Spatial or flow velocity phase encoding gradients in NMR imaging

We describe time modulated field gradient sequences able to selectively phase encode spatial location or flow velocity in NMR Signals. Two flow conditions are presented: constant flow velocity and simple harmonic flow superposed on steady flow. In each case we show that specific modulated gradients are available in order to discriminate between stationary and mobile protons. The methods are presented in the one dimensional case. The advantages of the phase modulation for flow analysis are the following: the method is sensitive to flow direction, unaffected by the T₂, and the stationary and flow parameters are quantifiable factors.     

A new approach for the estimation of the axial velocity using ultrasound

The most used estimation method for calculating the blood velocity in commercial scanners is the autocorrelation approach. The calculation of the mean velocity used in this method depends on the center frequency of the interacting ultrasound pulse which downshifts as a function of depth, introducing a bias. A new velocity estimator for the mean axial velocity is presented. The estimation principle is based on the 2D Fourier transform and the Radon transform. The input data are a sequence of RF data forming a 2D data input, one column for each pulse emission. A 2D segment is selected for a specific depth. This data segment is first transformed by a 2D Fourier transform, and the result is then transformed by a Radon transform. The center of gravity for the angles of the lines intersecting the origin of the R-theta coordinate system in the Radon domain gives the mean axial velocity for the data segment. The benefit of this method is an estimate of the mean axial velocity which is independent of the center frequency of the propagating ultrasound pulse. The estimate will only depend on f(s) and f(pr f). Results of the estimation method is presented based on both simple generated RF harmonic data for different signal/noise ratios and simulated acoustic RF responses from a 3D measurement situation with an array transducer and a tube with plug flow. The new method shows improvement with a factor of 1.5-4 on the standard deviation on the estimated mean velocity for the simulated case.     

血液激发荧光强度分析及应用

文章采用荧光分析技术, 对血液激发荧光强度进行研究。给出了有关理论分析, 并给出了正常血样与异常血样(高血糖、高胆固醇)对比实验结果。研究发现：血液中血糖的浓度影响血液的激发荧光,其大致趋势是：在相同波长的激发光激发下,随着血糖浓度的提高,血液的激发荧光强度也逐渐增强, 显然,血液中的血糖也是一种荧光物质,其浓度对血液的荧光强度的影响与理论分析相一致,这表明所得的实验结果是合理的,同时还表明了可以通过比较血液的激发荧光强度来区分血液中血糖浓度的高低;研究还发现：胆固醇含量越高,所得的荧光强度也越强。因此,根据血清的荧光强度可以知道血清中胆固醇含量的高低,尤其是当使用波长位于435 nm附近的激发光时,结果非常明显。文章提出的血液激发荧光强度分析技术,为血样快速检测及疾病诊断提供了新的途径。     

Combination of medical and health care based on digital smartphone-powered photochemical dongle for renal function management

Currently, the global healthcare market is increasing at high speed with the impendent global aging issue. Healthcare Industry 4.0 has emerged as an efficient solution towards the aging issue since it was integrated with ubiquitous medical sensors, big health processing platform, high bandwidth, speed technologies, and medical services, etc. It is believed to fulfil the requirement of the tremendously growing health market. The acquisition of medical data acts as the dominant precondition to implement the Healthcare Industry 4.0. In the same way, the widely available smartphone could serve as the best biomedical information collect station. In this study, a smartphone-powered photochemical dongle is demonstrated to precisely estimate blood creatinine from the fingertip blood, which works as a highly compact reflectance spectral analyzer with an enzymatically dry chemical test strip. Comparing with conventional laboratory facility for the evaluation and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD), it implemented the platform of point care with agreed accuracy. In order to estimate the efficiency of treatment and recovery of the CKD, the proposed photochemical dongle would provide a flexible and rapid platform for point of care. Furthermore, the proposed measured technology is very promising method for remote CKD management.     

Impedance Based Nanotoxicity Assessment of Graphene Nanomaterials at the Cellular and Tissue Level

The interest in graphene for biomedical applications has grown substantially in the past few years creating a need for biocompatibility testing. Biomedical engineering applications using graphene such as biosensing devices, microbial detection, disease diagnosis, and drug delivery systems are progressing rapidly, perhaps overlooking any possible hazards as graphene nanomaterials may interact with biological materials differently than other graphitic materials such as carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. As a potential application for graphene is drug delivery, the toxicity of graphene was tested against an in vitro model of the blood brain barrier (BBB) by measuring trans-endothelial-electrical resistance (TEER). A new approach in terms of electrical impedance sensing was also utilized to kinetically analyze the cytotoxicity of graphene nanomaterials towards the BBB model's individual components, rat astrocytes (CRL-2006) and mouse endothelial cells (CRL-2583), in real time by measuring the impedimetric response. Graphene showed little or no toxicity toward both individual cell types as the resistance measurements were similar to those of the control and further, graphene did not interrupt the integrity of the BBB model as a whole showing the biocompatibility of graphene and the broad potential of using these new nanomaterials for biomedical applications.     

Factorial and Doehlert Design Used as Optimization Procedures for the Direct Determination of Lead in Whole Blood Samples by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

In this work, the direct determination of lead in whole blood samples by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry is proposed. The samples were diluted 1:9 with HNO₃ and Triton® X-100, both 0.2% v/v. Multivariate optimization was made to evaluate the pyrolysis and atomization temperatures and the use of a chemical modifier. The method allowed lead determination with a curve ranging from 0 to 6.0 μg dL^?1. Recovery studies presented results from 88 to 109%. The LOD and the characteristic mass were 0.21 μg dL^?1 and 7.4 pg, respectively. Intra- and inter-assay studies showed respective coefficients of variation of 4.2 and 8.9%.     

Skin temperature evaluation by infrared thermography: Comparison of image analysis methods

Body temperature in medicine is a parameter indicating abnormal activity of human tissues; it is used to diagnose specific pathologies or as an indicator of the muscle activity during physical exercise.Temperature measurements through infrared thermography have the advantages to be non-invasive and to record temperature data simultaneously from different points on a wide area of the body.The difference between the values of temperature traditionally measured with contact probes or standard technique and the ones measured by thermal imaging lies in the fact that the first produces a scalar value, while the second gives a distribution over a surface. The analysis of thermographic images, with the goal of obtaining a temperature value representative of a specific area, is usually performed by different methods of averaging temperature values inside a selected Region of Interest (Troi and Tot). In this paper the authors present a critical comparison between the methods mainly used in literature in the specific case of a muscular group of calves on a population of 33 healthy subjects. Here, the authors describe an alternative method (Tmax) to obtain a temperature value of a specific area based on maximal temperature detection instead of considering the average temperature on the selected area. No meaningful difference in mean temperature between Troi and Ttot was found (p = 0.9), while temperature values calculated using Tmax were higher than the above methods (p < 0.001). The high correlation among the compared methods prove that they can equally represent temperature trends in cutaneous thermographic analyses.     

Leakage and water exchange characterization of gadofosveset in the myocardium

Purpose

To determine the compartmentalization of the blood pool agent gadofosveset and the effect of its transient binding to albumin on the quantification of steady-state fractional myocardial blood volume (fMBV).

Methods

Myocardial vascular fraction measurements were simulated assuming the limiting cases (slow or fast) of two-compartment water exchange for different contrast agent injection concentrations, binding fractions, bound and free relaxivities, and true cardiac vascular fractions.fMBV was measured in five healthy volunteers (4 males, 1 female, average age 33) at 1.5 T after administration of five injections of gadofosveset. The measurements in the volunteers were retrospectively compared to measurements of fMBV after three serial injections of the ultra-small, paramagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) blood pool agent ferumoxytol in an experimental animal. The true fMBV and exchange rate of water protons in both human and animal data sets was determined by chi square minimization.

Results

Simulations showed an error in the measurement of fMBV due to partial binding of gadofosveset of less than 30%. Measured fMBV values over-estimate simulation predictions, and approach cardiac extracellular volume (22%), which suggests that the intravascular assumption may not be appropriate for the myocardium, although it may apply to more distal perfusion beds. In comparison, fMBV measured with ferumoxytol (5%, with slow water proton exchange across vascular wall) agree with published values of myocardial vascular fraction. Further comparison between myocardium relaxation rates induced by gadofosveset and by other extracellular and intravascular contrast agents showed that gadofosveset behaves like an extracellular contrast agent.

Conclusions

The distribution of the volunteer data indicates that a three-compartment model, with slow water exchange of gadofosveset and water protons between the vascular and interstitial compartments, and fast water exchange between the interstitium and the myocytes, is appropriate. The ferumoxytol measurements indicate that this USPIO is an intravascular contrast agent that can be used to quantify myocardial blood volume, with the appropriate correction for water exchange using a two-compartment water exchange model.     

激光照射血细胞的衰变规律和损伤机制研究

采用FLS900型稳态荧光光谱仪对红色激光持续照射的正常离体血液和酒精中毒离体血液进行了荧光检测,得到了血液物质成分变化及荧光光谱特征随时间衰变的规律.研究结果表明：随着血液离体时间的延长,当407 nm的紫光激励时,在605 nm处的荧光峰峰位保持不变只是强度缓慢减弱,但两者均在离体后的14 h和10 h出现了谱形突变,并在474 nm处产生了一个强荧光峰.比较分析发现激光对正常离体血液的衰变有明显的延缓作用,对酒精作用破坏的红细胞也有部分修复功能,但当激光持续照射一定时间后却导致了细胞的形态改变进而加速了细胞的溶血进程,产生了大量的内源性荧光物质还原烟碱腺嘌呤二核苷酸.本文的研究结果能为血细胞活性衰变规律以及功能结构研究提供有意义的参考.     

A novel approach for the determination of paracetamol based on the reduction of N-acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine formed on the electrochemically treated pencil graphite electrode

A novel approach was proposed for the simple and rapid electrochemical determination of paracetamol (PC) in the presence of uric acid in body fluids. The voltammetric determination of PC is based on the electrochemical reduction of N-acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine formed simultaneously on the electrochemically treated pencil graphite (ETPG) electrode during the measurement. ETPG electrodes were prepared by the potential cycling between −0.3 V and +2.0 V in 0.1 M H₃PO₄ solution. The electrochemical performance of the ETPG electrode was evaluated by adsorptive transfer stripping differential pulse voltammetry (ATSDPV). The resulting sensor showed good performance for the determination of PC in human blood serum samples with a linear range of 0.05–2.5 μM and a highly reproducible response (RSD of 3.1%). The calculated detection limit was 2.5 nM (S/N = 3). The proposed method does not require any sample pretreatment, prevents the interference of uric acid and allows the determination of PC directly in blood serum samples.