47,328 research outputs found
Articulated distraction of the hip. Conservative surgery for arthritis in young patients
No full textBetween 1979 and 1982, 80 patients with a variety of hip diseases were treated with articulated distraction of the hip. The patients ranged from nine to 69 years of age (mean, 34 years). The primary diagnoses were avascular necrosis, osteoarthrosis, and chondrolysis. A standard dynamic axial fixator with a single axis articulating unit was used to create a 5-mm joint space. The fixator allowed flexion and extension motion and remained in place for six to ten weeks. The follow-up period ranged from five to eight years. Assessment was performed by questionnaire, clinical, and radiographic review. The results were poor in 24 patients who were either older than 45 years of age or had a diagnosis of inflammatory arthropathy. Forty-two good results were found in the 59 patients younger than 45 years with osteoarthrosis, hip dysplasia, avascular necrosis, and chondrolysis. Only four patients older than 45 years of age had a good result. No serious complications occurred
Functional and aesthetic result of leg lengthening in achondroplastic patients.
No full textThe aim of leg lengthening in achondroplastic people is to improve the function and appearance by increasing their height and improving proportion between trunk and lower limbs. Long-term advantages are gained from an improvement in axial alignment of the leg. A review of 33 achondroplastic patients found the aims of surgery had been fulfilled. Five years post-lengthening, all patients had full joint range of movement, normal muscle power, and decreased hyperlordosis, resulting in a reduction of the typical ‘waddling’ gait. Only a slight reduction in plantarflexion and inversion were found
Breath analysis: trends in techniques and clinical applications
No full textOver the last few years, breath analysis for the routine monitoring either of metabolic disorders caused by specific diseases or occupational exposure to toxic substances has become more and more attractive due to its noninvasiveness.
Several approaches have been proposed for sample collection, treatment, and analysis. This paper gives a critical overview of the analytical devices and procedures used for breath analysis. Results on the identification of chemicals in human breath for a selection of diseases are discussed
Allungamento degli arti inferiori mediante callotasi e condrodiatasi: programma di Rieducazione Funzionale.
No full textUneven myocardial glucose utilization as determined by regional 14C-deoxyglucose uptake.
No full textAn autoregulation unit for enabling adaptive control of sensorized left ventricular assist device
No full textThis paper describes an integrated system for facing heart failures (HF) in an innovative way. Existing left ventricular assist devices (LVAD or VAD) are usually devoted to blood pumping without the possibility to adapt the speed to patient conditions during everyday activities. This is essentially due to the lack of sensorization, bulkiness, and the need of relying on device-specific controllers with reduced computing ability for the existing ventricular assist systems. In this work, an innovative integrated and portable device, the ARU, is presented for enhancing VADs applicability as a long-term solution to HF. The ARU is an universal device able to fulfill with the needs of sensorized VADs in terms of data storing, continuous monitoring, autoregulation and adaptation to patient condition changes during daily activities. The ARU is able to wirelessly interface wearable devices for offering additional monitoring features from remote. The ARU functionalities on bench have been tested by the interfacing with a sensorized VAD platform in order to prove the feasibility of the approach. Experiments of local and remote VAD speed changes and autoregulation algorithms have been successfully tested showing response time of 1 s
Two-dimensional near infrared spectroscopic imaging of the hand to assess microvascular abnormalities in systemic sclerosis: A pilot study
No full textPatients affected by systemic sclerosis (SSc) develop functional and structural microvascular alterations and progressive fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. Evaluation of skin microcirculation is an important clinical step in the workup of SSc patients. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a well-established non-invasive technique to assess haemoglobin oxygen saturation (StO2) in the illuminated tissue. The recent development of NIR spectroscopic two-dimensional (2D) imaging offers the possibility of visualising StO2 distribution in large tissue areas. This is particularly important in SSc characterised by a very heterogeneous spatial distribution of the microvascular abnormalities. In addition, the short acquisition time of NIR spectroscopic images allows microvascular "dynamic" conditions, such as the vascular response to physical or pharmacological stimuli, to be evaluated. The present study reports the results of the test application of NIR spectroscopic 2D imaging of the palmar whole-hand surface for the evaluation of peripheral microcirculatory dysfunction in one patient with SSc, as compared with a healthy control, both in "static" (resting) and in "dynamic" (ischaemia-reperfusion) conditions. Spatial heterogeneity of microvascular alterations associated with temporal heterogeneity in vascular reactivity to ischaemic challenge make 2D NIR spectroscopic imaging a promising tool in the assessment of SSc, as compared with the current available techniques. A NIR spectroscopic camera by Kent Imaging Inc, Calgary, Canada was used
Stochastic and exponential analysis of precordial washout curves for myocardial blood flow measurement. Experimental evaluation.
No full textA portable system for autoregulation and wireless control of sensorized left ventricular assist devices
No full textEnd stage heart failure patients could benefit from left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation as bridge to heart transplantation or as destination therapy. However, LVAD suffers from several limitations, including the presence of a battery as power supply, the need for cabled connection from inside to outside the patient, and the lack of autonomous adaptation to the patient metabolic demand during daily activity. The authors, in this wide scenario, aim to contribute to advancement of the LVAD therapy by developing the hardware and the firmware of a portable autoregulation unit (ARU), able to fulfill the needs of sensorized VAD in terms of physic/physiological data storing, continuous monitoring, wireless control from the external environment and automatic adaptation to patient activities trough the implementation of autoregulation algorithms. Moreover, in order to answer the rules and safety requirements for implantable biomedical devices, a user control interface (UCI), was developed and associated to the ARU for an external manual safe control. The ARU and UCI functionalities and autoregulation algorithms have been successfully tested on bench and on animal, with a response time of 1 s for activating autoregulation algorithms. Animal experiments showed as the presence of the ARU do not affect the animal cardiovascular system, giving a proof of concept of its applicability in vivo
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