Respiratory motion causes an important uncertainty in radiotherapy planning of the thorax and upper abdomen. The main objective of radiation therapy is to eradicate or shrink tumor cells without damaging the surrounding tissue by delivering a high radiation dose to the tumor region and a dose as low as possible to healthy organ tissues. Meeting this demand remains a challenge especially in case of lung tumors due to breathing-induced tumor and organ motion where motion amplitudes can measure up to several centimeters. Therefore, modeling of respiratory motion has become increasingly important in radiation therapy. With 4D imaging techniques spatiotemporal image sequences can be acquired to investigate dynamic processes in the patient's body. Furthermore, image registration enables the estimation of the breathing-induced motion and the description of the temporal change in position and shape of the structures of interest by establishing the correspondence between images acquired at different phases of the breathing cycle. In radiation therapy these motion estimations are used to define accurate treatment margins, e.g. to calculate dose distributions and to develop prediction models for gated or robotic radiotherapy. In this book, the increasing role of image registration and motion estimation algorithms for the interpretation of complex 4D medical image sequences is illustrated. Different 4D CT image acquisition techniques and conceptually different motion estimation algorithms are presented. The clinical relevance is demonstrated by means of example applications which are related to the radiation therapy of thoracic and abdominal tumors. The state of the art and perspectives are shown by an insight into the current field of research. The book is addressed to biomedical engineers, medical physicists, researchers and physicians working in the fields of medical image analysis, radiology and radiation therapy.

This book focuses on important interfacial phenomena, such as interfacial potential and interfacial multi-functionality, responsible for determining the fate of nanoparticles inside the biological milieu. Additionally, this book explores the role of surface defects in photocatalytic nanoparticles in defining the nanoparticle interaction to biological membrane and cytotoxic propensity.The authors describe the interfacial assembly of peptide/protein on conformational/functional dynamics of the peptide/protein, which may be adopted as an approach to moderate the protein misfolding diseases.

Published as an Open Access book, IEA Wind Recommended Practices for the Implementation of Renewable Energy Forecasting Solutions translates decades of academic knowledge and standard requirements into applicable procedures and decision support tools for the energy industry. Designed specifically for practitioners in the energy industry, readers will find the tools to maximize the value of renewable energy forecast information in operational decision-making applications and significantly reduce the costs of integrating large amounts of wind and solar generation assets into grid systems through more efficient management of the renewable generation variability. Authored by a group of international experts as part of the IEA Wind Task 36 (Wind Energy Forecasting), the book addresses the issue that many current operational forecast solutions are not properly optimized for their intended applications. It provides detailed guidelines and recommended practices on forecast solution selection processes, designing and executing forecasting benchmarks and trials, forecast solution evaluation, verification, and validation, and meteorological and power data requirements for real-time forecasting applications. In addition, the guidelines integrate probabilistic forecasting, integrate wind and solar forecasting, offer improved IT data exchange and data format standards, and have a dedicated section to dealing with the requirements for SCADA and meteorological measurements. A unique and comprehensive reference, IEA Wind Recommended Practices for the Implementation of Renewable Energy Forecasting Solutions is an essential guide for all practitioners involved in wind and solar energy generation forecasting from forecast vendors to end-users of renewable forecasting solutions.

This book describes the use of modern micro- and nanofabrication technologies to develop improved tools for stimulating and recording electrical activity in neuronal networks. It provides an overview of the different ways in which the "nano-world" can be beneficial for neuroscientists, including improvement of mechanical adhesion of cells on electrodes, tight-sealed extracellular recordings or intracellular approaches with strongly reduced invasiveness and tools for localized electrical or optical stimulation in optogenetics experiments. Specific discussion of fabrication strategies is included, to provide a comprehensive guide to develop micro and nanostructured tools for biological applications. A perspective on integrating these devices with state-of-the-art technologies for large-scale in vitro and in vivo experiments completes the picture of neuronal interfacing with micro- and nanostructures.

This handbook provides insights into becoming a better and more evolved athlete. It offers aspiring athletes, regardless of skill level, a better understanding of their bodies and how to unlock the unlimited potential of muscles without injury. It focuses on the "superhero" muscle: the iliopsoas, and also sheds light on Diamond-Corporation's new technology and elite athleticism, and how these can contribute to a healthier life. Lastly, the authors explore the mindset of success and provide exercises for remaining calm under pressure. This stand-alone book is the sequel to Paradigm Shift for Future Tennis and Enhancing Performance and Reducing Stress in Sport (2014, Springer). This book is written by scientists, whose expertise collectively spans the fields of biomechanics, clinical surgery, current and former elite athleticism, engineering and naturopath doctoral work. Together, they aim to inspire and educate athletes on how to improve their sports performance by using new technologies, world class biomechanics knowledge and ancient herbal medicines.

This book presents advances in biomedical imaging analysis and processing techniques using time dependent medical image datasets for computer aided diagnosis. The analysis of time-series images is one of the most widely appearing problems in science, engineering, and business. In recent years this problem has gained importance due to the increasing availability of more sensitive sensors in science and engineering and due to the wide-spread use of computers in corporations which have increased the amount of time-series data collected by many magnitudes. An important feature of this book is the exploration of different approaches to handle and identify time dependent biomedical images. Biomedical imaging analysis and processing techniques deal with the interaction between all forms of radiation and biological molecules, cells or tissues, to visualize small particles and opaque objects, and to achieve the recognition of biomedical patterns. These are topics of great importance to biomedical science, biology, and medicine. Biomedical imaging analysis techniques can be applied in many different areas to solve existing problems. The various requirements arising from the process of resolving practical problems motivate and expedite the development of biomedical imaging analysis. This is a major reason for the fast growth of the discipline.

This book reports on multidisciplinary research focusing on the analysis, synthesis and design of bionanomaterials. It merges the biophysicists', the biochemists' and bioengineers' perspectives, covering the study of the basic properties of materials and their interaction with biological systems, the development of new devices for medical purposes such as implantable systems, and new algorithms and methods for modeling the mechanical, physical or biological properties of biomaterials. The different chapters, which are based on selected contributions presented at the second edition of BIONAM, held on October 4-7, 2016, in Salerno, Italy, cover both basic and applied research. This includes novel synthetic strategies for nanomaterials, as well as the implementation of bio- and smart materials for pharmacological and medical purposes (e.g. drug delivery, implantable systems), environmental applications, and many others. The book provides a broad audience of academic and professionals with a comprehensive, timely snapshot of the field of biomaterials. Besides offering a set of innovative theories together with the necessary practical tools for their implementation, it also highlights current challenges in the field, thus fostering new discussions and possible future collaborations between groups with different backgrounds.

There is a growing global awareness of the link between good diet and health. This fascinating book reviews various functional foods or nutraceuticals and the bio-active compounds they contain in order to identify the role of bioactive compounds such as nisin, micronutrients, and hydrocolloids in the diet in overall human health. It also provides up-to-date information on functional elements like antioxidants, dietary fibres, pre & probiotics, vitamins and mineral-enriched foods in the human diet. Consisting of fifteen chapters, the book offers a systematic review of the key factors in the preparation of functional foods from selected sources, and also describes the processing, preservation and packaging of a range of functional food products. This book is a valuable resource for students and researchers working in the field of food science, food technology, and nutrition, as well as for industry experts.

This text is an introduction to electrophysiology, following a quantitative approach. The first chapter summarizes much of the mathematics required in the following chapters. The second chapter presents a very concise overview of the general principles of electrical fields and current flow, mostly es tablished in physical science and engineering, but also applicable to biolog ical environments. The following five chapters are the core material of this text. They include descriptions of how voltages come to exist across membranes and how these are described using the Nernst and Goldman equations (Chapter 3), an examination of the time course of changes in membrane voltages that produce action potentials (Chapter 4), propagation of action potentials down fibers (Chapter 5), the response of fibers to artificial stimuli such as those used in pacemakers (Chapter 6), and the voltages and currents produced by these active processes in the surrounding extracellular space (Chapter 7). The subsequent chapters present more detailed material about the application of these principles to the study of cardiac and neural electrophysiology, and include a chapter on recent developments in mem brane biophysics. The study of electrophysiology has progressed rapidly because of the precise, delicate, and ingenious experimental studies of many investigators. The field has also made great strides by unifying the numerous experimental observations through the development of increasingly accurate theoretical concepts and mathematical descriptions. The application of these funda mental principles has in turn formed a basis for the solution of many different electrophysiological problems."

This two-volume set focuses on the interface between physiologic mechanisms and diagnostic human engineering. Today numerous biomedical sensors are commonplace in clinical practice. The registered biosignals reflect mostly vital physiologic phenomena. In order to adequately apply biomedical sensors and reasonably interpret the corresponding biosignals, a proper understanding of the involved physiologic phenomena, their influence on the registered biosignals, and the technology behind the sensors is necessary. The first volume is devoted to the interface between physiologic mechanisms and arising biosignals, whereas the second volume is focussed on the interface between biosignals and biomedical sensors. The physiologic mechanisms behind the biosignals are described from the basic cellular level up to their advanced mutual coordination level during sleep. The arising biosignals are discussed within the scope of vital physiologic phenomena to foster their understanding and comprehensive analysis.

Neural Engineering for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Volume Two: Diagnosis and Clinical Analysis presents the latest advances in neural engineering and biomedical engineering as applied to the clinical diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Advances in the role of neuroimaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, MRI, fMRI, DTI, video analysis of sensory-motor and social behaviors, and suitable data analytics useful for clinical diagnosis and research applications for Autism Spectrum Disorder are covered, including relevant case studies. The application of brain signal evaluation, EEG analytics, fuzzy model and temporal fractal analysis of rest state BOLD signals and brain signals are also presented. A clinical guide for general practitioners is provided along with a variety of assessment techniques such as magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The book is presented in two volumes, including Volume One: Imaging and Signal Analysis Techniques comprised of two Parts: Autism and Medical Imaging, and Autism and Signal Analysis. Volume Two: Diagnosis and Treatment includes Autism and Clinical Analysis: Diagnosis, and Autism and Clinical Analysis: Treatment.

This book presents an overview of the current state of research on ultrashort electric field pulses of high intensity and their use in biology and medicine. It examines in detail the most recent and exciting advances in how nanosecond and picosecond electric pulse research has grown and expanded into new areas of biology and medicine. Further, the book specifically focuses on electric pulses in the time domain, on intracellular effects as opposed to plasma membrane electroporation, and highlights the biological and medical applications of these unique pulse effects. Since the authors were initial innovators exploring nanosecond and picosecond pulses, their unique perspectives foreshadowed directions the research took, expanding into new areas that they continue to investigate today.

"Smart Hydrogel Functional Materials" comprehensively and systematically describes our current understanding of smart or intelligent hydrogel functional materials with environmental stimuli-responsive functions. The contents range from hydrogels (including hydrogel-functionalized membranes) to microgels (including hydrogel-functionalized microcapsules) with various response properties, such as thermo-response, pH-response, pH-/thermo-dual-response, glucose-response, ethanol-response, ion-recognition, molecular-recognition, and so on. Most of the contents in this book represent the fresh achievements of the authors' group on smart hydrogel functional materials. While all chapters can be read as stand-alone papers, together they clearly describe the design concepts, fabrication strategies and methods, microstructures and performances of smart hydrogel functional materials. Vivid schematics and illustrations throughout the book enhance the accessibility of the theory and technologies involved.

This is an ideal reference book for a broad general readership including chemists, materials researchers, chemical engineers, pharmaceutical scientists and biomedical researchers, who are interested in designing and fabricating smart hydrogel functional materials for various application purposes.

Dr. Liang-Yin Chu is a professor at the School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, China. He is a Distinguished Young Scholar of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and a Distinguished Professor of the "Chang Jiang Scholars Program" of the Ministry of Education of China.

This book highlights recent advances in the field of biomaterials design and the state of the art in biomaterials applications for biomedicine. Addressing key aspects of biomaterials, the book explores technological advances at multi-scale levels (macro, micro, and nano), which are used in applications related to cell and tissue regeneration. The book also discusses the future scope of bio-integrated systems. The contents are supplemented by illustrated examples, and schematics of molecular and cellular interactions with biomaterials/scaffolds are included to promote a better understanding of the complex biological mechanisms involved in material-to-biomolecule interactions. The book also covers factors that govern cell growth, differentiation, and regeneration in connection with the treatment and recovery of native biological systems. Tissue engineering, drug screening and delivery, and electrolyte complexes for biomedical applications are also covered in detail. This book offers a comprehensive reference guide for multi-disciplinary communities working in the area of biomaterials, and will benefit researchers and graduate students alike.

This volume focuses on latest research in therapeutic devices for cardiovascular, i.e. vascular and valvular and cardiac diseases. In the area of vascular therapies, aspects covered relate to latest research in small-diameter tissue-regenerative vascular grafts, one of the greatest persisting challenges in cardiovascular therapies, stent grafts and endovascular stents for percutaneous arterial interventions. Contributions on valvular therapies focus on tissue engineered and tissue regenerative prosthetic heart valves and valvular prostheses for trans-apical implantation including the challenges posed on the prosthesis design. The section on cardiac diseases aims at covering therapeutic advances for myocardial infarction and prevention of heart failure and on in vivo biomechanics of implantable cardiac pacemaker devices. A further section complements these three areas by presenting constitutive modelling of soft biological tissues of the cardiovascular system, an area imperative for advanced numerical and computational modelling in the development and optimisation of cardiovascular devices and therapies.

This book describes 200 bio-polymers, including the most recent and advanced nanotechnology applications. The applications of various bio-medical and other future potential uses are covered and examined in depth. Systematic discussion of current leading natural polymers is also included.

The book Handheld Total Chemical and Biological Analysis Systems: Bridging NMR, Digital Microfluidics, and Semiconductors centers on the complete design of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) microsystems for in vitro chemical and biological assays based on semiconductor chips and portable magnet. Different sensing mechanisms for CMOS in vitro assay are compared, key design criteria of the CMOS transceiver for NMR measurement are revealed, and system-level optimizations of the CMOS NMR platform utilizing digital microfluidic and diverse functions of the CMOS technology are discussed. Two CMOS NMR platforms are implemented, each of these focuses on different aspect of optimization.

This thesis lays the groundwork for the automatic supervision of the laser incision process, which aims to complement surgeons' perception of the state of tissues and enhance their control over laser incisions. The research problem is formulated as the estimation of variables that are representative of the state of tissues during laser cutting. Prior research in this area leveraged numerical computation methods that bear a high computational cost and are not straightforward to use in a surgical setting. This book proposes a novel solution to this problem, using models inspired by the ability of experienced surgeons to perform precise and clean laser cutting. It shows that these new models, which were extracted from experimental data using statistical learning techniques, are straightforward to use in a surgical setup, allowing greater precision in laser-based surgical procedures.

Combination products are therapeutic and diagnostic products that combine drugs, devices, and/ or biological products. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and a device; a biological product and a device; a drug and a biological product; or a drug, device and a biological product.” Examples include prefilled syringes, pen injectors, autoinjectors, inhalers, transdermal patches, drug-eluting stents, and kits containing drug administration devices co-packaged with drugs and/or biological products. This handbook provides the most up-to-date information on the development of combination products, from the technology involved to successful delivery to market. The authors present important and up-to-the-minute pre- and post-market reviews of combination product regulations, guidance, considerations and best practices. This handbook: • Brings clarity of understanding for combination products guidance and regulations • Reviews the current state-of-the-art considerations and best practices spanning the combination product lifecycle, pre-market through post-market • Reviews medical product classification and assignment issues faced by global regulatory authorities and industry The editor is a recognized international Combination Products and Medical Device expert with over 35 years of industry experience and has an outstanding team of contributors. Endorsed by AAMI – Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation.

The field of fibre optics is an interdisciplinary one, involving aspects of science, engineering and medicine. Some who work in this field are scientists interested in physics of optical fibers, or chemists interested in the optical triggering of certain chemicals. Engineers may be attracted to the challenge of new problems in designing and making laser and fiber systems. Among physicians, some are interested in the more scientific aspects of laser tissue interactions and in animal experiments; others are more interested in the implementation of these techniques on patients.;The increasing use of fibre optics in the field of medicine has created a need for an interdisciplinary perspective of the technology and methods for physicians as well as engineers and biophysicists. This book presents a comprehensive examination of lasers and optical fibers in an hierarchical, three-tier system. Each chapter is divided into three basic sections: the fundamentals section provides an overview of basic concepts and background, the principles section offers an in-depth engineering approach, and the advances section features specific information on systems and biophysical parameters. All those int

The aim of this book is to present a range of analytical methods that can be used in formulation design and development and focus on how these systems can be applied to understand formulation components and the dosage form these build. To effectively design and exploit drug delivery systems, the underlying characteristic of a dosage form must be understood--from the characteristics of the individual formulation components, to how they act and interact within the formulation, and finally, to how this formulation responds in different biological environments. To achieve this, there is a wide range of analytical techniques that can be adopted to understand and elucidate the mechanics of drug delivery and drug formulation. Such methods include e.g. spectroscopic analysis, diffractometric analysis, thermal investigations, surface analytical techniques, particle size analysis, rheological techniques, methods to characterize drug stability and release, and biological analysis in appropriate cell and animal models. Whilst each of these methods can encompass a full research area in their own right, formulation scientists must be able to effectively apply these methods to the delivery system they are considering. The information in this book is designed to support researchers in their ability to fully characterize and analyze a range of delivery systems, using an appropriate selection of analytical techniques. Due to its consideration of regulatory approval, this book will also be suitable for industrial researchers both at early stage up to pre-clinical research.

This book highlights recent research on metaheuristics for biomedical engineering, addressing both theoretical and applications aspects. Given the multidisciplinary nature of bio-medical image analysis, it has now become one of the most central topics in computer science, computer engineering and electrical and electronic engineering, and attracted the interest of many researchers. To deal with these problems, many traditional and recent methods, algorithms and techniques have been proposed. Among them, metaheuristics is the most common choice. This book provides essential content for senior and young researchers interested in methodologies for implementing metaheuristics to help solve biomedical engineering problems.

A globalization of innovation has produced the most massive spurt in biotechnology in world history.  Businesses, universities, and non-governmental organizations are collaborating to produce a "science-industrial complex" in biotechnology.  Using case studies of stem cell research, cloning, genetically modified food, in-vitro fertilization, and chimeras in a number of Eastern and Western countries around the world, I argue that much of this biotech activity is global in nature and independent of state control.  This shift in the relative influence of state and non-state actors has led to the virtual deregulation of biotechnology and the liberation of innovation from geo-political constraints.  These trends post a number of interesting social, political, and ethical issues for the contemporary period and suggest the need to rethink how controversial moral issues are handled by the science-industrial complex.

This book discusses the design of neural stimulator systems which are used for the treatment of a wide variety of brain disorders such as Parkinson's, depression and tinnitus. Whereas many existing books treating neural stimulation focus on one particular design aspect, such as the electrical design of the stimulator, this book uses a multidisciplinary approach: by combining the fields of neuroscience, electrophysiology and electrical engineering a thorough understanding of the complete neural stimulation chain is created (from the stimulation IC down to the neural cell). This multidisciplinary approach enables readers to gain new insights into stimulator design, while context is provided by presenting innovative design examples.

This book presents current trends and developments in the rapidly growing field of biomimetics. It takes an application-oriented approach to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of this field: Experts, from academic as well as professional backgrounds, contribute to this book by describing and presenting state-of-the-art experiments and practical developments. A strong emphasis is put on the various possibility to apply biomimetics in tissue engineering, regenerative surgery, neurosurgery for clinical applications.