Differential tractography identifies a distinct pattern of white matter alterations in essential tremor with or without resting tremor.

Essential Tremor (ET) is characterized by action tremor often associated with resting tremor (rET). Although previous studies have identified widespread brain white matter (WM) alterations in ET patients, differences between ET and rET have been less explored. In this study we employed differential tractography to investigate WM microstructural alterations in these tremor disorders.

An Innovative Device Based on Human-Machine Interface (HMI) for Powered Wheelchair Control for Neurodegenerative Disease: A Proof-of-Concept.

In the global context, advancements in technology and science have rendered virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality technologies capable of transforming clinical care and medical environments by offering enhanced features and improved healthcare services. This paper aims to present a mixed reality-based system to control a robotic wheelchair for people with limited mobility. The test group comprised 11 healthy subjects (six male, five female, mean age 35.

The Role of Virtual Reality in the Management of Football Injuries.

Injuries represent a serious concern for football players, with a significant loss in terms of sport participation and long periods of rehabilitation. According to the 2019/20 UEFA Élite Club Injury Report, the average incidence of injuries during training is 2.8 per 1000 h of training, with an average absence from training of 20 days.

Magnetic Resonance Planimetry in the Differential Diagnosis between Parkinson's Disease and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

The clinical differential diagnosis between Parkinson's disease (PD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is often challenging. The description of milder PSP phenotypes strongly resembling PD, such as PSP-Parkinsonism, further increased the diagnostic challenge and the need for reliable neuroimaging biomarkers to enhance the diagnostic certainty. This review aims to summarize the contribution of a relatively simple and widely available imaging technique such as MR planimetry in the differential diagnosis between PD and PSP, focusing on the recent advancements in this field.

Cerebellar voxel-based morphometry in essential tremor.

Background: Imaging studies investigating cerebellar gray matter (GM) in essential tremor (ET) showed conflicting results. Moreover, no large study explored the cerebellum in ET patients with resting tremor (rET), a syndrome showing enhanced blink reflex recovery cycle (BRrc).

Objective: To investigate cerebellar GM in ET and rET patients using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis.

Video-oculographic biomarkers for evaluating vertical ocular dysfunction in progressive supranuclear palsy.

Introduction: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) patients show reduced amplitude and velocity of vertical saccades, but saccadic abnormalities have also been reported in Parkinson's disease (PD). We investigated amplitude and velocity of vertical saccades in PSP and PD patients, to establish the best video-oculographic (VOG) parameters for PSP diagnosis.

Methods: Fifty-one PSP patients, 113 PD patients and 40 controls were enrolled.

SIMpLE: A Mobile Cloud-Based System for Health Monitoring of People with ALS.

Adopting telemonitoring services during the pandemic for people affected by chronic disease is fundamental to ensure access to health care services avoiding the risk of COVID-19 infection. Among chronic diseases, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of adulthood, caused by the loss of spinal, bulbar and cortical motor neurons, which leads to paralysis of the voluntary muscles and, also, involves respiratory ones. Therefore, remote monitoring and teleconsulting are essential services for ALS patients with limited mobility, as the disease progresses, and for those living far from ALS centres and hospitals.

Motor-Imagery EEG-Based BCIs in Wheelchair Movement and Control: A Systematic Literature Review.

The pandemic emergency of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) shed light on the need for innovative aids, devices, and assistive technologies to enable people with severe disabilities to live their daily lives. EEG-based Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) can lead individuals with significant health challenges to improve their independence, facilitate participation in activities, thus enhancing overall well-being and preventing impairments. This systematic review provides state-of-the-art applications of EEG-based BCIs, particularly those using motor-imagery (MI) data, to wheelchair control and movement.

Mechanical testing of glutaraldehyde cross-linked mitral valves. Part two: Elastic and viscoelastic properties of chordae tendineae.

The aim of this study was to assess whether the mechanical properties of mitral valve chordae tendineae are sensitive to being cross-linked under load. A total 64 chordae were extracted from eight porcine hearts. Two chordae (posterior basal) from each heart were subjected to uniaxial ramp testing and six chordae (two strut, two anterior basal and two posterior basal) were subjected to dynamic mechanical analysis over frequencies between 0.

Mechanical testing of glutaraldehyde cross-linked mitral valves. Part one: In vitro mechanical behaviour.

The aim of this study was to perform an initial assessment, in vitro, of the feasibility of using a glutaraldehyde cross-linked porcine mitral valve to retain acute functionality, focusing on assessing mitral regurgitation. Six porcine hearts were tested using an in vitro simulator. Testing was repeated following cross-linking of mitral valves; where cross-linking was achieved by placing them in a glutaraldehyde solution.

A consensus guide to using functional near-infrared spectroscopy in posture and gait research.

Background: Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is increasingly used in the field of posture and gait to investigate patterns of cortical brain activation while people move freely. fNIRS methods, analysis and reporting of data vary greatly across studies which in turn can limit the replication of research, interpretation of findings and comparison across works.

Research Question And Methods: Considering these issues, we propose a set of practical recommendations for the conduct and reporting of fNIRS studies in posture and gait, acknowledging specific challenges related to clinical groups with posture and gait disorders.

The embodiment of language in tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease patients.

According to embodied cognition, processing language with motor content involves a simulation of this content by the brain motor system. Patients with brain lesions involving the motor system are characterized by deficits in action verbs processing in the absence of dementia. We sought to assess whether action verbs interfere with the motor behavior of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) having tremor dominant symptoms.

Correction to: Computational study on hemodynamic changes in patient-specific proximal neck angulation of abdominal aortic aneurysm with time-varying velocity.

The name of the third author was incorrect in the initial online publication. The original article has been corrected.

Computational study on hemodynamic changes in patient-specific proximal neck angulation of abdominal aortic aneurysm with time-varying velocity.

Aneurysms are considered as a critical cardiovascular disease worldwide when they rupture. The clinical understanding of geometrical impact on the flow behaviour and biomechanics of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is progressively developing. Proximal neck angulations of AAAs are believed to influence the hemodynamic changes and wall shear stress (WSS) within AAAs.

Exoskeleton-Robot Assisted Therapy in Stroke Patients: A Lesion Mapping Study.

: Technology-supported rehabilitation is emerging as a solution to support therapists in providing a high-intensity, repetitive and task-specific treatment, aimed at improving stroke recovery. End-effector robotic devices are known to positively affect the recovery of arm functions, however there is a lack of evidence regarding exoskeletons. This paper evaluates the impact of cerebral lesion load on the response to a validated robotic-assisted rehabilitation protocol.

Effect of glutaraldehyde based cross-linking on the viscoelasticity of mitral valve basal chordae tendineae.

Background: Mitral valve failure can require repair or replacement. Replacement bioprosthetic valves are treated with glutaraldehyde prior to implantation. The aim of this study was to determine the changes in mechanical properties following glutaraldehyde fixation of mitral valve chordae.

3D fiber deposited polymeric scaffolds for external auditory canal wall.

The external auditory canal (EAC) is an osseocartilaginous structure extending from the auricle to the eardrum, which can be affected by congenital, inflammatory, and neoplastic diseases, thus reconstructive materials are needed. Current biomaterial-based approaches for the surgical reconstruction of EAC posterior wall still suffer from resorption (biological) and extrusion (synthetic). In this study, 3D fiber deposited scaffolds based on poly(ethylene oxide terephthalate)/poly(butylene terephthalate) were designed and fabricated to replace the EAC wall.

Physiological Aging Influence on Brain Hemodynamic Activity during Task-Switching: A fNIRS Study.

Task-switching (TS) paradigm is a well-known validated tool useful for exploring the neural substrates of cognitive control, in particular the activity of the lateral and medial prefrontal cortex. This work is aimed at investigating how physiological aging influences hemodynamic response during the execution of a color-shape TS paradigm. A multi-channel near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure hemodynamic activity in 27 young (30.

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Gait Disorders: Is It Time to Begin?

Walking is a complex motor behavior with a special relevance in clinical neurology. Many neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's disease and stroke, are characterized by gait disorders whose neurofunctional correlates are poorly investigated. Indeed, the analysis of real walking with the standard neuroimaging techniques poses strong challenges, and only a few studies on motor imagery or walking observation have been performed so far.

Computational analysis of aortic hemodynamics during total and partial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and intra-aortic balloon pump support.

Purpose: The extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a temporary, but prolonged circulatory support for cardiopulmonary failure. Clinical evidence suggests that pulsed flow is healthier than non pulsatile perfusion. The aim of this study was to computationally evaluate the effects of total and partial ECMO assistance and pulsed flow on hemodynamics in a patient-specific aorta model.

Ossicular replacement prostheses from banked bone with ergonomic and functional geometry.

This study shows the fabrication of innovative ossicular replacement prostheses (ORPs) based on banked cortical bone using computer numerically controlled ultraprecision micromilling, as a substantial improvement of "second generation" ORPs. Our aim is to combine optimal middle ear compatibility and surgical manageability in a single device, by releasing off-the-shelf homograft ORPs provided with the appealing features of synthetic ORPs, such as lightness, safety, measurement accuracy, surface decoration, and geometric plasticity. The new total ORP prototype was 13.

The movement time analyser task investigated with functional near infrared spectroscopy: an ecologic approach for measuring hemodynamic response in the motor system.

Aims: Movement time analyzer (MTA) is an objective instrument to evaluate the degree of motor impairment as well as to investigate the dopaminergic drug effect in Parkinson's disease patients. The aim of this study is to validate a new ecologic neuroimaging tool for quantifying MTA-related hemodynamic response of the cortical motor system by means of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Materials: 11 right-handed healthy volunteers (six male and five female, age range 27-64 years) were studied with fNIRS and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing MTA task for each hand.

Hippocampal Subfield Atrophies in Converted and Not-Converted Mild Cognitive Impairments Patients by a Markov Random Fields Algorithm.

Although measurement of total hippocampal volume is considered as an important hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), recent evidence demonstrated that atrophies of hippocampal subregions might be more sensitive in predicting this neurodegenerative disease. The vast majority of neuroimaging papers investigating this topic are focused on the difference between AD and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), not considering the impact of MCI patients who will or not convert in AD. For this reason, the aim of this study was to determine if measurements of hippocampal subfields provide advantages over total hippocampal volume for discriminating these groups.