Purdue Science Tips

June 1993 New Technology Puts Mammograms in Expert Hands Researchers have developed an image-compression model that may make it easier for physicians to seek expert advice when diagnosing a patient's cancer risks. Upcoming technology, called digital mammography, will make it possible to enter mammograms into computers as digital images. Purdue mathematician Bradley Lucier and collaborators at the University of South Carolina say that algorithms based on the Purdue model will allow faster transmission of these images over regular phone lines -4O minutes instead of 35 hours per screening -- allowing doctors in remote areas to transmit data to certified centers to be read. The Purdue model analyzes image compression methods based on wavelet transform coding, a procedure that decomposes an image into discrete features. Most of these features prove to be so small as to be nearly invisible and inconsequential for medical diagnosis. Only the important features are transmitted to the diagnostic center, which composes a reconstructed image from the features that are sent. CONTACT: Lucier, 765-494-1979. Gutter-Balls Begone! Engineer Takes Strike at Bowling Balls Combining the art of bowling with the science of engineering may yield a bowling ball with a "striking" improvement in performance. With the goal of creating a ball that will roll more strikes, Gordon Pennock, associate professor of mechanical engineering, uses mathematical models and computer simulations to show how the geometry and composition of the two-piece bowling ball's interior can affect the ball's path. His aim is to design a ball that will roll truer; "hook" more dramatically as it approaches the pins to create a larger angle-of-entry into the "pocket"; and have a high impact on the pins, causing them to fly sideways across the lane. Pennock's bowling ball project began almost two years ago when he was funded by a Kentucky manufacturer who was aware of his research into the kinematics and dynamics of rigid body systems. The theory used in this research applies not only to rolling bowling balls, but also to the motion of gyroscopes, rotary machinery, robotics and other multiple-degree-of-freedom systems. CONTACT: Pennock, 765-494-5728. Farm Wetlands Turn Environmental Negative Into a Positive Water running off livestock farms can overload nearby lakes and streams with too many nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorous. Aquatic plants thrive on the extra nutrients and can grow until they choke out the other types of aquatic life, including fish. Purdue researchers are looking at ways to fight this water-quality problem by building wetlands on farms to trap the runoff in constructed wetland cells, where the water is used by the plants and bacteria living in the cells. "Our goal is to have the water be as clean as lake water when it leaves the cells," says Paul DuBowy, assistant professor of wildlife ecology. The wetlands also have the potential to become wildlife habitats. Story, photos, video available. CONTACT: DuBowy, 317-494-3125; or, Stephen Lovejoy, professor of agricultural economics and director of Purdue's Center for Alternative Agriculture, 765-494-3226. Contact Purdue News Service (765) 494-2096 or purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page