Understanding Deformation and Breakup Tendency of Shear-Thinning Viscoelastic Drops in Constricted Microchannels.

The study of drop deformation in response to various stresses has long piqued the interest of several academics. The deformation behavior of cells, drug carriers, and even drug particles moving via microcapillaries inside the human body can be modeled using a viscoelastic drop model. A drop breakup study can also provide better design guidance for nanocarriers that can deliver on-demand burst drug releases at specific cancer sites.

Transport Behavior of Commercial Anticancer Drug Protein-Bound Paclitaxel (Paclicad) in a Micron-Sized Channel.

Protein-bound paclitaxel has been developed clinically as one of the most successful chemotherapy drugs for the treatment of a wide variety of cancers. However, these medications, due to their nanoscale properties, may often induce capillary blocking while migrating through minute blood vessels. Considering the detrimental impact of this restriction, we investigated the transport of protein-bound paclitaxel, Paclicad, in a 7 μm microchannel mimicking the identical mechanical confinement of the blood capillaries.

Serial Doppler Gradients Are Predictive of Future Bioprosthetic Valve Degeneration.

Doppler echocardiography and color flow imaging are helpful techniques in evaluating the functional status of a bioprosthetic valve. The aim of this study was to determine whether serial Doppler gradients are predictive of future bioprosthetic valve degeneration. We performed serial echo-Doppler studies over a 6-year period (1988-1994) on 228 patients who had undergone mitral (n = 112) or aortic (n = 116) bioprosthetic valve implantation between 1973 and 1994.