Development of metaverse for intelligent healthcare.

The metaverse integrates physical and virtual realities, enabling humans and their avatars to interact in an environment supported by technologies such as high-speed internet, virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed and extended reality, blockchain, digital twins and artificial intelligence (AI), all enriched by effectively unlimited data. The metaverse recently emerged as social media and entertainment platforms, but extension to healthcare could have a profound impact on clinical practice and human health. As a group of academic, industrial, clinical and regulatory researchers, we identify unique opportunities for metaverse approaches in the healthcare domain.

Novel therapeutics and drug-delivery approaches in the modulation of glioblastoma stem cell resistance.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a deadly malignancy with a poor prognosis. An important factor contributing to GBM recurrence is high resistance of GBM cancer stem cells (GSCs). While temozolomide (TMZ), has been shown to consistently extend survival, GSCs grow resistant to TMZ through upregulation of DNA damage repair mechanisms and avoidance of apoptosis.

Development of CD133 Targeting Multi-Drug Polymer Micellar Nanoparticles for Glioblastoma - In Vitro Evaluation in Glioblastoma Stem Cells.

Purpose: Glioblastoma (GBM) is a malignant brain tumor with a poor long-term prognosis due to recurrence from highly resistant GBM cancer stem cells (CSCs), for which the current standard of treatment with temozolomide (TMZ) alone will unlikely produce a viable cure. In addition, CSCs regenerate rapidly and overexpress methyl transferase which overrides the DNA-alkylating mechanism of TMZ, leading to resistance. The objective of this research was to apply the concepts of nanotechnology to develop a multi-drug therapy, TMZ and idasanutlin (RG7388, a potent mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) antagonist), loaded in functionalized nanoparticles (NPs) that target the GBM CSC subpopulation, reduce the cell viability and provide possibility of in vivo preclinical imaging.

Aerosolized In Vivo 3D Localization of Nose-to-Brain Nanocarrier Delivery Using Multimodality Neuroimaging in a Rat Model-Protocol Development.

The fate of intranasal aerosolized radiolabeled polymeric micellar nanoparticles (LPNPs) was tracked with positron emission tomography/computer tomography (PET/CT) imaging in a rat model to measure nose-to-brain delivery. A quantitative temporal and spatial testing protocol for new radio-nanotheranostic agents was sought in vivo. LPNPs labeled with a zirconium 89 (Zr) PET tracer were administered via intranasal or intravenous delivery, followed by serial PET/CT imaging.

Imaging of intranasal drug delivery to the brain.

Intranasal (IN) delivery is a rapidly developing area for therapies with great potential for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Moreover, in vivo imaging is becoming an important part of therapy assessment, both clinically in humans and translationally in animals. IN drug delivery is an alternative to systemic administration that uses the direct anatomic pathway between the olfactory/trigeminal neuroepithelium of the nasal mucosa and the brain.

CT Super-Resolution GAN Constrained by the Identical, Residual, and Cycle Learning Ensemble (GAN-CIRCLE).

In this paper, we present a semi-supervised deep learning approach to accurately recover high-resolution (HR) CT images from low-resolution (LR) counterparts. Specifically, with the generative adversarial network (GAN) as the building block, we enforce the cycle-consistency in terms of the Wasserstein distance to establish a nonlinear end-to-end mapping from noisy LR input images to denoised and deblurred HR outputs. We also include the joint constraints in the loss function to facilitate structural preservation.

How does the perceptual organization of a multi-tone mixture interact with partial and global loudness judgments?

Two experiments were conducted to investigate how the perceptual organization of a multi-tone mixture interacts with global and partial loudness judgments. Grouping (single-object) and segregating (two-object) conditions were created using frequency modulation by applying the same or different modulation frequencies to the odd- and even-rank harmonics. While in Experiment 1 (Exp.

Vision 20/20: Simultaneous CT-MRI--Next chapter of multimodality imaging.

Multimodality imaging systems such as positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) and MRI-PET are widely available, but a simultaneous CT-MRI instrument has not been developed. Synergies between independent modalities, e.g.

A Phase I Study of FOLFIRINOX Plus IPI-926, a Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor, for Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.

Objectives: In mouse models of pancreatic cancer, IPI-926, an oral Hedgehog inhibitor, increases chemotherapy delivery by depleting tumor-associated stroma. This multicenter phase Ib study evaluated IPI-926 in combination with FOLFIRINOX (5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, oxaliplatin) in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Methods: Patients were treated with once-daily IPI-926 plus FOLFIRINOX.

Lung cancer-a fractal viewpoint.

Fractals are mathematical constructs that show self-similarity over a range of scales and non-integer (fractal) dimensions. Owing to these properties, fractal geometry can be used to efficiently estimate the geometrical complexity, and the irregularity of shapes and patterns observed in lung tumour growth (over space or time), whereas the use of traditional Euclidean geometry in such calculations is more challenging. The application of fractal analysis in biomedical imaging and time series has shown considerable promise for measuring processes as varied as heart and respiratory rates, neuronal cell characterization, and vascular development.

Dynamic Contrast-enhanced MR Imaging Curve-type Analysis: Is It Helpful in the Differentiation of Prostate Cancer from Healthy Peripheral Zone?

Purpose: To evaluate the performance and interobserver agreement of qualitative dynamic contrast material enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging curve analysis as described in the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) for the differentiation of prostate cancer (PCa) from healthy prostatic tissue in the peripheral zone (PZ).

Materials And Methods: This Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant institutional review board-approved retrospective analysis included 120 consecutive pretreatment dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MR imaging PCa examinations. Regions of interest (ROIs) were placed in 251 spots, including 95 (37.

CT colonography with computer-aided detection: recognizing the causes of false-positive reader results.

Computed tomography (CT) colonography is a screening modality used to detect colonic polyps before they progress to colorectal cancer. Computer-aided detection (CAD) is designed to decrease errors of detection by finding and displaying polyp candidates for evaluation by the reader. CT colonography CAD false-positive results are common and have numerous causes.

Asymmetry in perceived duration between up-ramp and down-ramp sounds as a function of duration.

The perceived duration of 1-kHz pure tones with increasing or decreasing intensity profiles was measured. The ratio between the down- and up-ramp durations at equal subjective durations was examined as a function of the sound duration (50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 ms). At 50 and 100 ms, the ratio was constant and equaled about 1.

Analysis of myocardial perfusion from vasodilator stress computed tomography: does improvement in image quality by iterative reconstruction lead to improved diagnostic accuracy?

Background: Iterative reconstruction (IR) in cardiac CT has been shown to improve confidence of interpretation of noninvasive coronary CT angiography (CTA).

Objective: We hypothesized that IR would also improve the quality of vasodilator stress coronary CT images acquired with low tube voltage to assess myocardial perfusion and the accuracy of the detection of perfusion abnormalities by using quantitative 3-dimensional (3D) analysis.

Methods: We studied 39 consecutive patients referred for coronary CTA (256-slice scanner; Philips), who underwent additional imaging (100 kV, prospective gating) with regadenoson (0.

Determining scientific impact using a collaboration index.

Researchers collaborate on scientific projects that are often measured by both the quantity and the quality of the resultant peer-reviewed publications. However, not all collaborators contribute to these publications equally, making metrics such as the total number of publications and the H-index insufficient measurements of individual scientific impact. To remedy this, we use an axiomatic approach to assign relative credits to the coauthors of a given paper, referred to as the A-index for its axiomatic foundation.

BMI-based radiation dose reduction in CT colonography.

Rationale And Objectives: There is potential for x-ray dose reduction in computed tomography colonography (CTC) relative to body mass index (BMI). We evaluated the association between BMI and three-dimensional (3D) CTC image quality to assess the potential utility of BMI as the basis for radiation dose reduction in CTC.

Materials And Methods: Ninety-six consecutive patients underwent CTC and were randomized for scanning at 15 or 30 mAs.