Active Tracking-based cardiac triggering for MR-thermometry during radiofrequency ablation therapy in the left ventricle.

Cardiac MR thermometry shows promise for real-time guidance of radiofrequency ablation of cardiac arrhythmias. This technique uses ECG triggering, which can be unreliable in this situation. A prospective cardiac triggering method was developed for MR thermometry using the active tracking (AT) signal measured from catheter microcoils.

Transforming a pre-existing MRI environment into an interventional cardiac MRI suite.

Aims: To illustrate the practical and technical challenges along with the safety aspects when performing MRI-guided electrophysiological procedures in a pre-existing diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment.

Methods And Results: A dedicated, well-trained multidisciplinary interventional cardiac MRI team (iCMR team), consisting of electrophysiologists, imaging cardiologists, radiologists, anaesthesiologists, MRI physicists, electrophysiological (EP) and MRI technicians, biomedical engineers, and medical instrumentation technologists is a prerequisite for a safe and feasible implementation of CMR-guided electrophysiological procedures (iCMR) in a pre-existing MRI environment. A formal dry run "mock-up" to address the entire spectrum of technical, logistic, and safety issues was performed before obtaining final approval of the Board of Directors.

Evaluation of a real-time magnetic resonance imaging-guided electrophysiology system for structural and electrophysiological ventricular tachycardia substrate assessment.

Aims: Potential advantages of real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided electrophysiology (MR-EP) include contemporaneous three-dimensional substrate assessment at the time of intervention, improved procedural guidance, and ablation lesion assessment. We evaluated a novel real-time MR-EP system to perform endocardial voltage mapping and assessment of delayed conduction in a porcine ischaemia-reperfusion model.

Methods And Results: Sites of low voltage and slow conduction identified using the system were registered and compared to regions of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on MRI.

Clinical workflow and applicability of electrophysiological cardiovascular magnetic resonance-guided radiofrequency ablation of isthmus-dependent atrial flutter.

Aims: To determine safety and efficacy of electrophysiological cardiovascular magnetic resonance (EP-CMR)-guided radiofrequency (RF) ablation in patients with typical right atrial flutter in a routine clinical setting.

Methods And Results: Thirty patients with typical right atrial flutter underwent clinically indicated EP-CMR-guided cavotricuspid isthmus ablation. EP-CMR protocols included pre- and post-ablation CMR imaging (whole heart, T2-weighted, and early-/late-gadolinium enhancement) together with electroanatomic mapping of the right atrium.

Epicardial electroanatomical mapping, radiofrequency ablation, and lesion imaging in the porcine left ventricle under real-time magnetic resonance imaging guidance-an in vivo feasibility study.

Aims: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold standard for defining myocardial substrate in 3D and can be used to guide ventricular tachycardia ablation. We describe the feasibility of using a prototype magnetic resonance-guided electrophysiology (MR-EP) system in a pre-clinical model to perform real-time MRI-guided epicardial mapping, ablation, and lesion imaging with active catheter tracking.

Methods And Results: Experiments were performed in vivo in pigs (n = 6) using an MR-EP guidance system research prototype (Siemens Healthcare) with an irrigated ablation catheter (Vision-MR, Imricor) and a dedicated electrophysiology recording system (Advantage-MR, Imricor).

Evaluating the older adult experience of a web-based, tablet-delivered heart failure self-care program using gerontechnology principles.

The goals of gerontechnology are to develop technology that facilitates goal attainment and improves satisfaction with life for older adults. Few mHealth technology systems have been evaluated using these criteria. The purpose of this paper was to present the qualitative analysis of participant post-intervention interviews from the tablet-delivered Penn State Heart Assistant intervention.

The Penn State Heart Assistant: A pilot study of a web-based intervention to improve self-care of heart failure patients.

The Penn State Heart Assistant, a web-based, tablet computer-accessed, secure application was developed to conduct a proof of concept test, targeting patient self-care activities of heart failure patients including daily medication adherence, weight monitoring, and aerobic activity. Patients (n = 12) used the tablet computer-accessed program for 30 days-recording their information and viewing a short educational video. Linear random coefficient models assessed the relationship between weight and time and exercise and time.

A numerical investigation on the effect of RF coil feed variability on global and local electromagnetic field exposure in human body models at 64 MHz.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate how the positions of the feeding sources of the transmit radiofrequency (RF) coil, field orientation direction with respect to the patient, and patient dimensions affect the global and local electromagnetic exposure in human body models.

Methods: Three RF coil models were implemented, namely a specific two-source (S2) feed and two multisource feed configurations: generic 32-source (G32) and hybrid 16-source (H16). Thirty-two feeding conditions were studied for the S2, whereas two were studied for the G32 and H16.

RF induced energy for partially implanted catheters: a computational study.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a radiological imaging technique widely used in clinical practice. MRI has been proposed to guide the catheters for interventional procedures, such as cardiac ablation. However, there are risks associated with this procedure, such as RF-induced heating of tissue near the catheters.

A novel method to correctly place the fasciotomy incision for decompression of the anterior and peroneal compartments of the leg.

Unlabelled: Incorrectly placed fasciotomy incisions can lead to catastrophic complications in compartment syndrome. Two distinctly different techniques are widely practiced to decompress the anterior and peroneal compartments. In one technique the anterior compartment is decompressed directly, and then the peroneal via the inter-muscular septum, avoiding the peroneal perforators.

Assessing the Electromagnetic Fields Generated By a Radiofrequency MRI Body Coil at 64 MHz: Defeaturing Versus Accuracy.

Goal: This study aims at a systematic assessment of five computational models of a birdcage coil for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with respect to accuracy and computational cost.

Methods: The models were implemented using the same geometrical model and numerical algorithm, but different driving methods (i.e.

Health knowledge among the millennial generation.

The Millennial Generation, also known as Generation Y, is the demographic cohort following Generation X, and is generally regarded to be composed of those individuals born between 1980 and 2000. They are the first to grow up in an environment where health-related information is widely available by internet, TV and other electronic media, yet we know very little about the scope of their health knowledge. This study was undertaken to quantify two domains of clinically relevant health knowledge: factual content and ability to solve health related questions (application) in nine clinically related medical areas.

Multimedia education increases elder knowledge of emergency department care.

Introduction: Elders who utilize the emergency department (ED) may have little prospective knowledge of appropriate expectations during an ED encounter. Improving elder orientation to ED expectations is important for satisfaction and health education. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a multi-media education intervention as a method for informing independently living elders about ED care.

Effect of adolescent pregnancy on final adult height in non-Hispanic white women.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to examine the effect of pregnancy on final adult height in women whose first live birth occurred in adolescence (
Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2004. Regression analysis was used for comparisons of adult height between the two groups.

Evaluation of the RF heating of a generic deep brain stimulator exposed in 1.5 T magnetic resonance scanners.

The radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic field of magnetic resonance (MR) scanners can result in significant tissue heating due to the RF coupling with the conducting parts of medical implants. The objective of this article is to evaluate the advantages and shortcomings of a new four-tier approach based on a combined numerical and experimental procedure, designed to demonstrate safety of implants during MR scans. To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first study analyzing this technique.

HIV/AIDS and drug policy: a new approach for law enforcement.

While law enforcement often plays a deleterious role in furthering the spread of HIV/AIDS, there are also opportunities for it to promote health and reduce risky behaviour. The following article by Tom Lloyd summarizes an AIDS 2010 panel discussion, which he moderated, on the steps that law enforcement leadership could take in that regard.

Trace LC/MS/MS quantitation of 17beta-estradiol as a biomarker for selective estrogen receptor modulator activity in the rat brain.

A sensitive LC/MS/MS method has been developed by derivatization of 17beta-estradiol (E2) with dansyl chloride to quantitate 17beta-E2 in female rat serum. The use of E2-d(5) minimized interferences from endogenous 17beta-E2 in order to achieve a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 2.5 pg/ml using 150 microl of female rat serum.

International longitudinal pediatric reference standards for bone mineral content.

To render a diagnosis pediatricians rely upon reference standards for bone mineral density or bone mineral content, which are based on cross-sectional data from a relatively small sample of children. These standards are unable to adequately represent growth in a diverse pediatric population. Thus, the goal of this study was to develop sex and site-specific standards for BMC using longitudinal data collected from four international sites in Canada and the United States.

Proximal femur mechanical adaptation to weight gain in late adolescence: a six-year longitudinal study.

Unlabelled: The effect of weight gain in late adolescence on bone is not clear. Young women who consistently gained weight (n = 23) from 17 to 22 yr of age had increased BMD but a lack of subperiosteal expansion compared with stable weight peers (n = 48). Bone strength increased appropriately for lean mass in both groups but decreased relative to body weight in weight gainers, suggesting increased bone fragility in weight gainers.

A survey of consumer attitudes to the supply and use of human hepatocytes in the United Kingdom.

Human hepatocytes are the model of choice for pharmacotoxicological studies, but their acquisition is often problematic due to ethical and logistical difficulties. The UK Human Tissue Bank is a not-for-profit organisation that acquires and processes human tissue, with a specialist interest in the isolation of human hepatocytes. A recent in-house survey of the processing of liver tissue over 1 year revealed that freshly isolated hepatocytes were underutilised due to mismatched consumer demand, despite the published need for them.

Patient information following emergency laparoscopy for right iliac fossa pain.

Laparoscopy is increasingly used as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in the management of emergency surgical admissions. Laparoscopic scars give little clue to the operation performed. Hence, the future assessment of patients re-admitted with abdominal pain, often needs to rely on the patient's own account of the operation performed.

Femoral bone structural geometry adapts to mechanical loading and is influenced by sex steroids: the Penn State Young Women's Health Study.

We used 10 years of longitudinal data from Penn State Young Women's Health Study to explore predictors of adult bone structural geometry and strength. One hundred twelve participants were enrolled in the study at age 12. We report findings on the 76 participants who remained in the study for 10 years.