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Juan Borrego-Carazo, Carles Sanchez, David Castells, Jordi Carrabina, & Debora Gil. (2023). "BronchoPose: an analysis of data and model configuration for vision-based bronchoscopy pose estimation " . Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 228, 107241.
Abstract: Vision-based bronchoscopy (VB) models require the registration of the virtual lung model with the frames from the video bronchoscopy to provide effective guidance during the biopsy. The registration can be achieved by either tracking the position and orientation of the bronchoscopy camera or by calibrating its deviation from the pose (position and orientation) simulated in the virtual lung model. Recent advances in neural networks and temporal image processing have provided new opportunities for guided bronchoscopy. However, such progress has been hindered by the lack of comparative experimental conditions.
In the present paper, we share a novel synthetic dataset allowing for a fair comparison of methods. Moreover, this paper investigates several neural network architectures for the learning of temporal information at different levels of subject personalization. In order to improve orientation measurement, we also present a standardized comparison framework and a novel metric for camera orientation learning. Results on the dataset show that the proposed metric and architectures, as well as the standardized conditions, provide notable improvements to current state-of-the-art camera pose estimation in video bronchoscopy.
Keywords: Videobronchoscopy guiding; Deep learning; Architecture optimization; Datasets; Standardized evaluation framework; Pose estimation
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Oriol Ramos Terrades, Albert Berenguel, & Debora Gil. (2022). "A Flexible Outlier Detector Based on a Topology Given by Graph Communities " . Big Data Research, 29, 100332.
Abstract: Outlier detection is essential for optimal performance of machine learning methods and statistical predictive models. Their detection is especially determinant in small sample size unbalanced problems, since in such settings outliers become highly influential and significantly bias models. This particular experimental settings are usual in medical applications, like diagnosis of rare pathologies, outcome of experimental personalized treatments or pandemic emergencies. In contrast to population-based methods, neighborhood based local approaches compute an outlier score from the neighbors of each sample, are simple flexible methods that have the potential to perform well in small sample size unbalanced problems. A main concern of local approaches is the impact that the computation of each sample neighborhood has on the method performance. Most approaches use a distance in the feature space to define a single neighborhood that requires careful selection of several parameters, like the number of neighbors.
This work presents a local approach based on a local measure of the heterogeneity of sample labels in the feature space considered as a topological manifold. Topology is computed using the communities of a weighted graph codifying mutual nearest neighbors in the feature space. This way, we provide with a set of multiple neighborhoods able to describe the structure of complex spaces without parameter fine tuning. The extensive experiments on real-world and synthetic data sets show that our approach outperforms, both, local and global strategies in multi and single view settings.
Keywords: Classification algorithms; Detection algorithms; Description of feature space local structure; Graph communities; Machine learning algorithms; Outlier detectors
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Debora Gil, Ruth Aris, Agnes Borras, Esmitt Ramirez, Rafael Sebastian, & Mariano Vazquez. (2019). "Influence of fiber connectivity in simulations of cardiac biomechanics " . International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 14(1), 63–72.
Abstract: PURPOSE:
Personalized computational simulations of the heart could open up new improved approaches to diagnosis and surgery assistance systems. While it is fully recognized that myocardial fiber orientation is central for the construction of realistic computational models of cardiac electromechanics, the role of its overall architecture and connectivity remains unclear. Morphological studies show that the distribution of cardiac muscular fibers at the basal ring connects epicardium and endocardium. However, computational models simplify their distribution and disregard the basal loop. This work explores the influence in computational simulations of fiber distribution at different short-axis cuts.
METHODS:
We have used a highly parallelized computational solver to test different fiber models of ventricular muscular connectivity. We have considered two rule-based mathematical models and an own-designed method preserving basal connectivity as observed in experimental data. Simulated cardiac functional scores (rotation, torsion and longitudinal shortening) were compared to experimental healthy ranges using generalized models (rotation) and Mahalanobis distances (shortening, torsion).
RESULTS:
The probability of rotation was significantly lower for ruled-based models [95% CI (0.13, 0.20)] in comparison with experimental data [95% CI (0.23, 0.31)]. The Mahalanobis distance for experimental data was in the edge of the region enclosing 99% of the healthy population.
CONCLUSIONS:
Cardiac electromechanical simulations of the heart with fibers extracted from experimental data produce functional scores closer to healthy ranges than rule-based models disregarding architecture connectivity.
Keywords: Cardiac electromechanical simulations; Diffusion tensor imaging; Fiber connectivity
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Carles Sanchez, Jorge Bernal, F. Javier Sanchez, Antoni Rosell, Marta Diez-Ferrer, & Debora Gil. (2015). "Towards On-line Quantification of Tracheal Stenosis from Videobronchoscopy " . International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 10(6), 935–945.
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Debora Gil, David Roche, Agnes Borras, & Jesus Giraldo. (2015). "Terminating Evolutionary Algorithms at their Steady State " . Computational Optimization and Applications, 61(2), 489–515.
Abstract: Assessing the reliability of termination conditions for evolutionary algorithms (EAs) is of prime importance. An erroneous or weak stop criterion can negatively affect both the computational effort and the final result. We introduce a statistical framework for assessing whether a termination condition is able to stop an EA at its steady state, so that its results can not be improved anymore. We use a regression model in order to determine the requirements ensuring that a measure derived from EA evolving population is related to the distance to the optimum in decision variable space. Our framework is analyzed across 24 benchmark test functions and two standard termination criteria based on function fitness value in objective function space and EA population decision variable space distribution for the differential evolution (DE) paradigm. Results validate our framework as a powerful tool for determining the capability of a measure for terminating EA and the results also identify the decision variable space distribution as the best-suited for accurately terminating DE in real-world applications.
Keywords: Evolutionary algorithms; Termination condition; Steady state; Differential evolution
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Mireia Sole, Joan Blanco, Debora Gil, Oliver Valero, B. Cardenas, G. Fonseka, et al. (2022). "Time to match; when do homologous chromosomes become closer? " Chromosoma, .
Abstract: In most eukaryotes, pairing of homologous chromosomes is an essential feature of meiosis that ensures homologous recombination and segregation. However, when the pairing process begins, it is still under investigation. Contrasting data exists in Mus musculus, since both leptotene DSB-dependent and preleptotene DSB-independent mechanisms have been described. To unravel this contention, we examined homologous pairing in pre-meiotic and meiotic Mus musculus cells using a threedimensional fuorescence in situ hybridization-based protocol, which enables the analysis of the entire karyotype using DNA painting probes. Our data establishes in an unambiguously manner that 73.83% of homologous chromosomes are already paired at premeiotic stages (spermatogonia-early preleptotene spermatocytes). The percentage of paired homologous chromosomes increases to 84.60% at mid-preleptotene-zygotene stage, reaching 100% at pachytene stage. Importantly, our results demonstrate a high percentage of homologous pairing observed before the onset of meiosis; this pairing does not occur randomly, as the percentage was higher than that observed in somatic cells (19.47%) and between nonhomologous chromosomes (41.1%). Finally, we have also observed that premeiotic homologous pairing is asynchronous and independent of the chromosome size, GC content, or presence of NOR regions.
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David Roche, Debora Gil, & Jesus Giraldo. (2014). "Mathematical modeling of G protein-coupled receptor function: What can we learn from empirical and mechanistic models? " In G Protein-Coupled Receptors – Modeling and Simulation Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology (Vol. 796, pp. 159–181). Springer Netherlands.
Abstract: Empirical and mechanistic models differ in their approaches to the analysis of pharmacological effect. Whereas the parameters of the former are not physical constants those of the latter embody the nature, often complex, of biology. Empirical models are exclusively used for curve fitting, merely to characterize the shape of the E/[A] curves. Mechanistic models, on the contrary, enable the examination of mechanistic hypotheses by parameter simulation. Regretfully, the many parameters that mechanistic models may include can represent a great difficulty for curve fitting, representing, thus, a challenge for computational method development. In the present study some empirical and mechanistic models are shown and the connections, which may appear in a number of cases between them, are analyzed from the curves they yield. It may be concluded that systematic and careful curve shape analysis can be extremely useful for the understanding of receptor function, ligand classification and drug discovery, thus providing a common language for the communication between pharmacologists and medicinal chemists.
Keywords: β-arrestin; biased agonism; curve fitting; empirical modeling; evolutionary algorithm; functional selectivity; G protein; GPCR; Hill coefficient; intrinsic efficacy; inverse agonism; mathematical modeling; mechanistic modeling; operational model; parameter optimization; receptor dimer; receptor oligomerization; receptor constitutive activity; signal transduction; two-state model
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Debora Gil, Agnes Borras, Sergio Vera, & Miguel Angel Gonzalez Ballester. (2013). "A Validation Benchmark for Assessment of Medial Surface Quality for Medical Applications " In 9th International Conference on Computer Vision Systems (Vol. 7963, pp. 334–343). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Abstract: Confident use of medial surfaces in medical decision support systems requires evaluating their quality for detecting pathological deformations and describing anatomical volumes. Validation in the medical imaging field is a challenging task mainly due to the difficulties for getting consensual ground truth. In this paper we propose a validation benchmark for assessing medial surfaces in the context of medical applications. Our benchmark includes a home-made database of synthetic medial surfaces and volumes and specific scores for evaluating surface accuracy, its stability against volume deformations and its capabilities for accurate reconstruction of anatomical volumes.
Keywords: Medial Surfaces; Shape Representation; Medical Applications; Performance Evaluation
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Ferran Poveda, Debora Gil, & Enric Marti. (2012). "Multi-resolution DT-MRI cardiac tractography " In Statistical Atlases And Computational Models Of The Heart: Imaging and Modelling Challenges (Vol. 7746, pp. 270–277). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Abstract: Even using objective measures from DT-MRI no consensus about myocardial architecture has been achieved so far. Streamlining provides good reconstructions at low level of detail, but falls short to give global abstract interpretations. In this paper, we present a multi-resolution methodology that is able to produce simplified representations of cardiac architecture. Our approach produces a reduced set of tracts that are representative of the main geometric features of myocardial anatomical structure. Experiments show that fiber geometry is preserved along reductions, which validates the simplified model for interpretation of cardiac architecture.
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Debora Gil, Agnes Borras, Ruth Aris, Mariano Vazquez, Pierre Lafortune, & Guillame Houzeaux. (2012). "What a difference in biomechanics cardiac fiber makes " In Statistical Atlases And Computational Models Of The Heart: Imaging and Modelling Challenges (Vol. 7746, pp. 253–260). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Abstract: Computational simulations of the heart are a powerful tool for a comprehensive understanding of cardiac function and its intrinsic relationship with its muscular architecture. Cardiac biomechanical models require a vector field representing the orientation of cardiac fibers. A wrong orientation of the fibers can lead to a
non-realistic simulation of the heart functionality. In this paper we explore the impact of the fiber information on the simulated biomechanics of cardiac muscular anatomy. We have used the John Hopkins database to perform a biomechanical simulation using both a synthetic benchmark fiber distribution and the data obtained experimentally from DTI. Results illustrate how differences in fiber orientation affect heart deformation along cardiac cycle.
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