Publications by authors named "Daniel Leff"

Objectives: To evaluate whether commercially available 'off-the-shelf' wearable technology can improve patient rehabilitation outcomes, and to categorise all wearables currently being used to augment rehabilitation, including the disciplines and conditions under investigation.

Design: Systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis 2020 statement checklist, and using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach.

Data Sources: Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library were searched up to and including July 2023.

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Introduction: Inadequate exposure to real-life operating can impede timely acquisition of technical competence among surgical residents, and is a major challenge faced in the current training climate. Mental rehearsal (MR)-the cognitive rehearsal of a motor task without overt physical movement-has been shown to accelerate surgical skills learning. However, the neuroplastic effect of MR of a complex bimanual surgical task is unknown.

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Background: While REIMS technology has successfully been demonstrated for the histological identification of ex-vivo breast tumor tissues, questions regarding the robustness of the approach and the possibility of tumor molecular diagnostics still remain unanswered. In the current study, we set out to determine whether it is possible to acquire cross-comparable REIMS datasets at multiple sites for the identification of breast tumors and subtypes.

Methods: A consortium of four sites with three of them having access to fresh surgical tissue samples performed tissue analysis using identical REIMS setups and protocols.

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Imprecision in breast conserving surgery results in high rates of take back to theatre for reexcision of margins. This paper reviews the various approaches to improving the precision of oncological margin control in breast conserving surgery. The review describes the rationale for improved tissue characterization over tumor localization and explores technology-free approaches, as well as progress being made to develop and test innovative technological solutions.

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Purpose: Sixty percent of breast cancer patients develop persistent upper limb pain and dysfunction, but only limited knowledge exists about how these symptoms relate to rehabilitation access.

Methods: A postal survey was sent to patients treated at a London University Teaching Hospital (2018-2020). Data were collected on pain (Pain Detect), shoulder function (Disability of Shoulder Arm and Hand (DASH)), quality-of-life (QoL) (EQ-5D-5L), and clinical characteristics, including treatment and access to rehabilitation.

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Background: Pre-operative radiotherapy (PRT) and pre-operative chemoradiotherapy (PCRT) prior to mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction for locally advanced breast cancer have the potential to reduce radiation late-effects and expedite oncologic treatment. Recent feasibility work indicates that PCRT is safe and technically possible. Here, we present a systematic review of currently available data on clinical, oncological, reconstructive and aesthetic outcomes.

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Introduction: The healthcare sector is a major contributor to the climate crisis and operating theatres (OTs) are one of the highest sources of emissions. To inform emissions reduction, this study aimed to (i) compare the outcomes of interventions targeting sustainable behaviours in OTs using the Triple Bottom Line framework, (ii) categorise the intervention strategies using the five Rs (reduce, recycle, reuse, refuse, and renew) of circular economy, and (iii) examine intervention functions (IFs) using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW).

Methods: Medline, Embase, PsychInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched until June 2023 using the concepts: sustainability and surgery.

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Objective: To systematically review technologies that objectively measure CWL in surgery, assessing their psychometric and methodological characteristics.

Summary Background Data: Surgical tasks involving concurrent clinical decision-making and the safe application of technical and non-technical skills require a substantial cognitive demand and resource utilization. Cognitive overload leads to impaired clinical decision-making and performance decline.

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Background: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is associated with risk of positive resection margins following breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and subsequent reoperation. Prior reports grossly underestimate the risk of margin positivity with IBC containing a DCIS component (IBC + DCIS) due to patient-level rather than margin-level analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to delineate the relative risk of IBC + DCIS compared with pure IBC (without a DCIS component) on margin positivity through detailed margin-level interrogation.

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This study aims to review the status of the clinical use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that have completed or are in ongoing clinical trials for targeted fluorescence-guided surgery (T-FGS) for the intraoperative identification of the tumor margins of extra-hematological solid tumors. For each of them, the targeted antigen, the mAb generic/commercial name and format, and clinical indications are presented, together with utility, doses, and the timing of administration. Based on the current scientific evidence in humans, the top three mAbs that could be prepared in a GMP-compliant bank ready to be delivered for surgical purposes are proposed to speed up the translation to the operating room and produce a few readily available "off-the-shelf" injectable fluorescent probes for safer and more effective solid tumor resection.

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Significance: Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) is limited by high rates of positive margins and re-operative interventions. Fluorescence-guided surgery seeks to detect the entire lesion in real time, thus guiding the surgeons to remove all the tumor at the index procedure.

Aim: Our aim was to identify the optimal combination of a camera system and fluorophore for fluorescence-guided BCS.

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Introduction: Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive optical neuroimaging technique used to assess surgeons' brain function. The aim of this narrative review is to outline the effect of expertise, stress, surgical technology, and neurostimulation on surgeons' neural activation patterns, and highlight key progress areas required in surgical neuroergonomics to modulate training and performance.

Methods: A literature search of PubMed and Embase was conducted to identify neuroimaging studies using fNIRS and neurostimulation in surgeons performing simulated tasks.

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Background: The aim of this multicentre prospective audit was to describe the current practice in the management of mastitis and breast abscesses in the UK and Ireland, with a specific focus on rates of surgical intervention.

Methods: This audit was conducted in two phases from August 2020 to August 2021; a phase 1 practice survey and a phase 2 prospective audit. Primary outcome measurements for phase 2 included patient management pathway characteristics and treatment type (medical/radiological/surgical).

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Background: The health sector contributes significantly to the climate crisis. Operating theatres (OTs) in particular are a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and waste, and while there are several evidence-based guidelines to reduce this impact, these are often not followed. The authors systematically reviewed the literature to identify barriers and facilitators of sustainable behaviour in OTs, categorising these using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF).

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Background: We suspect that morbidity from both sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) has been inadequately evaluated to date. Current methodologies are subjective and susceptible to bias. Objective assessment using wearable activity monitors (WAMs) would allow quantitative analysis of recovery by measuring physical activity (PA) and could provide evidence for axillary de-escalation.

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Up to 19% of patients require re-excision surgery due to positive margins in breast-conserving surgery (BCS). Intraoperative margin assessment tools (IMAs) that incorporate tissue optical measurements could help reduce re-excision rates. This review focuses on methods that use and assess spectrally resolved diffusely reflected light for breast cancer detection in the intraoperative setting.

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Purpose: The B-MaP-C study investigated changes to breast cancer care that were necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we present a follow-up analysis of those patients commenced on bridging endocrine therapy (BrET), whilst they were awaiting surgery due to reprioritisation of resources.

Methods: This multicentre, multinational cohort study recruited 6045 patients from the UK, Spain and Portugal during the peak pandemic period (Feb-July 2020).

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Introduction: The optimal combination of radiotherapy and breast reconstruction has not yet been defined. Post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) has deleterious effects on breast reconstruction, leading to caution amongst surgeons. Pre-operative radiotherapy (PRT) is a growing area of interest, is demonstrated to be safe, and spares autologous flaps from radiotherapy.

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Soft robots that grow through eversion/apical extension can effectively navigate fragile environments such as ducts and vessels inside the human body. This paper presents the physics-based model of a miniature steerable eversion growing robot. We demonstrate the robot's growing, steering, stiffening and interaction capabilities.

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Objective: To evaluate the impact of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) on upper limb (UL) morbidity in breast cancer patients.

Background: Axillary de-escalation is motivated by a desire to reduce harm of ALND. Understanding the impact of axillary surgery and disparities in operative procedures on postoperative arm morbidity would better direct resources to the point of need and cement the need for de-escalation strategies.

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Background: Following therapeutic mammoplasty (TM), the contralateral breast may require a later balancing procedure to optimize shape and symmetry. The alternative is to offer patients simultaneous TM with immediate contralateral symmetrization via a dual-surgeon approach, with the goal of reducing costs and minimizing the number of subsequent hospital appointments in an era of COVID-19 surges. The aim of this cost-consequence analysis is to characterize the cost-benefit of immediate bilateral symmetrization dual-operator mammoplasty versus staged unilateral single operator for breast cancer surgery.

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