This is the first book offering a systematic description of tongue image analysis and processing technologies and their typical applications in computerized tongue diagnostic (CTD) systems. It features the most current research findings in all aspects of tongue image acquisition, preprocessing, classification, and diagnostic support methodologies, from theoretical and algorithmic problems to prototype design and development of CTD systems. The book begins with a very in-depth description of CTD on a need-to-know basis which includes an overview of CTD systems and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in order to provide the information on the context and background of tongue image analysis. The core part then introduces algorithms as well as their implementation methods, at a know-how level, including image segmentation methods, chromatic correction, and classification of tongue images. Some clinical applications based on these methods are presented for the show-how purpose in the CTD research field. Case studies highlight different techniques that have been adopted to assist the visual inspection of appendicitis, diabetes, and other common diseases. Experimental results under different challenging clinical circumstances have demonstrated the superior performance of these techniques. In this book, the principles of tongue image analysis are illustrated with plentiful graphs, tables, and practical experiments to provide insights into some of the problems. In this way, readers can easily find a quick and systematic way through the complicated theories and they can later even extend their studies to special topics of interest. This book will be of benefit to researchers, professionals, and graduate students working in the field of computer vision, pattern recognition, clinical practice, and TCM, as well as those involved in interdisciplinary research.

Boron Nitride Nanotubes in Nanomedicine compiles, for the first time in a single volume, all the information needed by researchers interested in this promising type of smart nanoparticles and their applications in biomedicine. Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) represent an innovative and extremely intriguing class of nanomaterials. After introducing BNNTs and explaining their preparation and evaluation, the book shows how the physical, chemical, piezoelectric and biocompatibility properties of these nanotubes give rise to their potential uses in biomedicine. Evidence is offered (from both in vitro and in vivo investigations) for how BNNTs can be useful in biomedical and nanomedicine applications such as therapeutic applications, tissue regeneration, nanovectors for drug delivery, and intracellular nanotransducers.

The last decades have seen remarkable advances in computer-aided design, engineering and manufacturing technologies, multi-variable simulation tools, medical imaging, biomimetic design, rapid prototyping, micro and nanomanufacturing methods and information management resources, all of which provide new horizons for the Biomedical Engineering fields and the Medical Device Industry. Advanced Design and Manufacturing Technologies for Biomedical Devices covers such topics in depth, with an applied perspective and providing several case studies that help to analyze and understand the key factors of the different stages linked to the development of a novel biomedical device, from the conceptual and design steps, to the prototyping and industrialization phases. Main research challenges and future potentials are also discussed, taking into account relevant social demands and a growing market already exceeding billions of dollars. In time, advanced biomedical devices will decisively change methods and results in the medical world, dramatically improving diagnoses and therapies for all kinds of pathologies. But if these biodevices are to fulfill present expectations, today's engineers need a thorough grounding in related simulation, design and manufacturing technologies, and collaboration between experts of different areas has to be promoted, as is also analyzed within this handbook.

This book covers the most recent advances in using nanoparticles for biomedical imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic particle imaging (MPI), nuclear medicine, ultrasound (US) imaging, computed tomography (CT), and optical imaging. Topics include nanoparticles for MRI and MPI, siRNA delivery, theranostic nanoparticles for PET imaging of drug delivery, US nanoparticles for imaging drug delivery, inorganic nanoparticles for targeted CT imaging, and quantum dots for optical imaging. This book serves as a valuable resource for the fundamental science of diagnostic nanoparticles and their interactions with biological targets, providing a practical handbook for improved detection of disease and its clinical implementation.

This book outlines comprehensively the main medical uses of aptamers, from diagnosis to therapeutics in fourteen chapters. Pioneering topics covered include aptamer pharmaceuticals, aptamers for malign tumors, aptamers for personalized therapeutics and aptamers for point-of-care testing. The book offers an essential guide for medical scientists interested in developing aptamer-based schemes for better theranostics. It is therefore of interest for not only academic researchers, but also practitioners and medical researchers in various fields of medical science, medical research and bio-analytical chemistry.

This book aims to comprehensively review the current cell-based strategies under investigation to achieve the regeneration of human hair follicles. The unique capacity of the human hair follicle to self-renew explains why this complex "mini-organ" has always attracted so much interest as a model for researchers to study stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. The hair follicle is considered a main reservoir of cutaneous stem cells, containing several pools of epithelial, melanocyte, and mesenchymal stem cells involved in hair follicle self-regeneration and pigmentation. In addition, while some of the different follicular cell types contribute to hair shaft growth, others participate in very important interfollicular functions such as dermal remodeling, re-epithelialization after wounding, and cutaneous stem cell homeostasis. The idea of human hair follicle regeneration either "de novo" or by activating dormant miniaturized follicles is not new, yet still continues to arouse enormous interest in the pursuit of a definitive cure for baldness. In contrast to hair follicle regeneration in mice, the attempts made with human follicles have been disappointing in terms of efficiency. However, recent advances in stem cell biology-as well as the appearance of new technologies like 3D printing-have revived expectations in this field of research. This book is divided into four sections. The first part includes an overview of the strategies used in hair follicle regeneration and a historical summary of the most important achievements to date. Parts two and three comprise the main body of the book, with detailed descriptions of the cells and tissue structures involved in hair follicle regeneration, followed by an elaboration of the different therapeutic strategies, engineering techniques, and a clinician's perspective of stem cell-based therapies in hair loss treatments. Finally, the fourth part reviews the important contribution of the hair follicle in healing cutaneous wounds through the regeneration and remodeling of the dermis and epidermis after injury, as well as wound induced hair follicle neogenesis that occurs when the skin is injured.

This work was compiled to serve as a convenient source that covers a number of techniques (and details of their use) in the rather large field of nanomedicine, with special attention paid to gene delivery. As principal investigators working in the field of nanomedicine, we sought to put together the most current and relevant topics in gene delivery, imaging and evaluation systems. We expect the work to serve very well for scientists and graduate students in the nanomedicine field.

Operation Research methods are often used in every field of modern life like industry, economy and medicine. The authors have compiled of the latest advancements in these methods in this volume comprising some of what is considered the best collection of these new approaches. These can be counted as a direct shortcut to what you may search for. This book provides useful applications of the new developments in OR written by leading scientists from some international universities. Another volume about exciting applications of Operations Research is planned in the near future. We hope you enjoy and benefit from this series!

This book introduces state-of-the-art experimental and numerical methods and examples for evaluating the drilling performance of engineering and biological materials, particularly in thermal aspects. The authors use a common pathway to present the technological and analytical methods for both industry (metal) drilling and orthopaedic surgery (bone) drilling research, making this book a resource for both industrial and clinical readers who wish to understand the evolution of technologies, techniques and challenges in drilling. The authors also focus on advanced engineering materials, such as titanium alloys and high-strength cast irons, which have broad applications in the automotive, aerospace, medical device and sports industries. This book is a must-read for a broad audience, including engineering students in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses that involve machining processes; for surgery residents, fellows, and practicing surgeons; and for engineers in the medical device industry who develop new bone cutting tools. Bridges the knowledge on drilling from the manufacturing industry to healthcare; Covers the experimental and modeling aspects of drilling thermal analysis; Includes experimental studies that contain parameters and data that emulate practical production and clinical drilling.

This monograph offers a cross-system exchange and cross-modality investigation into brain-heart interplay. Brain-Heart Interplay (BHI) is a highly interdisciplinary scientific topic, which spreads from the physiology of the Central/Autonomous Nervous Systems, especially Central Autonomic Network, to advanced signal processing and modeling for its activity quantification. Motivated by clinical evidence and supported by recent findings in neurophysiology, this monograph first explores the definition of basic Brain-Heart Interplay quantifiers, and then moves onto advanced methods for the assessment of health and disease states. Non-invasive use of brain monitoring techniques, including electroencephalogram and function Magnetic Resonance Imaging, will be described together with heartbeat dynamics monitoring through pulseoximeter and ECG signals. The audience of this book comprises especially of biomedical engineers and medical doctors with expertise in statistics and/or signal processing. Researchers in the fields of cardiology, neurology, psychiatry, and neuroscience in general may be interested as well.

This book presents the latest cutting edge research, theoretical methods, and novel applications in the field of computational intelligence and computational biological approaches that are aiming to combat COVID-19. The book gives the technological key drivers behind using AI to find drugs that target the virus, shedding light on the structure of COVID-19, detecting the outbreak and spread of new diseases, spotting signs of a COVID-19 infection in medical images, monitoring how the virus and lockdown is affecting mental health, and forecasting how COVID-19 cases and deaths will spread across cities and why. Further, the book helps readers understand computational intelligence techniques combating COVID-19 in a simple and systematic way.

In nowadays aging society, many people require mobility assistance. Sometimes, assistive devices need a certain degree of autonomy when users' disabilities difficult manual control. However, clinicians report that excessive assistance may lead to loss of residual skills and frustration. Shared control focuses on deciding when users need help and providing it. Collaborative control aims at giving just the right amount of help in a transparent, seamless way. This book presents the collaborative control paradigm. User performance may be indicative of physical/cognitive condition, so it is used to decide how much help is needed. Besides, collaborative control integrates machine and user commands so that people contribute to self-motion at all times. Collaborative control was extensively tested for 3 years using a robotized wheelchair at a rehabilitation hospital in Rome with volunteer inpatients presenting different disabilities, ranging from mild to severe. We also present a taxonomy of common metrics for wheelchair navigation and tests are evaluated accordingly. Obtained results are coherent both from a quantitative and qualitative point of view.

This book provides current, comprehensive, and clear explanations of the physics behind medical and biomedical applications of shock waves. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy is one of the greatest medical advances of our time, and its techniques and clinical devices are continuously evolving. Further research continues to improve the understanding of calculi fragmentation and tissue-damaging mechanisms. Shock waves are also used in orthopedics and traumatology. Possible applications in oncology, cardiology, dentistry, gene therapy, cell transfection, transformation of fungi and bacteria, as well as the inactivation of microorganisms are promising approaches for clinical treatment, industrial applications and research. Medical and Biomedical Applications of Shock Waves is useful as a guide for students, technicians and researchers working in universities and laboratories. Chemists, biologists, physicians and veterinarians, involved in research or clinical practice will find useful advice, but also engineers and physicists may benefit from the overview of current research endeavors and future directions. Furthermore, it may also serve to direct manufacturers towards the design of more efficient and safer clinical, industrial and laboratory equipment.

Advances in Polyurethane Biomaterials brings together a thorough review of advances in the properties and applications of polyurethanes for biomedical applications. The first set of chapters in the book provides an important overview of the fundamentals of this material with chapters on properties and processing methods for polyurethane. Further sections cover significant uses such as their tissue engineering and vascular and drug delivery applications Written by an international team of leading authors, the book is a comprehensive and essential reference on this important biomaterial.

Thin Film Coatings for Biomaterials and Biomedical Applications discusses the latest information on coatings, including their historic use by scientists who are looking to improve the properties and biological responses of the material-host interface. Thin films, in particular, are becoming more widely researched and used as an alternative to traditional sprayed coatings because they have a more uniform structure and therefore greater stability. This book provides readers with a comprehensive guide to thin film coatings and their application in the biomaterials field. Part One of the book details the fundamentals of thin films for biomedical application, while Part Two looks at the special properties of thin films, with a final section reviewing functional thin films and their usage in biomedical applications.

This book presents the proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Radiation Safety & Security in Healthcare Services. The conference was held at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang on 19th-20th August 2017.

The first book on Ultrafine bubbles (UFBs). Reviews research done on UFBs. Helpful for readers and researchers interested in the fundamentals of this emerging field

Covers important supramolecules. Contains compilation of the different threads of supramolecular chemistry. Covers important supramolecules. Covers important environmental and biological applications. Covers important techniques at relevant places.

Application of additive manufacturing and tissue engineering in the fields of science and technology enables the manufacturing of biocompatible, customized, reliable, and cost-effective parts, restoring the functionality of a failed human body part. This book offers a platform for recent breakthroughs in additive manufacturing related to biomedical applications. This book highlights some of the top innovations and advances in additive manufacturing and processing technologies that are the future of the manufacturing industry while also presenting current challenges and opportunities regarding the choice of material. This book includes areas of applications such as surgical guides, tissue regeneration, artificial scaffolds, implants, and drug delivery and release. Throughout the book, an emphasis is placed on rapid tooling for engineering applications. Additive Manufacturing of Polymers for Tissue Engineering: Fundamentals, Applications, and Future Advancements acts as a first-hand source of information for academic scholars and commercial manufacturers as they make strategic manufacturing and development plans.

Provides comprehensive review of all different polymers for applications in tissue engineering, biomedical implants, energy storage or conversion, and so forth Discusses advanced strategies in development of scaffolds for tissue engineering Elaborates various advanced fabrication techniques for polymeric devices Explores the nuances in polymer-based batteries and energy harvesting Reviews industrial process development for light weight polymeric syntactic foams

Features Combines all topics into one comprehensive introduction. Explores practical applications of theory to healthcare. Can be used to accompany the NHS Modernising Scientific Careers syllabus.

In a normal physiological state, several bacteria are present in the human gut that is essential to maintain the normal to healthy gastrointestinal function. Disturbances in this "normal flora" lead to gut inflammation and infection. This volume explores the potential of probiotics, the healthy bacteria, to manage gut-related diseases including gastrointestinal cancers, ulcerative colitis, H. pylori infections, and diarrhea; vaginosis; oral health; airway inflammation; and atopic dermatitis. The concept of designer probiotics, edible vaccines and future scope of research in the field is also presented. The animal models used for studying the benefits of probiotics in gut inflammation are described for beginners.

Engineering of Nanobiomaterials presents the most recent information regarding the specific modifications of nanomaterials and of their synthesis methods, in order to obtain particular structures for different biomedical purposes. This book enables the results of current research to reach those who wish to use this knowledge in an applied setting. Engineered nanobiomaterials, designed from organic or inorganic raw materials, offer promising alternatives in many biomedical applications. In this book, eminent researchers from around the world discuss the various applications, including antibacterial therapy, biosensors, cancer therapy, stimuli-responsive drug release, drug delivery, gene therapy and visual prostheses. In each case, advantages, drawbacks and future potential are outlined. This book will be of interest to students, postdoctoral researchers and professors engaged in the fields of materials science, biotechnology and applied chemistry. It will also be highly valuable to those working in industry, including pharmaceutics and biotechnology companies, medical researchers, biomedical engineers and advanced clinicians.

This book highlights time reversal acoustics, techniques based on the symmetry properties of acoustic fields. It has the unique feature that the first eleven chapters of the book are on the indepth studies of the theories of time reversal acoustics. The remaining chapters are on the four major applications of time reversal acoustics, together with their experimental setups and case studies: underwater communication, seismic exploration,nondestructive evaluation, and medical ultrasound imaging.. The gauge invariance approach to acoustic fields, proposed by the author in 2007, is confirmed by the successful fabrication of acoustical metamaterials and the applications of time reversal acoustics to superresolution. The book also presents groundbreaking applications of time reversal acoustics to underwater communication technology and the application of metamaterials to time reversal acoustics.

In response to an infection (e.g., from pathogens such as bacteria and viruses), the immune system can deplete macrophages (specialized white blood cells) and produce cytokines that are pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory. This counterproductive autoimmune response is represented mathematically as nonlinear chemotaxis diffusion. This book is directed to the computer-based modeling of chemotaxis inflammation. The spatiotemporal analysis is based on a model of three partial differential equations (PDEs). The three PDE model is coded (programmed) as a set of routines in R, a quality, open-source, scientific programming system. The numerical integration (solution) of the PDEs is by the method of lines (MOL). The three PDE model can be used for computer-based experimentation, for example, parameter variation and changes in the model equations or alternate models, to enhance a quantitative understanding of a postulated inflammation. This experimentation is illustrated by chapters pertaining to: (1) the computation and display of the PDE time derivatives, (2) the RHS terms of the PDEs with emphasis on the chemotaxis terms, (3) parameter variations to demonstrate parameter effects and sensitivities and (4) additonal terms in the PDEs to include PDE coupling and extensions of the basic PDE model.