G. Andria

Image quality evaluation of breast tomosynthesis

Digital breast tomosynthesis provides significant opportunities in both diagnostic and cancer screening. It gives high quality image and overcomes some inherent limitations of the traditional 2D digital mammography due to tissues overlapping which makes difficult to detect cancers. Unfortunately, the quality of tomographic images is directly related to the radiation dose on the patient and it is significantly affected by the parameters set by the technician during the mammographic exam. Normally, breast tomosynthesis provides a little increase in radiation dose with respect 2D mammography. The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between the radiation dose on the patient and the resulting image quality, by comparing the tomosynthesis performance with the 2D digital mammography.

Design and implementation of automotive data acquisition platform

The main purpose of this work is to develop a data acquisition platform prototype for automotive telemetry applications such as driving style analysis, fleet management and fault detection. Measurements are gathered from On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) sensors, Global Positioning System (GPS) and an Inertial Measurement Unit. (IMU) logged on the onboard device for remote backup. The data obtained could be used to driver behavior studies, to define insurance premium, to engage user in saving fuel and money and to correlate faults on car with the driving style.

Diagnostic radiography: An experimental study for estimation of optimal patient dose

The main purpose of this work was to analyze the digital radiographic methodologies used in diagnostic investigation, in order to reduce radiation dose to patients by assuring a good quality of the images. To this end, the main parameters influencing the absorbed dose during radiographic exams were investigated and a new methodology for a suitable optimized protocol was proposed.

Wideband measurement method for prognosis of soldering failure on electronic boards

Reliability specifications for solder joints, as well as for all electronic components, become a fundamental element in the qualification of an electronic product. This importance increases if new lead-free alloys are considered and then under test. An accelerated thermal test is proposed for an early reliability evaluation and the definition of failure parameters is addressed. The traditional technique employed for failure monitoring of solder joints is the DC resistance measurement. This paper reviews and assesses the DC resistance monitoring during reliability tests of lead-free solder materials used for electronic boards production. Moreover through a failure prognosis measurement technique, considering wideband measurements, the possibility to identify the failure occurrence earlier than the DC resistance method is evaluated. An experimental study on a pass band filter soldered by a new lead free alloy is performed to evaluate reliability performance.