Medical Imaging Systems Techniques and Applications: Brain and Skeletal Systems

The field of brain and skeletal medical imaging has been revolutionized by new techniques in powerful computations, image processing and modalities such as computer-aided tomography and magnetic resonance, among others. It is therefore an appropriate topic to be included in this series that studies the marriage of computer capabilities and medical imaging, which exemplifies a significant manifestation of relatively recent, valuable technologies known as the second industrial revolution. A few of the issues specifically studied in this book are the advantages of MRI for brain image processing over CAT and PET techniques; applications of image processing for the diagnosis, treatment and study of brain tumors; the connection between pathological changes in brain tissue associated with neurological disease; methods for consistently identifying and quantifying, "in vivo", techniques in high resolution computed tomography to assess density and microstructure of intact bones in a single measurement; bone age assessment methods as an important procedure in diagnosing and managing endocrine disorders; and using fractals to model bone structure to aid diagnosis of osteoporosis. This book clearly reveals the effectiveness and great significance of the brain and skeletal imaging techniques and applications available and, with further development, the essential role they will play in the future.