U.S. payer budget impact of using an AI-augmented cancer risk discrimination digital histopathology platform to identify high-risk of recurrence in women with early-stage invasive breast cancer.

Aims: Use of gene expression signatures to predict adjuvant chemotherapy benefit in women with early-stage breast cancer is increasing. However, high cost, limited access, and eligibility for these tests results in the adoption of less precise assessment approaches. This study evaluates the cost impact of PreciseDx Breast (PDxBr), an AI-augmented histopathology platform that assesses the 6-year risk of recurrence in early-stage invasive breast cancer patients to help improve informed use of adjuvant chemotherapy.

US payer budget impact of a microarray assay with machine learning to evaluate kidney transplant rejection in for-cause biopsies.

Aim: This study evaluates the economic impact to US commercial payers of MMDx-Kidney used in conjunction with histologic evaluation of for-cause kidney transplant biopsies.

Materials And Methods: An Excel-based model was developed to assess the cost impact of histology plus MMDx-Kidney versus histology alone for the evaluation of potential rejection in kidney transplant patients who receive a for-cause biopsy. Different model time periods were assessed, ranging from 1 to 5 years post-biopsy.

Preserving Wideband Tympanometry Information With Artifact Mitigation.

Objective: Absorbance measured using wideband tympanometry (WBT) has been shown to be sensitive to changes in middle and inner ear mechanics, with potential to diagnose various mechanical ear pathologies. However, artifacts in absorbance due to measurement noise can obscure information related to pathologies and increase intermeasurement variability. Published reports frequently present absorbance that has undergone smoothing to minimize artifact; however, smoothing changes the true absorbance and can destroy important narrow-band characteristics such as peaks and notches at different frequencies.

Mechanics of Total Drum Replacement Tympanoplasty Studied With Wideband Acoustic Immittance.

Objective: Poor hearing outcomes often persist following total drum replacement tympanoplasty. To understand the mechanics of the reconstructed eardrum, we measured wideband acoustic immittance and compared the mechanical characteristics of fascia-grafted ears with the normal tympanic membrane.

Study Design: Prospective comparison study.

Fracture of the Incus Caused by Digital Manipulation of the Ear Canal and its Diagnosis Using Wideband Acoustic Immittance.

Objective: To describe the first reported case of a fracture of the long process of the incus due to digital manipulation of the ear canal and to discuss diagnostic markers for ossicular fractures.

Patient: A 46-year-old woman with incessant clicking and crunching in her left ear, and hearing loss after digital manipulation of the ear canal.

Intervention: Diagnostic evaluation and therapeutic ossiculoplasty.

Infrasound transmission in the human ear: Implications for acoustic and vestibular responses of the normal and dehiscent inner ear.

The transmission of infrasound within the human ear is not well understood. To investigate infrasound propagation through the middle and inner ear, velocities of the stapes and round window membrane were measured to very low frequencies (down to 0.9 Hz from 2000 Hz) in fresh cadaveric human specimens.

Coordinated regulation of acid resistance in Escherichia coli.

Background: Enteric Escherichia coli survives the highly acidic environment of the stomach through multiple acid resistance (AR) mechanisms. The most effective system, AR2, decarboxylates externally-derived glutamate to remove cytoplasmic protons and excrete GABA. The first described system, AR1, does not require an external amino acid.