**10. References**


has been known since the beginning of the twentieth century—originally cited in the works of Palmer and Still, and later referred to by Pikalov. (Pikalov & Kharin, 1994). In the past, it was found that somatic changes in the body caused by irritation are accompanied by an autonomic nervous system reaction that affects gastrointestinal system organs (Sato & Tera, 1976). The Beal study demonstrated a close relationship between changes in soft tissues and

Musculoskeletal (manual) medicine techniques can reduce pain and normalize the dysphagia. Using scintigraphy, this can be objectively measured. A significant relationship between dynamic scintigraphy and nonobstructive dysphagia/swallowing and spinal axis problems has been observed. Dynamic scintigraphy allowed for an objective treatment

The effect of functional disorder treatment significantly influences psychological and emotional status of the patients. It is necessary to positively motivate the patient and then provide relaxation for both the body and the mind. From clinical practice and sports medicine we know that the use of methods of rehabilitation medicine can affect pain perception threshold, release tension and provide a feeling of well being by achieving stimulation of attention. Changes after therapy affect the function of the locomotor system, reflex actions, and internal organs. The effect of manipulative (manual) therapy in reducing anxiety and improving ability to solve numerical tasks were documented in the EEG records

In functional swallowing disorders related to spinal dysfunctions, pharmacologic treatment often fails. Many patients become disappointed with the treatment failure and seeming inability of physicians to identify the cause of their discomfort. On the other hand, rehabilitation therapy focused on the musculoskeletal system can sometimes suprisingly and quickly treat patient ailments. The vertebrogenic mechanism of functional dysphagia is therefore not only of academic significance but of clinical importance as well. Swallowing disorders can be due not only to structural changes, but frequently to dysfunction of the

Beal, M. & Dvorak, J. (1984). Palpatory examination of the spine: a comparison of the results

Beal, M. (1983). Palpatory testing for somatic dysfunction in patients with cardiovascular

Becker, D. & Arold, A. (1990). Übungsschema zur Behandlung von Globusbeschwerden. *Sprache-Stimme-Gehör*, Vol.14, No.1, (1990), pp. 38-40, ISSN1439-1260 Bharucha, A. E. & Camilleri, M. (2003). Gastrointestinal dysmotility and sphincter

of two methods and their relationship to visceral disease. *Manual Medicine*, Vol. 1,

disease. *Journal of the American Osteopathic Association*, Vol. 82, No. 11, (July 1983),

dysfunction, In: *Neurological Therapeutics : Principles and practice, 2 Volume Set (Addendum included),* Noseworthy, J. H. , pp. 3060-3064, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 1–

corresponding changes in the segmental innervation area (Beal, 1983, 1984).

assessment (Vanaskova et al., 2001).

by Field and colleagues (Field et al, 1996).

spinal column and its musculature.

(1984), pp. 25-32, ISSN 0254-9522

pp. 822-831, ISSN 0098-6151

85317-623-0, London

**9. Conclusions** 

**10. References** 


**9** 

*Greece* 

*Aristotle University of Thessaloniki* 

**Enhanced Ulcer Recognition from Capsule** 

**Endoscopic Images Using Texture Analysis** 

The five senses constitute some of the most substantial elements of the human nature. Beyond their importance in daily life and perception of the world, they play crucial role in knowledge acquisition as well. For instance, medicine was one of the first domains where the conceptual tools of rationality and empiricism were combined with techniques of investigation to make the human body an object of knowledge (Foucault, 1973). In this context, the techniques mentioned above are based on the application of senses in order to acquire medical knowledge. More precisely, vision and hearing became specific objects of knowledge over the course of the 19th century, supplemented through technique and technology. Thus, seeing and hearing are to be understood as fundamentally and absolutely different modes of not only knowing the world, but also reaching a medical diagnosis.

A branch of medicine closely associated with one of these techniques, namely visual inspection, is gastroenterology. In the field of gastroenterology, vision is widely understood as the fundamental mode of knowing the state of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The advent of medical imaging technologies, such as radiography (in the wider sense), tomography and especially endoscopy, promoted this thesis (Lorenz *et al.*, 1993; Rutgeerts *et al.*, 1980) by enabling the visual examination without demanding to gain physical access. In case of visual inspection, as in case of auscultation, there are specific properties observed in order to assess the image content, no matter how simple or sophisticated the imaging technology is. During a stethoscope examination, for instance, the clinician attempts to identify frequency, pitch and duration deviations from the normal lung sounds. Similarly, during the observation of a medical image, there are image properties, corresponding to the acoustic ones of the pulmonary system, which may reveal the existence of illness. In the case of endoscopic GI tract images, these features essentially include texture, color and shape. The procedure that a clinician subconsciously follows in order to examine the images and reach a diagnosis is to seek for distortions. Distortions mainly in texture and color of the examined tissue, as compared to the features considered empirically or conceptually healthy. While color and shape are quite tangible approaches, the concept of texture is more abstract and subjectively defined and interpreted; however, embodies valuable information that can be used to identify or describe an image (Haralick *et al.*, 1973). The vagueness of this concept is evidenced by the fact that there is no universally agreed-upon definition of what image texture is and, in general, different researchers use different definitions depending upon the

**1. Introduction** 

Vasileios Charisis, Leontios Hadjileontiadis and George Sergiadis

