NFC-Powered Implantable Device for On-Body Parameters Monitoring With Secure Data Exchange Link to a Medical Blockchain Type of Network.

Implantable devices represent the future of remote medical monitoring and administration of both chemical and physical therapies to the patients. Although some of these devices are already in the market, the security mechanisms deployed inside them to withstand deliberate external influence are still decades away from the robust digital data security schemes employed in modern distributed networks these days. Medical data theft, spoofing, and disclosure pose serious threats that can ultimately lead to individual and social stigmas or even death.

Bladder Volume Monitoring Using Electrical Impedance Tomography With Simultaneous Multi-Tone Tissue Stimulation and DFT-Based Impedance Calculation Inside an FPGA.

In this article, a novel method for measuring the volume of the urinary bladder non-invasively is presented that relies on the principles dictated by Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT). The electronic prototype responsible for injecting innocuous electrical currents to the lower abdominal region and measuring the developed voltage levels is fully described, as well as the computational models for resolution of the so-called Forward and Inverse Problems in Imaging. The simultaneous multi-tone injection of current provided by a high performance Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), combined with impedance estimation by the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) constitutes a novelty in Urodynamics with potential to monitor continuously the intravesical volume of patients in a much faster and comfortable way than traditional transurethral catheterization methods.

Portable Impedance Analyzer as a Rapid Screening Tool for Malaria: An Experimental Study With Culture and Blood Infected Samples by Early Forms of Plasmodium Falciparum.

Infection by the parasite of malaria is a serious healthcare problem for populations residing primarily in tropical and subtropical countries. Early detection of the disease is essential to reduce both the mortality rate and spreading of the disease in the infected areas. Current methods for malaria diagnosis still rely on microscopic analysis of blood smears, which is a time-consuming and expensive process, in addition of requiring trained examiners to perform the analysis.

NFC-Powered Flexible Chest Patch for Fast Assessment of Cardiac, Hemodynamic, and Endocrine Parameters.

Cardiac-related diseases are still the number one cause of death worldwide. Methods and technologies to suppress this problem are currently being investigated by integrating electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring with other sensing modalities in order to detect these diseases more accurately and in due course of time. In this paper, we propose a battery-less and flexible device to be worn as a chest patch for monitoring cardiac and hemodynamic parameters through electrical and acoustic measurements, combined with sweat pH level estimation and skin temperature, by swiping a smartphone over the patch area for enough time (≃5 seconds) to allow adequate acquisition and estimation of the aforementioned parameters.

A Flexible Wearable Device for Measurement of Cardiac, Electrodermal, and Motion Parameters in Mental Healthcare Applications.

Mental illnesses are vast and cause a lot of individual and social discomfort, with significant healthcare costs associated in terms of diagnosis and treatment. They can be triggered by a number of factors including stress, fatigue or anxiety. The associated physiological, cardiac and autonomic changes can be assessed, centrally, through brain imaging or, peripherally, by other signal recording modalities.

A Smart Wireless Ear-Worn Device for Cardiovascular and Sweat Parameter Monitoring During Physical Exercise: Design and Performance Results.

Wearable biomedical technology has gained much support lately as devices have become more affordable to the general public and they can easily interact with mobile phones and other platforms. The feasibility and accuracy of the data generated by these devices so as to replace the standard medical methods in use today is still under scrutiny. In this paper, we present an ear-worn device to measure cardiovascular and sweat parameters during physical exercise.

Risk factors associated with histological upgrade of gastric low-grade dysplasia on pretreatment biopsy.

Objectives: Histological discrepancies between biopsy and resection specimens are common. In this study, we aimed to analyze the risk factors predicting histological upgrade or downgrade of biopsy-diagnosed gastric low-grade dysplasia (LGD).

Methods: The medical records of patients with 104 biopsy-diagnosed gastric LGD from January 2011 to December 2017 were collected.

A lightweight sensing platform for monitoring sleep quality and posture: a simulated validation study.

Background: The prevalence of self-reported shoulder pain in the UK has been estimated at 16%. This has been linked with significant sleep disturbance. It is possible that this relationship is bidirectional, with both symptoms capable of causing the other.

A wearable mobility assessment device for total knee replacement: A longitudinal feasibility study.

Background: Total knee replacement currently lacks robust indications and objective follow-up metrics. Patients and healthcare staff are under-equipped to optimise outcomes. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of using an ear-worn motion sensor (e-AR, Imperial College London) to conduct objective, home-based mobility assessments in the peri-operative setting.

Effect of acute exacerbations on skeletal muscle strength and physical activity in cystic fibrosis.

Background: Skeletal muscle weakness is an important complication of chronic respiratory disease. The effect of acute exacerbations on strength in patients with cystic fibrosis is not known.

Methods: Quadriceps (QMVC) and respiratory muscle strength were measured in patients at the time of acute admission, at discharge and one month later.

Localized malignant myxoid anaplastic mesothelioma of the pericardium.

Unlabelled: Primary malignant mesothelioma of the pericardium is a rare cardiac neoplasm. Most are diffuse and have poor prognosis with median survival of six months. In the paper, we describe a young male patient having no exposure history of asbestos with localized malignant myxoid mesothelioma of the pericardium.

Changes in prefrontal cortical behaviour depend upon familiarity on a bimanual co-ordination task: an fNIRS study.

To investigate neurocognitive mechanisms associated with task-related expertise development, this paper investigates serial changes in prefrontal activation patterns using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). We evaluate cortical function in 62 healthy subjects with varying experience during serial evaluations of a knot-tying task. All tasks were performed bimanually and self paced, with fixed episodes of motor rest for five repetitions.

Diffuse optical imaging of the healthy and diseased breast: a systematic review.

Screening X-ray mammography is limited by false positives and negatives leading to unnecessary physical and psychological morbidity. Diffuse Optical Imaging using harmless near infra red light, provides lesion detection based on functional abnormalities and represents a novel diagnostic arm that could complement traditional mammography. Reviews of optical breast imaging have not been systematic, are focused mainly on technological developments, and have become superseded by rapid technological advancement.

Gaze-contingent control for minimally invasive robotic surgery.

Objective: Recovering tissue depth and deformation during robotically assisted minimally invasive procedures is an important step towards motion compensation, stabilization and co-registration with preoperative data. This work demonstrates that eye gaze derived from binocular eye tracking can be effectively used to recover 3D motion and deformation of the soft tissue.

Methods: A binocular eye-tracking device was integrated into the stereoscopic surgical console.

Evaluation of carotid artery wall volume measurement using novel semiautomated analysis software.

Purpose: To evaluate semiautomated analysis software for measuring the total carotid arterial wall volume (TWV) as a measure of atheroma burden.

Materials And Methods: Semiautomated-software and manual analyses of TWV measured by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) were compared in two phantom models, 10 subjects with no known carotid artery disease, and eight subjects with known carotid disease. The subjects were scanned twice for reproducibility.

Soft-tissue motion tracking and structure estimation for robotic assisted MIS procedures.

In robotically assisted laparoscopic surgery, soft-tissue motion tracking and structure recovery are important for intraoperative surgical guidance, motion compensation and delivering active constraints. In this paper, we present a novel method for feature based motion tracking of deformable soft-tissue surfaces in totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass graft (TECAB) surgery. We combine two feature detectors to recover distinct regions on the epicardial surface for which the sparse 3D surface geometry may be computed using a pre-calibrated stereo laparoscope.

Elimination of residual blood flow-related signal in 3D volume-selective TSE arterial wall imaging using velocity-sensitive phase reconstruction.

Purpose: To improve 3D volume-selective turbo spin-echo (TSE) arterial wall imaging by introducing velocity phase sensitivity to the sequence.

Materials And Methods: Slow or recirculating blood may give incomplete nulling in 3D vessel wall imaging, hindering differentiation between arterial wall and lumen. Reconstructed phase images are used to reduce the residual blood signal with postprocessing.

A practical approach towards accurate dense 3D depth recovery for robotic laparoscopic surgery.

Objective: Recovering tissue deformation during robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is an important step towards motion compensation and stabilization. This article presents a practical strategy for dense 3D depth recovery and temporal motion tracking for deformable surfaces.

Methods: The method combines image rectification with constrained disparity registration for reliable depth estimation.

3D volume-selective turbo spin echo for carotid artery wall imaging with navigator detection of swallowing.

Purpose: To improve 3D volume-selective turbo spin echo (TSE) carotid artery wall imaging by incorporating navigators to reduce artifacts caused by swallowing.

Materials And Methods: Images were acquired on a Siemens Magnetom Sonata 1.5T scanner.

Comparison between three-dimensional volume-selective turbo spin-echo imaging and two-dimensional ultrasound for assessing carotid artery structure and function.

Purpose: To compare a volume-selective three-dimensional turbo spin echo (TSE) technique with ultrasound (US) for assessing carotid artery wall structure and function.

Materials And Methods: A three-dimensional volume-selective TSE technique was used to image the carotid artery in 10 healthy subjects and five hypertensive subjects (each of whom were scanned three times while they received different hypertension treatments). Lumen and wall area were measured on MR images.

Interstudy reproducibility of three-dimensional volume-selective fast spin echo magnetic resonance for quantifying carotid artery wall volume.

Purpose: To assess the interstudy reproducibility of a three-dimensional volume-selective, fast spin echo (FSE) magnetic resonance technique for the assessment of carotid artery wall volume, which is a marker for total carotid plaque volume.

Materials And Methods: Interstudy reproducibility was evaluated in 10 subjects with evidence of carotid artery atherosclerotic disease on carotid Doppler ultrasonography. Subjects were scanned twice with an interscan time of one hour to four days.

Volume-selective 3D turbo spin echo imaging for vascular wall imaging and distensibility measurement.

Purpose: To use a volume-selective 3D turbo spin echo (TSE) technique to image the carotid artery wall and measure distensibility.

Materials And Methods: A high-resolution volume-selective 3D TSE sequence has been developed. Volume selection is accomplished by orthogonal gradients for the 90 degrees and 180 degrees excitations and allows a 3D volume of vessel wall to be imaged in a relatively short time.

cDNA cloning and characterization of Agkistin, a new metalloproteinase from Agkistrodon halys.

Agkistin was a new snake venom metalloproteinase (SVMP) gene which was cloned from Agkistrodon halys. Its deduced amino acid sequence has two additional cysteines (Cys407 and Cys426) in the disintegrin domain compared to other RGD containing SVMPs. The full-length gene (Agkistin) and its disintegrin region (named Agkistin-s) were expressed by baculovirus expression system (pFastBac-Htb vector) with His-tag, and their platelet aggregation-inhibition activity was evaluated.