Reducing costs and improving patient recovery through a nurse-driven centralized spinal orthoses program on a post-surgical unit: A quality improvement initiative.

Background: An external vendor providing off-the-shelf spinal orthoses to inpatients created significant costs and barriers to quality care for spinal surgery patients. A nursing leadership team initiated a quality improvement project to reduce the cost of providing off-the-shelf spinal orthoses and improve the care provided to spinal patients.

Objective: To develop and evaluate a nursing-led process for providing off-the-shelf orthoses to spinal surgery patients and eliminate high costs.

Impact of the physical therapy-managed spinal orthoses program on cost of care in the hospital setting: a retrospective interrupted time-series study.

Background: The physical therapy (PT) department at a level 1 trauma center identified vendor delivery delays of off-the-shelf (OTS) spinal orthoses that delayed patient mobilization.

Objective: This study aimed to identify improvements in mobilization times, discharge times and reduction in the cost of care after centralizing the management of orthoses within the therapy department.

Method: The centralized management of OTS spinal orthoses included stocking three adjustable lumbosacral and thoraco-lumbosacral orthosis sizes and ensuring that all personnel received training to appropriately fit the orthoses to patients.

Psychiatric and Behavioral Characteristics Among Male Adolescents With Sexually Acting Out Behaviors Admitted to a Residential Treatment Facility.

One quarter of sexual offenses in the criminal justice system are committed by children and adolescents. Mental health conditions, trauma history, and relationship to the victim may play a role in sexually acting out behaviors (SAB). A retroactive chart review was performed to discover commonalities among 109 adolescent males with SAB admitted to a residential treatment facility.

Focal infrared neural stimulation with high-field functional MRI: A rapid way to map mesoscale brain connectomes.

We have developed a way to map brain-wide networks using focal pulsed infrared neural stimulation in ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The patterns of connections revealed are similar to those of connections previously mapped with anatomical tract tracing methods. These include connections between cortex and subcortical locations and long-range cortico-cortical connections.

Infrared neural stimulation of human spinal nerve roots in vivo.

Infrared neural stimulation (INS) is a neurostimulation modality that uses pulsed infrared light to evoke artifact-free, spatially precise neural activity with a noncontact interface; however, the technique has not been demonstrated in humans. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of INS in humans in vivo. The feasibility of INS in humans was assessed in patients ([Formula: see text]) undergoing selective dorsal root rhizotomy, where hyperactive dorsal roots, identified for transection, were stimulated in vivo with INS on two to three sites per nerve with electromyogram recordings acquired throughout the stimulation.

Calcium imaging of infrared-stimulated activity in rodent brain.

Infrared neural stimulation (INS) is a promising neurostimulation technique that can activate neural tissue with high spatial precision and without the need for exogenous agents. However, little is understood about how infrared light interacts with neural tissue on a cellular level, particularly within the living brain. In this study, we use calcium sensitive dye imaging on macroscopic and microscopic scales to explore the spatiotemporal effects of INS on cortical calcium dynamics.

Infrared neural stimulation of primary visual cortex in non-human primates.

Infrared neural stimulation (INS) is an alternative neurostimulation modality that uses pulsed infrared light to evoke spatially precise neural activity that does not require direct contact with neural tissue. With these advantages INS has the potential to increase our understanding of specific neural pathways and impact current diagnostic and therapeutic clinical applications. In order to develop this technique, we investigate the feasibility of INS (λ=1.

Pulsed infrared light alters neural activity in rat somatosensory cortex in vivo.

Pulsed infrared light has shown promise as an alternative to electrical stimulation in applications where contact free or high spatial precision stimulation is desired. Infrared neural stimulation (INS) is well characterized in the peripheral nervous system; however, to date, research has been limited in the central nervous system. In this study, pulsed infrared light (λ=1.

Imaging optically induced neural activity in the brain.

Infrared neural stimulation (INS) is well characterized for the peripheral nervous system; however, translation to the central nervous system (CNS) presents a new set of challenges which require us to consider different anatomy, multiple cell types, and the physiology associated with structures in the CNS. This study presents our first attempt to translate INS to in vivo stimulation of the CNS and to image the related response. The results from this study show that INS generates intrinsic optical signals of similar magnitude and shape associated with well characterized mechanical stimuli.

Combined optical and electrical stimulation of neural tissue in vivo.

Low-intensity, pulsed infrared light provides a novel nerve stimulation modality that avoids the limitations of traditional electrical methods such as necessity of contact, presence of a stimulation artifact, and relatively poor spatial precision. Infrared neural stimulation (INS) is, however, limited by a 2:1 ratio of threshold radiant exposures for damage to that for stimulation. We have shown that this ratio is increased to nearly 6:1 by combining the infrared pulse with a subthreshold electrical stimulus.