Scoliosis is a musculoskeletal disorder manifested as a three-dimensional spinal deformity. It affects 2% - 3% of the adolescent population. The conventional method to diagnose scoliosis is to measure the Cobb angle f...Scoliosis is a musculoskeletal disorder manifested as a three-dimensional spinal deformity. It affects 2% - 3% of the adolescent population. The conventional method to diagnose scoliosis is to measure the Cobb angle from posteroante-rior radiograph. Since radiation exposure is not desirable for patients, other non-ionizing methods have been explored. Among all the non-ionization methods, ultrasound (US) is a potential cost-effective method. However, our understand-ing of US interaction with the vertebrae or the spine is limited. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the ability of US to identify bony landmarks for measuring spinal deformity. This study used a phased array US system with a 5 MHz transducer and a position encoder. In-vitro experiment on a cadaver vertebra and a pilot clinical study were carried out. The in-vitro experimental results showed that the lamina and spinous process were strong reflectors from the single vertebra. Less than 4% of error occurred on the dimension measurements. The pilot study was performed on a healthy subject and a scoliotic patient. The results indicated the lamina and spinous process could be identified and the curvature of the spine could be estimated using the reflectors. The difference of the curvature angle of the spine measured from the radiograph and the US images was 2?. These results have illustrated that US is a promising tool to measure curvature of spinal deformity and study scoliosis.展开更多
Skeletal diseases, such as nonunion and osteonecrosis, are now treatable with tissue engineering techniques. Single cell sheets called osteogenic matrix cell sheets (OMCSs) grown from cultured bone marrow-derived mese...Skeletal diseases, such as nonunion and osteonecrosis, are now treatable with tissue engineering techniques. Single cell sheets called osteogenic matrix cell sheets (OMCSs) grown from cultured bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells show high osteogenic potential;however, long preparation times currently limit their clinical application. Here, we report a cryopreservation OMCS transplantation method that shortens OMCS preparation time. Cryopreserved rat OMCSs were prepared using slow- and rapid-freezing methods, thawed, and subsequently injected scaffold-free into subcutaneous sites. Rapid- and slow-frozen OMCSs were also transplanted directly to the femur bone at sites of injury. Slow-freezing resulted in higher cell viability than rapid freezing, yet all two cryopreservation methods yielded OMCSs that survived and formed bone tissue. In the rapid- and slow-freezing groups, cortical gaps were repaired and bone continuity was observed within 6 weeks of OMCS transplantation. Moreover, while no significant difference was found in osteocalcin expression between the three experimental groups, the biomechanical strength of femurs treated with slow-frozen OMCSs was significantly greater than those of non-transplant at 6 weeks post-injury. Collectively, these data suggest that slow-frozen OMCSs have superior osteogenic potential and are better suited to produce a mineralized matrix and repair sites of bone injury.展开更多
Ischemic heart disease(IHD)is one of the leading causes of death worldwide.However,different geographic regions show different variations of the risk factors of this disease based on the different lifestyles of people...Ischemic heart disease(IHD)is one of the leading causes of death worldwide.However,different geographic regions show different variations of the risk factors of this disease based on the different lifestyles of people.This study examines the current IHD condition in southern Bangladesh,a Southeast Asian middle-income country.The main approach to this research is an Al-based proposal of a reduced set of the greatest impact clinical traits that may cause IHD.This approach attempts to reduce IHD morbidity and mortality by early detection of risk factors using the reduced set of clinical data.Demographic,diagnostic,and symptomatic features were considered for analysing this clinical data.Data pre-processing utilizes several machine learning techniques to select significant features and make meaningful interpretations.A proposed voting mechanism ranked the selected 138 features by their impact factor.In this regard,diverse patterns in correlations with variables,including age,sex,career,family history,obesity,etc.,were calculated and explained in terms of voting scores.Among the 138 risk factors,three labels were categorized:high-risk,medium-risk,and low-risk features;19 features were regarded as high,25 were medium,and 94 were considered low impactful features.This research's technological methodology and practical goals provide an innovative and resilient framework for addressing IHD,especially in less developed cities and townships of Bangladesh,where the general population's socioeconomic conditions are often unexpected.The data collection,pre-processing,and use of this study's complete and comprehensive IHD patient dataset is another innovative addition.We believe that other relevant research initiatives will benefit from this work.展开更多
文摘Scoliosis is a musculoskeletal disorder manifested as a three-dimensional spinal deformity. It affects 2% - 3% of the adolescent population. The conventional method to diagnose scoliosis is to measure the Cobb angle from posteroante-rior radiograph. Since radiation exposure is not desirable for patients, other non-ionizing methods have been explored. Among all the non-ionization methods, ultrasound (US) is a potential cost-effective method. However, our understand-ing of US interaction with the vertebrae or the spine is limited. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the ability of US to identify bony landmarks for measuring spinal deformity. This study used a phased array US system with a 5 MHz transducer and a position encoder. In-vitro experiment on a cadaver vertebra and a pilot clinical study were carried out. The in-vitro experimental results showed that the lamina and spinous process were strong reflectors from the single vertebra. Less than 4% of error occurred on the dimension measurements. The pilot study was performed on a healthy subject and a scoliotic patient. The results indicated the lamina and spinous process could be identified and the curvature of the spine could be estimated using the reflectors. The difference of the curvature angle of the spine measured from the radiograph and the US images was 2?. These results have illustrated that US is a promising tool to measure curvature of spinal deformity and study scoliosis.
文摘Skeletal diseases, such as nonunion and osteonecrosis, are now treatable with tissue engineering techniques. Single cell sheets called osteogenic matrix cell sheets (OMCSs) grown from cultured bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells show high osteogenic potential;however, long preparation times currently limit their clinical application. Here, we report a cryopreservation OMCS transplantation method that shortens OMCS preparation time. Cryopreserved rat OMCSs were prepared using slow- and rapid-freezing methods, thawed, and subsequently injected scaffold-free into subcutaneous sites. Rapid- and slow-frozen OMCSs were also transplanted directly to the femur bone at sites of injury. Slow-freezing resulted in higher cell viability than rapid freezing, yet all two cryopreservation methods yielded OMCSs that survived and formed bone tissue. In the rapid- and slow-freezing groups, cortical gaps were repaired and bone continuity was observed within 6 weeks of OMCS transplantation. Moreover, while no significant difference was found in osteocalcin expression between the three experimental groups, the biomechanical strength of femurs treated with slow-frozen OMCSs was significantly greater than those of non-transplant at 6 weeks post-injury. Collectively, these data suggest that slow-frozen OMCSs have superior osteogenic potential and are better suited to produce a mineralized matrix and repair sites of bone injury.
文摘Ischemic heart disease(IHD)is one of the leading causes of death worldwide.However,different geographic regions show different variations of the risk factors of this disease based on the different lifestyles of people.This study examines the current IHD condition in southern Bangladesh,a Southeast Asian middle-income country.The main approach to this research is an Al-based proposal of a reduced set of the greatest impact clinical traits that may cause IHD.This approach attempts to reduce IHD morbidity and mortality by early detection of risk factors using the reduced set of clinical data.Demographic,diagnostic,and symptomatic features were considered for analysing this clinical data.Data pre-processing utilizes several machine learning techniques to select significant features and make meaningful interpretations.A proposed voting mechanism ranked the selected 138 features by their impact factor.In this regard,diverse patterns in correlations with variables,including age,sex,career,family history,obesity,etc.,were calculated and explained in terms of voting scores.Among the 138 risk factors,three labels were categorized:high-risk,medium-risk,and low-risk features;19 features were regarded as high,25 were medium,and 94 were considered low impactful features.This research's technological methodology and practical goals provide an innovative and resilient framework for addressing IHD,especially in less developed cities and townships of Bangladesh,where the general population's socioeconomic conditions are often unexpected.The data collection,pre-processing,and use of this study's complete and comprehensive IHD patient dataset is another innovative addition.We believe that other relevant research initiatives will benefit from this work.
