1. Negatively charged coated toner particles comprising
a) a plurality of polymeric binder particle and
b) a coating material comprising at least one visual enhancement additive coated on the outside surface of the polymeric binder particles.
2. The negatively charged coated toner particles of claim 1, wherein the coating material comprises at least one charge control agent or charge director.
3. The negatively charged coated toner particles of claim 1, wherein the coating material comprises at least one flow agent.
4. The negatively charged coated toner particles of claim 1, wherein the polymeric binder particles are formed from random polymers.
5. The negatively charged coated toner particles of claim 1, wherein the polymeric binder particles are formed from a polymeric binder comprising at least one amphipathic graft copolymer comprising one or more S material portions and one or more D material portions.
6. The negatively charged coated toner particles of claim 1, wherein the weight ratio of binder particle to coating is 50:1 to 1:1.
7. The negatively charged coated toner particles of claim 1, wherein the weight ratio of binder particle to coating is 20:1 to 5:1.
8. The negatively charged coated toner particles of claim 1, wherein the coating material is magnetic.
9. The negatively charged coated toner particles of claim 1, wherein the polymeric binder particle is magnetic.
10. A dry negative electrographic toner composition comprising a plurality of negatively charged toner particles of claim 1.
11. The dry negative toner composition of claim 10, wherein the composition comprises magnetic material.
12. A liquid negative liquid electrographic toner composition comprising:
a) a liquid carrier having a Kauri-Butanol number less than about 30 mL;
b) a plurality of negatively charged toner particles of claim 1 dispersed in the liquid carrier.
13. The liquid negative toner composition of claim 12, wherein the composition comprises magnetic material.
14. A process for adhering a visual enhancement additive to a polymeric binder particle, comprising the steps of:
a) providing a blend of a coating material and polymeric binder particles, wherein the coating material comprises a visual enhancement additive and wherein the blend comprises magnetic elements; and
b) exposing the blend to a magnetic field that varies in direction with time; whereby the movement of the magnetic elements in the magnetic field provides sufficient force to cause the coating material to adhere to the surface of the polymeric binder particle to form a negatively charged coated toner particle.
15. The process of claim 14, wherein the magnetic field is an oscillating magnetic field.
16. The process of claim 15, wherein the oscillating magnetic field is a bipolar oscillating field.
17. The process of claim 15, wherein the oscillations of the magnetic field are in a steady, uninterrupted rhythm.
18. The process of claim 14, wherein the blend of a coating material and polymeric binder particles of step (b) is fluidized.
19. The process of claim 14, wherein the polymeric binder particles are magnetic elements.
20. The process of claim 14, wherein the coating material comprises magnetic elements.
21. The process of claim 14, wherein the magnetic elements are particles that are separate from the coating material and the polymeric binder particles.
22. The process of claim 14, wherein the coating material is in the form of a dry particle.
23. The process of claim 14, wherein the coating material is in the form of a liquid.
24. The process of claim 14, wherein the coating material comprises at least one charge control agent.
25. The process of claim 14, wherein the coating material comprises at least one flow agent.
26. The process of claim 14, wherein the polymeric binder particles are formed from random polymers.
27. The process of claim 14, wherein the polymeric binder particles are formed from a polymeric binder comprising at least one amphipathic graft copolymer comprising one or more S material portions and one or more D material portions.
28. The product made by the process of claim 14.
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 cerebral atrophy assessment device, comprising:
acquisition means for acquiring a slice image of a head portion, said acquisition means comprising a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device;
volume calculation means for calculating a numerical value representing a volume of a tissue or a region in said head portion based on intensities of pixels constituting the slice image acquired by said acquisition means;
assessment means for assessing cerebral atrophy in said head portion from one or more numerical values calculated by said volume calculation means on a basis of preset assessment criteria;
and output means for outputting information indicating an assessment result according to said assessment means;
wherein said volume calculation means calculates a numerical value representing a brain volume comprising at least one of a volume of grey matter and a volume of white matter of said head portion, and based on the intensities of pixels constituting said slice image acquired by said acquisition means, calculates a shape of at least one of the grey matter and the white matter of said head portion, and calculates a convex hull of said shape to calculate a numerical value representing a volume of said convex hull, and said assessment means calculates a value of a first ratio between the numerical value representing the volume of said convex hull and the numerical value representing said brain volume and assesses said cerebral atrophy from the value of said first ratio.
2. The cerebral atrophy assessment device according to claim 1, wherein said acquisition means acquires a plurality of said slice images, and said volume calculation means calculates each numerical value based on said plurality of said slice images.
3. The cerebral atrophy assessment device according to claim 1, wherein said volume calculation means calculates a numerical value representing an intracranial volume of said head portion and said assessment means calculates a value of a second ratio between the numerical value representing the intracranial volume of said head portion and the numerical value representing said brain volume calculated by said volume calculation means and assesses said cerebral atrophy from the value of said second ratio.
4. The cerebral atrophy assessment device according to claim 3, wherein said volume calculation means separates an outer portion of a brain and a cerebral ventricle portion within said intracranial volume and calculates a numerical value representing a volume of cerebrospinal fluid of a region occupied by the cerebrospinal fluid, and said assessment means assesses said cerebral atrophy based also on the numerical value representing said volume of cerebrospinal fluid calculated by said volume calculation means.
5. The cerebral atrophy assessment device according to claim 1, wherein said volume calculation means, based on the intensities of pixels constituting said slice image, distinguishes, by way of an Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm, the tissue or the region of said head portion indicated by said pixels, and calculates the numerical value representing said volume of the tissue or the region in said head portion.
6. The cerebral atrophy assessment device according to claim 5, wherein said volume calculation means calculates, by way of said EM algorithm, a probability that said pixels indicate the tissue or the region of said head portion, and calculates the value representing said volume of the tissue or the region in said head portion based on the calculated probability.
7. The cerebral atrophy assessment device according to claim 1, wherein said slice image is a slice image obtained by MRI.
8. The cerebral atrophy assessment device according to claim 1, wherein said slice image is an image of a cross-section in a plane that is parallel to a plane passing through centers of external acoustic meatuses and centers of the eyes in said head portion.
9. A cerebral atrophy assessment method, performed by an information processing device, the method comprising the steps of:
acquiring a slice image of a head portion using an acquisition means for acquiring said slice image of said head portion, said acquisition means comprising a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device;
calculating a numerical value representing a volume of a tissue or a region in said head portion using a volume calculation means for calculating said numerical value representing said volume of said tissue or said region in said head portion based on intensities of pixels constituting said slice image acquired in said acquiring step;
calculating a numerical value representing a brain volume comprising at least one of a volume of grey matter and a volume of white matter of said head portion using said volume calculation means;
calculating a shape using of at least one of the grey matter and the white matter of said head portion based on the intensities of pixels constituting said slice image acquired in said acquiring step using said volume calculation means;
calculating a convex hull of said shape and calculating a numerical value representing a volume of said convex hull using said volume calculation means:
calculating a value of a ratio between the numerical value representing the volume of said convex hull and the numerical value representing said brain volume using an assessment means for assessing cerebral atrophy in said head portion from one or more numerical values calculated by said volume calculation means on a basis of preset assessment criteria;
assessing cerebral atrophy in said head portion from the value of said ratio using said assessment means; and
outputting information indicating an assessment result of said assessing step using an output means for indicating the assessment result according to said assessment means.
10. A non-transitory computer readable medium on which stores a cerebral atrophy assessment program causing an information processing device to execute:
an acquisition function for acquiring a slice image of a head portion using an acquisition means for acquiring said slice image of said head portion, said acquisition means comprising a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device;
a first volume calculation function for calculating a numerical value representing a volume of a tissue or a region in said head portion using a volume calculation means for calculating said numerical value representing said volume of said tissue or said region in said head portion based on intensities of pixels constituting said slice image acquired by said acquisition function;
a second volume calculation function for calculating a numerical value representing a brain volume comprising at least one of a volume of grey matter and a volume of white matter of said head portion using said volume calculation means;
a shape calculation function for calculating a shape of at least one of the grey matter and the white matter of said head portion based on the intensities of pixels constituting said slice image acquired by said acquisition function using said volume calculation means;
a calculation function for calculating a convex hull of said shape and calculating a numerical value representing a volume of said convex hull using said volume calculation means;
a ratio calculation function for calculating a value of a ratio between the numerical value representing the volume of said convex hull and the numerical value representing said brain volume using an assessment means for assessing cerebral atrophy in said head portion from one or more numerical values calculated by said volume calculation means on a basis of preset assessment criteria;
an assessment function for assessing cerebral atrophy in said head portion from the value of said ratio using said assessment means;
and an output function for outputting information indicating an assessment result according to said assessment function using an output means for indicating an assessment result according to said assessment means.