NITINOL-based actuator for device control even in high-field MRI environment.

Background: The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment with its high-strength magnetic fields requires specialized and sometimes sophisticated solutions for otherwise simple problems. One of these problems is MR-compatible actuator mechanisms that transfer a signal into an action.

Purpose: Normal actuators are based on a magnetic effect (eg, relays) and will typically not work in magnetic fields exceeding 1000 G, eg, inside the bore of an MR scanner.

Superficial skin cancer therapy with Y-90 microspheres: A feasibility study on patch preparation.

Background: Radiation therapy using beta particles is an interesting treatment for very superficial skin lesions. Due to their low penetration in tissue and rapid dose fall-off, beta particles can protect underlying bony structures and surrounding healthy tissue while irradiating the skin tumor. In the current work, a simple method for the fabrication of a radioactive patch for use in skin cancer therapy based on a beta-emitting isotope is presented.

A study of concentration changes of Protoporphyrin IX and Coproporphyrin III in mixed samples mimicking conditions inside cancer cells for Photodynamic Therapy.

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) using Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) could be an effective and minimally invasively applicable way to treat many different types of tumors without radiation and large incisions by just applying a light pulse. However the PDT process is difficult to observe, control and optimize and the dynamical relationships between the variables involved in the process is complex and still hardly understood. One of the main variables affecting the outcome of the process is the determination of the interval of time between ALA inoculation and starting of light delivery.