Material-Intrinsic NIR-Fluorescence Enables Image-Guided Surgery for Ceramic Fracture Removal.

Hip arthroplasty effectively treats advanced osteoarthritis and is therefore entitled as "operation of the 20th century." With demographic shifts, the USA alone is projected to perform up to 850 000 arthroplasties annually by 2030. Many implants now feature a ceramic head, valued for strength and wear resistance.

Studying missingness in spinal cord injury data: challenges and impact of data imputation.

Background: In the last decades, medical research fields studying rare conditions such as spinal cord injury (SCI) have made extensive efforts to collect large-scale data. However, most analysis methods rely on complete data. This is particularly troublesome when studying clinical data as they are prone to missingness.

Do robots outperform humans in human-centered domains?

The incessant progress of robotic technology and rationalization of human manpower induces high expectations in society, but also resentment and even fear. In this paper, we present a quantitative normalized comparison of performance, to shine a light onto the pressing question, "How close is the current state of humanoid robotics to outperforming humans in their typical functions (e.g.

Use of a novel pressure distribution system for severely ill neonates: a clinical pilot study carried out by the PREPICare consortium.

Background: Pressure Injuries are not exclusively an adult phenomenon; various risk factors contribute to a high prevalence rate of 43% in the neonatal and pediatric intensive care population. Effective preventive measures in this population are limited.

Methods: We performed a pilot study to analyze the distribution and localization of support surface interface pressures in neonates in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

Race and Gender Differences in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Femoral Footprint Location and Orientation: A 3D-MRI Study.

Objective: The femoral tunnel position is crucial to anatomic single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, but the ideal femoral footprint position are mostly based on small-sized cadaveric studies and elderly patients with a single ethnic background. This study aimed to identify potential race- or gender-specific differences in the ACL femoral footprint location and ACL orientation, determine the correlation between the ACL orientation and the femoral footprint location.

Methods: Magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of 90 Caucasian participants and 90 matched Chinese subjects were used for reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) femur and tibial models.

X-ray radio-enhancement by TiCT MXenes in soft tissue sarcoma.

Radiotherapy is a cornerstone of cancer treatment. However, due to the low tissue specificity of ionizing radiation, damage to the surrounding healthy tissue of the tumor remains a significant challenge. In recent years, radio-enhancers based on inorganic nanomaterials have gained considerable interest.

Development and evaluation of robot-assisted ultrasound navigation system for pedicle screw placement: An ex-vivo animal validation.

Purpose: Spinal instrumentation with pedicle screw placement (PSP) is an important surgical technique for spinal diseases. Accurate screw trajectory is a prerequisite for PSP. Ultrasound (US) imaging with robot-assisted system forms a non-radiative alternative to provide precise screw trajectory.

State-of-the-Art of Non-Radiative, Non-Visual Spine Sensing with a Focus on Sensing Forces, Vibrations and Bioelectrical Properties: A Systematic Review.

In the research field of robotic spine surgery, there is a big upcoming momentum for surgeon-like autonomous behaviour and surgical accuracy in robotics which goes beyond the standard engineering notions such as geometric precision. The objective of this review is to present an overview of the state of the art in non-visual, non-radiative spine sensing for the enhancement of surgical techniques in robotic automation. It provides a vantage point that facilitates experimentation and guides new research projects to what has not been investigated or integrated in surgical robotics.

Automatic breach detection during spine pedicle drilling based on vibroacoustic sensing.

Pedicle drilling is a complex and critical spinal surgery task. Detecting breach or penetration of the surgical tool to the cortical wall during pilot-hole drilling is essential to avoid damage to vital anatomical structures adjacent to the pedicle, such as the spinal cord, blood vessels, and nerves. Currently, the guidance of pedicle drilling is done using image-guided methods that are radiation intensive and limited to the preoperative information.

Factors affecting augmented reality head-mounted device performance in real OR.

Purpose: Over the last years, interest and efforts to implement augmented reality (AR) in orthopedic surgery through head-mounted devices (HMD) have increased. However, the majority of experiments were preclinical and within a controlled laboratory environment. The operating room (OR) is a more challenging environment with various confounding factors potentially affecting the performance of an AR-HMD.

Secondary analysis of a James Lind Alliance priority setting partnership to facilitate knowledge translation in degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM): insights from AO Spine RECODE-DCM.

Objectives: To explore whether a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership could provide insights on knowledge translation within the field of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM).

Design: Secondary analysis of a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership process for DCM.

Participants And Setting: DCM stake holders, including spinal surgeons, people with myelopathy and other healthcare professionals, were surveyed internationally.

Engineered hydrogels for mechanobiology.

Cells' local mechanical environment can be as important in guiding cellular responses as many well-characterized biochemical cues. Hydrogels that mimic the native extracellular matrix can provide these mechanical cues to encapsulated cells, allowing for the study of their impact on cellular behaviours. Moreover, by harnessing cellular responses to mechanical cues, hydrogels can be used to create tissues in vitro for regenerative medicine applications and for disease modelling.

Significant race and gender differences in anterior cruciate ligament tibial footprint location: a 3D-based analysis.

Background: The aim of the present study was to identify potential race- or gender-specific differences in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tibial footprint location from the tibia anatomical coordinate system (tACS) origin, investigate the distances from the tibial footprint to the anterior root of the lateral meniscus (ARLM) and the medial tibial spine (MTS), determine how reliable the ARLM and MTS can be in locating the ACL tibial footprint, and assess the risk of iatrogenic ARLM injuries caused by using reamers with various diameters (7-10 mm).

Patients And Methods: Magnetic resonance images of 91 Chinese and 91 Caucasian subjects were used for the reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) tibial and ACL tibial footprint models. The anatomical coordinate system was applied to reflect the anatomical locations of scanned samples.

The spinal cord injury-induced immune deficiency syndrome: results of the SCIentinel study.

Infections are prevalent after spinal cord injury (SCI), constitute the main cause of death and are a rehabilitation confounder associated with impaired recovery. We hypothesize that SCI causes an acquired lesion-dependent (neurogenic) immune suppression as an underlying mechanism to facilitate infections. The international prospective multicentre cohort study (SCIentinel; protocol registration DRKS00000122; n = 111 patients) was designed to distinguish neurogenic from general trauma-related effects on the immune system.

Combined Anteversion Threshold to Avoid Anterior Dislocation in Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty Performed Through the Direct Anterior Approach.

Background: Component malposition in total hip arthroplasty (THA) can lead to dislocation, early implant failure, and revision surgery. As the surgical approach might affect the targeted combined anteversion (CA) of THA components, the present study aimed to evaluate the optimal CA threshold to avoid anterior dislocation in primary THA performed through a direct anterior approach (DAA).

Methods: A total of 1,176 THAs in 1,147 consecutive patients (men: 593, women: 554) who had an average age of 63 years (range, 24 to 91) and a mean body mass index of 29 (range, 15 to 48) were identified.

Factors Associated With Pain Medication Use and the Relationship to Chiropractic Treatment Outcomes for Patients With Low Back and Neck Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: The study objectives were to identify baseline factors associated with pain medication use and determine any differences in chiropractic treatment outcomes in patients with low back pain (LBP) and neck pain (NP) depending on their use of pain medication.

Methods: This cross-sectional, prospective outcomes study included 1077 adults with acute or chronic LBP and 845 adults with acute or chronic NP recruited from Swiss chiropractors in their offices within 4 years. Demographic data and the responses to the Patient's Global Impression of Change scale collected at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year were analyzed with the χ test.

Guidelines for ex vivo mechanical testing of tendon.

Tendons are critical for the biomechanical function of joints. Tendons connect muscles to bones and allow for the transmission of muscle forces to facilitate joint motion. Therefore, characterizing the tensile mechanical properties of tendons is important for the assessment of functional tendon health and efficacy of treatments for acute and chronic injuries.

The effect of experimentally induced gluteal muscle weakness on joint kinematics, reaction forces, and dynamic balance performance during deep bilateral squats.

Squatting is a common daily activity and fundamental exercise in resistance training and closed kinetic chain programs. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of an experimentally induced weakness of the gluteal muscles on joint kinematics, reactions forces (JRFs), and dynamic balance performance during deep bilateral squats in healthy young adults. Ten healthy adults received sequential blocks of (1) branch of the superior gluteal nerve to the tensor fasciae latae (SGNtfl) muscle, (2) superior gluteal nerve (SGN), and (3) inferior gluteal nerve (IGN) on the dominant right leg.

Fixed Subluxation of the Distal Radioulnar Joint following Malunion of the Ulnar Styloid Process.

 Recent literature on significance and treatment of ulnar styloid fractures suggest that the ulnar styloid is not the central problem but the radioulnar ligaments and their impact on joint stability. However, specifically displaced ulnar styloid process fractures that secondarily heal in an ectopic position remain a rare situation for which diagnostics and treatment options remain a topic of discussion.  This case series presents four patients with limited supination due to a fixed dorsal subluxation of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ).

Robot-assisted ultrasound reconstruction for spine surgery: from bench-top to pre-clinical study.

Purpose: Robot-assisted ultrasound (rUS) systems have already been used to provide non-radiative three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions that form the basis for guiding spine surgical procedures. Despite promising studies on this technology, there are few studies that offer insight into the robustness and generality of the approach by verifying performance in various testing scenarios. Therefore, this study aims at providing an assessment of a rUS system, with technical details from experiments starting at the bench-top to the pre-clinical study.