Automated biometrics identification using finger vein images has increasingly generated interest among researchers with emerging applications in human biometrics. The traditional feature-level fusion strategy is limited and expensive. To solve the problem, this paper investigates the possible use of infrared hybrid finger patterns on the back side of a finger, which includes both the information of finger vein and finger dorsal textures in original image, and a database using the proposed hybrid pattern is established. Accordingly, an Intersection enhanced Gabor based Direction Coding (IGDC) method is proposed. The Experiment achieves a recognition ratio of 98.4127% and an equal error rate of 0.00819 on our newly established database, which is fairly competitive.

In this paper we propose a novel classification method for the multiple k-nearest neighbor (MkNN) classifier and show its practical application to medical image processing. The proposed method performs fine classification when a pair of the spatial coordinate of the observation data in the observation space and its corresponding feature vector in the feature space is provided. The proposed MkNN classifier uses the continuity of the distribution of features of the same class not only in the feature space but also in the observation space. In order to validate the performance of the present method, it is applied to the tissue characterization problem of coronary plaque. The quantitative and qualitative validity of the proposed MkNN classifier have been confirmed by actual experiments.

This letter presents a method to extract vascular structures from magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) volumes based on the geometric variational principle. A minimal function is coupled with flux maximizing geometric flows and the geodesic active surface model while the geometrical description of vessel structure is added. Furthermore, the level set method represents the surface evolution as it is intrinsic and topologically flexible.

Aging is progressing in our country. Cerebral disease poses a serious problem. Viewing this problem objectively, we can say that support of aging and cerebral disease patients is a useful research theme. To the present, we have done rank evaluation of cerebral disease using synthetic face picture images. This study assesses cognitive ability and expression control ability for intoxication, which is known to impair thinking, cognition, and memory ability. We also examine correspondence of intoxication to cerebral disease. Measurement of cognitive ability corresponds to observation of an internal condition; the measurement of expression control ability corresponds to observation of an external condition. In measurement of cognitive ability, we simulated early stage symptoms of vascular dementia in the second stage of BAC. Also, decreased cognitive ability occurs from the first stage of BAC on face recognition to figure and language. Moreover, face test results show significant difference between decrease in the first stage of BAC and one in the second stage of BAC. These results indicate the possibility of rank evaluation and early stage detection of vascular dementia using a face picture image. From measurement of expression control ability, we obtained the result that we can judge whether a subject has reached second stage of BAC by observing an expression's strength of smile. The second stage of BAC shows symptoms similar to those of vascular dementia. We found the possibility that smile is valid as one externally-observable index for detection of cerebral disease.

This study attempts to demonstrate that activated leukocytes are involved in vascular shut down effect (VSD) in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a reactive oxygen specie (ROS) that is found in monocytes, was visualized under a confocal laser scanning microscope, and ROS formation was quantified by fluorescence image analysis. The fluorescence intensity was expressed as a gray level graded from 0 to 255. Only the fluorescence derived from monocytes that had ZnCP-III incorporated and were irradiated with an HeNe laser caused increases in the fluorescence distribution over time, while no change of distribution was observed in three other conditions (only Zn CP-III added, only HeNe laser irradiation, or non-treated). The result indicates that the photochemical reaction induced by excitation of a photosensitizer, and ROS was derived from the reaction-stimulated monocytes. The activated monocytes generated ROS themselves and H2O2 was visualized by the DCFH fluorescence method. In conclusion, the result clearly shows that activated monocytes are involved in the VSD effect.

We have shown a non-invasive method for estimating transient changes in aortic flow and ventricular volume based on optimal control theory by using successful simulations of reported experimental data. The performance function to evaluate the optimality of the cardiovascular system was proposed based oh physical, fluid mechanical and pathophysiological considerations. It involved the work of the ventricle, the rate of changes in the aortic flow and the ventricular pressure. We determined that the cardiovascular system operates optimally when the performance function has been minimized. The relative magnitudes of the reductions of changes in these terms were expressed by the weighting coefficients. The arterial system was described by the Wind Kessel model using arterial resistance, aortic compliance and aortic valvular resistance. We set boundary conditions and transitional conditions derived from the systolic and diastolic phases of the aortic flow and the arterial pressure. The optimized system equations were converted to 6 linear simultaneous differential equations with 6 boundary conditions. The optimal ventricular pressure and aortic flow rate that minimize the performance function were obtained by solving these differential equations. By alternating the weighting coefficients of the work of ventricle and the rate of change in the ventricular ejection pressure, successful simulations of the ventricular pressures recorded from human subjects and those from isolated canine ventricle were obtained. Once the sets of weighting coefficients had been determined by successful simulations of ventricular pressures, the calculated aortic flow curves and pressure volume loops by the present method coincided with the reported experimental data. The changes in ventricular pressure and aortic flow produced by alternating the weighting coefficients to simulate the reported ventricular pressures and aortic flow curves under the different afterload conditions were consistent with biophysical experimental data. The present method is useful to estimata aortic flow curve and ventricular pressure volume loops non-invasively.

Intracranial blood flow noise measuring and analyzing system were developed to detect the cerebrovascular diseases such as aneurysm, stenosis and occlusion in their early stage. To realize the effective measuring of the sound known as the 'bruit,' dedicated PVDF-film based sensor working on the closed eyelid was designed. FFT spectrums and Wigner distributions were used as analyzing methods to clarify both the precise spectrum and the time variance of the signals. Thirty normal people without any history of cerebrovascular disease were tested with the system to estimate the characteristics of the background noise. Thirteen patients, including eight stenosis, four aneurysm and one occlusion, were studied with the system. FFT spectral differences between patient and normal existed over the frequency range from 0.5kHz to 1.2kHz. In this range apparent increases of the signal components' power were observed for the patients. Numerically, this tendency was confirmed by the power difference between 750Hz and 1.5kHz, which could be the possible index of the existence diagnosis for cerebrovascular diseases. The shape of the FFT spectral pattern showed some difference between stenosis and aneurysm. In stenosis cases, it seemed that there existed the flat level from 0.4kHz to 1.2kHz, while in aneurysm cases the power decreases smoothly as frequency increases from the peak around 0.7kHz. Time variance of the bruit according to the cardiac cycle could be seen in the cases of stenosis from 30% to 50%, but not in the cases from 40% to 90%. This fact suggested the possibility to diagnose the extent of the stenosis. In most cases, recognizable spectral peak around 0.7 kHz were observed. Although the physical meanings of those peaks were not so clear, still it was the apparent characteristics and might be including important information.

By applying Wigner distribution, which has high time resolution and high random noise reducing capability, to the acoustic bio–signals, the possibility of early diagnosis in both intracranial vascular deformation and prosthetic cardiac valve malfunction increased. Especially in latter case, 1st–order local moment of the distribution showed its effectiveness.