Histological assessment of thermal damage in porcine muscle induced by monopolar electrosurgical cutting devices during manual and robotic testing.

Surgical cutting with electrosurgical tools facilitates tissue dissection and vessel sealing, preventing blood loss. The extent of tissue necrosis due to temperature elevations is dependent on the cutting technique, device design, coating properties and power settings, but the influence of these parameters is not fully understood. Here we conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis of thermal damage comparing (1) manual user-controlled and robotic electrosurgical cutting approaches for (2) varying electrodes and coatings, and power settings.

Altered extracellular matrix and mechanotransduction gene expression in rat bone tissue following long-term estrogen deficiency.

Osteoporosis is primarily associated with bone loss, but changes in bone tissue matrix composition and osteocyte mechanotransduction have also been identified. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these changes and their relation to bone loss are not fully understood. The objectives of this study were to (1) conduct comprehensive temporal gene expression analyses on cortical bone tissue from ovariectomized rats, with a specific focus on genes known to govern matrix degradation, matrix production, and mechanotransduction, and (2) correlate these findings with bone mass, trabecular and cortical microarchitecture, and mineral and matrix composition.

Nonlinear Tissue Permeability Drives Tissue Pressure and Injection Distribution: A Computational Investigation of Subcutaneous Injections.

There is a significant opportunity to expand the understanding of subcutaneous injection mechanics with an aim to increase injectable volume while controlling tissue strain and associated subject pain. Computational modeling can evaluate the mechanics of subcutaneous injections as a supplement to experimental, animal and clinical studies. The objectives of this study are to (1) develop a computational model for subcutaneous injection in tissue, (2) investigate the influence anisotropic tissue permeability has on bolus formation, and (3) explore the effects that injection flow rate and viscosity have on injection flow and tissue strain.

Instrumental in Surgery: A Narrative Review on Energy-based Surgical Cutting Devices and Surgical Smoke.

Objective: To provide an informed understanding of existing energy-based surgical cutting technologies and aerosol-generating surgical procedures. We provide a perspective on the future innovation and research potential in this space for the benefit of surgeons, physicians, engineers, and researchers alike.

Background: Surgery is a treatment for many medical conditions, the success of which depends on surgical cutting instruments that enable surgeons to conduct surgical procedures for tissue cutting and manipulation.

Comparison of Surgical Smoke Generated During Electrosurgery with Aerosolized Particulates from Ultrasonic and High-Speed Cutting.

"Surgical smoke" is an airborne by-product of electrosurgery comprised of vapour and suspended particles. Although concerns exist that exposure may be harmful, there is a poor understanding of the smoke in terms of particle size, morphology, composition and biological viability. Notably, it is not known how the biological tissue source and cutting method influence the smoke.

Circumferential tissue compression at the lower limb during walking, and its effect on discomfort, pain and tissue oxygenation: Application to soft exoskeleton design.

Soft exoskeletons apply compressive forces at the limbs via connection cuffs to actuate movement or stabilise joints. To avoid excessive mechanical loading, the interface with the wearer's body needs to be carefully designed. The purpose of this study was to establish the magnitude of circumferential compression at the lower limb during walking that causes discomfort/pain.

The need for a standard approach to assessing the functionality of rural community water supplies.

The Sustainable Development Goals have set an agenda for transformational change in water access, aiming for secure household connections globally. Despite this goal, communal groundwater supplies are likely to remain the main source of improved water supplies for many rural areas in Africa and South Asia for decades to come. Understanding the poor functionality of existing communal supplies remains, therefore, a priority.

Noseband Use in Equestrian Sports - An International Study.

Nosebands are used by riders to prevent the horse from opening its mouth, to increase control and, in some cases, to comply with the competition rules. While equestrian texts traditionally recommend that two adult human fingers should be able to fit under a fastened noseband, noseband tightness levels are not, in general, regulated in competition. Possible detrimental consequences for the horse, of excessively tight nosebands, include discomfort, pain or tissue damage.

An Objective Measure of Noseband Tightness and Its Measurement Using a Novel Digital Tightness Gauge.

Noseband tightness is difficult to assess in horses participating in equestrian sports such as dressage, show jumping and three-day-eventing. There is growing concern that nosebands are commonly tightened to such an extent as to restrict normal equine behaviour and possibly cause injury. In the absence of a clear agreed definition of noseband tightness, a simple model of the equine nose-noseband interface environment was developed in order to guide further studies in this area.

A Study of Healthy Adults' Oro-lingual Effort During Swallowing Using OroPress, A New Portable Wireless Measurement Tool.

OroPress is a new, low profile, portable, wireless tool that enables stable measurement of tongue pressure during isometric ('pushing') tasks and, more importantly, during swallowing. Using this tool, a pressure-time product, the OroPress Absolute (OPA) parameter, has been developed as a representative measure of lingual effort during swallowing. In a sample of 57 adults aged 20-80+ years, of both sexes and without dysphagia, tongue-palate contact pressures generated while swallowing 5 ml, 10 ml of water and 5 ml custard, were recorded using OroPress.

OroPress a new wireless tool for measuring oro-lingual pressures: a pilot study in healthy adults.

Background: Commercially available tools for measuring oro-lingual pressures during swallowing or isometric (tongue 'pushing') tasks have either poor, or unknown, psychometric properties (stability, reliability) which means their validity in a clinical setting is unknown. A new wireless tool, OroPress, has been designed to address the shortcomings of existing devices. In this pilot cohort study of normal adults (i.