Multicenter validation of synthetic FLAIR as a substitute for FLAIR sequence in acute ischemic stroke.

Purpose: To evaluate performance of synthetic and real FLAIR for identifying early stroke in a multicenter cohort.

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted using DWI and FLAIR extracted from the Endovascular Treatment in Ischemic Stroke image registry (2017-2021). The database was partitioned into subsets according to MRI field strength and manufacturer, and randomly divided into training set (70%) used for model fine-tuning, validation set (15%), and test set (15%).

Non-Destructive Testing of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Plastics (CFRPs) Using a Resonant Eddy Current Sensor.

Eddy current testing (ECT) is commonly used for the detection of defects inside metallic materials. In order to achieve the effective testing of CFRP materials, increasing the operating frequency or improving the coil structure is a common method used by researchers. Higher or wider operating frequencies make the design of the ADC's conditioning circuit complex and difficult to miniaturize.

Assessment of a one-week ketogenic diet on brain glycolytic metabolism and on the status epilepticus stage of a lithium-pilocarpine rat model.

The ketogenic diet (KD) has been shown to be effective in refractory epilepsy after long-term administration. However, its interference with short-term brain metabolism and its involvement in the early process leading to epilepsy remain poorly understood. This study aimed to assess the effect of a short-term ketogenic diet on cerebral glucose metabolic changes, before and after status epilepticus (SE) in rats, by using [F]-FDG PET.

Phantom evaluation of electrical conductivity mapping by MRI: Comparison to vector network analyzer measurements and spatial resolution assessment.

Purpose: To evaluate the performance of various MR electrical properties tomography (MR-EPT) methods at 3 T in terms of absolute quantification and spatial resolution limit for electrical conductivity.

Methods: Absolute quantification as well as spatial resolution performance were evaluated on homogeneous phantoms and a phantom with holes of different sizes, respectively. Ground-truth conductivities were measured with an open-ended coaxial probe connected to a vector network analyzer (VNA).

An Adaptative Savitzky-Golay Kernel for Laplacian Estimation in Magnetic Resonance Electrical Property Tomography.

Magnetic Resonance electrical property tomography (MR-EPT) is a non-invasive imaging modality that reconstructs the living biological tissue's conductivity σ and ε permittivity using spatial derivatives of the measured RF field, also termed B1 data, in a magnetic resonance imaging system. The spatial derivative operator, particularly the Laplacian, amplifies the noise in the reconstructed electrical property (EP) maps, hence decreasing accuracy and increasing boundary artifacts. We propose a novel adaptative convolution kernel for generating numerical derivatives based on 3D Savitzky-Golay (SG) filters and local segmentation in a magnitude image.

Integrated nucleic acid purification technology based on amino-modified centrifugal microfluidic chip.

Nucleic acid detection is an important tool for clinical diagnosis. The purification of the sample is the most time-consuming step in the nucleic acid testing process and will affect the results of the assay. Here, we developed a surface modification-based nucleic acid purification method and designed an accompanying set of centrifugation equipment and chips to integrate the steps of nucleic acid purification on a single platform.

Unfavorable clinical outcomes in patients with good collateral scores following endovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke of the anterior circulation: The UNCLOSE study.

Background: Patients with acute ischemic stroke secondary to large vessel occlusions and good collaterals are frequently associated with favorable outcomes after mechanical thrombectomy, although poor outcomes are observed also in this subgroup. We aimed to investigate the factors associated with unfavorable outcomes (modified Rankin Scale3-6) in this specific subgroup of patients.

Methods: In total, 219 patients (117 females) with anterior circulation stroke and good collaterals (American Society for Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology/Society of Interventional Radiology grades 3-4), treated by mechanical thrombectomy between 2016 and 2021 at our institution were included in this study.

Modular design of centrifugal microfluidic system and its application in nucleic acid screening.

Modular integration of functional components on the chip and increasement in control accuracy through real-time alteration in the force direction of droplets is an effective way to optimize centrifugal microfluidic systems and realize passive components, compact modules, and high-throughput control. Conventional centrifugal microfluidic chips are mainly driven and controlled by centrifugal force and Euler force. The control valves are easily affected by machining precision, making the control unstable.

Variable-position centrifugal platform achieves droplet manipulation and logic circuitries on-chip.

Taking information as material to realize non-electronic physical computing is a promising idea, which facilitates the integration of technologies in different fields such as chemistry, biology, and mechanical control into a new computing platform. Here, we propose a novel, efficient and robust manipulation platform that drives droplet computing by way of inertial force. Combining this with droplet flow path design, we demonstrated multiple basic functions of droplet manipulation, including storage, dosing, interrupts, controllable release and addressing.

Angiographic collateral venous phase: a novel landmark for leptomeningeal collaterals evaluation in acute ischemic stroke.

Background: Although recanalization rates constantly increase (>80%), a favorable clinical outcome is achieved in only 45-55% of patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for anterior circulation stroke. Collateral circulation seems to play a major role in determining this discrepancy. The aim of the study was to investigate a novel angiographic landmark assessing the collateral venous phase (CVP) compared with the American Society of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology/Society of Interventional Radiology (ASITN/SIR) score, based on the arterial collateral assessment.

Administration of recombinant human thrombopoietin is associated with alleviated thrombocytopenia in adult intensive care unit patients with pneumonia: A single-center retrospective study.

Recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) is reported to stimulate platelet production and increase peripheral platelet counts; it is primarily used to manage chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. However, the effect of rhTPO in patients with pneumonia and thrombocytopenia remains uncertain. To assess the association of rhTPO and platelet counts in ICU patients with pneumonia and thrombocytopenia.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Angiography of Physiological and Pathological Pregnancy Placentas Ex Vivo: Protocol for a Prospective Pilot Study.

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are 2 major pregnancy complications due to abnormal placental vasculogenesis. Data on whole fetoplacental vasculature are still missing; hence, these pathologies are not well understood. Ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) angiography has been developed to characterize the human placental vasculature by injecting a contrast agent within the umbilical cord.

Porous organic polymers for drug delivery: hierarchical pore structures, variable morphologies, and biological properties.

Porous organic polymers have received considerable attention in recent years because of their applicability as biomaterials. In particular, their hierarchical pore structures, variable morphologies, and tunable biological properties make them suitable as drug-delivery systems. In this review, the synthetic and post forming/control methods including templated methods, template-free methods, mechanical methods, electrospun methods, and 3D printing methods for controlling the hierarchical structures and morphologies of porous organic polymers are discussed, and the different methods affecting their specific surface areas, hierarchical structures, and unique morphologies are highlighted in detail.

Grading of soft tissues sarcomas using radiomics models: Choice of imaging methods and comparison with conventional visual analysis.

Purpose: To determine which combination of imaging modalities/contrast, radiomics models, and how many features provides the best diagnostic performance for the differentiation between low- and high-grade soft tissue sarcomas (STS) using a radiomics approach.

Methods: MRI and CT from 39 patients with a histologically confirmed STS were prospectively analyzed. Images were evaluated both quantitatively by radiomics models and qualitatively by visual evaluation (used as reference) for grading (low-grade vs high-grade).

In Vivo Super-Resolution Cardiac Diffusion Tensor MRI: A Feasibility Study.

A super-resolution (SR) technique is proposed for imaging myocardial fiber architecture with cardiac magnetic resonance. Images were acquired with a motion-compensated cardiac diffusion tensor imaging (cDTI) sequence. The heart left ventricle was covered with three stacks of thick slices, in short axis, horizontal and vertical long axes orientations, respectively.

Impact of Pretreatment Ischemic Location on Functional Outcome after Thrombectomy.

Pretreatment ischemic location may be an important determinant for functional outcome prediction in acute ischemic stroke. In total, 143 anterior circulation ischemic stroke patients in the THRACE study were included. Ischemic lesions were semi-automatically segmented on pretreatment diffusion-weighted imaging and registered on brain atlases.

Automated Final Lesion Segmentation in Posterior Circulation Acute Ischemic Stroke Using Deep Learning.

Final lesion volume (FLV) is a surrogate outcome measure in anterior circulation stroke (ACS). In posterior circulation stroke (PCS), this relation is plausibly understudied due to a lack of methods that automatically quantify FLV. The applicability of deep learning approaches to PCS is limited due to its lower incidence compared to ACS.

Stretch-driven microfluidic chip for nucleic acid detection.

Molecular diagnosis is an essential means to detect pathogens. The portable nucleic acid detection chip has excellent prospects in places where medical resources are scarce, and it is also of research interest in the field of microfluidic chips. Here, the article developed a new type of microfluidic chip for nucleic acid detection where stretching acts as the driving force.

In vivo characterization of physiological and metabolic changes related to isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 mutation expcression by multiparametric MRI and MRS in a rat model with orthotopically grafted human-derived glioblastoma cell lines.

The physiological mechanism induced by the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutation, associated with better treatment response in gliomas, remains unknown. The aim of this preclinical study was to characterize the IDH1 mutation through in vivo multiparametric MRI and MRS. Multiparametric MRI, including the measurement of blood flow, vascularity, oxygenation, permeability, and in vivo MRS, was performed on a 4.

The role of infarct location in patients with DWI-ASPECTS 0-5 acute stroke treated with thrombectomy.

Objective: To determine whether hemisphere involvement and infarct location on the Alberta Stroke Program CT Score (ASPECTS) template should serve as predictors of 90-day clinical outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke with pretreatment diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-ASPECTS 0-5 treated with mechanical thrombectomy (MT).

Methods: We analyzed data of all consecutive patients included in the Endovascular Treatment in Ischemic Stroke registry between January 1, 2012, and August 31, 2018, who presented with a pretreatment DWI-ASPECTS 0-5 and underwent MT. Multivariable analyses were performed in order to identify the role of infarct location and hemisphere involvement on good outcome defined by a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score 0-2 at 90 days and on the whole distribution of mRS (shift analysis).

A novel combination of graphene and silver nanowires for entirely stretchable and ultrasensitive strain sensors: sandwich-based sensing films.

A great deal of engineering effort is focused on developing stretchable strain sensors for human motion monitoring and wearable devices. The ultrasensitivity and fast response under tiny strain (1%) while maintaining the working range remain the grand challenge. In this work, we propose an entirely stretchable strain sensor based on the sandwich sensing film, which is fabricated by vacuum filtration of silver nanowires (AgNWs)/ graphene/ AgNWs in sequence and the injection of liquid metal as electrodes.

Contrast-Enhanced 3-T Perfusion MRI With Quantitative Analysis for the Characterization of Musculoskeletal Tumors: Is It Worth the Trouble?

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of quantitative perfusion parameters in 3-T MRI for benign-malignant differentiation in musculoskeletal tumors.

Subjects And Methods: Ninety-five patients with histologically proven musculoskeletal tumors were prospectively included in this study. All patients underwent 3-T contrast-enhanced perfusion MRI with T1 mapping.

A guide for effective anatomical vascularization studies: useful ex vivo methods for both CT and MRI imaging before dissection.

The objective of this study was to develop a simple and useful injection protocol for imaging cadaveric vascularization and dissection. Mixtures of contrast agent and cast product should provide adequate contrast for two types of ex vivo imaging (MRI and CT) and should harden to allow gross dissection of the injected structures. We tested the most popular contrast agents and cast products, and selected the optimal mixture composition based on their availability and ease of use.