Breaking Barriers in Emerging Biomedical Applications.

The recent global COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that the current healthcare system in modern society can hardly cope with the increased number of patients. Part of the load can be alleviated by incorporating smart healthcare infrastructure in the current system to enable patient's remote monitoring and personalized treatment. Technological advances in communications and sensing devices have enabled the development of new, portable, and more power-efficient biomedical sensors, as well as innovative healthcare applications. Nevertheless, such applications require reliable, resilient, and secure networks. This paper aims to identify the communication requirements for mass deployment of such smart healthcare sensors by providing the overview of underlying Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Moreover, it highlights the importance of information theory in understanding the limits and barriers in this emerging field. With this motivation, the paper indicates how data compression and entropy used in security algorithms may pave the way towards mass deployment of such IoT healthcare devices. Future medical practices and paradigms are also discussed.

A Fast Transform for Brain Connectivity Difference Evaluation.

Anatomical and dynamical connectivity are essential to healthy brain function. However, quantifying variations in connectivity across conditions or between patient populations and appraising their functional significance are highly non-trivial tasks. Here we show that link ranking differences induce specific geometries in a convenient auxiliary space that are often easily recognisable at mere eye inspection. Link ranking can also provide fast and reliable criteria for network reconstruction parameters for which no theoretical guideline has been proposed.

Is Elevated Choline on Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy a Reliable Marker of Breast Lesion Malignancy?

BACKGROUND: Contemporary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast represents a powerful diagnostic modality for cancer detection, with excellent sensitivity and high specificity. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is being explored as an additional tool for improving specificity in breast cancer detection, using multiparametric MRI. The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of 1H-MRS to discriminate malignant from benign breast lesions, using elevated choline (Cho) peak as an imaging biomarker. METHODS: A total of 60 patients were included in this prospective study: 30 with malignant (average age, 55.2 years; average lesion size, 35 mm) and 30 with benign breast lesions (average age, 44.8 years; average lesion size, 20 mm), who underwent multiparametric MRI with multivoxel 3D 1H-MRS on a 1.5-T scanner in a 3-year period. Three patients with benign breast lesions were excluded from the study. All lesions were histologically verified. Peaks identified on 1H-MRS were lipid (0.9, 2.3, 2.8, and 5.2 ppm), choline (3.2 ppm), and water peaks (4.7 ppm). Sensitivity and specificity, as well as positive and negative predictive values, were defined using ROC curves. Cohen's Kappa test of inter-test reliability was performed [testing the agreement between 1H-MRS and histologic finding, and 1H-MRS and MR mammography (MRM)]. RESULTS: Choline peak was elevated in 24/30 malignant lesions and in 20/27 benign breast lesions. The sensitivity of 1H-MRS was 0.8, specificity was 0.741, positive predictive value was 0.774, and negative predictive value was 0.769. Area under ROC was 0.77 (CI 0.640-0.871). Inter-test reliability between 1H-MRS and histologic finding was 0.543 (moderate agreement) and that between 1H-MRS and MRM was 0.573 (moderate agreement). False-negative findings were most frequently observed in invasive lobular cancers, while false-positive findings were most frequently observed in adenoid fibroadenomas. CONCLUSION: Although elevation of the choline peak has a good sensitivity and specificity in breast cancer detection, both are significantly lower than those of multiparametric MRM. Inclusion of spectra located on tumor margins as well as analysis of lipid peaks could aid both sensitivity and specificity. An important ratio of false-positive and false-negative findings in specific types of breast lesions (lobular cancer and adenoid fibroadenoma) suggests interpreting these lesions with a caveat.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans of the breast: mammographic, ultrasound, MRI and MRS features.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) of the breast is a rare malignant tumor, and its preoperative diagnosis is extremely difficult. Local recurrence of DFSP is frequent after incomplete resection because of either false diagnosis or inadequate standard surgical excision. We present a case of DFSP that showed disconcordant results using different imaging modalities, suggesting that the MRI finding of subcutaneously located highly vascular tumor with suspicious kinetics but together with negative Cho peak on (1H) MRS, might be suggestive of the diagnosis of DFSP.

Multidisciplinary investigation links backward-speech trait and working memory through genetic mutation.

Case studies of unusual traits can provide unique snapshots of the effects of modified systems. In this study, we report on an individual from a Serbian family with the ability to rapidly, accurately and voluntarily speak backwards. We consider psychological, neural and genetic correlates of this trait to identify specific relevant neural mechanisms and new molecular pathways for working memory and speech-related tasks. EEG data suggest that the effect of word reversal precedes semantic integration of visually presented backward-words, and that event-related potentials above the frontal lobe are affected by both word reversal and the maintenance of backward-words in working memory. fMRI revealed that the left fusiform gyrus may facilitate the production of backward-speech. Exome sequencing identified three novel coding variants of potential significance in the RIC3, RIPK1 and ZBED5 genes. Taken together, our data suggest that, in this individual, the ability to speak backwards is afforded by an extraordinary working memory capacity. We hypothesise that this is served by cholinergic projections from the basal forebrain to the frontal cortex and supported by visual semantic loops within the left fusiform gyrus and that these neural processes may be mediated by a genetic mutation in RIC3; a chaperone for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

The functional neuroimaging evidence of cerebellar involvement in the simple cognitive task.

Cerebellar involvement in cognitive functions has been revealed in numerous anatomical, clinical and neuroimaging studies and several hypotheses about potential the role of the cerebellum in higher level brain function have been established. The aim of this study was to show involvement of the cerebellum in simple cognitive tasks. For this matter, we contrasted two tasks from the same semantic domain with specific cognitive content and level of practice: counting forward and counting backward. Twelve volunteers participated in this fMRI study and they were asked to perform both tasks within the same number range (1 to 30 and vice versa). Results showed greater activation in the right cerebellum for the task of counting forward than for counting backward, while for counting backward greater activation was found in prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and anterior cingulate of both hemispheres. Our results correlate with already established hypotheses about cerebellar role in precise and smooth control, not only in well-trained motor but in well trained cognitive tasks as well.

The influence of retrobulbar adipose tissue volume upon intraocular pressure in obesity.

BACKGROUND/AIM: It is known that glaucoma is associated with elevated intraocular pressure and obesity, yet the precise etiology remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a potential causality between the volume of retrobulbar adipose tissue and the level of intraocular pressure in obese subjects compared with non-obese. METHODS: A total of 100 subjects were divided according to the body mass index (BMI), into two groups: normal weight (n = 50, BMI = 18-24.9 kg/m2) and obese (n = 50, BMI > or = 30 kg/m2) subjects. Anthropometric measurements, body composition analysis, measurement of intraocular pressure, as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head at the level of the optic nerve, and the derived retrobulbar adipose tissue volume, were undertaken in all subjects. RESULTS: The obese subjects, as compared with normal weight ones, had a significantly higher mean retrobulbar adipose tissue volume (6.23 cm3 vs 4.85 cm3, p < 0.01) and intraocular pressure (15.96 mmHg vs 12.99 mmHg, p < 0.01). Furthermore, intraocular pressure correlated positively with retrobulbar adipose tissue volume. CONCLUSION: In obese people, elevated intraocular pressure may be caused by changes in ocular blood flow, affected by the physical pressure exerted by higher retrobulbar adiposity, and/or by internal vascular changes secondary to complications of obesity. These findings indicate the need for more frequent measurement of intraocular pressure in obese individuals to earlier detect glaucoma, and in so doing prevent irreversible blindness.

[Functional magnetic resonance imaging of cortical changes in a low-grade glioma patient].

INTRODUCTION: New methods for studying brain functions have provided the new insights into human brain. It is really possible to study a cortical adaptation in adults who have sustained injury. We reported cortical changes in a left frontal low-grade glioma patient during disease progression and after reoperation by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). CASE REPORT: The use of fMRI exams for localisation of eloquent motor and language areas were performed three times in a period of 15 months: seven years after initial tumor resection, eleven months later and three months after the reoperation. The first fMRI demonstrated cortical activation for motor tasks in the expected location of primary motor area while later examinations showed activations of both primary motor areas for right hand movement. The first exam language evaluation showed the left hemisphere dominance for both language tasks, while the second fMRI demonstrated the right hemisphere dominance for complex word generation task, but the left hemisphere remained dominant in simple language task. After the reoperation, language mapping revealed the left hemisphere dominance for both language tasks. CONCLUSION: fMRI evaluation of cortical changes in low-grade glioma patients may additionally optimize and individualize neurosurgical treatment.

Gender differences in brain areas involved in silent counting by means of fMRI.

BACKGROUND: Pattern of brain asymmetries varies with handedness, gender, age, and with variety of genetic and social factors. Large-scale neuroimaging analyses can optimize the detection of asymmetric features and confirm the factors that might modulate pattern of brain asymmetries. We attempted to evaluate eventual differences between genders in hemodynamic responses to a simple language task. METHODS: 12 healthy right-handed volunteers (age 24-46), 6 men and 6 women underwent fMRI scanning while performing the simple cognitive - language processing task - silent number counting in Serbian. RESULTS: Group analysis of hemodynamic responses shows activation in expected brain language areas of inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and superior temporal gyrus (STG) in both hemispheres. In the male group, aside from dedicated language areas in IFG and STG, activation was noted in right frontal region and interhemispheric supplementary motor area. On the other hand, in the female group, besides activation in dedicated language areas, activation was noted, in right hippocampus, limbic brain and cerebellum bilaterally. CONCLUSIONS: Our results on differences in silent counting by means of fMRI suggest that those differences may be based on different brain pattern activation in men and women. The relation between performance, strategies and regional brain activation should be the topic of further studies when considering not only gender differences in language processing but also differences that may be attributed to the variations in the task details, stimuli, and the stimulus presentation methods.