A digital frequency-to-temperature converter for use in radio telemetry systems in which temperature is transmitted proportional to a subcarrier frequency.
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Automatic evaluation of two-dimensional thin-layer-chromatograms exemplarily demonstrates the applicability of signal processing, image analysis, and pattern recognition to microphotometry by an enlarged dynamic range of the photometer, improved reproducibility by noise reduction, discrimination between objects and background, feature extraction and automatic classification of the results. Emphasis is put on simple procedures which are tested in routine work and can be implemented on minicomputers.
Full utilization of the precision of newer radiation therapy devices requires patient contours drawn with greater accuracy than is possible with the conventional lead wire technique. Polaroid photographs can introduce large errors due to distortion and small image size. Techniques including electromechanical or optical devices and CT scans offer improved accuracy, but often at added expense. A method for obtaining contours has been developed which utilizes a treatment planning minicomputer (equipped with an analog-to-digital converter and plotter) and a commercially available ultrasound B-scanning arm. Voltages corresponding to the X-Y position of the tip of the scanning arm are fed from the scanner to the A/D interface, smoothed, scaled, and plotted. The resulting drawing is a full scale external patient contour. The accuracy of this method is compared to alternative techniques.
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An interactive program for the analysis of nystagmus is presented, and some results obtained by processing postrotational responses are reported. The program is provided with a special subroutine which gives a quantification of the rhythm and regularity of the response through the histograms of the ratios between the duration of successive intersaccadic intervals and between the amplitudes of successive fast components. The consideration of these histograms has been proved to be highly significant in discriminating between normal and pathological responses.
Electrocardiograms and cardiac electrograms now frequently are measured for both clinical and experimental purposes by direct digital sampling, with no recording of the signal in analog form. This study examined the question of what sampling rates were required to measure accurately the continuous waveforms from the digital samples. Body surface waveforms and intracellular and extracellular waveforms measured directly from cardiac tissues were evaluated. Cardiac measurements included waveforms from the atrium, ventricle, atrioventricular transmission system and individual Purkinje strands. Sampling rates as high as 15,000 samples/sec were required to record accurately extracellular waveforms of the ventricular conduction system. Decreasing sampling rates were required as the recording site shifted through the ventricle to the body surface, where sampling rates as high as 1500 samples/sec were necessary.
Patterns of evolution of QRS-T relationship were investigated by determining statistical distributions of QRS and STT integral vectors and the ventricular gradient vector in 1492 normal children divided into 12 age groups from birth to the age of 16 years. From birth to the age of 4 days, the ventricular gradient vector shifts posteriorly and to the left due to posterior shift of the STT integral vector and an increase in the spatial angle between QRS and STT integral vectors to a mean value of 103 degrees. These early neonatal changes in QRS-T relationship probably reflect the sudden reduction of hemodynamic load and the subsequent postnatal atrophy of the right ventricle while the left ventricular load slowly increases. The magnitude of the ventricular gradient vector increases from age 3 weeks until about 7 years. The increase appears to be related to a gradual increase in the magnitude of the QRS and STT integral vectors and a drastic decrease in the spatial angle between them. The spatial angle between QRS and STT integral vectors reaches it minimum (22 degrees) in the age group 1.5--4.5 years, suggesting that at that age the average direction of ventricular excitation and repolarization wavefronts are nearly opposite to each other. In addition to the shifting balance between the left and right ventricular hemodynamic load, other factors, such as the maturation of the sympathetic nervous system, may be important in determining spatial gradients in the duration of action potentials, thus influencing the relationship between ventricular excitation and repolarization.
This paper considers a quantitative description of intracellular and transmembrane currents in anisotropic muscle, with emphasis on the factors that determine the extracellular potentials. Although Vmax of the intracellular action potential had no relation to changes in conduction velocity in anisotropic tissue with constant membrane properties, the extracellular waveforms were quite sensitive to velocity changes. Large amplitude biphasic deflection occurred in the fast areas, and in the slow areas the waveforms were of lower amplitude and triphasic in shape; i.e., negative potentials preceded the biphasic positive-negative deflection. The extracellular potentials were simulated on the bases of a model of intracellular currents, and the theoretical and measured results showed good agreement. In tissue with anisotropic conductivity, the relationship between the spatial intracellualr potential gradient and the magnitude of the extracellular potential of the excitation wave was opposite to the classical relationship in isotropic tissue. Due to the influence of the effective intracellular conductivity on the spread of intracellular currents and on conduction velocity, in anisotropic tissue the extracellular potential decreased as the intracellular potential gradient increased. The peak values of the positive and negative potentials and the spatial distribution of the potential gradients varied considerably along the activation front. These findings were accounted for by differences in the distribution and spatial extent of the transmembrane currents, which were determined by the intracellular currents. The theoretical analysis showed that intracellular and transmembrane currents were proportional to the local conduction velocities of the wavefront. Thereby, it was not possible to have a "uniform layer" of current when there were differences in conduction velocity along the length of the excitation wave. The implications of the analysis are considerable, since the gratifying agreement between the theoretical and measured results indicates that the details of the extracellular waveforms can be explained on the basis of the distribution of intracellular currents; i.e., extracellular potentials provide a sensitive index of intracellular current flow.
Pulsatile pulmonary hemodynamics were analyzed in a chronic awake canine high flow model. Standard mean flow and pulsatile flow hemodynamics were measured and alterations in the proximal pulmonary vascular physical properties were quantified by the characteristic impedance (Zo). Pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), which assesses arteriolar-capillary recruitment of perfusing radius and measures a more distal pulmonary vascular response to changing flows, also was calculated. Twelve control dogs were studied and had mean Qpa (pulmonary blood flow) = 2.02 +/- 0.15 liters/min, Zo = 193 +/- 20 dyne sec cm-5 and PVR = 416 +/- 32 dyne sec cm-5. Ten dogs were studied awake 20 weeks after creation of bilateral arteriovenous fistulae. Five of these shunted dogs, designated group A, developed Qpa = 3-4 liters/min (mean = 3.80 +/- 0.09, P less than 0.001 different from control group); the other five dogs (group B) developed Qpa = 4-8 liters/min (mean = 5.87 +/- 0.16, P less than 0.001). In group A, Zo = 143 +/- 8 (P less than 0.05) and PVR = 249 +/- 6 (P less than 0.10). In group B, Zo = 90 +/- 5 (P less than 0.005) and PVR = 126 +/- 14 (P less than 0.01). The total input power (potential and kinetic) was 125% above the controls for group A (P less than 0.001) and 264% for group B (P less than 0.001), but the mean energy components increased significantly more than did the pulsatile components. These data demonstrate a lower impedance to pulsatile flow during chronically elevated total flow which effects a reduction in both the work load of the right ventricle and the transmission of energy to the precapillary bed. Analysis of the alterations in characteristic impedance suggests a distinct proximal pulmonary vascular mechanism of decreased vessel stiffness (decreased elastic moduli) for adaptation to chronically elevated flow loads which is in addition to the two geometric alterations of proximal arterial dilation and distal vascular channel recruitment.
These preliminary findings reveal that low-frequency harmonic acceleration can be used to detect unilateral peripheral deficits that agree with caloric findings. However, the responses to sinusoidal acceleration are less variable than the caloric responses and allow one to more closely evaluate changes in pathology with time. Therefore, it appears that harmonic acceleration provides additional information that is useful in confirming other test results and that a complete otoneurologic evaluation should include this type of rotational testing.
The feasibility of replacement of the caloric test with sinusoidal rotatory stimulations of differing frequencies was investigated in ten normal subjects and seven patients with unilateral labyrinthine paralysis. Testing was performed at frequencies ranging from 0.0125 to 0.2 Hz at 60 degrees/sec and at 0.05 Hz at peak velocities of 30 degrees/sec to 180 degrees/sec. Gain, phase, and asymmetry of the nystagmic responses were measured in these groups. Results indicated that the rotatory test was not reliable enough to be used as the sole measure for identifying patients with unilateral labyrinthine lesions.
ECG monitoring devices for coronary care units require reliable R-wave dectors as a prerequisite for subsequent analysis. A simple algorithm has been developed for the detection of R-waves in an ECG signal with a microprocessor (Motorola MC6800). Detection criteria used were gradient and duration of a single upslope or downslope. Rejection of muscle noise and other artifiacts was achieved by setting system constants to optimum values which were determined by a short preliminary trial. This constant threshold system has been shown to cope with sudden changes of QRS complex amplitude better than some self adjusting systems. Assessment runs using patient tapes from a coronary care unit show total errors due to false positives and negatives are typically about 1% of the actual number of R-wave occurrences.
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The contractile indices Vmax (maximum shortening velocity of the contractile element) and ARPD (power averaged rate of power density generation) which have been shown to be unaffected by alterations in preload and afterload were computed from isovolumic left ventricular pressure data of dogs. The two indices were tested for their ability to detect changes in contractility induced by a positive inotropic drug (Isoprenalin). Whereas a good correlation was found between ARPD and Vmax (coefficient of correlation 0,895) the index ARPD was more sensitive to augmentation of myocardial contractility; also because it is simpler to obtain computationally and more appropriate for the intact heart from a theoretical point of view. ARPD should be useful especially for quantification of acute changes in myocardial contractility.
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Computerized axial tomography is a new method of tissue examination with x-rays whereby a picture can be produced which is a representation of a slice of the skull. This is done by irradiating the skull from 180 or 225 incremental angles and measuring the absorption at each of these angles. Then with the aid of a computer a tomogram is produced which can be displayed on a screen. These tomograms are representations of a cross-section of the skull composed of 160 X 160 points showing the various intracranial structures with great detail. The present study demonstrates the diagnostic possibilities of the high definition matrix with reference to brain disorders in a large sample of patients for the first time. Some tumours are shown as areas of decreased absorption compared with normal brain tissue. Others, however, have been found to have higher absorption values. With glioblastomas very contrasting pictures are produced with coexistng areas of decreased, increased and similar values to brain tissue. The most important finding is the visualization of brain oedema which appears as a low density area. A grading system of brain oedemas is proposed. The brain oedema associated with tumours has been found to propagate mainly in the white matter producing finger-like shapes. Out of 209 intracranial tumours 203 were recognized in the plain scan, a further five after contrast enhancement. In patients who have suffered from a stroke the differentiation between haemorrhage and infarction is made simple due to the contrasting appearance between the two types of lesion. Location, size and propagation direction of a haematoma as well as rupture of a haemorrhage into the ventricular system can be defined exactly. With brain infarction the hypoxically damaged tissue is well delineated and readily attributable to a given vascular area. In head injuries, for the first time it is possible to differentiate brain contusion with oedema from intracerebral haematoma. Coup and contre-coup are demonstrated. All types of acute intracranial haematomas may be diagnosed easily. With chronic subdural haematomas the new method fails if the contents of the haematoma shows the same absorption values as brain tissue. Late sequelae of head trauma such as contusion defects and necrosis of tissue after oedema can be seen in the tomogram. With infantile hydrocephalus, subdural effusions and malformations of the brain, computerized axial tomography offers a complete diagnosis so that other invasive, neuroradiological investigations may be avoided. Orbital tumors are picked out with great clarity. The high definition matrix allows the demonstration of the optic nerve, the lense and the suspension of the eyeball. Without doubt in the coming years computerized axial tomography will play a dominant role in the diagnosis of brain disorders.