NONLINEAR DIAGNOSIS
V.I. NESTEROV
Nonlinear Diagnosis System (NLS) have been extensively
used lately and are gaining ever growing popularity. Even in the few
cases where the clinical symptoms look very typical the NLS diagnosis
method provides extra information about the extension of affection
and enables to judge a prognosis. In most cases it is of vital importance
for diagnosis and consequently for the right choice of treatment.
In 2000 it had been 20 years since Theodore Van Hoven developed the
theory of quantum entropy logic that underlies the method. So nonlinear
diagnosis appears to be the newest of all methods of apparatus diagnostics.
At any rate, his discovery became a significant landmark in diagnostic
medicine. Nonlinear analysis was originally employed in organic chemistry
to determine the composition of complex compounds. The originator
of the NLS-diagnosis apparatus (metatron) is acceptedly thought to
be Sviatoslav Pavlovich Nesterov who introduced a trigger sencor in
1988 and thus framed the conception of the apparatus. Active work
was immediately started to develop and improve NLS-diagnosis systems.
Clinical testing of the early equipment marked a period from 1990
through 1995. In the late 90s there was a fast growth in commercial
apparatus production and a sudden leap in the quality of the results
produced. The nonlinear diagnosis method is still in its developing
stage. The diagnosis techniques are being improved so fast that the
system versions have to be updated every six months. Due to the introduction
of some new devices equipped with digital trigger sensors the NLS-diagnosis
has become not only far more time-efficient but also quite different
in terms of quality. Apparently, some dynamic techniques, for instance
three-dimensional visualization of investigation results will soon
be introduced into everyday practice. The vegetative testing is just
one example of ready adoption. The method is employed so widely that
it implies a definite range of indications for its use rather than
just its popularization. Research centers go on with their guest for
some new investigation methods based on nonlinear analysis systems.
The results appear to be quite promising. Unlike NMR and computer
tomography, the NLS- analysis does not need high intensity fields.
The method seems to have good prospects for metabolism study, particularly
on a cell level. The advancement of the NLS-method proceeds along
the path not only of technical innovations but also of new applications.
Some minor surgical operations, biopsy for one, have been long monitored
by ultrasound, fluoroscopy or computer tomography. Today there is
an opportunity to have biopsy monitored by NLS. However, many surgeons
focus their attention on using this method to perform major surgery.
The cost of equipment for NLS- diagnosis is still very low as compared
to some other apparatus methods. This is supposed to promote more
extensive use of the method in countries with a rather low standard
of living. Of all methods of apparatus diagnostics the NLS one provides
a representation closed to a pathologicoanatomic picture. This circumstance,
along with innocuousness, promotes rapid development of the NLS- diagnosis.
INSTITUTE OF PRACTICAL PSYCHOPHYSICS (IPP) -
ASCENDING INTO THE XXI CENTURY
D.V. Koshelenko, S.A. Letun
The development of a new generation of nonlinear computer
scanners (metatrons), which make use of multidimensional virtual imaging
of the object under investigation, has enabled to substantially enhance
the effectiveness of the NLS-method and even expand its field of application,
despite the competitiveness from MRT. The distinctive feature of multidimensional
NLS imaging is an initially volumetric nature of scanning. The data
thus received are an integral array, which facilitates the reconstruction
of multidimensional virtual images of anatomical structures of the
object under investigation. In this connection the virtual NLS is
widely used, especially for angiographic investigations with a three-dimensional
reconstruction of vascular formations. Another prospective field of
application of the three-dimensional image reconstruction based on
the data received by means of multidimensional NLS is the study of
hollow organs with Уvirtual NLS-scopyФ involved. This kind of system
was developed by Medintech Company for its high-speed multidimensional
nonlinear scanners, Z series, and was called Hunter. Hugh resolution
maintained during spiral scanning and the use of LAPP system (a system
parallel processors with super high computational capability and speed
of operation) enable to realize in the project the principle of Уvirtual
NLS-scopyФ at Voxel Z multimodal DICOM- compatible work station which
is the principal system of imaging and subsequent data processing
with Medintech scanners. NLS images are made ready for visual analysis
by means of 4-d Tissue original company-developed method that makes
it possible not only to obtain virtual multidimensional icons of anatomical
structures but also to single out a specific biological tissue of
interest-an extra dimension-and in addition make an imaged bones,
soft tissue and vessels at a time. The specific characteristic of
the representation of virtual data by the Hunter system is simultaneous
of surfaces of cavatus and extramural formations located outside the
lumen of the cavity under examination (lymph nodes, vessels). The
images that are received form a natural sequence of virtual NLS pictures.
So some special navigation programs automatically define the path
of motion of the Уvirtual scannerФ by the center of the cavity under
examination. The path of motion can be chosen by the operator by means
of some other adjustments, which enable to specify the NLS picture
in detail by changing of views. A raised representation of the cavity
surface is also possible with some deliberate areas of shade involved.
The produced sequences of NLS pictures can be easily transformed into
a standard VHS video format by means of the epi-Clien program and
thus be used in common video systems, specifically in teleradiology.
The Hunter system is in the first place designed to reveal patients
having obstructive processes in the upper respiratory passages, bulky
esophageal, gastric or colonic formations, atherosclerotic lesions
o large vessels, and disorders affecting paranasal sinuses, bladder,
or spinal canal. The data gathered through Уvirtual NLS-scopyФ enable
to pick out in good time the optimum spot for biopsy and find out
the extent of the required surgical intervention. This technique can
be used both independently and as a useful linking element between
tomographic, endoscopic and NLS investigations. The latest development
of Medintech Company is Pincers stereo tactic manipulator integrated
with a computer scanner, a convenient device for planning interventional
procedures under the control of NLS. Pincers comprises a controlled
stereo tactic manipulator (УarmФ) and a flat gentry-mounted monitor
and also a cable system and software. The system provides the physician
with means of simulation and performing interventional procedures
through interactive linkage between the virtual NLS and the real operational
field.
METHOD OF COMPUTER NONLINEAR ANALYSIS AND ITS
IMPORTANCE FOR DIAGNOSIS
V.D. Artyukh, U.A. Shovkoplyas, A.A. Gavrilov
Computer nonlinear analysis (NLS) as a dynamic noninvasive
informative method is being used more and more widely to examine the
state of health affected by pathologies of different origin. NLS can
be applied both in vivo (to get an NLS-spectrum of one or another
part of an organ or tissue) and in vitro (to get an NLS-spectrum of
extracts from tissues, biological fluids or cells); anyway, quite
frequently both approaches can be combined for more accurate data
interpretation. To perform NLS at a clinic one will need devices producing
an eddy magnetic field of at least 20-30 mT. The proceedings of the
latest International Congresses of medical doctors (in 2000 and 2001)
which dealt with new methods of diagnosis are indicative of a growing
number of NLS- investigations for the purpose of diagnosing Ц in 2000
16 investigations were reported to have been carried out while in
2001 there were reported twice as many of them. S.D. Tutin et al.
informed about the possibility of using NLS to diagnose abscesses
in the encephalon. With an abscess in the encephalon the NLS-spectrum
during the biochemical homeostasis evaluation proved to detect signals
from lactate and amino acids which disappeared in the course of treatment.
The NLS data in vivo correlated well with the results of abscess sample
tests made by means of MRC with a high resolution in vitro. Using
the NLS- method one can trace the dynamics of metabolic change in
the encephalon in treating epilepsy. Some data are available which
indicate that it is possible to register a decline in oxidative phosphorylation
in the muscles of the lower limbs with constricted vessels caused
by arteriosclerosis. In the course of treatment the muscle metabolism
appears to improve. Another trend in the application of the NLS- method
is its use to detect metabolic disturbance of phosphorergic compounds
with muscular atrophy related to a pathology in the musculoskeletal
system. Some inviting prospects for myocardial infarction diagnosis
by means of the NLS- method were described by U.A. Shovkoplyas et
al. who studied exchange in the myocardium. With myocardial infarction
its level was shown to decrease. The NLS-analysis method was used
to study the dynamics of change in the metabolism of lipids in the
liver affected by cirrhosis. The NLS-investigation of the pancreas
affected by malignant degeneration enables to diagnose tumor progression,
judge of the efficiency of radiation- or chemotherapy and also adjust
individual dosage schemes for inoperable patients. Moreover, NLS is
reported to be used to diagnose CNS disorders, cardiovascular diseases,
muscular system disorders, prostate tumors, mammary gland tumors and
in addition to monitor radiation- and medicamentous therapies. The
researchers demonstrated the diagnostic importance of NLS for arteriosclerosis,
apoplexy, encephalomyelitis and vasculitis. NLS enables to estimate
the stage of a pathology and activity of a nidus, determine a relationship
between genetic characteristics, clinical symptoms and metabolic deviations
in the encephalon. NLS helps to differentiate between benign and malignant
tumors in the prostate by means of NLS showed that the method enabled
to identify a budding change in the gland tissue and pick out the
appropriate therapy in good time. K.A. Kvasov et al. presented some
data about diagnosing prostate diseases (histologically confirmed
benign hypertrophy and Aden carcinoma among them) by combining NLS
and dynamic MRT with artificial УMagnevistФ contrasting. According
to the results, this kind of combination enables to specify the nature
of a prostate pathology and substantially increases the diagnostic
accuracy. Special attention has been focused of late on the study
of liver metabolism by means of NLS as a result of a growing number
of transplantations of the organ (in Europe the annual number of liver
transplantations is around 2000 and in the USA it is 10000) and as
necessitated by a noninvasive evaluation of the liver function in
the course of implantation. The results indicate that it is expedient
to use in these cases the NLS-analysis as the ATF level in the liver
represents an integral picture of cell homeostasis. There is a close
correlation between the disturbed metabolisms of phosphorergic compounds
and the extent of liver decompensation. Besides being used for diagnosing
liver disorders in vivo, NLS makes it possible to judge the state
of the transplanted liver in vitro by getting the spectral characteristics
of the organТs metazodes. This is based on a good correlation between
the pathological liver metabolism revealed by means of NLS and the
disease prognosis. The authors emphasize that NLS enables not only
to reveal pathological change in the liver but also to carry out monitoring
of biochemical responses to the treatment. Summing up what has been
said one can conclude that the expanding use of NLS-analysis, including
its combination with MRT with contrast intensification involved, in
different fields of clinical medicine increases the efficiency and
the diagnostic accuracy and is indicative of continual progress in
the field of internal organ imaging techniques based on the NLS-analysis
phenomenon.
