1. A particulate microcapsule composition, comprising:
microcapsules and
an emulsion polymer,
wherein
the particulate microcapsule composition is obtained via spray drying of an aqueous microcapsule dispersion,
the microcapsules comprise a capsule core and a polymer as capsule wall and the polymer comprises
from 30 to 90% by wt. of at least one monomer I of a C1-C24-alkyl ester of acrylic andor methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and maleic acid,
from 10 to 70% by wt. of at least one monomer II of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer comprising two, three, four, or more ethylenically unsaturated moieties, and
from 0 to 40% by wt. of at least one monomers III,
based in each case on a total weight of the monomers, and
a spraying aid is used in the spray drying which is an aqueous dispersion of at least one emulsion polymer which comprises in copolymerized form
from 50 to 99.9% by wt. of an ester of acrylic andor methacrylic acid with an alkanol comprising from 1 to 12 carbon atoms andor styrene, or
from 50 to 99.9% by wt. of styrene andor butadiene, or
from 50 to 99.9% by wt. of vinyl chloride andor vinylidene chloride, or
from 50 to 99.9% by wt. of vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, a vinyl ester of versatic acid, a vinyl ester of a long-chain fatty acid, andor ethylene.
2. The particulate microcapsule composition according to claim 1, wherein a mean particle size D4,3 of the microcapsules is from 1 to 10 \u03bcm.
3. The particulate microcapsule composition according to claim 1, wherein the spraying aid comprises, in copolymerized form, an aqueous dispersion of an emulsion polymer which comprises from 50 to 99.9% by weight of vinyl acetate andor ethylene.
4. The particulate microcapsule composition according to claim 1, wherein the spraying aid comprises an aqueous dispersion of an emulsion polymer and a minimum film-forming temperature of this dispersion is \u226716\xb0 C.
5. The particulate microcapsule composition according to claim 1, wherein the spraying aid comprises an aqueous dispersion of an emulsion polymer and the emulsion polymer has a glass transition temperature of from \u226716\xb0 C. to \u226640\xb0 C.
6. The particulate microcapsule composition according to claim 1, wherein the spraying aid comprises an aqueous dispersion of an emulsion polymer and the emulsion polymer has a melting point of from 105 to 200\xb0 C.
7. The particulate microcapsule composition according to claim 1, which has a mean particle size D4,3 of from 50 to 200 \u03bcm.
8. A process for producing the particulate microcapsule composition according to claim 1, the process comprising:
spray-drying the aqueous microcapsule dispersion with the aqueous dispersion of the emulsion polymer as the spraying aid.
9. The process according to claim 8, wherein a sprayed aqueous dispersion of the emulsion polymer and a drying gas stream are conducted in parallel.
10. A particulate microcapsule composition, comprising:
microcapsules and
an emulsion polymer,
wherein
the microcapsules comprise a capsule core and a polymer as capsule wall and the polymer comprises
from 30 to 90% by wt. of at least one monomer I of a C1-C24-alkyl ester of acrylic andor methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and maleic acid,
from 10 to 70% by wt. of at least one ethylenically unsaturated monomer II comprising two, three, four, or more ethylenically unsaturated moieties, and
from 0 to 40% by wt. of at least one monomers III,
based in each case on a total weight of the monomers,
the emulsion polymer comprises, in copolymerized form,
from 50 to 99.9% by wt. of an ester of acrylic andor methacrylic acid with an alkanol comprising from 1 to 12 carbon atoms andor styrene, or
from 50 to 99.9% by wt. of styrene andor butadiene, or
from 50 to 99.9% by wt. of vinyl chloride andor vinylidene chloride, or
from 50 to 99.9% by wt. of vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, a vinyl ester of versatic acid, a vinyl ester of a long-chain fatty acid, andor ethylene,
and has a glass transition temperature of \u226716\xb0 C.,
the particulate microcapsule composition has a mean particle size D4,3 of from 50 to 200 \u03bcm, and
the microcapsules has a mean particle size D4,3 of from 1 to 10 \u03bcm.
11. A method for producing a thermoplastic molding, the method comprising:
incorporating the particulate microcapsule composition according to claim 1 with thermoplastics in an extruder or an injection molding machine.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the thermoplastic comprises a polyolefin or a polyolefin copolymer.
13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the thermoplastic molding is a sheet, a foil, a tube, a profile, or a plastics component.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for analyzing a computed tomography scan of a whole lung for lung nodules, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) segmenting a first lung region and a second lung region from the computed tomography scan, the first lung region corresponding to lung parenchyma of the lung and the second lung region corresponding to at least one of a pleural surface of the lung and a surface defined by vessels within the lung;
(b) generating an initial list of nodule candidates from the computed tomography scan within the first lung region, the list including at least a center location and an estimated size associated with each nodule candidate;
(c) generating a subimage for each nodule candidate in the initial list;
(d) selectively removing streaking artifacts from the subimage; and
(e) filtering the nodule candidate identified on the initial list to eliminate false positives from the list.
2. A method for analyzing a whole lung computed tomography scan as defined in claim 1, wherein step (b) comprises the substeps of:
(i) thresholding the first lung region;
(ii) labeling high density voxels foreground voxels to identify nodule candidate regions;
(iii) determining for each foreground voxel RMI;
(iv) selecting the local maximum {circumflex over (R)}MI within a nodule candidate region;
(v) determining a limited extent criterion for each foreground voxel which corresponds to a {circumflex over (R)}MI;
(vi) generating the initial list of nodule candidates which satisfy the limited extent criterion, the list including at least Nc and {circumflex over (R)}MI associated with the corresponding foreground voxel.
3. A method for analyzing a whole lung computed tomography scan as defined in claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises the substeps of:
(i) determining an amount of streaking artifact present in the sub-image; and
(ii) filtering the streaking artifact out from the subimage when the amount of the streaking artifact present in the sub-image exceeds Tsar.
4. A method for analyzing a whole lung computed tomography scan as defined in claim 3, wherein the amount of streaking artifact present in the sub-image is calculated by a metric
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5. A method for analyzing a whole lung computed tomography scan as defined in claim 3, wherein the filtering is performed by a vertical median filter of size 1\xd73.
6. A method for analyzing a whole lung computed tomography scan as defined in claim 3, wherein Tsar is from about 20000 to about 80000.
7. A method for analyzing a whole lung computed tomography scan as defined in claim 1, wherein step (e) comprises the substeps of:
(i) determining for each nodule candidate a fraction, Fa, a surface of the nodule candidate that is attached to other solid structures; and
(ii) removing the nodule candidate from the list when the fraction exceeds Ta.
8. A method for analyzing a whole lung computed tomography scan as defined in claim 1, wherein step (e) comprises the substeps of:
(i) generating a cube wall about each nodule candidate;
(ii) determining an intersection volume, Vni, corresponding to portions of the nodule region associated with the nodule candidate that intersect the cube wall;
(ii) removing the nodule candidate from the list when the fraction of the intersection volume, Vni, over the volume of the nodule candidate, Vn, exceeds Tvv.
9. A method for analyzing a whole lung computed tomography scan as defined in claim 7, wherein step (e) comprises the substeps of:
(i) generating a cube wall about each nodule candidate;
(ii) determining an intersection volume, Vni, corresponding to portions of the nodule region associated with the nodule candidate that intersect the cube wall;
(ii) removing the nodule candidate from the list when the fraction of the intersection volume, Vni, over the volume of the nodule candidate, Vn, exceeds Tvv.
10. A lung nodule detecting apparatus for analyzing a computed tomography scan of a whole lung for lung nodules, the lung nodule detecting apparatus comprising:
a detecting unit configured to:
(a) segment a first lung region and a second lung region from the computed tomography scan, the first lung region corresponding to lung parenchyma of the lung and the second lung region corresponding to at least one of a pleural surface of the lung and a surface defined by vessels within the lung;
(b) generate an initial list of nodule candidates from the computed tomography scan within the first lung region, the list including at least a center location and an estimated size associated with each nodule candidate;
(c) generate a subimage for each nodule candidate in the initial list;
(d) selectively remove streaking artifacts from the subimage; and
(e) filter the nodule candidate identified on the initial list to eliminate false positives from the list.
11. A lung nodule detecting apparatus as defined by claim 10, wherein for step
(b) said detecting unit is configured to:
(i) threshold the first lung region;
(ii) label high density voxels foreground voxels to identify nodule candidate regions;
(iii) determine for each foreground voxel RMI;
(iv) select the local maximum {circumflex over (R)}MI within a nodule candidate region;
(v) determine a limited extent criterion for each foreground voxel which corresponds to a {circumflex over (R)}MI;
(vi) generate the initial list of nodule candidates which satisfy the limited extent criterion, the list including at least Nc and {circumflex over (R)}MI associated with the corresponding foreground voxel.
12. A lung nodule detecting apparatus as defined by claim 10, wherein step (d) comprises the substeps of:
(i) determine an amount of streaking artifact present in the sub-image; and
(ii) filter the streaking artifact out from the subimage when the amount of the streaking artifact present in the sub-image exceeds Tsar.
13. A lung nodule detecting apparatus as defined by claim 12, wherein the amount of streaking artifact present in the sub-image is calculated by a metric
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14. A lung nodule detecting apparatus as defined by claim 12, further comprising a vertical median filter of size 1\xd73 to filter the streaking artifact.
15. A lung nodule detecting apparatus as defined by claim 12, wherein Tsar is from about 20000 to about 80000.
16. A lung nodule detecting apparatus as defined by claim 10, wherein step (e) comprises the substeps of:
(i) determining for each nodule candidate a fraction, Fa, a surface of the nodule candidate that is attached to other solid structures; and
(ii) removing the nodule candidate from the list when the fraction exceeds Ta.
17. A lung nodule detecting apparatus as defined by claim 10, wherein step (e) comprises the substeps of:
(i) generating a cube wall about each nodule candidate;
(ii) determining an intersection volume, Vni, corresponding to portions of the nodule region associated with the nodule candidate that intersect the cube wall;
(ii) removing the nodule candidate from the list when the fraction of the intersection volume, Vni, over the volume of the nodule candidate, Vn, exceeds Tvv.
18. A lung nodule detecting apparatus as defined by claim 16, wherein step (e) comprises the substeps of:
(i) generating a cube wall about each nodule candidate;
(ii) determining an intersection volume, Vni, corresponding to portions of the nodule region associated with the nodule candidate that intersect the cube wall;
(ii) removing the nodule candidate from the list when the fraction of the intersection volume, Vni, over the volume of the nodule candidate, Vn, exceeds Tvv.
19. An article of manufacture for detecting lung nodules in a computed tomography scan of a whole lung, the article comprising:
a machine readable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of:
(a) segmenting a first lung region and a second lung region from the computed tomography scan, the first lung region corresponding to lung parenchyma of the lung and the second lung region corresponding to at least one of a pleural surface of the lung and a surface defined by vessels within the lung;
(b) generating an initial list of nodule candidates from the computed tomography scan within the first lung region, the list including at least a center location and an estimated size associated with each nodule candidate;
(c) generating a subimage for each nodule candidate in the initial list;
(d) selectively removing streaking artifacts from the subimage; and
(e) filtering the nodule candidate identified on the initial list to eliminate false positives from the list.
20. An article of manufacture for detecting lung nodules as defined by claim 19, wherein step (b) comprises the substeps of:
(i) thresholding the first lung region;
(ii) labeling high density voxels foreground voxels to identify nodule candidate regions;
(iii) determining for each foreground voxel RMI;
(iv) selecting the local maximum {circumflex over (R)}MI within a nodule candidate region;
(v) determining a limited extent criterion for each foreground voxel which corresponds to a {circumflex over (R)}MI;
(vi) generating the initial list of nodule candidates which satisfy the limited extent criterion, the list including at least Nc and {circumflex over (R)}MI associated with the corresponding foreground voxel.
21. An article of manufacture for detecting lung nodules as defined by claim 19, wherein step (d) comprises the substeps of:
(i) determining an amount of streaking artifact present in the sub-image; and
(ii) filtering the streaking artifact out from the subimage when the amount of the streaking artifact present in the sub-image exceeds Tsar.
22. An article of manufacture for detecting lung nodules as defined by claim 21, wherein the amount of streaking artifact present in the sub-image is calculated by a metric
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23. An article of manufacture for detecting lung nodules as defined by claim 21, wherein the filtering is performed by a vertical median filter of size 1\xd73.
24. An article of manufacture for detecting lung nodules as defined by claim 21, wherein Tsar is from about 20000 to about 80000.
25. An article of manufacture for detecting lung nodules as defined by claim 19, wherein step (e) comprises the substeps of:
(i) determining for each nodule candidate a fraction, Fa, a surface of the nodule candidate that is attached to other solid structures; and
(ii) removing the nodule candidate from the list when the fraction exceeds Ta.
26. An article of manufacture for detecting lung nodules as defined by claim 19, wherein step (e) comprises the substeps of:
(i) generating a cube wall about each nodule candidate;
(ii) determining an intersection volume, Vni, corresponding to portions of the nodule region associated with the nodule candidate that intersect the cube wall;
(ii) removing the nodule candidate from the list when the fraction of the intersection volume, Vni, over the volume of the nodule candidate, Vn, exceeds Tvv.
27. An article of manufacture for detecting lung nodules as defined by claim 25, wherein step (e) comprises the substeps of:
(i) generating a cube wall about each nodule candidate;
(ii) determining an intersection volume, Vni, corresponding to portions of the nodule region associated with the nodule candidate that intersect the cube wall;
(ii) removing the nodule candidate from the list when the fraction of the intersection volume, Vni, over the volume of the nodule candidate, Vn, exceeds Tvv.