High-accuracy photogrammetric technique for human spine measurement

Close range photogrammetry has been recognised as an essential tool for the capture of high-accuracy spatial data for medical applications, in particular work involving dynamic human body parts such as limbs. Offline and online photogrammetric systems are readily available for a number of common applications. However, off-the-shelf systems are not always appropriate because of project site conditions. To achieve high measurement accuracy in a field environment, a modified field camera calibration technique was introduced. The technique is particularly important where each camera is limited to one captured image during calibration, as the camera and the calibration testfield are in fixed positions. In this paper a custom-built imaging system designed for the study of the human spine in an outdoor environment is introduced. The discussion addresses: (1) imaging system design; (2) modified field calibration techniques; and (3) a case study on human spines. Two field camera calibration techniques were evaluated, both of which improved the accuracy of the prototype system, the use of a detachable target board offering the best results. This modified camera calibration procedure has improved the 3D measurement accuracy from 1·25 ± 0·3 mm to 0·43 ± 0·1 mm. The improvement is at a level achievable in the laboratory. The technique is considered to provide accurate and reliable anthropometric landmark measurement at low cost. This was evaluated in a clinical setting where diurnal changes in spine length and contour were measured in a cohort of 30 university students. The capability of the technique to measure sagittal and frontal angular changes provides a novel way of examining changes in spine shape.     

An instrument system for the investigation of particle fluxes

We present the rationale, design, and use of an instrument system to measure the variability of vertical and horizontal particle fluxes. The system features a new sequentially sampling sediment trap which collects and seals 10 separate samples during a single deployment. Horizontal particle fluxes are simultaneously monitored with a beam transmissometer interfaced to a standard Aanderaa current meter. Results from a 10-week deployment of instruments at several depths in a deep fjord estuary indicate that the trapping rate increases from 0.5g m⁻² day⁻¹ at 20 m to 150g m⁻² day⁻¹ at 200 m (5 m above bottom) because of frequent erosion in the deep waters. Periodic flushing of the deep water by intrusions of marine water over the seaward sill markedly enhances erosion and causes an up-estuary particle transport comparable to the vertical particle flux originating at the surface.     

Long-Term Ground Water Quality Impacts from the Use of Hexazinone for the Commercial Production of Lowbush Blueberries

Lowbush blueberries, native to eastern Canada and Maine, are an important economic crop in these areas. Herbicides containing the active ingredient hexazinone are commonly applied to blueberry fields, and there is a high frequency of detection of relatively low concentrations of hexazinone in domestic wells located close to areas of lowbush blueberry production. The objective of this study was to determine the long-term impacts from hexazinone-based herbicide use on ground water quality in the immediate growing areas.
Physical and chemical hydrogeologic data were collected for an outwash sand and gravel aquifer in southwestern New Brunswick, Canada. The majority of the land overlying the aquifer is devoted to lowbush blueberry production. Twenty-one nested monitoring wells were sampled for hexazinone and hexazinone metabolites over a four-year period. Hexazinone was consistently detected at values of 1 to 8 parts per billion (ppb) in all but two of these wells, one that is upgradient of herbicide applications, and one that is downgradient with anoxic conditions. Hexazinone metabolites B and A1 were also detected in all but two of the 21 wells at values ranging from 0.5 to 2.5 ppb. The hexazinone and metabolite data suggest both aerobic and anaerobic degradation of hexazinone. Complete degradation of hexazinone appears to occur only in the one downgradient well exhibiting anoxic ground water conditions. Concentrations of hexazinone and its metabolites in the ground water were essentially constant over the four-year period.