Fernando Vilariño. (2017). Citizen experience as a powerful communication tool: Open Innovation and the role of Living Labs in EU. In European Conference of Science Journalists.
Abstract: The Open Innovation 2.0 model spearheaded by the European Commission introduces conceptual changes in how innovation processes should be developed. The notion of an innovation ecosystem, and the active participation of the citizens (and all the different actors of the quadruple helix) in innovation processes, opens up new channels for scientific communication, where the citizens (and all actors) can be naturally reached and facilitate the spread of the scientific message in their communities. Unleashing the power of such mechanisms, while maintaining control over the scientific communication done through such channels presents an opportunity and a challenge at the same time.
This workshop will look into key concepts that the Open Innovation 2.0 EU model introduces, and what new opportunities for communication they bring about. Specifically, we will focus on Living Labs, as a key instrument for implementing this innovation model at the regional level, and their potential in creating scientific dissemination spaces.
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F. Javier Sanchez, Jorge Bernal, Cristina Sanchez Montes, Cristina Rodriguez de Miguel, & Gloria Fernandez Esparrach. (2017). Bright spot regions segmentation and classification for specular highlights detection in colonoscopy videos. MVAP - Machine Vision and Applications, , 1–20.
Abstract: A novel specular highlights detection method in colonoscopy videos is presented. The method is based on a model of appearance dening specular
highlights as bright spots which are highly contrasted with respect to adjacent regions. Our approach proposes two stages; segmentation, and then classication
of bright spot regions. The former denes a set of candidate regions obtained through a region growing process with local maxima as initial region seeds. This process creates a tree structure which keeps track, at each growing iteration, of the region frontier contrast; nal regions provided depend on restrictions over contrast value. Non-specular regions are ltered through a classication stage performed by a linear SVM classier using model-based features from each region. We introduce a new validation database with more than 25; 000 regions along with their corresponding pixel-wise annotations. We perform a comparative study against other approaches. Results show that our method is superior to other approaches, with our segmented regions being
closer to actual specular regions in the image. Finally, we also present how our methodology can also be used to obtain an accurate prediction of polyp histology.
Keywords: Specular highlights; bright spot regions segmentation; region classification; colonoscopy
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Cristina Sanchez Montes, F. Javier Sanchez, Jorge Bernal, Henry Cordova, Maria Lopez Ceron, Miriam Cuatrecasas, et al. (2019). Computer-aided Prediction of Polyp Histology on White-Light Colonoscopy using Surface Pattern Analysis. END - Endoscopy, 51(3), 261–265.
Abstract: Background and study aims: To evaluate a new computational histology prediction system based on colorectal polyp textural surface patterns using high definition white light images.
Patients and methods: Textural elements (textons) were characterized according to their contrast with respect to the surface, shape and number of bifurcations, assuming that dysplastic polyps are associated with highly contrasted, large tubular patterns with some degree of bifurcation. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) was compared with pathological diagnosis and the diagnosis by the endoscopists using Kudo and NICE classification.
Results: Images of 225 polyps were evaluated (142 dysplastic and 83 non-dysplastic). CAD system correctly classified 205 (91.1%) polyps, 131/142 (92.3%) dysplastic and 74/83 (89.2%) non-dysplastic. For the subgroup of 100 diminutive (<5 mm) polyps, CAD correctly classified 87 (87%) polyps, 43/50 (86%) dysplastic and 44/50 (88%) non-dysplastic. There were not statistically significant differences in polyp histology prediction based on CAD system and on endoscopist assessment.
Conclusion: A computer vision system based on the characterization of the polyp surface in the white light accurately predicts colorectal polyp histology.
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Jorge Bernal, Aymeric Histace, Marc Masana, Quentin Angermann, Cristina Sanchez Montes, Cristina Rodriguez de Miguel, et al. (2019). GTCreator: a flexible annotation tool for image-based datasets. IJCAR - International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 14(2), 191–201.
Abstract: Abstract Purpose: Methodology evaluation for decision support systems for health is a time consuming-task. To assess performance of polyp detection
methods in colonoscopy videos, clinicians have to deal with the annotation
of thousands of images. Current existing tools could be improved in terms of
exibility and ease of use. Methods:We introduce GTCreator, a exible annotation tool for providing image and text annotations to image-based datasets.
It keeps the main basic functionalities of other similar tools while extending
other capabilities such as allowing multiple annotators to work simultaneously
on the same task or enhanced dataset browsing and easy annotation transfer aiming to speed up annotation processes in large datasets. Results: The
comparison with other similar tools shows that GTCreator allows to obtain
fast and precise annotation of image datasets, being the only one which offers
full annotation editing and browsing capabilites. Conclusions: Our proposed
annotation tool has been proven to be efficient for large image dataset annota-
tion, as well as showing potential of use in other stages of method evaluation
such as experimental setup or results analysis.
Keywords: Annotation tool; Validation Framework; Benchmark; Colonoscopy; Evaluation
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Jorge Bernal, Nima Tajkbaksh, F. Javier Sanchez, Bogdan J. Matuszewski, Hao Chen, Lequan Yu, et al. (2017). Comparative Validation of Polyp Detection Methods in Video Colonoscopy: Results from the MICCAI 2015 Endoscopic Vision Challenge. TMI - IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 36(6), 1231–1249.
Abstract: Colonoscopy is the gold standard for colon cancer screening though still some polyps are missed, thus preventing early disease detection and treatment. Several computational systems have been proposed to assist polyp detection during colonoscopy but so far without consistent evaluation. The lack
of publicly available annotated databases has made it difficult to compare methods and to assess if they achieve performance levels acceptable for clinical use. The Automatic Polyp Detection subchallenge, conducted as part of the Endoscopic Vision Challenge (http://endovis.grand-challenge.org) at the international conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted
Intervention (MICCAI) in 2015, was an effort to address this need. In this paper, we report the results of this comparative evaluation of polyp detection methods, as well as describe additional experiments to further explore differences between methods. We define performance metrics and provide evaluation databases that allow comparison of multiple methodologies. Results show that convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are the state of the art. Nevertheless it is also demonstrated that combining different methodologies can lead to an improved overall performance.
Keywords: Endoscopic vision; Polyp Detection; Handcrafted features; Machine Learning; Validation Framework
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Quentin Angermann, Jorge Bernal, Cristina Sanchez Montes, Gloria Fernandez Esparrach, Xavier Gray, Olivier Romain, et al. (2017). Towards Real-Time Polyp Detection in Colonoscopy Videos: Adapting Still Frame-Based Methodologies for Video Sequences Analysis. In 4th International Workshop on Computer Assisted and Robotic Endoscopy (pp. 29–41).
Abstract: Colorectal cancer is the second cause of cancer death in United States: precursor lesions (polyps) detection is key for patient survival. Though colonoscopy is the gold standard screening tool, some polyps are still missed. Several computational systems have been proposed but none of them are used in the clinical room mainly due to computational constraints. Besides, most of them are built over still frame databases, decreasing their performance on video analysis due to the lack of output stability and not coping with associated variability on image quality and polyp appearance. We propose a strategy to adapt these methods to video analysis by adding a spatio-temporal stability module and studying a combination of features to capture polyp appearance variability. We validate our strategy, incorporated on a real-time detection method, on a public video database. Resulting method detects all
polyps under real time constraints, increasing its performance due to our
adaptation strategy.
Keywords: Polyp detection; colonoscopy; real time; spatio temporal coherence
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Jorge Bernal, Joan M. Nuñez, F. Javier Sanchez, & Fernando Vilariño. (2014). Polyp Segmentation Method in Colonoscopy Videos by means of MSA-DOVA Energy Maps Calculation. In 3rd MICCAI Workshop on Clinical Image-based Procedures: Translational Research in Medical Imaging (Vol. 8680, pp. 41–49).
Abstract: In this paper we present a novel polyp region segmentation method for colonoscopy videos. Our method uses valley information associated to polyp boundaries in order to provide an initial segmentation. This first segmentation is refined to eliminate boundary discontinuities caused by image artifacts or other elements of the scene. Experimental results over a publicly annotated database show that our method outperforms both general and specific segmentation methods by providing more accurate regions rich in polyp content. We also prove how image preprocessing is needed to improve final polyp region segmentation.
Keywords: Image segmentation; Polyps; Colonoscopy; Valley information; Energy maps
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Joan M. Nuñez, Jorge Bernal, F. Javier Sanchez, & Fernando Vilariño. (2013). Blood Vessel Characterization in Colonoscopy Images to Improve Polyp Localization. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications (Vol. 1, pp. 162–171). SciTePress.
Abstract: This paper presents an approach to mitigate the contribution of blood vessels to the energy image used at different tasks of automatic colonoscopy image analysis. This goal is achieved by introducing a characterization of endoluminal scene objects which allows us to differentiate between the trace of 2-dimensional visual objects,such as vessels, and shades from 3-dimensional visual objects, such as folds. The proposed characterization is based on the influence that the object shape has in the resulting visual feature, and it leads to the development of a blood vessel attenuation algorithm. A database consisting of manually labelled masks was built in order to test the performance of our method, which shows an encouraging success in blood vessel mitigation while keeping other structures intact. Moreover, by extending our method to the only available polyp localization
algorithm tested on a public database, blood vessel mitigation proved to have a positive influence on the overall performance.
Keywords: Colonoscopy; Blood vessel; Linear features; Valley detection
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Jorge Bernal, F. Javier Sanchez, & Fernando Vilariño. (2013). Impact of Image Preprocessing Methods on Polyp Localization in Colonoscopy Frames. In 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (pp. 7350–7354).
Abstract: In this paper we present our image preprocessing methods as a key part of our automatic polyp localization scheme. These methods are used to assess the impact of different endoluminal scene elements when characterizing polyps. More precisely we tackle the influence of specular highlights, blood vessels and black mask surrounding the scene. Experimental results prove that the appropriate handling of these elements leads to a great improvement in polyp localization results.
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Jorge Bernal, Fernando Vilariño, F. Javier Sanchez, M. Arnold, Anarta Ghosh, & Gerard Lacey. (2014). Experts vs Novices: Applying Eye-tracking Methodologies in Colonoscopy Video Screening for Polyp Search. In 2014 Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications (pp. 223–226).
Abstract: We present in this paper a novel study aiming at identifying the differences in visual search patterns between physicians of diverse levels of expertise during the screening of colonoscopy videos. Physicians were clustered into two groups -experts and novices- according to the number of procedures performed, and fixations were captured by an eye-tracker device during the task of polyp search in different video sequences. These fixations were integrated into heat maps, one for each cluster. The obtained maps were validated over a ground truth consisting of a mask of the polyp, and the comparison between experts and novices was performed by using metrics such as reaction time, dwelling time and energy concentration ratio. Experimental results show a statistically significant difference between experts and novices, and the obtained maps show to be a useful tool for the characterisation of the behaviour of each group.
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Jorge Bernal. (2009). Use of Projection and Back-projection Methods in Bidimensional Computed Tomography Image Reconstruction (Vol. 141). Master's thesis, , Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract: One of the biggest drawbacks related to the use of CT scanners is the cost (in memory and in time) associated. In this project many methods to simulate their functioning, but in a more feasible way (taking an industrial point of view), will be studied.
The main group of techniques that are being used are the one entitled as ’back-projection’. The concept behind is to simulate the X ray emission in CT scans by lines that cross with the image we want to reconstruct.
In the first part of this document euclidean geometry is used to face the tasks of projec- tion and back-projection. After analysing the results achieved it has been proved that this approach does not lead to a fully perfect reconstruction (and also has some other problems related to running time and memory cost). Because of this in the second part of the document ’Filtered Back-projection’ method is introduced in order to improve the results.
Filtered Back-projection methods rely on mathematical transforms (Fourier, Radon) in order to provide more accurate results that can be obtained in much less time. The main cause of this better results is the use of a filtering process before the back-projection in order to avoid high frequency-caused errors.
As a result of this project two different implementations (one for each approach) had been implemented in order to compare their performance.
Keywords: Projection, Back-projection, CT scan, Euclidean geometry, Radon transform
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Gloria Fernandez Esparrach, Jorge Bernal, Maria Lopez Ceron, Henry Cordova, Cristina Sanchez Montes, Cristina Rodriguez de Miguel, et al. (2016). Exploring the clinical potential of an automatic colonic polyp detection method based on the creation of energy maps. END - Endoscopy, 48(9), 837–842.
Abstract: Background and aims: Polyp miss-rate is a drawback of colonoscopy that increases significantly in small polyps. We explored the efficacy of an automatic computer vision method for polyp detection.
Methods: Our method relies on a model that defines polyp boundaries as valleys of image intensity. Valley information is integrated into energy maps which represent the likelihood of polyp presence.
Results: In 24 videos containing polyps from routine colonoscopies, all polyps were detected in at least one frame. Mean values of the maximum of energy map were higher in frames with polyps than without (p<0.001). Performance improved in high quality frames (AUC= 0.79, 95%CI: 0.70-0.87 vs 0.75, 95%CI: 0.66-0.83). Using 3.75 as maximum threshold value, sensitivity and specificity for detection of polyps were 70.4% (95%CI: 60.3-80.8) and 72.4% (95%CI: 61.6-84.6), respectively.
Conclusion: Energy maps showed a good performance for colonic polyp detection. This indicates a potential applicability in clinical practice.
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Cristina Sanchez Montes, Jorge Bernal, Ana Garcia Rodriguez, Henry Cordova, & Gloria Fernandez Esparrach. (2020). Revisión de métodos computacionales de detección y clasificación de pólipos en imagen de colonoscopia. GH - Gastroenterología y Hepatología, 43(4), 222–232.
Abstract: Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) is a tool with great potential to help endoscopists in the tasks of detecting and histologically classifying colorectal polyps. In recent years, different technologies have been described and their potential utility has been increasingly evidenced, which has generated great expectations among scientific societies. However, most of these works are retrospective and use images of different quality and characteristics which are analysed off line. This review aims to familiarise gastroenterologists with computational methods and the particularities of endoscopic imaging, which have an impact on image processing analysis. Finally, the publicly available image databases, needed to compare and confirm the results obtained with different methods, are presented.
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Francesc Tanarro Marquez, Pau Gratacos Marti, F. Javier Sanchez, Joan Ramon Jimenez Minguell, Coen Antens, & Enric Sala i Esteva. (2012). A device for monitoring condition of a railway supply. European Patent Office.
Abstract: of a railway supply line when the supply line is in contact with a head of a pantograph of a vehicle in order to power said vehicle . The device includes a camera ( for monitoring parameters indicative of operating capability of said supply line.
The device is intended to monitor condition
tive of operating capability of said supply line. The device includes a reflective element. comprising a pattern , intended to be arranged onto the pantograph head . The camera is intended to be arranged on the vehicle (10) so as to register the pattern position regarding a vertical direction.
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Onur Ferhat. (2012). Eye-Tracking with Webcam-Based Setups: Implementation of a Real-Time System and an Analysis of Factors Affecting Performance (Fernando Vilariño, Ed.) (Vol. 172). Master's thesis, , .
Abstract: In the recent years commercial eye-tracking hardware has become more common, with the introduction of new models from several brands that have better performance and easier setup procedures. A cause and at the same time a result of this phenomenon is the popularity of eye-tracking research directed at marketing, accessibility and usability, among others.
One problem with these hardware components is scalability, because both the price and the necessary expertise to operate them makes it practically impossible in the large scale. In this work, we analyze the feasibility of a software eye-tracking system based on a single, ordinary webcam. Our aim is to discover the limits of such a system and to see whether it provides acceptable performances.
The significance of this setup is that it is the most common setup found in consumer environments, off-the-shelf electronic devices such as laptops, mobile phones and tablet computers. As no special equipment such as infrared lights, mirrors or zoom lenses are used; setting up and calibrating the system is easier compared to other approaches using these components.
Our work is based on the open source application Opengazer, which provides a good starting point for our contributions. We propose several improvements in order to push the system's performance further and make it feasible as a robust, real-time device. Then we carry out an elaborate experiment involving 18 human subjects and 4 different system setups. Finally, we give an analysis of the results and discuss the effects of setup changes, subject differences and modifications in the software.
Keywords: Computer vision, eye-tracking, gaussian process, feature selection, optical flow
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