Objective: Hemolysis is one of the main reasons for blood sample rejection in clinical laboratories. The scope of this study is to develop a simple, sensitive, and cost-effective method for hemolysis detection in presence of interferants like bilirubin, and lipids in sub-microliter volumes of blood plasma.
Methods: Experimental samples were prepared in plasma extracted from whole blood.
Time-domain diffuse optical measurement systems determine depth-resolved absorption changes by using the time of flight distribution of the detected photons. It is well known that certain feature data, such as the Laplace transform of the temporal point spread function, is sufficient for image reconstruction and diffuse optical sensing. Conventional time-domain systems require the acquisition of full temporal profiles of diffusive photons and then numerically compute the feature dataset, for example, Laplace transformed intensities for imaging applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report an ultrahigh-speed and high-resolution line-scan spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) system that integrates a number of mechanisms for improving image quality. The illumination uniformity is significantly improved by the use of a Powell lens; Phase stepping and differential reconstruction are combined to suppress autocorrelation artifacts; Nonlocal means (NLM) is employed to enhance the signal to noise ratio while minimizing motion artifacts. The system is capable of acquiring cross-sectional images at more than 3,500 B-scans per second with sensitivities between 70dB and 90dB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCongenital cardiovascular defects are the leading cause of birth defect related death. It has been hypothesized that fluid mechanical forces of embryonic blood flow affect cardiovascular development and play a role in congenital malformations. Studies in small animal embryos can improve our understanding of congenital malformations and can lead to better treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The authors conducted a systematic review to study the efficacy of botulinum toxin type A (BoTN-A) in the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome.
Types Of Studies Reviewed: The authors identified randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled studies on June 1, 2016, from PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. Three of the authors assessed the studies for risk of bias.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a widely used structural imaging method. However, it has limited use in molecular imaging due to the lack of an effective contrast mechanism. Gold nanoparticles have been widely used as molecular probes for optical microcopy based on Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOptical coherence microscopy (OCM) is a widely used structural imaging modality. To extend its application in molecular imaging, gold nanorods are widely used as contrast agents for OCM. However, they very often offer limited sensitivity as a result of poor signal to background ratio.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOptical coherence tomography (OCT) is a widely used morphological imaging modality. Various contrast agents, which change localized optical properties, are used to extend the applicability of OCT, where intrinsic contrast is not sufficient. In this paper we propose the use of a dual-rod gold nano-structure as a polarization sensitive contrast agent.
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