Depth-resolved extraction of optical attenuation for glaucoma assessment in clinical settings: a pilot study.

We assessed the ability of the optical attenuation coefficient (AC) to detect early-stage glaucoma with two AC estimation algorithms: retinal layer intensity ratio (LIR) and depth-resolved confocal (DRC). We also introduced new depth-dependent AC parameters for retinal nerve fiber layer assessment. Optical coherence tomography B-scans were collected from 44 eyes of age-similar participants with eye health ranging from healthy to severe glaucoma, including glaucoma suspect patients. Mean AC values estimated from the DRC method are comparable to ratio-extracted values (p > 0.5 for all study groups), and the depth-dependent ACDRC parameters enhance the utility of the AC for detection of early-stage glaucoma.

Cost-Efficient Video Synthesis and Evaluation for Development of Virtual 3D Endoscopy.

OBJECTIVE: 3D reconstruction of the shape and texture of hollow organs captured by endoscopy is important for the diagnosis and surveillance of early and recurrent cancers. Better evaluation of 3D reconstruction pipelines developed for such applications requires easy access to extensive datasets and associated ground truths, cost-efficient and scalable simulations of a range of possible clinical scenarios, and more reliable and insightful metrics to assess performance. METHODS: We present a computer-aided simulation platform for cost-effective synthesis of monocular endoscope videos and corresponding ground truths that mimic a range of potential settings and situations one might encounter during acquisition of clinical endoscopy videos. Using cystoscopy of the bladder as model case, we generated an extensive dataset comprising several synthesized videos of a bladder phantom. We then introduce a novel evaluation procedure to reliably assess an individual 3D reconstruction pipeline or to compare different pipelines. RESULTS: To illustrate the use of the proposed platform and evaluation procedure, we use the aforementioned dataset and ground truths to evaluate a proprietary 3D reconstruction pipeline (CYSTO3D) for bladder cystoscopy videos and compared it with a general-purpose 3D reconstruction pipeline (COLMAP). The evaluation results provide insight into the suggested clinical acquisition protocol and several potential areas for refinement of the pipeline to improve future performance. CONCLUSION: Our work proposes an endoscope video synthesis and reconstruction evaluation toolset and presents experimental results that illustrate usage of the toolset to efficiently assess performance and reveal possible problems of any given 3D reconstruction pipeline, to compare different pipelines, and to provide technically or clinically actionable insights.

Low-Cost, Volume-Controlled Dipstick Urinalysis for Home-Testing.

Dipstick urinalysis provides quick and affordable estimations of multiple physiological conditions but requires good technique and training to use accurately. Manual performance of dipstick urinalysis relies on good human color vision, proper lighting control, and error-prone, time-sensitive comparisons to chart colors. By automating the key steps in the dipstick urinalysis test, potential sources of error can be eliminated, allowing self-testing at home. We describe the steps necessary to create a customizable device to perform automated urinalysis testing in any environment. The device is cheap to manufacture and simple to assemble. We describe the key steps involved in customizing it for the dipstick of choice and for customizing a mobile phone app to analyze the results. We demonstrate its use to perform urinalysis and discuss the critical measurements and fabrication steps necessary to ensure robust operation. We then compare the proposed method to the dip-and-wipe method, the gold standard technique for dipstick urinalysis.

Low-power, low-cost urinalysis system with integrated dipstick evaluation and microscopic analysis.

We introduce a coupled dipstick and microscopy device for analyzing urine samples. The device is capable of accurately assessing urine dipstick results while simultaneously imaging the microscopic contents within the sample. We introduce a long working distance, cellphone-based microscope in combination with an oblique illumination scheme to accurately visualize and quantify particles within the urine sample. To facilitate accurate quantification, we couple the imaging set-up with a power-free filtration system. The proposed device is reusable, low-cost, and requires very little power. We show that results obtained with the proposed device and custom-built app are consistent with those obtained with the standard clinical protocol, suggesting the potential clinical utility of the device.

Robust dipstick urinalysis using a low-cost, micro-volume slipping manifold and mobile phone platform.

We introduce a novel manifold and companion software for dipstick urinalysis that eliminate many of the aspects that are traditionally plagued by user error: precise sample delivery, accurate readout timing, and controlled lighting conditions. The proposed all-acrylic slipping manifold is reusable, reliable, and low in cost. A simple timing mechanism ensures results are read out at the appropriate time. Results are obtained by capturing videos using a mobile phone and by analyzing them using custom-designed software. We show that the results obtained with the proposed device are as accurate and consistent as a properly executed dip-and-wipe method, the industry gold-standard, suggesting the potential for this strategy to enable confident urinalysis testing in home environments.