Patient-specific needle guidance templates drilled intraprocedurally for image guided intervention: feasibility study in swine.

Purpose: Thermal ablation of large tumors may benefit from simultaneous placement of multiple needles, but accurate placement becomes challenging as the number of needles increases. The aim of this work was to evaluate use of personalized needle guidance grid templates based on intraprocedural CT and fabricated at the point of care to implement ablation treatment plans with multiple needles in vivo.

Methods: A plastic frame was designed to hold two parallel plastic guide plates in a rigid relationship, fixed over the abdomen by a mounting arm.

Tracked Foley catheter for motion compensation during fusion image-guided prostate procedures: a phantom study.

Background: Uncorrected patient or prostate motion may impair targeting prostate areas during fusion image-guided procedures. We evaluated if a prototype "tracked Foley catheter" (TFC) could maintain fusion image alignment after simulated organ motion.

Methods: A pelvic phantom model underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the prostate was segmented.

Patient-specific templates for image-guided intervention - a phantom study.

To evaluate the accuracy of a new device and method for simultaneous stereotactic CT-guided punctures. 240 needle paths were planned in 1 mm, 1.5 mm and 3 mm slice thickness with a custom-designed software.

Effects of TWIN-OF-EYELESS on Clock Gene Expression and Central-Pacemaker Neuron Development in Drosophila.

Circadian oscillators are autonomous molecular rhythms that reside in cells to align whole-organism physiology and behavior to the 24-h day. In flies, as in mammals, the oscillator operates in cells that coexpress CLOCK (CLK) and CYCLE (CYC). Recent work in Drosophila has shown that CLK is unique in its ability to generate heterologous oscillators, indicating that Clk gene expression defines the circadian cell fate.

The E3 ubiquitin ligase UBE3A is an integral component of the molecular circadian clock through regulating the BMAL1 transcription factor.

Post-translational modifications (such as ubiquitination) of clock proteins are critical in maintaining the precision and robustness of the evolutionarily conserved circadian clock. Ubiquitination of the core clock transcription factor BMAL1 (brain and muscle Arnt-like 1) has recently been reported. However, it remains unknown whether BMAL1 ubiquitination affects circadian pacemaking and what ubiquitin ligase(s) is involved.