Comparison of wireless handheld ultrasound and high-end ultrasound in pediatric patients with venous malformations - First results.

Aim: To evaluate the usefulness of handheld ultrasound in comparison with high-end ultrasound for lesion evaluation before and after sclerotherapy in pediatric patients with venous malformations (VMs).

Material And Methods: 10 pediatric patients prior to and after sclerotherapy were scanned by an experienced examiner using handheld ultrasound (Vscan AirTM) and high-end ultrasound (LOGIQ E9/E10) as reference. Patients with associated venous thromboses and intralesional aneurysms had been excluded.

Initial description of the novel handheld wireless ultrasound device TE Air with Doppler and Color Duplex imaging.

Objective: To test and initially describe a new handheld wireless ultrasound technique (TE Air) for clinical use.

Methods: In this pilot study, the new ultrasound device TE Air from Mindray was used to examine the hepatic and renal vessels of healthy volunteers for first impressions. The probe has a sector transducer with a frequency range of 1.

Association of spermidine blood levels with microstructure of sleep-implications from a population-based study.

Deteriorations in slow wave sleep (SWS) have been linked to brain aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD), possibly due to its key role in clearance of amyloid-beta and tau (Aß/tau), two pathogenic hallmarks of AD. Spermidine administration has been shown to improve sleep quality in animal models. So far, the association between spermidine levels in humans and parameters of SWS physiology are unknown but may be valuable for therapeutic strategies.

Superselective Catheter Angiographies of the Wrist (SCAW): Approaches for Vascularized Bone Grafts.

This study assesses the variability of the palmar radiocarpal artery (PRCA), dorsal carpal branch of the ulnar artery (DCBUA), and anterior interosseous artery (AIA) in superselective catheter angiographies of the wrist (SCAW). Secondary analysis of consecutive SCAW (2009-2011). Measurements of the distances of the PRCA to the midface of the radiocarpal joint, the DCBUA to the styloid process of the ulnar, and maximum diameters of PRCA, DCBUA, and AIA.

Spacer-Supported Thermal Ablation to Prevent Carbonisation and Improve Ablation Size: A Proof of Concept Study.

Thermal ablation offers a minimally invasive alternative in the treatment of hepatic tumours. Several types of ablation are utilised with different methods and indications. However, to this day, ablation size remains limited due to the formation of a central non-conductive boundary layer.

Deciphering the Effect of Different Genetic Variants on Hippocampal Subfield Volumes in the General Population.

The aim of this study was to disentangle the effects of various genetic factors on hippocampal subfield volumes using three different approaches: a biologically driven candidate gene approach, a hypothesis-free GWAS approach, and a polygenic approach, where AD risk alleles are combined with a polygenic risk score (PRS). The impact of these genetic factors was investigated in a large dementia-free general population cohort from the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP, = 1806). Analyses were performed using linear regression models adjusted for biological and environmental risk factors.

Volume of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder: mega-analytic results from 37 samples in the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group.

There is limited convergence in neuroimaging investigations into volumes of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The inconsistent findings may arise from variations in methodological approaches across studies, including sample selection based on age and clinical characteristics. The ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group initiated a global mega-analysis to determine whether differences in subcortical volumes can be detected in adults and adolescents with SAD relative to healthy controls.

Multimodal brain age prediction fusing morphometric and imaging data and association with cardiovascular risk factors.

Introduction: The difference between the chronological and biological brain age, called the brain age gap (BAG), has been identified as a promising biomarker to detect deviation from normal brain aging and to indicate the presence of neurodegenerative diseases. Moreover, the BAG has been shown to encode biological information about general health, which can be measured through cardiovascular risk factors. Current approaches for biological brain age estimation, and therefore BAG estimation, either depend on hand-crafted, morphological measurements extracted from brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or on direct analysis of brain MRI images.

Wireless handheld focused ultrasound in student teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic: Initial results of a pilot study1.

Objective: The study aim was to investigate the use of a novel device, the Vscan Air™, for rapidly and effectively performing ultrasound in student teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Material And Methods: As part of the ultrasound practical course with integrated hands-on activity required by the regular medical curriculum, 100 medical students were instructed in the use of the Vscan Air™, including duplex mode. They then evaluated the quality of the ultrasound images obtained by the Vscan Air™ from previously selected organs.

MR microscopy of the developing upper extremity of the chicken in ovo using 7 Tesla MRI.

MR microscopy (MRM) is known as ultra-high-field (UHF) magnetic resonance imaging with an in-plane spatial resolution of <100 μm, yields highly resolved non-invasive anatomical imaging and allows longitudinal assessment of embryonic avian development. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of in vivo anatomical MRI assessment of the developing upper extremity of the chicken. Thirty-eight fertilized chicken eggs were examined at 7 Tesla acquiring high-resolution T2-weighted images with an in-plane resolution of 74 × 74 μm.

Performance in information processing speed is associated with parietal white matter tract integrity in multiple sclerosis.

Background: The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) is most frequently used to test processing speed in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Functional imaging studies emphasize the importance of frontal and parietal areas for task performance, but the influence of frontoparietal tracts has not been thoroughly studied. We were interested in tract-specific characteristics and their association with processing speed in MS patients.

Association of spermidine plasma levels with brain aging in a population-based study.

Introduction: Supplementation with spermidine may support healthy aging, but elevated spermidine tissue levels were shown to be an indicator of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: Data from 659 participants (age range: 21-81 years) of the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania TREND were included. We investigated the association between spermidine plasma levels and markers of brain aging (hippocampal volume, AD score, global cortical thickness [CT], and white matter hyperintensities [WMH]).

An analysis of the effects of limited training data in distributed learning scenarios for brain age prediction.

Objective: Distributed learning avoids problems associated with central data collection by training models locally at each site. This can be achieved by federated learning (FL) aggregating multiple models that were trained in parallel or training a single model visiting sites sequentially, the traveling model (TM). While both approaches have been applied to medical imaging tasks, their performance in limited local data scenarios remains unknown.

Mobile handheld ultrasound with VScan Air for the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate a new W-Lan-supported ultrasound mobile technology for the diagnosis of vascular peripheral thrombosis.

Material And Methods: Fifty patients were examined by an experienced reference sonographer using high-end technology and a W-Lan supported device (VScan Air) to evaluate its diagnostic capabilities for peripheral thrombosis.

Results: Fifty patients were examined (age, 25-88 years; male, n = 27, female n = 23).

Framework and baseline examination of the German National Cohort (NAKO).

The German National Cohort (NAKO) is a multidisciplinary, population-based prospective cohort study that aims to investigate the causes of widespread diseases, identify risk factors and improve early detection and prevention of disease. Specifically, NAKO is designed to identify novel and better characterize established risk and protection factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases, musculoskeletal diseases, respiratory and infectious diseases in a random sample of the general population. Between 2014 and 2019, a total of 205,415 men and women aged 19-74 years were recruited and examined in 18 study centres in Germany.

An exploratory causal analysis of the relationships between the brain age gap and cardiovascular risk factors.

The brain age gap (BAG) has been shown to capture accelerated brain aging patterns and might serve as a biomarker for several neurological diseases. Moreover, it was also shown that it captures other biological information related to modifiable cardiovascular risk factors. Previous studies have explored statistical relationships between the BAG and cardiovascular risk factors.

Middle Meningeal Artery Embolization Minimizes Burdensome Recurrence Rates After Newly Diagnosed Chronic Subdural Hematoma Evacuation (MEMBRANE): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Chronic subdural hematoma (cSDH) is the most common complication of mild traumatic brain injury demanding neurosurgery in high-income countries. If undetected and untreated, cSDH may increase intracranial pressure and cause neurological deficiencies. The first-line intervention of choice is burr hole trepanation and hematoma evacuation.

Comparison between two packages for pectoral muscle removal on mammographic images.

Background: Pectoral muscle removal is a fundamental preliminary step in computer-aided diagnosis systems for full-field digital mammography (FFDM). Currently, two open-source publicly available packages (LIBRA and OpenBreast) provide algorithms for pectoral muscle removal within Matlab environment.

Purpose: To compare performance of the two packages on a single database of FFDM images.

Quality Assurance of a Cross-Border and Sub-Specialized Teleradiology Service.

Background: The current literature discusses aspects of quality assurance (QA) and sub-specialization. However, the challenges of these topics in a teleradiology network have been less explored. In a project report, we aimed to review the development and enforcement of sub-specialized radiology at Telemedicine Clinic (TMC), one of the largest teleradiology providers in Europe, and to describe each step of its QA.

Altered grey matter integrity and network vulnerability relate to epilepsy occurrence in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relevance of compartmentalized grey matter (GM) pathology and network reorganization in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with concomitant epilepsy.

Methods: From 3-T magnetic resonance imaging scans of 30 MS patients with epilepsy (MSE group; age 41 ± 15 years, 21 females, disease duration 8 ± 6 years, median Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] score 3), 60 MS patients without epilepsy (MS group; age 41 ± 12 years, 35 females, disease duration 6 ± 4 years, EDSS score 2), and 60 healthy subjects (HS group; age 40 ± 13 years, 27 females) the regional volumes of GM lesions and of cortical, subcortical and hippocampal structures were quantified. Network topology and vulnerability were modelled within the graph theoretical framework.

Chronic Stroke Sensorimotor Impairment Is Related to Smaller Hippocampal Volumes: An ENIGMA Analysis.

Background Persistent sensorimotor impairments after stroke can negatively impact quality of life. The hippocampus is vulnerable to poststroke secondary degeneration and is involved in sensorimotor behavior but has not been widely studied within the context of poststroke upper-limb sensorimotor impairment. We investigated associations between non-lesioned hippocampal volume and upper limb sensorimotor impairment in people with chronic stroke, hypothesizing that smaller ipsilesional hippocampal volumes would be associated with greater sensorimotor impairment.