Sharif Digital Repository

A detailed 3D Monte Carlo simulation of the grid geometrical parameters in screen-film mammography (SFM) and digital mammography (DM) systems has been performed. A combination of IEC 60627:2013 international standard conditions and other more clinically relevant parameters were used for this simulation. Accuracy of our results has been benchmarked with previously published data and good agreement has been obtained. Calculations in a wide range of linear anti-scatter grid geometries have been carried out. The evaluated parameters for the SFM system were the Bucky factor (BF) and contrast improvement factor (CIF) and for the DM system it was signal differenceto- noise ratio improvement factor... 

Electrocardiogram (ECG) recording of electrical heart activities has a vital diagnostic role in heart diseases. We propose to tackle the problem of arrhythmia detection from ECG signals totally by a deep model that does not need any hand-designed feature or heuristic segmentation (e.g., ad-hoc R-peak detection). In this work, we first segment ECG signals by detecting R-peaks automatically via a convolutional network, including dilated convolutions and residual connections. Next, all beats are aligned around their R-peaks as the most informative section of the heartbeat in detecting arrhythmia. After that, a deep learning model, including both dilated convolution layers and a Long-Short Term... 

Computed tomography (CT) is one of the most valuable diagnostic imaging tools in the clinic and is widely used worldwide. One of the main motivations driving research and development in CT is to achieve better image quality while keeping the radiation dose to the patient as low as possible. In this regard, computer simulations play a key role in the optimization of CT design. In this work, a fan-beam source model (FBSM) for the simulation of multi-slice fan-beam CT scanners using the MCNP Monte Carlo code, has been developed and implemented. The use of this model removes the need for using the collimator in the system configuration and thus to overcome the perennial problem of particle... 

Sparse-view computed tomography (CT) is recently proposed as a promising method to speed up data acquisition and alleviate the issue of CT high dose delivery to the patients. However, traditional reconstruction algorithms are time-consuming and suffer from image degradation when faced with sparse-view data. To address this problem, we propose a new framework based on deep learning (DL) that can quickly produce high-quality CT images from sparsely sampled projections and is able for clinical use. Our DL-based proposed model is based on the convolution, and residual neural networks in a parallel manner, named the parallel residual neural network (PARS-Net). Besides, our proposed PARS-Net model... 

Few-view or sparse-view computed tomography has been recently introduced as a great potential to speed up data acquisition and alleviate the amount of patient radiation dose. This study aims to present a method for high-quality ultra-fast image reconstruction from sparsely sampled projections to overcome problems of previous methods, missing and blurring tissue boundaries, low-contrast objects, variations in shape and texture between the images of different individuals, and their outcomes. To this end, a new deep learning (DL) framework based on convolution neural network (CNN) models is proposed to solve the problem of CT reconstruction under sparsely sampled data, named the multi-receptive... 

The modulation transfer function (MTF) is well known as a crucial parameter in quality assurance of computed tomography (CT) scanners, which provides detailed information of both contrast and resolution of CT images. Different methods have been introduced and developed to calculate the MTF of CT scanners. However, a robust methodology which accurately estimates the MTF of CT scanners under the use of every range of object electron density and tube current-time product (mAs) has not been reported so far. To this aim, a new wavelet-based circular edge method for MTF measurement has been presented in this work. Owning to the edge spread function (ESF) susceptibility to noise, the approach was... 

Computed Tomography (CT) is one of the most widely used screening and diagnostic tools in medical imaging centers. Considering IAEA HUMAN HEALTH SERIES No. 19 and the American College of Radiology (ACR) Accreditation Program, quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) are mandatory programs to periodically monitor the system condition to promote the effective utilization of ionization radiation for a diagnostic outcome through obtaining and retaining appropriate image quality and reduction of patient dose. Computational phantoms (CPs) are the key tool to monitor system condition. The commercial QC phantoms are expensive products and are not flexible enough for user demands. In this... 

The aim of this work is to develop a mammography Monte Carlo MCNP-FBSM based simulation platform called 'MamSim' that is able to model the detailed geometry and physics of commercial screen-film and digital mammography units. This simulation platform is designed to enable the virtual assessment and optimization of mammography protocols and parameters for obtaining the desired image quality while diminishing radiation dose to the patient in both contact and magnification modes. A graphical user interface generates MCNP-FBSM input files for simulating mammography units under various geometries and imaging protocols. We considered the full simulation of all components of mammography procedure... 

Computed tomography (CT) simulators are versatile tools for scanning protocol evaluation, optimization of geometrical design parameters, assessment of image reconstruction algorithms, and evaluation of the impact of future innovations attempting to improve the performance of CT scanners. Computational human phantoms (CHPs) play a key role in simulators for the radiation dosimetry and assessment of image quality tasks in the medical x-ray systems. Since the construction of patient-specific CHPs can be both difficult and time-consuming, nominal standard/reference CHPs have been established, yielding significant discrepancies in the special design and optimization demands of patient dose and... 

Scattered radiations are one of the most important factors in the degradation of the image quality of mammography systems. Some techniques have been proposed for the reduction of such rays. Magnification mode can be done by increasing the air gap which determined by the distance of the breast and image intensifier. It is one of the useful techniques to elevate the produced image quality due to the rejection of scattered photons. Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended transport code (MCNPX) version 2.7.0 is a software package for the simulation of physical processes. In this work, this computer code is used for analyzing the effects of magnification mode on mammographic image quality. To this... 

Four 5-, 10-, 20- and 30-story moment frames, representing low-, mid-, and two high-rise structures, were subjected to a great number of idealized directivity pulses. The amplitudes and periods of pulses vary from 0.02 g to 1.0 g and 0.5 to 12 sec, respectively. Over 1400 nonlinear dynamic analyses of low- to high-rise moment frames were performed which were feasible through using modified fish-bone model. The distribution of interstory drift along the height was studied and two applied contours were proposed: (i) the maximum interstory drift contour, and (ii) the critical story contour. These contours were demonstrated versus the ratio of natural period of the structure to the pulse period... 

In this article singular points of a parallel manipulator are obtained based on a novel geometrical method. Here we introduce the constrained plain method (CPM) and some of its application in parallel mechanism. Given the definition of constraint plane (CP) and infinite constraint plane (ICP) the dependency conditions of constraints is achieved with the use of a new theorem based on the Ceva geometrical theorem. The direction of angular velocity of a body is achieved by having three ICPs with the use of another theorem. Finally, with the use of the above two novel theorems singularities of the 3UPF_PU mechanism are obtained. It should be emphasized that this method is completely geometrical,... 

An analytical model is proposed to study the effect of particle size on melting enthalpy and entropy of metallic nanoparticles (NPs). The Mott's and Regel's equations for melting entropy in the combination of core average coordination number (CAC) and surface average coordination number (SAC) of freestanding NPs are considered. Clusters of icosahedral (IC), body centered cubic (BCC), and body centered tetragonal (BCT) structure without any vacancies and defects are modeled. Using the variable coordination number made this model to be in good agreement with experimental and molecular dynamic (MD) results of different crystal structures. The model predicts melting entropy and enthalpy of... 

Grinding is widely used for manufacturing of components that require fine surface finish and good dimensional accuracy. In this study a thermo-mechanical finite element analysis is conducted to find out how grinding parameters can affect temperature and residual stress distribution in the workpiece. Results of parametric study presented in this work indicate, by carefully selecting the grinding parameters, minimum thermal and mechanical damage can be achieved. Higher workpiece velocities produce higher surface residual stress. By increasing depths of cut, depth of tensile residual stresses increases. Convection heat coefficient does not have any considerable effect on surface residual stress... 

Adaptive Noise Cancellation (ANC) is a well-known technique for background noise reduction in automobile and vehicular environments. The noise fields in automobile and other vehicle interior obey the diffuse noise field model closely. On the other hand, the ANC does not provide sufficient noise reduction in the diffuse noise fields. In this paper, a new multistage post-filter is designed for ANC as a solution to diffuse noise conditions. The designed post-filter is a single channel Linear Prediction (LP) based speech enhancement system. The LP is performed by an adaptive lattice filter and attempts to extract speech components by using intermediate ANC signals. The post-filter has no... 

Shot peening is widely used to improve the fretting fatigue strength of critical surfaces. Fretting fatigue occurs in contacting parts that are subjected to fluctuating loads and sliding movements at the same time. This paper presents a sequential finite element simulation to investigate the shot peening effects on normal stress, shear stress, bulk stress and slip amplitude, which are considered to be the controlling parameters of fretting damage. The results demonstrated that among the modifications related to shot peening, compressive residual stress has a dominant effect on the fretting parameters  

One-dimensional (1D) MgO structures were successfully synthesized via carbothermic reduction of mechanically activated mixture of MgO and graphite. Mechanical activation of source materials before carbothermic reduction can substantially enhance the formation of MgO products at a temperature (1000 °C) relatively lower than that required in previous approaches (≥1200 °C). However, the morphology of MgO formed is dependent on the degree of mechanical activation and the condition of the subsequent carbothermic reduction. Two distinctive morphologies were found for MgO products synthesized using our method: single crystalline nanorods with rectangular cross-sections whose diameters range from 50... 

Attitude and vibration control of a general form of flexible satellites is addressed in this paper. Partial differential dynamic equations are derived considering new details such as multi sectioned solar panels and elastic connections between main hub and solar panels. Boundary control approach is adopted to eliminate simplification errors of discrete models, using just one actuator in the hub. Asymptotic stability of attitude dynamics is proved for a group of boundary controllers and necessary conditions for asymptotic stability of vibrations are discussed. Being independent of modeling accuracy and using easily measurable feedbacks are among advantages of the proposed class of...