An Updated Report of the Ultrashort Pulsed Laser Technology and its Perspectives in Biomedical Applications

T he ability to encapsulate chemotherapeutic drugs in tiny nanoparticles measuring anywhere between 1-100 nm in size is an emerging space with leading pharmaceutical companies spending billions of dollars on research to explore their potential.

We introduce a novel catoptric objective based high sensitive Fourier Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (FD-OCT) system for enhanced structural and functional imaging of cochlear microstructures. Unlike the conventional refractive type microscopic objective, catoptric objectives are well-known for their chromatic aberrations free operation and high light gathering efficiency for a broad range of wavelengths. In this study, we present the feasibility of a commercially available catoptric type objective to obtain high-sensitivity structural and functional imaging of cochlear microstructures of an excised guinea pig through intact temporal bone.

The Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) computational method is in arising in the field of biomechanics. One of the most applicable problems in this area is the interaction of solid and fluid in the blood vessel. It may also have implication to understand the complexity of arterial diseases to figure out the interaction of fluid and arterial wall. So far many studies have been carried out to compute the stress and deformations of the blood in a cerebral aneurysm artery. Dynamic behavior of the blood in an artery would pave the way to understand the growth, rupture, and curing of the cerebral aneurysm. Therefore, in this study the dynamic behavior of the blood flow and its interaction with the basilar arterial wall was simulated using FSI approach. Thereafter, the von Mises stress, shear stress as well as deformations of both the arterial wall and blood were computed and compared to that of the healthy one. The mechanical behavior of the arterial wall was considered to be elastic, isotropic, homogenous, and incompressible, and the behavior of the blood flow was assumed to be laminar, Newtonian, and incompressible. The results of the present study may have implications for understanding the stresses and deformations of the blood flow in a healthy and basilar aneurysm artery.

Wound infection leading to the uneasy wound management is an outrageous problem which needs to be solved seriously. This work aims to fabricate one drug carrier system, and the loaded natural antibacterial agent can be released in a controlled and long-lasting manner, especially under the pH value of alkaline environment. The results show that the fabricated drug carrier, Poly (Ethylene Glycol) (PEG) grafted on Graphene Oxide (GO) (denoted as PEG-g-GO), can carry Berberine Chloride Hydrate (BCH) with high efficiency and then release it in a controlled way against different pH values. Furthermore, such BCH carrier can be easily coated on the cotton fabric, and finally the functional fabric may show potential to be applied as an antibacterial wound dressing to control the wound infection and thus erase the unpleasant odour.

This paper provides a description of an integrated, web-based and fully automated healthcare institution quality management system. The system includes many features and applications that provide better alignment with quality assurance strategy and best practices benchmarks. It is based on a proven design approach that supports and enhances the quality of medical and healthcare services. The different stakeholders are provided with a common framework for designing, implementing, controlling, evaluating and improving these services. The software system is customizable and scalable in the sense that additional functionality based on the needs and requirements of individual institution can be easily implemented or supported.

Background: The complex structure of the nasal cavity filters most of the nasally administered aerosols and prevents effective drug delivery to the olfactory region. Due to low medication bioavailability in this region, treatment of brain tumors with direct nose-to-brain drug delivery is still not feasible.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to experimentally evaluate the performance of a hybrid delivery method in an image-based nasal model by leveraging the advantages of both the bi-directional delivery strategy and the electric field guidance of charged particles.

Methods: A sectional hollow nasal cast model was developed from an anatomically accurate nasal airway model that allowed direct quantification of olfactory deposition and visualization of regional deposition distributions. Influences of different electric field strengths and two delivery strategies (normal and bi-directional) on the olfactory delivery were tested.

Results: Results show that olfactory deposition is very sensitive to the voltage of the electrode close to the olfactory region. For both the normal and bi-directional deliveries, electric field guidance resulted in a significant increase (3–5 times) in deposition in the olfactory region. The olfactory deposition with electric guidance was 1.6 times higher when using the bidirectional method than under normal breathing conditions.

Conclusions: Results of this study indicate that the combination of electric field guidance of charged particles and the bi-directional delivery strategy is promising to deliver significantly improved medications to the olfactory region.

Atherosclerosis is a progressive, chronic, inflammatory disease that causes the narrowing and hardening of both the medium and large sized arteries by excessive plaque formation within the artery walls. It is expected that by 2020, atherosclerosis will be the leading cause of death globally. The mechanisms of atherosclerosis are complex and multivariate, not all of which are fully understood. The use of in vitro models is vital to mechanistically predict the main triggers of the disease, disease risk level, determine suitable treatments and to ascertain the efficacy of potential treatment options. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the different studies and co-culture methods used to investigate the mechanisms of atherosclerosis in vitro.

At present, every third individual in the Western world is diagnosed with a cancer at some point in their lives. In spite of great advances in oncology in recent decades, around 50% of these individuals will die from their diseases.

The aims of this study were to evaluate the ultrasound Quality Control (QC) testing in Najran, Saudi Arabia and to derive an accurate Gestational Age (GA) formula based on the errors of QC tests.

Using Gammex RMI and CIRS phantoms for twenty four ultrasound systems in the five hospitals the results of penetration depth, distance accuracy, image uniformity, dead zone and axial resolution were reported in this study. On the other hand, a dataset of 35 pregnancies were studied to assess the accuracy of GA during the first and second-trimesters.

Most QC results in all hospitals were found to be within the baseline levels and the best performance derived formula was found a combination of Biparietal Diameter (BPD), Femur Length (FL) and distance accuracy. Periodic QC evaluation should be carried out to motivate the optimization of accurate dating of pregnancy.

Studies have been conducted to highlight the anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties of synthetic cannabinoids as well as their potential for cartilage repair. Various wound healing techniques can be used to investigate the mechanisms of chondrocyte repair in monolayers or three dimensional tissues constructs. In this work the effect of WIN55, 212-2 (WIN-2) on nitric oxide (NO) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) expressed by wounded chondrocyte monolayers was investigated. Moreover, expression of collagen type-I and type-II, fibronectin and S100 proteins were detected using immunofluorescence and quantitatively verified using ELISA based techniques following treatment with 1 µM and 2 µM of WIN-2. Treating chondrocytes with 1 µM of WIN-2 significantly increased expression of collagen type-II, fibronectin and S100, and significantly reduced collagen type-I expressions as compared to the control groups. On the other hand, both concentrations of WIN-2 significantly reduced the expression of the inflammation markers NO and MMP-2 in a dose dependent manner. These findings highlight the potential use of the synthetic cannabinoids for improving cartilage healing properties as well as acting as an anti-inflammatory agent which could be used to enhance tissue engineering protocols aimed at cartilage repair.