Texture Analysis Parameters Research Articles

CHANGES IN TEXTURE ANALYSIS PARAMETERS OF WINE GRAPE BERRIES AT TWO RIPENESS STAGES: A STUDY ON VARIETAL EFFECT

Ripening of grapes is associated with great modifications at both the chemical and physical level. The aim of this work was to describe the changes in physical-mechanical parameters associated to ripening of wine grape berries, as evaluated by texture analysis, in order to understand if these modifications are stable across cultivars, or they are cultivar-specific. Berries from 21 different cultivars were sorted by flotation in different saline solutions, separated in two ripening stages differentiated by the amount of sugars (183 and 217 g L-1) and then analysed. Multivariate and univariate variations in texture analysis parameters were found, which were not constant across the studied grapevine varieties. However, a general behaviour was observed for skin weight, which had the largest variation between the two ripening stages. Other parameters showed significant differences between the ripening stages: skin thickness, berry gumminess, chewiness, and springiness, but the variation was not common to all cultivars. The work therefore evidenced the existence of cultivar-specific differences in the behaviour of physical-mechanical parameters between ripening stages.

Characterization of Portal Vein Thrombosis (Neoplastic Versus Bland) on CT Images Using Software-Based Texture Analysis and Thrombus Density (Hounsfield Units).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of CT texture analysis and thrombus density (measured in Hounsfield units) in distinguishing between neoplastic and bland portal vein thrombosis (PVT) on portal venous phase CT. In this retrospective study, 117 contrast-enhanced CT studies of 109 patients were included for characterization of PVT. Assessment of PVT was performed by estimation of CT textural features using CT texture analysis software and measurement of attenuation values. For CT texture analysis, filtered and unfiltered images were assessed to quantify heterogeneity using a set of predefined histogram-based texture parameters. The Mann-Whitney U test and binary logistic regression were applied for statistical significance. ROC curves were used to identify accuracy and optimal cutoff values. Of the 117 CT studies, 63 neoplastic thrombi and 54 bland thrombi were identified on the images. The two most discriminative CT texture analysis parameters to differentiate neoplastic from bland thrombus were mean value of positive pixels (without filtration, p < 0.001) and entropy (with fine filtration, p < 0.001). Mean thrombus density values could also reliably distinguish neoplastic (81.39 HU) and bland (32.88 HU) thrombi (p < 0.001). The AUCs were 0.97 for mean value of positive pixels (p < 0.001), 0.93 for entropy (p < 0.001), 0.99 for the model combining mean value of positive pixels and entropy (p < 0.001), 0.91 for thrombus density (p < 0.001), and 0.61 for the radiologist's subjective evaluation (p = 0.037). The optimal cutoffs values were 56.9 for mean value of positive pixels, 4.50 for entropy, and 54.0 HU for thrombus density. CT texture analysis and CT attenuation values allow reliable differentiation between neoplastic and bland thrombi on a single portal venous phase CT examination.

Prognostic Value of MR Imaging Texture Analysis in Brain Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Oligo-Metastases Undergoing Stereotactic Irradiation.

Background Stereotactic irradiation is widely used in brain oligo-metastases treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prognostic value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) texture analysis (TA) of brain metastases (BM) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Materials and methods This study included thirty-eight consecutive patients undergoing stereotactic irradiation, that is, stereotactic fractionated radiotherapy (SRT) or radiosurgery (SRS), from January 2011 to December 2014 for 1-2 brain BM from NSCLC. Whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) was not delivered. The diagnostic MRI DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) images were collected and analyzed with a homemade ImageJ macro, and typical TA parameters (mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, entropy, and uniformity) were evaluated for: brain progression-free survival; modality of brain metastatic progression (local progression or/and new metastases); and overall survival, after SRT/SRS.ResultsAfter SRT/SRS 14 patients (36.8%) experienced recurrence in the brain, with a recurrence in the irradiated site (five patients, 13.2%), new metastases (11 patients, 28.9%), local recurrence and new metastases (two patients, 5.25%). Nineteen patients (50%) died of tumor progression or other causes. Entropy and uniformity were significantly associated with local progression, whereas kurtosis was significantly associated with both local progression and new brain metastases.Conclusions These results appear promising, since the knowledge of factors correlated with the modality of brain progression after stereotactic irradiation of brain oligo-metastatic foci of NSCLC might help in driving the best treatment in these patients (association of SRT/SRS with WBRT? Increase of SRT/SRS dose?). Our preliminary data needs confirmation in large patient series.

MRI texture analysis parameters of contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images of Crohn's disease differ according to the presence or absence of histological markers of hypoxia and angiogenesis.

PurposeTo investigate if texture analysis parameters of contrast-enhanced MRI differ according to the presence of histological markers of hypoxia and angiogenesis in Crohn’s disease (CD).MethodsSeven CD patients (mean age 38 (19–75), 3 male)) undergoing ileal resection underwent 3T MR enterography including axial ultrafast spoiled gradient-echo T1 post IV gadolinium chelate. Regions of interest were placed in bowel destined for resection and registered to trans-mural histological sections (n = 28 across 7 bowel sections) via MRI of the resected specimen. Microvessel density (MVD) and staining for markers of hypoxia (HIF 1α) and angiogenesis (VEGF) were performed. Texture analysis features were derived utilizing an image filtration-histogram technique at spatial scaling factor (SSF) 0–6 mm, including mean, standard deviation, mean of positive pixels, entropy, kurtosis and skewness and compared according to the presence or absence of histological markers of hypoxia/angiogenesis using Mann–Whitney U/Kruskal–Wallis tests and with the log of MVD using simple linear regression.ResultsMean, standard deviation and mean of positive pixels were significantly lower in sections expressing VEGF. For example at SSF 6 mm, median (inter-quartile range) of mean, standard deviation and mean of positive pixels in those with VEGF expression were 150.1 (134.7), 132.4 (49.2) and 184.0 (91.4) vs. 362.5 (150.2), 216.3 (100.1) and 416.6 (80.0) in those without (p = 0.001, p = 0.004 and p = 0.001), respectively. There was a significant association between skewness and MVD (ratio 1.97 (1.15–3.41)) at SSF = 2 mm.ConclusionsContrast-enhanced MRI texture analysis features significantly differ according to the presence or absence of histological markers of hypoxia and angiogenesis in CD.

Abstract TMP117: Detecting Diseased Tissue in Normal Appearing White Matter of Transient Ischemic Attack and Minor Stroke Patients Using Texture Analysis

Introduction: Patients with minor strokes and Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs) are at risk of recurrent strokes and cognitive decline. Stroke lesions appear as white matter hyperintensities on T2 MR images. We investigated microstructural changes in normal appearing white matter (NAWM) of patients with TIAs and minor stroke. Hypothesis: Longitudinal changes in texture analysis parameters (angular second moment [ASM] and entropy) of NAWM would correspond to a qualitative increase in diseased tissue. Methods: FLAIR MRI data was obtained within 24hrs of injury (baseline [n=86]), and at 3 follow-up times (90D, n=40; 18M, n=46; and 3Y, n=60). 14 regions of interest (ROIs) were manually placed bilaterally on the NAWM of the baseline FLAIR image in 2 locations in the medial temporal lobes (MDTL), genu, splenium, periventricular (PVT), frontal (FWM), parietal (PWM), and posterior cortex WM (COV). ASM and entropy were measured using the GLCM Texture Analysis tool in ImageJ. Friedman’s ANOVA addressed longitudinal changes. Results: Significant changes for 6 ROIs [MDTLR, Splenium, FWMR, PWMR, COVL, COVR (p&lt;0.05)] were observed longitudinally. ASM decreases were seen at 90 days, with a return to baseline by 3 years (Fig1a). An increase in entropy was seen at 90 days; with no return to baseline for 5/6 ROIs (Fig1b). Conclusion: Texture analysis (ASM and entropy) may effectively quantify diseased tissue consistent with qualitative examination of NAWM in FLAIR sequences. Diseased tissue appears maximally present at 90 days with some return to baseline by 3 years.

Abstract 213: Evaluating high risk BI-RADS 4 mammographic lesions: a pilot trial of textural analysis (TA) as a supplement to digital mammography (DM)

Abstract Background: Although mammographic lesions classified as BI-RADS 4 are considered suspicious for carcinoma - by definition - and biopsy (bx) is therefore always recommended, only 20-30% of such lesions ultimately yield malignancy at biopsy. TA is an ancillary non-subjective quantitative analysis platform that can be performed as an add-on to routine mammographic analysis. The ability of TA to characterize lesions with high rates of heterogeneity led us to hypothesize that TA, as a supplement to routine DM analysis, might aid in selecting patients (pts) for bx vs. serial observation. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 40 screening pts with no history of cancer, with newly identified mammographic densities characterized as BI-RADS 4. Lesions measured 1-3 cm size and had no associated microcalcifications. Twenty pts had confirmed malignant biopsy while the other 20 pts served as age matched controls with similar lesion characteristics but ultimate benign biopsy result. For each lesion, TA was performed on a 1×1cm region of interest (ROI), along with a secondary control ROI of normal breast tissue. Results: Pts with malignant and benign bx had a median age of 53 years (range 28-83) vs. 52 years (range 32-75) (p = NS) and median nodule size 1.5 cm (range 1.0-2.9 cm) vs. 1.3 cm (range 1.0-2.5 cm) (p = NS), respectively. No differences between the groups were seen in menopausal status nor parenchymal density. The mean positive pixel (MPP) value was most predictive of malignancies at a Spatial Scale Frequency (SSF) filter level of 0.8. The median MPP for malignant lesions was 577 vs 730 for benign lesions (p = 0.033). There was no difference between MPP or other TA parameters in normal tissue of either group. Conclusion: TA, as a supplement to DM, may help stratify which women with high-risk BI-RADS 4 densities that better benefit from biopsy vs. those that might be safely followed with serial surveillance. Larger scale studies will be needed to validate these findings and are currently ongoing. Citation Format: Melissa R. Gordon, Erkut Borazanci, Daniel D. Maki, Ron L. Korn. Evaluating high risk BI-RADS 4 mammographic lesions: a pilot trial of textural analysis (TA) as a supplement to digital mammography (DM). [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 213. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-213

Shelf Life of Chicken Meat Balls Submitted to Sous Vide Treatment

The objective of this study was to investigate the appropriate temperature for processing storage of chicken meatballs made of minced chicken meat with the sous vide method. The chicken meatballs were prepared and separated into four experimental groups according to the application of heat treatment (10 and 20 minutes) and storage time (+2 and +10°C). Sensory, microbiological (total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, total psychrotrophs, lactic acidbacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Clostridiumperfringens, Listeria spp.), chemical (pH, thiobarbituric acid), color (L*, a*, b* values), and texture profile analyses were performed on meatball samples. Cl. perfringens and Listeria spp. were not detected in meatball samples during the storage period. Samples cooked at 10 minute and stored at +2°C the highest count of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (p<0.05). For lipid oxidation, interaction was observed between cooking time and storage temperature, with higher TBARs values for samples stored at 10 °C, while cooking time and storage temperature showed no influence on the color and textural analysis parameters. For the treatments evaluated, cooking time x storage temperature seem affect more microbiological and chemical parameters than color and textural parameters of chicken meatballs.

EFFECT OF DRYING CONDITION ON THE QUALITY OF DRY LATE PEACHES OF LEONFORTE

The Late Peach of Leonforte [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] grown in Southern Italy matures in September and October and as late as November. Fruits are wrapped in paper bags to protect them from parasites and are harvested only when fully ripe. Protected inside the bags, they ripen late and take on a bright yellow colour with red streaks. Highly aromatic, the peach has yellow, firm flesh that is high in soluble solids and has a distinctive, slightly caramelized flavour. The aim of this work was to deter¬mine the best method of drying peach as a means of conserving the fruit after harvest due to its very limited shelf-life. Drying processes were carried out in a pilot plant utilising different combinations of drying temperature and duration. Fruit texture analysis, colour and chemical parameters such as the carotenoids content, were evaluated to find the best process condition. Peaches subjected to different treatments were dried to the same final water content. The best colour and texture characteristics were found in peach samples dried for 9 hours at 60°C. Loss of carotenoids in dried products was comparable to losses in fresh peach samples.

Preliminary data using computed tomography texture analysis for the classification of hypervascular liver lesions: generation of a predictive model on the basis of quantitative spatial frequency measurements--a work in progress.

Computed tomography texture analysis (CTTA) is a method of quantifying lesion heterogeneity based on distribution of pixel intensities within a region of interest. This study investigates the ability of CTTA to distinguish different hypervascular liver lesions and compares CTTA parameters by creating a proof-of-concept model to distinguish between different lesions. Following institutional review board approval, CTTA software (TexRAD Ltd) was used to retrospectively analyze 17 cases of focal nodular hyperplasia, 19 hepatic adenomas, 25 hepatocellular carcinomas, and 19 cases of normal liver parenchyma using arterial phase scans. Two radiologists read the same image series used by the CTTA software and reported their best guess diagnosis. Computed tomography texture analysis parameters were computed from regions of interest using spatial band-pass filters to quantify heterogeneity. Random-forest method was used to construct a predictive model from these parameters, and a separate regression model was created using a subset of parameters. The random-forest model successfully distinguished the 3 lesion types and normal liver with predicted classification performance accuracy for 91.2% for adenoma, 94.4% for focal nodular hyperplasia, and 98.6% for hepatocellular carcinoma. This error prediction was generated using a subset of data points not used in generation of the model, but not on discrete prospective cases. In contrast, the 2 human readers using the same image series data analyzed by the CTTA software had lower accuracies, of 72.2% and 65.6%, respectively. The explicit regression model with a subset of image parameters had intermediate overall accuracy of 84.9%. Computed tomography texture analysis may prove valuable in lesion characterization. Differentiation between common hypervascular lesion types could be aided by the judicious incorporation of texture parameters into clinical analysis.

Bone and Calcium Research Update 2015. Recent advances in clinical assessment of trabecular bone architecture: trabecular bone score (TBS)

Although dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is regarded as the gold-standard technique for diagnosing osteoporosis, bone mineral density (BMD) alone by DXA is not sufficient for bone strength assessment. Trabecular bone score (TBS) is a texture analysis parameter that evaluates pixel gray-level variations in DXA images of the lumbar spine and allows to assess bone microarchitectural status that is one of the determinants of bone strength. Recent clinical evidences show that TBS is associated with fracture risk in primary and secondary osteoporosis, has a complementary role to lumbar spine BMD and responds to osteoporosis medications somewhat differently than BMD. Thus TBS has the potential to become a valuable clinical tool in the diagnosis of osteoporosis and in fracture risk assessment.

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Echinoderms in the Intertidal Waters of Massawa

In this paper distribution patterns of echinoderms, sediment textural analysis and physical parameters were dealt in three study sites, Gurgussum, Hirgigo and Tiwalet at the lower intertidal and upper subtidal waters for three months (February, March and April, 2012). Echinoderms distribution and abundance (no/m2) varies from site to site during sampling periods. The three sites also differ in species composition. The highest total density of Oreasteridae (4/m2) was recorded in Tiwalet and it was nil for the same group in Gurgussum and Hirgigo. The most common groups that were seen in Gurgussum are Ophicomidae (107/m2) and Echinomertridae (87/m2) and completely absent in Hirgigo and Tiwalet. The highest in diversity of echinoderms was Tiwalet consisting of four families (i.e. Oreasteridae, Ophiuroidae, Scutellidae and Holothuriidae). However, Hirgigo was completely devoid of any of these groups. Both water temperature and salinity were recorded in all three sites for the three months. It was observed that there was negligible temporal and spatial variation with respect to the two physical parameters. Textural analysis of sediment (sand, silt and clay) showed that sand was dominant fraction in Hirgigo than Tiwalet, while silt is comparatively more in Tiwalet than in Hirgigo. The clay fraction was distributed uniformly in very low percentage in both the sites. But, the site Gurgussum is entirely a hard substratum. In general, echinoderms showed negative correlation with sand and silt whereas positive correlation with clay

MRI Texture Analysis and Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Chronic Right Hemisphere Ischemic Stroke.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is shown to reveal changes caused by cerebral infarction. The aim of this study is to reveal those changes also in the conventional magnetic resonance (MR) images using a quantitative image analysis method, texture analysis (TA). Thirty patients who had suffered their first ever infarction located on the right hemisphere underwent DTI and conventional MRI studies in the chronic phase. DTI parameters fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity, as well as four second-order texture parameters were calculated. Interhemispheric differences and correlations between DTI and TA parameters were evaluated. Our DTI findings supported earlier studies as fractional anisotropy values were lowered and mean diffusivity values elevated in the lesion site, and ipsilateral cerebral peduncle, thalamus, and centrum semiovale compared to the unaffected side. Textural homogeneity parameters showed lower and complexity parameters higher values in the lesion site and ipsilateral centrum semiovale compared to the contralateral hemisphere. Correlation between the two methods was found in ipsilateral mesencephalon. In addition to DTI method, TA could assist in revealing the changes caused by infarction, also outside the lesion site. Damaged areas were found more heterogeneous and random in texture compared to unaffected sites.

Abstract 1885: Quantitative Textural Analysis (QTA) in CT imaging: Identifying markers for genetic instability and overall survival in cohort of previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC)

Abstract PURPOSE. To explore the use of helical CT-derived Quantitative Textural Analysis (QTA) parameters in identifying elevated rates of intrachromosomal copy number aberrations in mPC and secondarily in revealing post-treatment QTA prognostic markers. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Metastatic tumor sites were biopsied and molecularly profiled in a cohort patients with mPC (n=35). 85% of the cohort had 1-3 previous treatment regimens, and the remaining 15% had 4-6. Intrachromosal copy number were assessed by CGH in tumor specimens, and patients were treated with commercially available cytotoxic regimens based on these individual molecular profiling results1. Patients with available pre-biopsy transverse abdominal portal-venous phase CT scans were obtained for retrospective analysis (n=17). Analysis of pre-biopsy pancreas imaging was performed by drawing regions of interest around the primary pancreas adenocarcinoma (n=15) and the normal pancreas tissue when available (n=12). Two patients did not have any quantifiable imaging due to surgery or local structural obfuscation and were not included in our cohort. There were 9 males and 6 females all with stage IV cancer from 34 - 71 years old (median 59). QTA parameters were derived using the TexRAD platform at texture filtering densities of medium (3 pixels) and coarse (5 pixels). There values were compared to intrachromosomal copy number aberrations per tumor and overall survival post-treatment using a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. RESULTS. Intrachromosomal copy number aberrations (median: 14; range: 5 - 52) were negatively correlated with the kurtosis value of the primary tumor mass (median: -0.146; range: -0.810 - 0.633) using medium texture filtering (p = 0.034, n = 15). Secondary analysis of the normal pancreas with coarse texture filtering yielded a correlation between reduced overall survival time post-treatment and increasing entropy (p = 0.0014, n = 12). Using entropy as a cutoff value (median: 4.165; range 2.686 - 4.891), median overall survival was greater in the entropy &amp;lt; 4.165 group versus the entropy &amp;gt; 4.165 group (6.1 v 2.0 months, respectively; hazards ratio [HR] = 11.5; 95% CI 1.36 - 97.4; p = 0.025, n = 12). Median survival for the entire cohort was 120 days and ranged from 1 day to 372 days post-treatment. CONCLUSION. This exploratory study with admittedly limited sample size raises interesting questions about the use of QTA parameters as diagnostic tools and/or biopsy adjuncts in assessing pancreatic adenocarcinoma susceptibility to commercially available cytotoxics. Secondarily, entropy, a potential marker of heterogeneity and inflammation in the normal pancreas, represents an intriguing possibility for gauging prognosis in mPC. (Clinical trial supported by a grant from the SU2C/AACR-pancreatic dream team) REFERENCES. 1. Ramanathan RK et al AACR Annual Meeting. LB-221. 2012. Citation Format: David H. Campbell, Michael Barrett, Ramesh K. Ramanathan, Daniel D. Von Hoff, Ronald Korn. Quantitative Textural Analysis (QTA) in CT imaging: Identifying markers for genetic instability and overall survival in cohort of previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC). [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1885. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1885

Structural Integrity of Medial Temporal Lobes of Patients with Acute Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) is an acute characteristic of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the duration of PTA is commonly used to estimate the severity of brain injury. In the context of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), PTA is an essential part of the routine clinical assessment. Macroscopic lesions in temporal lobes, especially hippocampal regions, are thought to be connected to memory loss. However, conventional neuroimaging has failed to reveal neuropathological correlates of PTA in MTBI. Texture analysis (TA) is an image analysis technique that quantifies the minor MRI signal changes among image pixels and, therefore, the variations in intensity patterns within the image. The objective of this work was to apply the TA technique to MR images of MTBI patients and control subjects, and to assess the microstructural damage in medial temporal lobes of patients with MTBI with definite PTA. TA was performed for fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images of 50 MTBI patients and 50 age- and gender-matched controls in the regions of the amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus. It was hypothesized that 1) there would be statistically significant differences in TA parameters between patients with MTBIs and controls, and 2) the duration of PTA would be related to TA parameters in patients with MTBI. No significant textural differences were observed between patients and controls in the regions of interest (p>0.01). No textural features were observed to correlate with the duration of PTA. Subgroup analyses were conducted on patients with PTA of>1 h, (n=33) and compared the four TA parameters to the age- and gender-matched controls (n=33). The findings were similar. This study did not reveal significant textural changes in medial temporal structures that could be related to the duration of PTA.

Intratumoral heterogeneity of breast cancer xenograft models: texture analysis of diffusion-weighted MR imaging.

ObjectiveTo investigate whether there is a relationship between texture analysis parameters of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps and histopathologic features of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 xenograft models.Materials and MethodsMCF-7 estradiol (+), MCF-7 estradiol (-), and MDA-MB-231 xenograft models were made with approval of the animal care committee. Twelve tumors of MCF-7 estradiol (+), 9 tumors of MCF-7 estradiol (-), and 6 tumors in MDA-MB-231 were included. Diffusion-weighted MR images were obtained on a 9.4-T system. An analysis of the first and second order texture analysis of ADC maps was performed. The texture analysis parameters and histopathologic features were compared among these groups by the analysis of variance test. Correlations between texture parameters and histopathologic features were analyzed. We also evaluated the intraobserver agreement in assessing the texture parameters.ResultsMCF-7 estradiol (+) showed a higher standard deviation, maximum, skewness, and kurtosis of ADC values than MCF-7 estradiol (-) and MDA-MB-231 (p < 0.01 for all). The contrast of the MCF-7 groups was higher than that of the MDA-MB-231 (p = 0.004). The correlation (COR) of the texture analysis of MCF-7 groups was lower than that of MDA-MB-231 (p < 0.001). The histopathologic analysis showed that Ki-67mean and Ki-67diff of MCF-7 estradiol (+) were higher than that of MCF-7 estradiol (-) or MDA-MB-231 (p < 0.05). The microvessel density (MVD)mean and MVDdiff of MDA-MB-231 were higher than those of MCF-7 groups (p < 0.001). A diffuse-multifocal necrosis was more frequently found in MDA-MB-231 (p < 0.001). The proportion of necrosis moderately correlated with the contrast (r = -0.438, p = 0.022) and strongly with COR (r = 0.540, p = 0.004). Standard deviation (r = 0.622, r = 0.437), skewness (r = 0.404, r = 0.484), and kurtosis (r = 0.408, r = 0.452) correlated with Ki-67mean and Ki-67diff (p < 0.05 for all). COR moderately correlated with Ki-67diff (r = -0.388, p = 0.045). Skewness (r = -0.643, r = -0.464), kurtosis (r = -0.581, r = -0.389), contrast (r = -0.473, r = -0.549) and COR (r = 0.588, r = 0.580) correlated with MVDmean and MVDdiff (p < 0.05 for all).ConclusionThe texture analysis of ADC maps may help to determine the intratumoral spatial heterogeneity of necrosis patterns, amount of cellular proliferation and the vascularity in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 xenograft breast cancer models.

Locally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck: CT Texture and Histogram Analysis Allow Independent Prediction of Overall Survival in Patients Treated with Induction Chemotherapy

Purpose To determine if computed tomographic (CT) texture and histogram analysis measurements of the primary mass are independently associated with overall survival in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who were previously treated with cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and docetaxel (TPF) induction chemotherapy. Materials and Methods This institutional review board–approved retrospective study included 72 patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who were treated with induction TPF chemotherapy in 2004–2010. CT texture and histogram analysis of the primary mass on the pretherapy CT images were performed by using TexRAD software before and after application of spatial filters at different anatomic scales ranging from fine detail to coarse features. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the association between overall survival and the baseline CT imaging measurements and clinical variables. Results Primary mass entropy and skewness measurements with multiple spatial filters were associated with overall survival. Multivariate Cox regression analysis incorporating clinical and imaging variables indicated that primary mass size (hazard ratio [HR], 1.58 for each 1-cm increase; P = .018), N stage (HR, 8.77 for N3 vs N0 or N1; P = .002; HR, 4.99 for N3 vs N2; P = .001), and primary mass entropy (HR, 2.10 for each 0.5-unit increase; P = .036) and skewness (HR, 3.67 for each 1.0-unit increase; P = .009) measurements with the 1.0 spatial filter were independently associated with overall survival. Conclusion Independent of tumor size, N stage, and other clinical variables, primary mass CT texture and histogram analysis parameters are associated with overall survival in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who were treated with induction TPF. © RSNA, 2013 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Locally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck: CT Texture and Histogram Analysis Allow Independent Prediction of Overall Survival in Patients Treated with Induction Chemotherapy

To determine if computed tomographic (CT) texture and histogram analysis measurements of the primary mass are independently associated with overall survival in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who were previously treated with cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and docetaxel (TPF) induction chemotherapy. This institutional review board-approved retrospective study included 72 patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who were treated with induction TPF chemotherapy in 2004-2010. CT texture and histogram analysis of the primary mass on the pretherapy CT images were performed by using TexRAD software before and after application of spatial filters at different anatomic scales ranging from fine detail to coarse features. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the association between overall survival and the baseline CT imaging measurements and clinical variables. Primary mass entropy and skewness measurements with multiple spatial filters were associated with overall survival. Multivariate Cox regression analysis incorporating clinical and imaging variables indicated that primary mass size (hazard ratio [HR], 1.58 for each 1-cm increase; P = .018), N stage (HR, 8.77 for N3 vs N0 or N1; P = .002; HR, 4.99 for N3 vs N2; P = .001), and primary mass entropy (HR, 2.10 for each 0.5-unit increase; P = .036) and skewness (HR, 3.67 for each 1.0-unit increase; P = .009) measurements with the 1.0 spatial filter were independently associated with overall survival. Independent of tumor size, N stage, and other clinical variables, primary mass CT texture and histogram analysis parameters are associated with overall survival in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who were treated with induction TPF. Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Texture analysis parameters and contrast enhanced ultrasound as promising procedures for the positive diagnosis of liver cirrhosis

tw=0.99hPurpose: To compare the diagnostic value of texture analysis features of unenhanced liver parenchyma and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) parameters for the differentiation of patients with and without liver cirrhosis. Material and methods: Forty-two patients with chronic liver disease (mean age 57.03 ± 8.54 years), with (n = 27) or without (n = 15) liver cirrhosis and 10 healthy subjects (mean age 45 ± 7.55 years) underwent CEUS. First, unhanded imagines were analyzed using a texture analysis software. Fisher coefficients were used to select an optimized subset of 10 texture features extracted from a manually segmented region of interest with the liver parenchyma. For patient classification, k-nearest neighbor classification using the leave-one-out cross-validation technique were performed for “raw” texture features, for texture features after principal component analysis (PCA) and for texture features after linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Second, signal intensities of liver parenchyma were analyzed using time-intensity curves analysis and the time to peak parenchymal intensity for each patient was calculated. The CEUS results were compared with the results of texture-based patient classification. Results: The mean time to peak (TTP) intensity of hepatic parenchymal perfusion was significantly shorter in cirrhotic patients (vs non-cirrhotic and healthy subjects) (69.0 ± 9.3 s vs. 83.4 ± 10.6 s, 88.3 ± 15.3 s, p = 0.001). Using TTP as a diagnostic tool, we were able to distinguish patients with liver cirrhosis from non-cirrhosis, with an area under the ROC curve (AUROC) of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.66 – 0.82), with a Sensitivity of 83.68% and a Specificity of 77.87%, and correctly classify 82% patients. Based on the texture features, liver cirrhosis was diagnosed with a Sensitivity of 84.3% and a Specificity of 81.7%, correctly classifying 89% patients. Conclusion: Texture-analysis features of unenhanced liver parenchyma have comparable sensitivity and specificity with TTP of enhanced liver parenchyma in detecting patients with liver cirrhosis.

Structural integrity of medial temporal lobes of patients with acute mild traumatic brain injury

Post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) is an acute characteristic of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the duration of PTA is commonly used to estimate the severity of brain injury. In the context of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), PTA is an essential part of the routine clinical assessment. Macroscopic lesions in temporal lobes, especially hippocampal regions, are thought to be connected to memory loss. However, conventional neuroimaging has failed to reveal neuropathological correlates of PTA in MTBI. Texture analysis (TA) is an image analysis technique that quantifies the minor MRI signal changes among image pixels and, therefore, the variations in intensity patterns within the image. The objective of this work was to apply the TA technique to MR images of MTBI patients and control subjects, and to assess the microstructural damage in medial temporal lobes of patients with MTBI with definite PTA. TA was performed for fluidattenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images of 50 MTBI patients and 50 age- and gender-matched controls in the regions of the amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus. It was hypothesized that 1) there would be statistically significant differences in TA parameters between patients with MTBIs and controls, and 2) the duration of PTA would be related to TA parameters in patients with MTBI. No significant textural differences were observed between patients and controls in the regions of interest (p >0.01). No textural features were observed to correlate with the duration of PTA. Subgroup analyses were conducted on patients with PTA of >1h, (n =33) and compared the four TA parameters to the age- and gender-matched controls (n =33). The findings were similar. This study did not reveal significant textural changes in medial temporal structures that could be related to the duration of PTA.

Composition and physico-chemical properties of peloids used in Spanish spas: A comparative study

This study analyses and characterises the thermal and non-thermal properties of five peloids from different Spanish locations. Three of the peloids designated as ARCH, ARN and RAP were made from medical mineral water and clay. The peloid designated as BOI was made from medical mineral water and a mixture of peat and clay, and the fifth peloid designated as LOP was derived from a natural sedimentary environment (lagoon) wherein the clayey silt sediment was matured in sea water. The samples were compared by means of physical and physico-chemical determinations namely, grain-size analysis, BET specific surface area, plasticity index, CEC and exchangeable cations, instrumental texture analysis and thermal parameters. The results showed significant differences between the different peloids studied, especially with regard to their composition and some non-thermal properties. The highest values for BET, plasticity index and CEC were observed in the sample composed of Na-saturated trioctahedral smectite. The mixing of peat with clay also favoured high values for CEC and plasticity index. The instrumental texture analysis showed similar values for cohesiveness and springiness in all the peloids, but there were differences in hardness and adhesiveness. Regarding the thermal properties, the values were similar within a relative narrow range for retentivity, t37 parameter, and relaxation time. Despite the differences in the composition of the peloids, the values achieved for instrumental texture analysis and thermal parameters were comparable with those of the reference TERDAX peloid.