationally intensive numerical operation. The approach was evaluated and compared with another fast and accurate physics-based deformable shape odel, both in terms of deformation accuracy and computation time. The conclusion is that the introduced model is completely accurate and is deformed very fast on current personal computers (Pentium III), achieving more than 380 contour deformations per second.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2005

Automated evaluation of Her-2/neu status in breast tissue from fluorescent in situ hybridization images.

The evaluation of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) images is one of the most widely used methods to determine Her-2/neu status of breast samples, a valuable prognostic indicator. Conventional evaluation is a difficult task since it involves manual counting of dots in multiple images. In this paper, we present a multistage algorithm for the automated classification of FISH images from breast carcinomas. The algorithm focuses not only on the detection of FISH dots per image, but also on combining results from multiple images taken from a slice for overall case classification. The algorithm includes mainly two stages for nuclei and dot detection respectively. The dot segmentation consists of a top-hat filtering stage followed by template matching to separate real signals from noise. Nuclei segmentation includes a nonlinearity correction step, global thresholding to identify candidate regions, and a geometric rule to distinguish between holes within a nucleus and holes between nuclei. Finally, the marked watershed transform is used to segment cell nuclei with markers detected as regional maxima of the distance transform. Combining the two stages allows the measurement of FISH signals ratio per cell nucleus and the collective classification of cases as positive or negative. The system was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic analysis and the results were encouraging for the further development of this method.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2004

Digital radiograph registration and subtraction: a useful tool for the evaluation of the progress of chronic apical periodontitis.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the suitability of a digital radiograph registration and subtraction software for a sensitive and reliable assessment of the progress of chronic apical periodontitis. Ninety cases of teeth with chronic apical periodontitis have been studied. In each case, a preoperative radiograph was taken, root canals were prepared, and a Ca(OH)2 paste was placed in the root canals. Radiographic control and replacement of Ca(OH)2 paste took place at 15-day intervals. The root canals were obturated 1.5 months after the first appointment. Recall radiographs were taken 0.5, 1.5, 3, 6, and 12 months after the obturation. All radiographs were taken for each case under constant conditions by using a direct digital radiography system. In each case, the preoperative, postoperative, and control and recall radiographs were digitally registered and pairwise subtracted. The resulting images were further processed by using contrast enhancement and pseudocoloring methods. Changes to the periapical tissue structure were easily detectable by using the above-mentioned methodology, even during short time intervals.

Calcium Hydroxide↗
PubMed2003

A global energy function for the alignment of serially acquired slices.

An accurate, computationally efficient, and fully automated algorithm for the alignment of two-dimensional (2-D) serially acquired sections forming a three-dimensional (3-D) volume is presented. The approach relies on the optimization of a global energy function, based on the object shape, measuring the similarity between a slice and its neighborhood in the 3-D volume. Slice similarity is computed using the distance transform measure in both directions. No particular direction is privileged in the method avoiding global offsets, biases in the estimation and error propagation. The method was evaluated on real images [medical, biological, and other computerized tomography (CT) scanned 3-D data] and the experimental results demonstrated its accuracy as reconstuction errors are less than one degree in rotation and less than one pixel in translation.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2003

Reconstruction of serially acquired slices using physics-based modeling.

This paper presents an accurate, computationally efficient, fast, and fully automated algorithm for the alignment of two-dimensional (2-D) serially acquired sections forming a 3-D volume. The approach relies on the determination of interslice correspondences. The features used for correspondence are extracted by a 2-D physics-based deformable model parameterizing the object shape. Correspondence affinities and global constrains render the method efficient and reliable. The method accounts for one of the major shortcomings of 2-D slices alignment of a 3-D volume, namely variable and nonuniform thickness of the slices. Moreover, no particular alignment direction is privileged, avoiding global offsets, biases, and error propagation. The method was evaluated on real images and the experimental results demonstrated its accuracy, as reconstruction errors were smaller than 1 degree in rotation and smaller than 1 pixel in translation.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2002

Virtual endodontics: three-dimensional tooth volume representations and their pulp cavity access.

The purpose of this study was the application of both digital three-dimensional image processing and virtual reality techniques in endodontics. Three-dimensional volume representations of 2 teeth from each tooth category, 16 teeth in total, have been reconstructed. All teeth were embedded in polyester resin, and serial cross-sections 0.75-mm thick were taken from each tooth by using a special microtome. Each section was studied under a stereoscopic microscope, and its microscopic image was directly digitized using a video-camera. The surfaces of hard dental tissues were segmented from each section. Semiautomatic alignment and frame interpolation were performed on the sequence of tooth sections by using appropriate digital image processing techniques. Three-dimensional volume representations from each tooth were achieved in this project to produce the final three-dimensional teeth models, on which virtual accesses of pulp cavities have been performed. Three-dimensional teeth volume representations and virtual tooth "drilling" could serve as perfect educational tools under certain circumstances.

Anatomy, Cross-Sectional↗
PubMed2002

Binary morphological shape-based interpolation applied to 3-D tooth reconstruction.

In this paper, we propose an interpolation algorithm using a mathematical morphology morphing approach. The aim of this algorithm is to reconstruct the n-dimensional object from a group of (n - 1)-dimensional sets representing sections of that object. The morphing transformation modifies pairs of consecutive sets such that they approach in shape and size. The interpolated set is achieved when the two consecutive sets are made idempotent by the morphing transformation. We prove the convergence of the morphological morphing. The entire object is modeled by successively interpolating a certain number of intermediary sets between each two consecutive given sets. We apply the interpolation algorithm for three-dimensional tooth reconstruction.

Algorithms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Blind robust watermarking schemes for copyright protection of 3D mesh objects.

In this paper, two novel methods suitable for blind 3D mesh object watermarking applications are proposed. The first method is robust against 3D rotation, translation, and uniform scaling. The second one is robust against both geometric and mesh simplification attacks. A pseudorandom watermarking signal is cast in the 3D mesh object by deforming its vertices geometrically, without altering the vertex topology. Prior to watermark embedding and detection, the object is rotated and translated so that its center of mass and its principal component coincide with the origin and the z-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system. This geometrical transformation ensures watermark robustness to translation and rotation. Robustness to uniform scaling is achieved by restricting the vertex deformations to occur only along the r coordinate of the corresponding (r, theta, phi) spherical coordinate system. In the first method, a set of vertices that correspond to specific angles theta is used for watermark embedding. In the second method, the samples of the watermark sequence are embedded in a set of vertices that correspond to a range of angles in the theta domain in order to achieve robustness against mesh simplifications. Experimental results indicate the ability of the proposed method to deal with the aforementioned attacks.

Algorithms↗