The precision of computer-generated surgical splints.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the precision of stereolithographic surgical splints generated by the authors' computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technique by comparing them with the conventional acrylic splints.

Materials And Methods: Seven volunteers were used. A pair of surgical splints, stereolithographic and conventional acrylic splints, was fabricated for each subject.

Improved fetal nucleated erythrocyte sorting purity using intracellular antifetal hemoglobin and Hoechst 33342.

Fetal nucleated erythrocytes (FNRBC) flow sorted from maternal peripheral blood, using monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that bind fetal cell surface antigens, are a noninvasive source of fetal DNA for prenatal diagnosis. These mAbs, however, also bind antigens shared by maternal cells. In sorted populations, this results in maternal cell contamination and low fetal cell purities, which complicates genetic analysis by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Development of a model system to compare cell separation methods for the isolation of fetal cells from maternal blood.

Three major methods have been described for the isolation of fetal cells from maternal blood: fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), immunomagnetic beads, and magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). To date, no study has directly compared fetal cell recovery using each of these methods. Here we describe our system using a "model' male fetal cell mixed into female peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Fetal RhD genotyping in fetal cells flow sorted from maternal blood.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of noninvasive fetal RhD genotyping by fetal cell isolation from maternal blood.

Study Design: Candidate fetal cells from 18 pregnant women (one twin gestation) were flow-sorted. Polymerase chain reaction amplification of a 261 bp fragment of the RhD gene was performed on sorted fetal cells.

Flow sorting of fetal erythroblasts using intracytoplasmic anti-fetal haemoglobin: preliminary observations on maternal samples.

Monoclonal antibody to fetal haemoglobin (alpha 2 gamma 2) has been proposed as a fetal-specific reagent. We developed an intracellular staining protocol that combines fluorescein isothiocyanate or phycoerythrin conjugated anti-gamma with the DNA binding dye Hoechst 33342 to identify and flow sort fetal erythroblasts from maternal blood. Our preliminary observations on anti-gamma-positive cells sorted from four different pregnant women are described here, using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with chromosome-specific probes to identify fetal cells.