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Jaume Garcia, Debora Gil, Joel Barajas, Francesc Carreras, Sandra Pujades, & Petia Radeva. (2006). "Characterization of ventricular torsion in healthy subjects using Gabor filters and a variational framework " In Proc. Computers in Cardiology (pp. 877–880).
Abstract: In this work, we present a fully automated method for tissue deformation estimation in tagged magnetic resonance images (TMRI). Gabor filter banks, tuned independently for each left ventricle level, provide optimally filtered complex images which phase remains constant along the cardiac cycle. This fact can be thought as the brightness constancy condition required by classical optical flow (OF) methods. Pairs of these filtered sequences, together with a variational formulation are used in a second step to obtain dense continuous deformation maps that we call Harmonic Phase Flow. This method has been used to determine reference values of ventricular torsion (VT) in a set of 8 healthy volunteers. The results encourage the use of VT as a useful parameter for ventricular function assessment in clinical routine.
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Jaume Garcia. (2004). "Generalized Active Shape Models Applied to Cardiac Function Analysis ". Master's thesis, , .
Abstract: Medical imaging is very useful in the assessment and treatment of many diseases. To deal with the great amount of data provided by imaging scanners and extract quantitative information that physicians can interpret, many analysis algorithms have been developed. Any process of analysis always consists of a first step of segmenting some particular structure. In medical imaging, structures are not always well defined and suffer from noise artifacts thus, ordinary segmentation methods are not well suited. The ones that seem to give better results are those based on deformable models. Nevertheless, despite their capability of mixing image features together with smoothness constraints that may compensate for image irregularities, these are naturally local methods, i. e., each node of the active contour evolve taking into account information about its neighbors and some other weak constraints about flexibility and smoothness, but not about the global shape that they should find. Due to the fact that structures to be segmented are the same for all cases but with some inter and intra-patient variation, the incorporation of a priori knowledge about shape in the segmentation method will provide robustness to it. Active Shape Models is an algorithm based on the creation of a shape model called Point Distribution Model. It performs a segmentation using only shapes similar than those previously learned from a training set that capture most of the variation presented by the structure. This algorithm works by updating shape nodes along a normal segment which often can be too restrictive. For this reason we propose a generalization of this algorithm that we call Generalized Active Shape Models and fully integrates the a priori knowledge given by the Point Distribution Model with deformable models or any other appropriate segmentation method. Two different applications to cardiac imaging of this generalized method are developed and promising results are shown.
Keywords: Cardiac Analysis; Deformable Models; Active Contour Models; Active Shape Models; Tagged MRI; HARP; Contrast Echocardiography.
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Debora Gil, Jaume Garcia, Ruth Aris, Guillaume Houzeaux, & Manuel Vazquez. (2009). "A Riemmanian approach to cardiac fiber architecture modelling " In R. L. R. V. L. Nithiarasu (Ed.), 1st International Conference on Mathematical & Computational Biomedical Engineering (pp. 59–62). Swansea (UK).
Abstract: There is general consensus that myocardial fiber architecture should be modelled in order to fully understand the electromechanical properties of the Left Ventricle (LV). Diffusion Tensor magnetic resonance Imaging (DTI) is the reference image modality for rapid measurement of fiber orientations by means of the tensor principal eigenvectors. In this work, we present a mathematical framework for across subject comparison of the local geometry of the LV anatomy including the fiber architecture from the statistical analysis of DTI studies. We use concepts of differential geometry for defining a parametric domain suitable for statistical analysis of a low number of samples. We use Riemannian metrics to define a consistent computation of DTI principal eigenvector modes of variation. Our framework has been applied to build an atlas of the LV fiber architecture from 7 DTI normal canine hearts.
Keywords: cardiac fiber architecture; diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging; differential (Rie- mannian) geometry.
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Enric Marti, Jaume Rocarias, Debora Gil, Aura Hernandez-Sabate, Jaume Garcia, Carme Julia, et al. (2009). "Uso de recursos virtuales en Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos. Una experiencia en la asignatura de Gráficos por Computador ". Vigo (Spain).
Abstract: Presentamos una experiencia en Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos (ABP) realizada los últimos cuatro años en Gráficos por Computador 2, asignatura de Ingeniería Informática, de la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería (ETSE) de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB). Utilizamos un entorno Moodle adaptado por nosotros llamado Caronte para poder gestionar la documentación generada en ABP. Primero se presenta la asignatura, basada en dos itinerarios para cursarla: ABP y TPPE (Teoría, Problemas, Prácticas, Examen). El alumno debe escoger uno de ellos. Ambos itinerarios generan una cantidad importante de documentación (entregas de trabajos y prácticas, correcciones, ejercicios, etc.) a gestionar. En la comunicación presentamos los espacios electrónicos Moodle de ambos itinerarios. Finalmente, mostramos los resultados de encuestas realizadas a los alumnos para finalmente exponer las conclusiones de la experiencia en ABP y el uso de Moodle, así como plantear mejoras y temas de discusión.
Keywords: Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos; Project Based Learning; Aprendizaje Cooperativo; Recursos Virtuales para el Aprendizaje Cooperativo; Moodle
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Ferran Poveda, Jaume Garcia, Enric Marti, & Debora Gil. (2010). "Validation of the myocardial architecture in DT-MRI tractography " In Medical Image Computing in Catalunya: Graduate Student Workshop (pp. 29–30). Girona (Spain).
Abstract: Deep understanding of myocardial structure may help to link form and funcion of the heart unraveling crucial knowledge for medical and surgical clinical procedures and studies. In this work we introduce two visualization techniques based on DT-MRI streamlining able to decipher interesting properties of the architectural organization of the heart.
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Sandra Pujades, Francesc Carreras, Manuel Ballester, Jaume Garcia, & Debora Gil. (2008). "A Normalized Parametric Domain for the Analysis of the Left Ventricular Function " In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications (VISAPP’08) (Vol. 1, pp. 267–274).
Abstract: Impairment of left ventricular (LV) contractility due to cardiovascular diseases is reflected in LV motion patterns. The mechanics of any muscle strongly depends on the spatial orientation of its muscular fibers since the motion that the muscle undergoes mainly takes place along the fiber. The helical ventricular myocardial band (HVMB) concept describes the myocardial muscle as a unique muscular band that twists in space in a non homogeneous fashion. The 3D anisotropy of the ventricular band fibers suggests a regional analysis of the heart motion. Computation of normality models of such motion can help in the detection and localization of any cardiac disorder. In this paper we introduce, for the first time, a normalized parametric domain that allows comparison of the left ventricle motion across patients. We address, both, extraction of the LV motion from Tagged Magnetic Resonance images, as well as, defining a mapping of the LV to a common normalized domain. Extraction of normality motion patterns from 17 healthy volunteers shows the clinical potential of our LV parametrization.
Keywords: Helical Ventricular Myocardial Band; Myocardial Fiber; Tagged Magnetic Resonance; HARP; Optical Flow Variational Framework; Gabor Filters; B-Splines.
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Albert Andaluz, Francesc Carreras, Debora Gil, & Jaume Garcia. (2010). "Una aplicació amigable pel càlcul de indicadors clínics del ventricle esquerre ". Barcelona: Biocat.
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Jaume Garcia, Albert Andaluz, Debora Gil, & Francesc Carreras. (2010). "Decoupled External Forces in a Predictor-Corrector Segmentation Scheme for LV Contours in Tagged MR Images " In 32nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (pp. 4805–4808).
Abstract: Computation of functional regional scores requires proper identification of LV contours. On one hand, manual segmentation is robust, but it is time consuming and requires high expertise. On the other hand, the tag pattern in TMR sequences is a problem for automatic segmentation of LV boundaries. We propose a segmentation method based on a predictorcorrector (Active Contours – Shape Models) scheme. Special stress is put in the definition of the AC external forces. First, we introduce a semantic description of the LV that discriminates myocardial tissue by using texture and motion descriptors. Second, in order to ensure convergence regardless of the initial contour, the external energy is decoupled according to the orientation of the edges in the image potential. We have validated the model in terms of error in segmented contours and accuracy of regional clinical scores.
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Debora Gil, Jaume Garcia, Aura Hernandez-Sabate, & Enric Marti. (2010). "Manifold parametrization of the left ventricle for a statistical modelling of its complete anatomy " In 8th Medical Imaging (Vol. 7623, 304). SPIE.
Abstract: Distortion of Left Ventricle (LV) external anatomy is related to some dysfunctions, such as hypertrophy. The architecture of myocardial fibers determines LV electromechanical activation patterns as well as mechanics. Thus, their joined modelling would allow the design of specific interventions (such as peacemaker implantation and LV remodelling) and therapies (such as resynchronization). On one hand, accurate modelling of external anatomy requires either a dense sampling or a continuous infinite dimensional approach, which requires non-Euclidean statistics. On the other hand, computation of fiber models requires statistics on Riemannian spaces. Most approaches compute separate statistical models for external anatomy and fibers architecture. In this work we propose a general mathematical framework based on differential geometry concepts for computing a statistical model including, both, external and fiber anatomy. Our framework provides a continuous approach to external anatomy supporting standard statistics. We also provide a straightforward formula for the computation of the Riemannian fiber statistics. We have applied our methodology to the computation of complete anatomical atlas of canine hearts from diffusion tensor studies. The orientation of fibers over the average external geometry agrees with the segmental description of orientations reported in the literature.
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Mariano Vazquez, Ruth Aris, Guillaume Hozeaux, R.Aubry, P.Villar, Jaume Garcia, et al. (2011). "A massively parallel computational electrophysiology model of the heart " . International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 27, 1911–1929.
Abstract: This paper presents a patient-sensitive simulation strategy capable of using the most efficient way the high-performance computational resources. The proposed strategy directly involves three different players: Computational Mechanics Scientists (CMS), Image Processing Scientists and Cardiologists, each one mastering its own expertise area within the project. This paper describes the general integrative scheme but focusing on the CMS side presents a massively parallel implementation of computational electrophysiology applied to cardiac tissue simulation. The paper covers different angles of the computational problem: equations, numerical issues, the algorithm and parallel implementation. The proposed methodology is illustrated with numerical simulations testing all the different possibilities, ranging from small domains up to very large ones. A key issue is the almost ideal scalability not only for large and complex problems but also for medium-size meshes. The explicit formulation is particularly well suited for solving this highly transient problems, with very short time-scale.
Keywords: computational electrophysiology; parallelization; finite element methods
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