Can heat therapy help patients with heart failure?

To review and analyze the clinical outcomes of thermal therapy (≤1.4°C increase in core body temperature) in patients with heart failure (HF). A systematic review and meta-analysis regarding the effects of thermal therapy on HF was done by searching PubMed, Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, Scopus, and internal databases up to date (2019).

In Vitro Assessment of Electric Currents Increasing the Effectiveness of Vancomycin Against Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilms.

Biofilms are communities of bacteria that can cause infections which are resistant to the immune system and antimicrobial treatments, posing a significant threat for patients with implantable and indwelling medical devices. The purpose of our research was to determine if utilizing specific parameters for electric currents in conjunction with antibiotics could effectively treat a highly resistant biofilm. Our study evaluated the impact of 16 μg/mL of vancomycin with or without 22 or 333 μA of direct electric current (DC) generated by stainless steel electrodes against 24-, 48-, and 72-h-old Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms formed on titanium coupons.

Medical device market in China.

With China's growing old-age population and economic presence on the international stage, it has become important to evaluate its domestic and foreign market contribution to medical devices. Medical devices are instruments or apparatuses used in the prevention, rehabilitation, treatment, or knowledge generation with respect to disease or other abnormal conditions. This article provides information drawn from recent publications to describe the current state of the Chinese domestic market for medical devices and to define opportunities for foreign investment potential therein.

Investigation of low-voltage pulse parameters on electroporation and electrical lysis using a microfluidic device with interdigitated electrodes.

Electroporation (EP) of biological cells leads to the exchange of materials through the permeabilized cell membrane, while electrical lysis (EL) irreversibly disrupts the cell membrane. We report a microfluidic device to study these two phenomena with low-voltage excitation for lab-on-a-chip (LOC) applications. For systematic study of EP, we have employed a quantification metric: flow Index (FI) of EP.

Electrical lysis: dynamics revisited and advances in On-chip operation.

Electrical lysis (EL) is the process of breaking the cell membrane to expose the internal contents under an applied high electric field. Lysis is an important phenomenon for cellular analysis, medical treatment, and biofouling control. This paper aims to review, summarize, and analyze recent advancements on EL.