Studies on Foam Decay Trend and Influence of Temperature Jump on Foam Stability in Sclerotherapy.

Objectives: This study investigated the influence of temperature jump and liquid-gas ratio on foam stability to derive the foam-decay law.

Methods: The experimental group conditions were as follows: mutation temperatures (10°C, 16°C, 20°C, 23°C, 25°C, and 27°C to >37°C) and liquid-gas ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4). The control group conditions were as follows: temperatures (10°C, 16°C, 20°C, 23°C, 25°C and 27°C) and liquid-gas ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4).

Influence of Syringe Volume on Foam Stability in Sclerotherapy for Varicose Vein Treatment.

Background: Despite the popularity of sclerotherapy for treating varicose veins, it still exhibits various problems, such as pulmonary embolism, deep-vein thrombosis, phlebitis, and visual disorders.

Objective: To investigate syringe volume influence on foam stability, obtain the foam decay rule, and provide a reference for clinics.

Materials And Methods: Five types of syringes are used to prepare foam at room temperature with various liquid-gas ratios.

The Effect of Fluid Shear Stress on the In Vitro Release Kinetics of Sirolimus from PLGA Films.

Drug-carrying coatings of stents implanted in blood vessels are exposed to various blood flows. This study investigated the effect of fluid shear stress on the in vitro release kinetics of sirolimus from poly(lactic--glycolic acid) (PLGA) films. The homemade parallel plate flow chamber was used to exert quantitative shear stress on the sirolimus-carrying film.

Micro-mechanical properties of different sites on woodpecker's skull.

The uneven distributed microstructure featured with plate-like spongy bone in woodpecker's skull has been found to further help reduce the impact during woodpecker's pecking behavior. Therefore, this work was to investigate the micro-mechanical properties and composition on different sites of Great Spotted woodpecker's (GSW) skull. Different sites were selected on forehead, tempus and occiput, which were also compared with those of Eurasian Hoopoe (EH) and Lark birds (LB).

Variation in longitudinal trajectories of cortical sulci in normal elderly.

Sulcal morphology has been reported to change with age-related neurological diseases, but the trajectories of sulcal change in normal ageing in the elderly is still unclear. We conducted a study of sulcal morphological changes over seven years in 132 normal elderly participants aged 70-90 years at baseline, and who remained cognitively normal for the next seven years. We examined the fold opening and sulcal depth of sixteen (eight on each hemisphere) prominent sulci based on T1-weighted MRI using automated methods with visual quality control.

Percutaneous Sacroiliac Screw Placement: A Prospective Randomized Comparison of Robot-assisted Navigation Procedures with a Conventional Technique.

Background: Sacroiliac (SI) screw fixation is a demanding technique, with a high rate of screw malposition due to the complex pelvic anatomy. TiRobot™ is an orthopedic surgery robot which can be used for SI screw fixation. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of robot-assisted placement of SI screws compared with a freehand technique.

An Open-Structure Treadmill Gait Trainer: From Research to Application.

Lower limb rehabilitation robots are designed to enhance gait function in individuals with motor impairments. Although numerous rehabilitation robots have been developed, only few of these robots have been used in practical health care, particularly in China. The objective of this study is to construct a lower limb rehabilitation robot and bridge the gap between research and application.

The Effect of Arch Height and Material Hardness of Personalized Insole on Correction and Tissues of Flatfoot.

Flat foot is one of the common deformities in the youth population, seriously affecting the weight supporting and daily exercising. However, there is lacking of quantitative data relative to material selection and shape design of the personalized orthopedic insole. This study was to evaluate the biomechanical effects of material hardness and support height of personalized orthopedic insole on foot tissues, by in vivo experiment and finite element modeling.

Biomechanical Effects of Various Bone-Implant Interfaces on the Stability of Orthodontic Miniscrews: A Finite Element Study.

Introduction: Osseointegration is required for prosthetic implant, but the various bone-implant interfaces of orthodontic miniscrews would be a great interest for the orthodontist. There is no clear consensus regarding the minimum amount of bone-implant osseointegration required for a stable miniscrew. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of different bone-implant interfaces on the miniscrew and its surrounding tissue.

User-Centric Feedback for the Development and Review of a Unique Robotic Glove Prototype to Be Used in Therapy.

Disability can be a great impediment to daily living in later life and is often the result of illness or trauma. Modern thoughts on treatment are orientated towards the use of robotics; however, these are often designed without consultation with the user. This paper used a 5-point questionnaire to ask former therapy patients what they felt needed further improvements from potential robotics and what features of such a system were the most important.

Conservative treatment for equinus deformity in children with cerebral palsy using an adjustable splint-assisted ankle-foot orthosis.

Background: A novel splint, the assisting ankle-foot orthoses (AFO), was developed to provide adjustable sustained stretching to improve conservative treatment for equinus deformities in children with cerebral palsy (CP). The treatment effect was validated by follow-up visits.

Methods: This study involved subjects between 2 and 12 years old, including 28 CP children treated with splint-assisted AFO correction, 30 CP children treated with static AFO correction, and 30 normal children with typical development (TD).

Quantitative Studies of Endothelial Cell Fibronectin and Filamentous Actin (F-Actin) Coalignment in Response to Shear Stress.

Both fibronectin (FN) and filamentous actin (F-actin) fibers play a critical role for endothelial cells (ECs) in responding to shear stress and modulating cell alignment and functions. FN is dynamically coupled to the F-actin cytoskeleton via focal adhesions. However, it is unclear how ECs cooperatively remodel their subcellular FN matrix and intracellular F-actin cytoskeleton in response to shear stress.

Self-Powered Pulse Sensor for Antidiastole of Cardiovascular Disease.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally; fortunately, 90% of cardiovascular diseases are preventable by long-term monitoring of physiological signals. Stable, ultralow power consumption, and high-sensitivity sensors are significant for miniaturized wearable physiological signal monitoring systems. Here, this study proposes a flexible self-powered ultrasensitive pulse sensor (SUPS) based on triboelectric active sensor with excellent output performance (1.

Effect of longitudinal anatomical mismatch of stenting on the mechanical environment in human carotid artery with atherosclerotic plaques.

Longitudinal anatomic mismatch (LAM) of stenting (i.e., a stenotic artery segment is not fully covered by a deployed stent) worsens the mechanical environment in the treated artery, which most likely is the cause for the associated high risks of restenosis, myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis.

Fiber-reinforced scaffolds in soft tissue engineering.

Soft tissue engineering has been developed as a new strategy for repairing damaged or diseased soft tissues and organs to overcome the limitations of current therapies. Since most of soft tissues in the human body are usually supported by collagen fibers to form a three-dimensional microstructure, fiber-reinforced scaffolds have the advantage to mimic the structure, mechanical and biological environment of natural soft tissues, which benefits for their regeneration and remodeling. This article reviews and discusses the latest research advances on design and manufacture of novel fiber-reinforced scaffolds for soft tissue repair and how fiber addition affects their structural characteristics, mechanical strength and biological activities and In general, the concept of fiber-reinforced scaffolds with adjustable microstructures, mechanical properties and degradation rates can provide an effective platform and promising method for developing satisfactory biomechanically functional implantations for soft tissue engineering or regenerative medicine.

Parallel multiple instance learning for extremely large histopathology image analysis.

Background: Histopathology images are critical for medical diagnosis, e.g., cancer and its treatment.

High glucose-induced endothelial progenitor cell dysfunction.

Vascular complications contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality of diabetes mellitus. The primary cause of vascular complications in diabetes mellitus is hyperglycaemia, associated with endothelial dysfunction and impaired neovascularization. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells was shown to play important roles in vascular repair and promoting neovascularization.

Regulation of cell arrangement using a novel composite micropattern.

Micropatterning technique has been used to control single cell geometry in many researches, however, this is no report that it is used to control multicelluar geometry, which not only control single cell geometry but also organize those cells by a certain pattern. In this work, a composite protein micropattern is developed to control both cell shape and cell location simultaneously. The composite micropattern consists of a central circle 15 μm in diameter for single-cell capture, surrounded by small, square arrays (3 μm × 3 μm) for cell spreading.

A porous sodium polyacrylate-grafted chitosan xerogel for severe hemorrhage control synthesized from one-pot reaction.

Controlling severe hemorrhages remains a challenge. Successful hemorrhage control depends on the speed and quality of blood clot formation. Fast deprivation of water from blood leads to the concentration of blood cells and coagulation factors and thus triggers blood clot formation.

The use of bioactive peptides to modify materials for bone tissue repair.

It has been well recognized that the modification of biomaterials with appropriate bioactive peptides could further enhance their functions. Especially, it has been shown that peptide-modified bone repair materials could promote new bone formation more efficiently compared with conventional ones. The purpose of this article is to give a general review of recent studies on bioactive peptide-modified materials for bone tissue repair.

The effect of mechanical loads on the degradation of aliphatic biodegradable polyesters.

Aliphatic biodegradable polyesters have been the most widely used synthetic polymers for developing biodegradable devices as alternatives for the currently used permanent medical devices. The performances during biodegradation process play crucial roles for final realization of their functions. Because physiological and biochemical environment significantly affects biodegradation process, large numbers of studies on effects of mechanical loads on the degradation of aliphatic biodegradable polyesters have been launched during last decades.

Biomechanical study on surgical fixation methods for minimally invasive treatment of hallux valgus.

Hallux valgus (HV) was one of the most frequent female foot deformities. The aim of this study was to evaluate mechanical responses and stabilities of the Kirschner, bandage and fiberglass fixations after the distal metatarsal osteotomy in HV treatment. Surface traction of different forefoot regions in bandage fixation and the biomechanical behavior of fiberglass bandage material were measured by a pressure sensor device and a mechanical testing, respectively.

Combination of flow and micropattern alignment affecting flow-resistant endothelial cell adhesion.

Assuring cell adhesion to an underlying biomaterial surface under blood flow is vital to functional vascular grafts design. In vivo endothelial cells (ECs) are located under the microenvironment of both surface topography of the basement membrane and the mechanical loading resulting from blood flow. Both topographical and mechanical factors should thus be considered when designing vascular grafts to enhance the flow-resistant EC adhesion.

Biomechanical evaluation of the natural abutment teeth in combined tooth-implant-supported telescopic prostheses: a three-dimensional finite element analysis.

Telescopic overdentures supported by the combination of natural teeth and implants have been thought a valuable treatment for the severely compromised partially edentulous patients. But the combination of teeth and implants involves highly complex biomechanical problems. This study is to evaluate biomechanical behaviors of the natural abutment teeth with the treatment of combined tooth-implant supported telescopic crown prostheses in mandible through 3D FEA.

Numerical simulation of haemodynamics and low-density lipoprotein transport in the rabbit aorta and their correlation with atherosclerotic plaque thickness.

Two mechanisms of shear stress and mass transport have been recognized to play an important role in the development of localized atherosclerosis. However, their relationship and roles in atherogenesis are still obscure. It is necessary to investigate quantitatively the correlation among low-density lipoproteins (LDL) transport, haemodynamic parameters and plaque thickness.