Does Muscle Pain Induce Alterations in the Pelvic Floor Motor Unit Activity Properties in Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome? A High-Density sEMG-Based Study.

Several studies have shown interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS), a chronic condition that poses challenges in both diagnosis and treatment, is associated with painful pelvic floor muscles (PFM) and altered neural drive to these muscles. However, its pathophysiology could also involve other alterations in the electrical activity of PFM motor units (MUs). Studying these alterations could provide novel insights into IC/BPS and help its clinical management.

Synchronization study of electrohysterography for discrimination of imminent delivery in pregnant women with threatened preterm labor.

Preterm birth a common and severe pregnancy complications, causing significant health, development, and economic problems. Accurate diagnosis of imminent labor for women with threatened preterm labor (TPL) is crucial. Electrohysterography (EHG), which represents uterine myometrial electrical activity, is a potential tool for predicting preterm birth.

Changes in pelvic floor electrical activity and vulvar pain after botulinum toxin treatment of vestibulodynia: are clinical and electrophysiological outcomes related?

Vestibulodynia is a gynecological condition with different treatment options available, including botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) injections into the vulvar vestibule. Unlike other treatments, no studies have assessed changes in the myoelectrical activity of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) after BoNT/A treatment. The aim of this study was thus to evaluate these changes and to correlate them with changes in vulvar pain sensitivity.

Treatment of Vestibulodynia with Submucosal Injections of IncobotulinumtoxinA into Targeted Painful Points: An Open-Label Exploratory Study.

The studies carried out to date on vulvodynia treatment with botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) have followed generic injection protocols and reported contradictory outcomes on its effects. The aim of the present study was thus to propose a protocol for injecting BoNT/A into targeted painful points, to comprehensively assess the clinical effect of BoNT/A treatment and identify the risk/protective factors for successful treatment. Thirty-five vestibulodynia patients were treated with submucosal injections of incobotulinumtoxinA and assessed 8, 12 and 24 weeks after their treatment.

Identification of atrial fibrillation drivers by means of concentric ring electrodes.

Background And Objective: The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) has tripled in the last 50 years due to population aging. High-frequency (DFdriver) activated atrial regions lead the activation of the rest of the atria, disrupting the propagation wavefront. Fourier based spectral analysis of body surface potential maps have been proposed for DFdriver identification, although these approaches present serious drawbacks due to their limited spectral resolution for short AF epochs and the blurring effect of the volume conductor.

Uterine slow wave: directionality and changes with imminent delivery.

The slow wave (SW) of the electrohysterogram (EHG) may contain relevant information on the electrophysiological condition of the uterus throughout pregnancy and labor. Our aim was to assess differences in the SW as regards the imminence of labor and the directionality of uterine myoelectrical activity..

Combination of Feature Selection and Resampling Methods to Predict Preterm Birth Based on Electrohysterographic Signals from Imbalance Data.

Due to its high sensitivity, electrohysterography (EHG) has emerged as an alternative technique for predicting preterm labor. The main obstacle in designing preterm labor prediction models is the inherent preterm/term imbalance ratio, which can give rise to relatively low performance. Numerous studies obtained promising preterm labor prediction results using the synthetic minority oversampling technique.

Directed Functional Coordination Analysis of Swallowing Muscles in Healthy and Dysphagic Subjects by Surface Electromyography.

Swallowing is a complex sequence of highly regulated and coordinated skeletal and smooth muscle activity. Previous studies have attempted to determine the temporal relationship between the muscles to establish the activation sequence pattern, assessing functional muscle coordination with cross-correlation or coherence, which is seriously impaired by volume conduction. In the present work, we used conditional Granger causality from surface electromyography signals to analyse the directed functional coordination between different swallowing muscles in both healthy and dysphagic subjects ingesting saliva, water, and yoghurt boluses.

Finite element method modeling to confirm the results of comprehensive optimization of the tripolar concentric ring electrode based on its finite dimensions model.

Concentric ring electrodes are noninvasive and wearable sensors for electrophysiological measurement capable of estimating the surface Laplacian (second spatial derivative of surface potential) at each electrode. Significant progress has been made toward optimization of inter-ring distances (distances between the recording surfaces of the electrode), maximizing the accuracy of the surface Laplacian estimate based on the negligible dimensions model of the electrode. However, novel finite dimensions model offers comprehensive optimization including all of the electrode parameters simultaneously by including the radius of the central disc and the widths of the concentric rings into the model.

Assessment of Dispersion and Bubble Entropy Measures for Enhancing Preterm Birth Prediction Based on Electrohysterographic Signals.

One of the remaining challenges for the scientific-technical community is predicting preterm births, for which electrohysterography (EHG) has emerged as a highly sensitive prediction technique. Sample and fuzzy entropy have been used to characterize EHG signals, although they require optimizing many internal parameters. Both bubble entropy, which only requires one internal parameter, and dispersion entropy, which can detect any changes in frequency and amplitude, have been proposed to characterize biomedical signals.

Comprehensive Optimization of the Tripolar Concentric Ring Electrode Based on Its Finite Dimensions Model and Confirmed by Finite Element Method Modeling.

The optimization performed in this study is based on the finite dimensions model of the concentric ring electrode as opposed to the negligible dimensions model used in the past. This makes the optimization problem comprehensive, as all of the electrode parameters including, for the first time, the radius of the central disc and individual widths of concentric rings, are optimized simultaneously. The optimization criterion used is maximizing the accuracy of the surface Laplacian estimation, as the ability to estimate the Laplacian at each electrode constitutes primary biomedical significance of concentric ring electrodes.

Treatment of Dyspareunia with Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A: Clinical Improvement and Influence of Patients' Characteristics.

The treatment of chronic pelvic pain (CPP) with botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) has increased lately, but more studies assessing its effect are needed. This study aimed to evaluate the evolution of patients after BoNT/A infiltration and identify potential responders to treatment. Twenty-four women with CPP associated with dyspareunia were treated with 90 units of BoNT/A injected into their pelvic floor muscle (PFM).

Effect of BoNT/A in the Surface Electromyographic Characteristics of the Pelvic Floor Muscles for the Treatment of Chronic Pelvic Pain.

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a complex condition with a high economic and social burden. Although it is usually treated with botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) injected into the pelvic floor muscles (PFM), its effect on their electrophysiological condition is unknown. In this study, 24 CPP patients were treated with BoNT/A.

Optimization of Imminent Labor Prediction Systems in Women with Threatened Preterm Labor Based on Electrohysterography.

Preterm birth is the leading cause of death in newborns and the survivors are prone to health complications. Threatened preterm labor (TPL) is the most common cause of hospitalization in the second half of pregnancy. The current methods used in clinical practice to diagnose preterm labor, the Bishop score or cervical length, have high negative predictive values but not positive ones.

Characterization of Pelvic Floor Activity in Healthy Subjects and with Chronic Pelvic Pain: Diagnostic Potential of Surface Electromyography.

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a highly disabling disorder in women usually associated with hypertonic dysfunction of the pelvic floor musculature (PFM). The literature on the subject is not conclusive about the diagnostic potential of surface electromyography (sEMG), which could be due to poor signal characterization. In this study, we characterized the PFM activity of three groups of 24 subjects each: CPP patients with deep dyspareunia associated with a myofascial syndrome (CPP group), healthy women over 35 and/or parous (>35/P group, i.

Robust Characterization of the Uterine Myoelectrical Activity in Different Obstetric Scenarios.

Electrohysterography (EHG) has been shown to provide relevant information on uterine activity and could be used for predicting preterm labor and identifying other maternal fetal risks. The extraction of high-quality robust features is a key factor in achieving satisfactory prediction systems from EHG. Temporal, spectral, and non-linear EHG parameters have been computed to characterize EHG signals, sometimes obtaining controversial results, especially for non-linear parameters.

Evaluation of Respiratory Muscle Activity by Means of Concentric Ring Electrodes.

Surface electromyography (sEMG) can be used for the evaluation of respiratory muscle activity. Recording sEMG involves the use of surface electrodes in a bipolar configuration. However, electrocardiographic (ECG) interference and electrode orientation represent considerable drawbacks to bipolar acquisition.

A Comparative Study of Vaginal Labor and Caesarean Section Postpartum Uterine Myoelectrical Activity.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is one of the major causes of maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide, with uterine atony being the most common origin. Currently there are no obstetrical techniques available for monitoring postpartum uterine dynamics, as tocodynamometry is not able to detect weak uterine contractions. In this study, we explored the feasibility of monitoring postpartum uterine activity by non-invasive electrohysterography (EHG), which has been proven to outperform tocodynamometry in detecting uterine contractions during pregnancy.

Author Correction: The Intrapericardial Delivery of Extracellular Vesicles from Cardiosphere-Derived Cells Stimulates M2 Polarization during the Acute Phase of Porcine Myocardial Infarction.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. In the author group, the correct family name of Dr. Rebeca is "Blázquez" and the correct family name of Dr.

The Intrapericardial Delivery of Extracellular Vesicles from Cardiosphere-Derived Cells Stimulates M2 Polarization during the Acute Phase of Porcine Myocardial Infarction.

Acute myocardial infarction triggers a strong inflammatory response in the affected cardiac tissue. New therapeutic tools based on stem cell therapy may modulate the unbalanced inflammation in the damaged cardiac tissue, contributing to the resolution of this pathological condition. The main goal of this study was to analyze the immunomodulatory effects of cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) and their extracellular vesicles (EV-CDCs), delivered by intrapericardial administration in a clinically relevant animal model, during the initial pro-inflammatory phase of an induced myocardial infarction.

Evaluation of Bipolar, Tripolar, and Quadripolar Laplacian Estimates of Electrocardiogram via Concentric Ring Electrodes.

Surface Laplacian estimates via concentric ring electrodes (CREs) have proven to enhance spatial resolution compared to conventional disc electrodes, which is of great importance for P-wave analysis. In this study, Laplacian estimates for traditional bipolar configuration (BC), two tripolar configurations with linearly decreasing and increasing inter-ring distances (TC and TC respectively), and quadripolar configuration (QC) were obtained from cardiac recordings with pentapolar CREs placed at CMV1 and CMV2 positions. Normalized P-wave amplitude (NAP) was computed to assess the contrast to study atrial activity.

New electrohysterogram-based estimators of intrauterine pressure signal, tonus and contraction peak for non-invasive labor monitoring.

Background: Uterine activity monitoring is an essential part of managing the progress of pregnancy and labor. Although intrauterine pressure (IUP) is the only reliable method of estimating uterine mechanical activity, it is highly invasive. Since there is a direct relationship between the electrical and mechanical activity of uterine cells, surface electrohysterography (EHG) has become a noninvasive monitoring alternative.

Identification of very early inflammatory markers in a porcine myocardial infarction model.

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the most deleterious conditions leading to cardiovascular diseases and mortality. The importance of an early and accurate diagnosis assures immediate medical treatments, which are fundamental to reduce mortality and improve prognoses. AMI is associated to an inflammatory response which includes the increase of circulating inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and immune cell activation.

Assessment of haemophilic arthropathy through balance analysis: a promising tool.

The purpose of this study was to develop a tool able to distinguish between subjects who have haemophilic arthropathy in lower limbs and those who do not by analyzing the centre of pressure displacement. The second objective was to assess the possible different responses of haemophiliacs and healthy subjects by creating a classifier that could distinguish between both groups. Fifty-four haemophilic patients (28 with and 26 without arthropathy) and 23 healthy subjects took part voluntarily in the study.