Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2015 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 5 Articles
Introduction: We evaluate an innovative device consisting of an enteral feeding tube equipped with a\nphotoplethysmography (PPG) sensor in contact with the duodenal mucosa. This study aims to determine if the\nPPG signal, composed of a continuous (PDC) and a pulsatile part (PAC), is a reliable method to assess gut\nperfusion in a porcine model of septic shock.\nMethod: Fourteen piglets were anesthetized and mechanically ventilated. They were randomly assigned to two\ngroups: the nonseptic (NS) group received an infusion of Ringer�s lactate solution (RL) alone, the septic (S) group\nreceived in addition a suspension of live Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Heart rate (HR), pulse oximetry (SpO2), mean\narterial pressure (MAP), cardiac index (CI) and serum lactates were recorded and gut microcirculation (GM) was\nmonitored with a laser Doppler probe applied on the duodenal serosa. PDC and PAC were given by the PPG\nprobe inserted in the duodenum. Data was collected every 15 minutes (t0, t15�) during 150 minutes (t150).\nAfter administration of the bacteria suspension (t0), resuscitation maneuvers were performed following a defined\nalgorithm. GM PAC, and PDC were expressed as variation from baseline (GMvar, PACvar, PDCvar). Analysis of variance\n(ANOVA) with repeated measures was performed to compare hemodynamic variables, with Bonferroni correction\nas post hoc analysis on t0, t60 and t150.\nResults: One piglet was withdrawn from analysis due to a defective probe. S group (six piglets) received\nresuscitation therapy while NS group (seven piglets) did not. A significant group effect was found for the all\nparameters except HR. Post hoc analysis found a significant decrease for GM and PAC at t60. The correlation between\nPAC, PDC and microcirculatory parameters were as follows: rPACvar-GMvar = 0.496, P <0.001, rPDCvar-GMvar = 0.244; P = 0.002.\nIn the septic group, correlations were as follows: rPAC-lactate = ?0.772, P <0.001; rPDC-lactate = ?0.681, P <0.01). At the\nonset of shock, a decrease of PAC, PDC and GM occurred before the alteration of MAP.\nConclusions: PAC and PDC decreased at the onset of shock and were correlated with GM and lactate. These results\nconfirm that PPG signal reliably reflects the early perfusion alteration of the gut. Further studies should assess the\nclinical use of this device....
Purpose: Urinary pH is an important factor linked to renal stone disease and a useful marker in the treatment of\nurolithiasis. Although the gold standard for measuring urinary pH utilizes a glass electrode and a pH meter, at\npresent dipstick testing is largely used to estimate urinary pH. However, the accuracy and precision of this method\nmay be insufficient for making clinical decisions in patients with lithiasis. The aim of this study is to describe a new\ndevice for urinary pH testing.\nMethods: The device includes a pH sensor based on differential measurement of an ISFET-REFET pair. The drawbacks\nassociated with this type of configuration, namely short lifetime and manual fabrication, have been overcome in\nthe prototype. An automatic one point calibration is performed when turning on the system. Two buffer solutions\nwere utilized to determine the intra- and inter-day precision of the device. The pH of 30 fresh human urine\nsamples was measured using a pH-meter, a dipstick and the new electronic device.\nResults: In some cases, dipstick measurements differed from those of the pH meter by more than 0.40 units, a\nclinically relevant discrepancy, whereas none of the measurements made with the new electronic device differed\nfrom the results of the pH-meter by more than 0.1 pH units.\nConclusions: This new electronic device has the possibility to be used by stone-formers to control their urinary\npH at home, increasing the tools available for stone prevention and prophylaxis...
Background: Percutaneous vertebroplasy (PVP) might lead to significant radiation exposure to patients, operators,\nand operating room personnel. Therefore, radiation exposure is a concern. The aim of this study was to present a\nremote control cement delivery device and study whether it can reduce dose exposure to operators.\nMethods: After meticulous preoperative preparation, a series of 40 osteoporosis patients were treated with unilateral\napproach PVP using the new cement delivery device. We compared levels of fluoroscopic exposure to operator\nstanding on different places during operation. group A: operator stood about 4 meters away from X-ray tube behind\nthe lead sheet. group B: operator stood adjacent to patient as using conventional manual cement delivery device.\nResults: During whole operation process, radiation dose to the operator (group A) was 0.10 Ã?± 0.03 (0.07-0.15) Ã?µSv,\ngroup B was 12.09 Ã?± 4.67 (10ââ?¬â??20) Ã?µSv. a difference that was found to be statistically significant (P less than 0.001) between\ngroup A and group B.\nConclusion: New cement delivery device plus meticulous preoperative preparation can significantly decrease radiation\ndose to operators....
Background: This is a first-in-human study to determine the efficacy and tolerability of a new method of treating\nglaucoma using a low-power, low-frequency, focused therapeutic ultrasound for glaucoma (TUG) device designed\nto trigger an inflammatory reaction in the anterior chamber angle and trabecular meshwork to enhance outflow.\nThe use of the device is anticipated for mild or moderate open-angle glaucoma as an enhancement to outflow.\nMethods: In a two-branch clinical trial, a total of 26 primary open-angle glaucoma patients underwent a procedure\nconsisting of the external application of the TUG device. In branch 1, nine of these patients were na�¯ve to\npharmaceutical treatment or had been off of medication for over 6 months. In branch 2, 17 patients were\ntreated after a medication washout period. All patients in the study were followed for 12 months.\nResults: In branch 1, there was a decrease in intraocular pressure averaging over 20% lasting at least a year in\n74% of the eyes with non-normotensive open-angle glaucoma. In branch 2, an average of two visits while on\nmedication provided the comparison intraocular pressure (IOP) to the effect of the TUG treatment after washout.\nIt was seen that the intraocular pressure over the year post-treatment was equal to or better than the pharmaceutical\ncontrol in close to 80% of measurements.\nConclusion: A novel device for lowering intraocular pressure is described with a potential for adding to our\narmamentarium for treating glaucoma. This is a small cohort study which indicates beneficial trends...
Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the treatment effects of Forsusââ??¢ Fatigue Resistant Device\n(FRD; 3M Unitek, Monrovia, CA, USA) in growing patients with Class II non-extraction malocclusions.\nMethods: A retrospective sample of 24 class II patients treated consecutively with the FRD followed by comprehensive\northodontic treatment was compared to a sample of untreated control subjects from the Bolton Brush Study who was\nmatched in age, sex, and craniofacial morphology. Lateral cephalometric radiographs were taken before treatment (T1)\nand after removal of fixed appliances (T2). Growth changes were subtracted from the treatment changes to obtain the\ntreatment effects of the appliance. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and a match paired t test.\nResults: Significant differences were found between the treated and control groups for 12 of the 29 measured variables\n(Co-Gn minus Co-Apt, Wits, Is-OLp, Ii-OLp, overjet, Mi-OLp, molar relationship, overbite, Mic-ML, SNA, ANB, and Ii-ML).\nWith 27.8 months of treatment, all patients were corrected to a class I dental arch relationship. Overjet and molar\nrelationships were improved by an average of 4.7 and 3.1 mm, respectively. This was contributed by a 1.2 mm of\nrestraint in forward maxillary growth, 0.7 mm of forward movement of the mandible, 1.5 mm of backward movement\nof the maxillary incisors, 1.3 mm forward movement of the mandibular incisors, 0.5 mm backward movement of the\nmaxillary molars, and 1.3 mm of forward movement of the mandibular molars. The overbite was decreased by 2 mm\nwith no significant change in the occlusal, palatal, or mandibular plane. Individual variations in response to the FRD\ntreatment were large for most of the parameters tested. Significant differences in treatment changes between male\nand female subjects were found only in a few parameters measured.\nConclusions: These results demonstrate that significant overjet and overbite corrections can be obtained with the\nForsus FRD in conjunction with comprehensive orthodontic treatment....
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