Segmentation of the left ventricle (LV) is a hot topic in cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) images analysis. In this paper, we present an automatic LV myocardial boundary segmentation method using the parametric active contour model (or snake model). By convolving the gradient map of an image, a fast external force named gradient vector convolution (GVC) is presented for the snake model. A circle...

Snake bite causes significant morbidity and mortality in Sri Lanka. Snake venoms contain neurotoxins that block neuromuscular junction transmission. Presynaptic neurotoxicity most commonly causes destruction of nerve terminals with recovery by regrowth, whilst postsynaptic neurotoxicity usually involves competition at the acetylcholine receptor. The aim of this study was to investigate whether ...

The hydrolytic action of snake venom phosphodiesterase on poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) was investigated in comparison with that of rat liver phosphodiesterase. The purified polymer, labeled with s2P or 14C, was partially hydrolyzed with snake venom phosphodiesterase and passed through a Sephadex G-50 column. The resulting elution profiles showed the existence of degradation products with ...

Segmenting iris region is fundamental for iris-based biometric systems. The overall performance of an iris recognition system is highly dependent on accurate iris segmentation. In this paper, a new algorithm for iris segmentation is proposed towards more accurate and efficient segmentation, it detects the precise pupil contour and localizes the limbic boundary. An improved snake model is presen...

Snake robots, sometimes called hyper-redundant mechanisms, can use their many degrees of freedom to achieve a variety of locomotive capabilities. These capabilities are ideally suited for disaster response because the snake robot can thread through tightly packed volumes, accessing locations that people and conventional machinery otherwise cannot. Snake robots also have the advantage of possess...

One of the core features of human speech is that words cause listeners to retrieve corresponding visual mental images. However, whether vocalizations similarly evoke mental images in animal communication systems is surprisingly unknown. Japanese tits (Parus minor) produce specific alarm calls when and only when encountering a predatory snake. Here, I show that simply hearing these calls causes ...

In this paper we present a snake model dedicated to real-time multiple object tracking. This model is able to track moving non-rigid objects in video sequences obtained from moving camera. Contrary to other approaches, here the snake deformation is performed without any preprocessing and the tracking method does not rely on any motion estimation step. The tracking method is based on two simple ...

Accurate analysis of insect brain structures in digital confocal microscopic images is valuable and important to biology research needs. The first step is to segment meaningful structures from images. Active contour model, known as snakes, is widely used for segmentation of medical images. A new class of active contour model called gradient vector flow snake has been introduced in 1998 to overc...