Automated decision support for Hallux Valgus treatment options using anteroposterior foot radiographs.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of the potential utility of deep learning with subsequent image analysis to automate the measurement of hallux valgus and intermetatarsal angles from radiographs to serve as a preoperative aid in establishing hallux valgus severity for clinical decision-making. AIM: To investigate the accuracy of automated measurements of angles of hallux valgus from radiographs for further integration with the preoperative planning process. METHODS: The data comprises 265 consecutive digital anteroposterior weightbearing foot radiographs. 181 radiographs were utilized for training (161) and validating (20) a U-Net neural network to achieve a mean Sørensen-Dice index > 97% on bone segmentation. 84 test radiographs were used for manual (computer assisted) and automated measurements of hallux valgus severity determined by hallux valgus (HVA) and intermetatarsal angles (IMA). The reliability of manual and computer-based measurements was calculated using the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM). Inter- and intraobserver reliability coefficients were also compared. An operative treatment recommendation was then applied to compare results between automated and manual angle measurements. RESULTS: Very high reliability was achieved for HVA and IMA between the manual measurements of three independent clinicians. For HVA, the ICC between manual measurements was 0.96-0.99. For IMA, ICC was 0.78-0.95. Comparing manual against automated computer measurement, the reliability was high as well. For HVA, absolute agreement ICC and consistency ICC were 0.97, and SEM was 0.32. For IMA, absolute agreement ICC was 0.75, consistency ICC was 0.89, and SEM was 0.21. Additionally, a strong correlation (0.80) was observed between our approach and traditional clinical adjudication for preoperative planning of hallux valgus, according to an operative treatment algorithm proposed by EFORT. CONCLUSION: The proposed automated, artificial intelligence assisted determination of hallux valgus angles based on deep learning holds great potential as an accurate and efficient tool, with comparable accuracy to manual measurements by expert clinicians. Our approach can be effectively implemented in clinical practice to determine the angles of hallux valgus from radiographs, classify the deformity severity, streamline preoperative decision-making prior to corrective surgery.

The effect of amyloidosis-beta and ageing on proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells in APP-transgenic mouse hippocampus and in culture.

Stimulation of endogenous neurogenesis and transplantation of neuronal progenitors (NPs) are considered in therapy of neuronal loss associated with ageing and in neurodegenerative diseases with amyloidosis-beta, for example, Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome. However, the influence of brain environment altered by ageing and deposits of amyloid-beta on proliferation of endogenous and transplanted NPs and their maturation into neurons is not understood. We studied the effect of ageing and development of amyloidosis-beta on proliferation of NPs (1) in the granular layer of dentate gyrus in the hippocampi of APP-transgenic mice (Tg9291) before and after development of amyloidosis-beta, that is, in mice aged 2-4 months and 9-12 months, respectively, and in age-matched controls; and (2) in culture of NPs isolated from brains of control and Tg9291 mice, aged 3 and 9 months. We found that the number of proliferating NPs was reduced in 9-12-months-old mice, in both control and Tg9291, as compared to 2-4-months-old mice. However, the 9-12-months-old Tg9291 mice with amyloid-beta deposits had significantly more proliferating NPs than the age-matched controls. NPs proliferation in culture did not depend on the age, presence of APP-transgene, and amyloidosis-beta in donors. The results indicate that the local brain environment influences proliferation of NPs, and development of amyloidosis-beta in the neurogenic regions attenuates the age-associated reduction of proliferation of NPs. Identification of the responsible mechanisms may be important for development of a successful therapy of neurodegeneration caused by amyloidosis-beta.

Elevated intracranial pressure and reversible eye-tracking changes detected while viewing a film clip.

OBJECTIVE The precise threshold differentiating normal and elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) is variable among individuals. In the context of several pathophysiological conditions, elevated ICP leads to abnormalities in global cerebral functioning and impacts the function of cranial nerves (CNs), either or both of which may contribute to ocular dysmotility. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of elevated ICP on eye-tracking performed while patients were watching a short film clip. METHODS Awake patients requiring placement of an ICP monitor for clinical purposes underwent eye tracking while watching a 220-second continuously playing video moving around the perimeter of a viewing monitor. Pupil position was recorded at 500 Hz and metrics associated with each eye individually and both eyes together were calculated. Linear regression with generalized estimating equations was performed to test the association of eye-tracking metrics with changes in ICP. RESULTS Eye tracking was performed at ICP levels ranging from -3 to 30 mm Hg in 23 patients (12 women, 11 men, mean age 46.8 years) on 55 separate occasions. Eye-tracking measures correlating with CN function linearly decreased with increasing ICP (p < 0.001). Measures for CN VI were most prominently affected. The area under the curve (AUC) for eye-tracking metrics to discriminate between ICP < 12 and ≥ 12 mm Hg was 0.798. To discriminate an ICP < 15 from ≥ 15 mm Hg the AUC was 0.833, and to discriminate ICP < 20 from ≥ 20 mm Hg the AUC was 0.889. CONCLUSIONS Increasingly elevated ICP was associated with increasingly abnormal eye tracking detected while patients were watching a short film clip. These results suggest that eye tracking may be used as a noninvasive, automatable means to quantitate the physiological impact of elevated ICP, which has clinical application for assessment of shunt malfunction, pseudotumor cerebri, concussion, and prevention of second-impact syndrome.

Assessment of acute head injury in an emergency department population using sport concussion assessment tool - 3rd edition.

Sport Concussion Assessment Tool version 3 (SCAT-3) is one of the most widely researched concussion assessment tools in athletes. Here normative data for SCAT3 in nonathletes are presented. The SCAT3 was administered to 98 nonathlete healthy controls, as well as 118 participants with head-injury and 46 participants with other body trauma (OI) presenting to the ED. Reference values were derived and classifier functions were built to assess the accuracy of SCAT3. The control population had a mean of 2.30 (SD = 3.62) symptoms, 4.38 (SD = 8.73) symptom severity score (SSS), and 26.02 (SD = 2.52) standardized assessment of concussion score (SAC). Participants were more likely to be diagnosed with a concussion (from among healthy controls) if the SSS > 7; or SSS ≤ 7 and SAC ≤22 (sensitivity = 96%, specificity = 77%). Identification of head injury patients from among both, healthy controls and body trauma was possible using rule SSS > 7 and headache or pressure in head present, or SSS ≤ 7 and SAC ≤ 22 (sensitivity = 87%, specificity = 80%). In this current study, the SCAT-3 provided high sensitivity to discriminate acute symptoms of TBI in the ED setting. Individuals with a SSS > 7 and headache or pressure in head, or SSS ≤ 7 but with a SAC ≤ 22 within 48-hours of an injury should undergo further testing.

Sensitivity and specificity of an eye movement tracking-based biomarker for concussion.

OBJECT: The purpose of the current study is to determine the sensitivity and specificity of an eye tracking method as a classifier for identifying concussion. METHODS: Brain injured and control subjects prospectively underwent both eye tracking and Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3. The results of eye tracking biomarker based classifier models were then validated against a dataset of individuals not used in building a model. The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristics was examined. RESULTS: An optimal classifier based on best subset had an AUC of 0.878, and a cross-validated AUC of 0.852 in CT- subjects and an AUC of 0.831 in a validation dataset. The optimal misclassification rate in an external dataset (n = 254) was 13%. CONCLUSION: If one defines concussion based on history, examination, radiographic and Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3 criteria, it is possible to generate an eye tracking based biomarker that enables detection of concussion with reasonably high sensitivity and specificity.

Eye tracking detects disconjugate eye movements associated with structural traumatic brain injury and concussion.

Disconjugate eye movements have been associated with traumatic brain injury since ancient times. Ocular motility dysfunction may be present in up to 90% of patients with concussion or blast injury. We developed an algorithm for eye tracking in which the Cartesian coordinates of the right and left pupils are tracked over 200 sec and compared to each other as a subject watches a short film clip moving inside an aperture on a computer screen. We prospectively eye tracked 64 normal healthy noninjured control subjects and compared findings to 75 trauma subjects with either a positive head computed tomography (CT) scan (n=13), negative head CT (n=39), or nonhead injury (n=23) to determine whether eye tracking would reveal the disconjugate gaze associated with both structural brain injury and concussion. Tracking metrics were then correlated to the clinical concussion measure Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3 (SCAT3) in trauma patients. Five out of five measures of horizontal disconjugacy were increased in positive and negative head CT patients relative to noninjured control subjects. Only one of five vertical disconjugacy measures was significantly increased in brain-injured patients relative to controls. Linear regression analysis of all 75 trauma patients demonstrated that three metrics for horizontal disconjugacy negatively correlated with SCAT3 symptom severity score and positively correlated with total Standardized Assessment of Concussion score. Abnormal eye-tracking metrics improved over time toward baseline in brain-injured subjects observed in follow-up. Eye tracking may help quantify the severity of ocular motility disruption associated with concussion and structural brain injury.

Detection of third and sixth cranial nerve palsies with a novel method for eye tracking while watching a short film clip.

OBJECT: Automated eye movement tracking may provide clues to nervous system function at many levels. Spatial calibration of the eye tracking device requires the subject to have relatively intact ocular motility that implies function of cranial nerves (CNs) III (oculomotor), IV (trochlear), and VI (abducent) and their associated nuclei, along with the multiple regions of the brain imparting cognition and volition. The authors have developed a technique for eye tracking that uses temporal rather than spatial calibration, enabling detection of impaired ability to move the pupil relative to normal (neurologically healthy) control volunteers. This work was performed to demonstrate that this technique may detect CN palsies related to brain compression and to provide insight into how the technique may be of value for evaluating neuropathological conditions associated with CN palsy, such as hydrocephalus or acute mass effect. METHODS: The authors recorded subjects' eye movements by using an Eyelink 1000 eye tracker sampling at 500 Hz over 200 seconds while the subject viewed a music video playing inside an aperture on a computer monitor. The aperture moved in a rectangular pattern over a fixed time period. This technique was used to assess ocular motility in 157 neurologically healthy control subjects and 12 patients with either clinical CN III or VI palsy confirmed by neuro-ophthalmological examination, or surgically treatable pathological conditions potentially impacting these nerves. The authors compared the ratio of vertical to horizontal eye movement (height/width defined as aspect ratio) in normal and test subjects. RESULTS: In 157 normal controls, the aspect ratio (height/width) for the left eye had a mean value ± SD of 1.0117 ± 0.0706. For the right eye, the aspect ratio had a mean of 1.0077 ± 0.0679 in these 157 subjects. There was no difference between sexes or ages. A patient with known CN VI palsy had a significantly increased aspect ratio (1.39), whereas 2 patients with known CN III palsy had significantly decreased ratios of 0.19 and 0.06, respectively. Three patients with surgically treatable pathological conditions impacting CN VI, such as infratentorial mass effect or hydrocephalus, had significantly increased ratios (1.84, 1.44, and 1.34, respectively) relative to normal controls, and 6 patients with supratentorial mass effect had significantly decreased ratios (0.27, 0.53, 0.62, 0.45, 0.49, and 0.41, respectively). These alterations in eye tracking all reverted to normal ranges after surgical treatment of underlying pathological conditions in these 9 neurosurgical cases. CONCLUSIONS: This proof of concept series of cases suggests that the use of eye tracking to detect CN palsy while the patient watches television or its equivalent represents a new capacity for this technology. It may provide a new tool for the assessment of multiple CNS functions that can potentially be useful in the assessment of awake patients with elevated intracranial pressure from hydrocephalus or trauma.