Kinematics Estimation Using a Skin-Adhesive Strain Patch for Shoulder Rehabilitation: A Preliminary Study.

Shoulder kinematics has been required to be estimated using compact sensors to provide visual feedback on joint movements for patients undergoing home rehabilitation due to musculoskeletal diseases, such as stroke. Multiple strain patches have been used for shoulder kinematics estimation, either embedded in tight shirts or attached directly to the skin. However, it is desirable to eliminate the tight shirt while minimizing the number of strain patches for convenient use in home rehabilitation.

Log file-based quality assurance method for respiratory gating system.

Background: As medical linear accelerator technology advances, enabling higher dose rate deliveries, hypofractionation regimens has increased. This necessitates respiratory gating systems that synchronize radiation delivery with tumor position, requiring simple rigorous quality assurance (QA) to ensure treatment accuracy and patient safety.

Purpose: This study aimed to propose log-based QA for respiratory-gated radiation therapy using the respiratory gating system and treatment machine.

Feasibility of optimal vertex size and spacing for lattice radiotherapy implementation using helical tomotherapy.

Purpose: Lattice radiotherapy (LRT), a type of spatially fractionated radiotherapy (SFRT), delivers high dose at specific volumes of lattice structure within the tumor to create a low valley-to-peak dose ratio (VPDR). This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of implementing SFRT using helical tomotherapy and to investigate the effects of vertex size and spacing for attaining the VPDR.

Methods: A three-dimensional lattice structure with 3×3×3 vertices was designed in a cheese phantom.

Mechanical stress in a solid ellipsoid model of the lung after thoracoscopic surgery for spontaneous pneumothorax.

Background: Newly formed bullae after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) bullectomy in primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) are an important etiology for recurrence and are associated with mechanical stress along the stapling line. However, the distribution or pattern of stress after VATS bullectomy has not been thoroughly investigated. Our aim was to analyze the stress distribution following lung resection.

A preliminary study of linear accelerator-based spatially fractionated radiotherapy.

Purpose: This study aimed to provide quantitative information for implementing Lattice radiotherapy (LRT) using a medical linear accelerator equipped with the Millennium 120 multi-leaf collimator (MLC). The research systematically evaluated the impact of varying vertex diameters and separations on dose distribution, peak-to-valley dose ratio (PVDR), and normal tissue dose.

Methods: A cylindrical Virtual Water™ phantom was used to create LRT treatments using the Eclipse version 16.

A Lightweight Dynamic Hand Orthosis With Sequential Joint Flexion Movement for Postoperative Rehabilitation of Flexor Tendon Repair Surgery.

During the postoperative hand rehabilitation period, it is recommended that the repaired flexor tendons be continuously glided with sufficient tendon excursion and carefully managed protection to prevent adhesion with adjacent tissues. Thus, finger joints should be passively mobilized through a wide range of motion (ROM) with physiotherapy. During passive mobilization, sequential flexion of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint followed by the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint is recommended for maximizing tendon excursion.

Comparative Analysis of Muscle Synergy between Patients with Shoulder Impingement Syndrome and Healthy Controls: A Preliminary Study.

Shoulder impingement syndrome can be caused by a muscle imbalance around the shoulder joint. It would be beneficial for therapy to implement rehabilitation exercises based on intermuscular coordination in order to achieve muscle balance. This study presents the muscle synergy characteristics of patients with shoulder impingement syndrome, which can be used to develop rehabilitation exercises.

γ-Ray Irradiation Enables Annealing- and Light-Soaking-Free Solution Processable SnO Electron Transport Layer for Inverted Organic Solar Cells.

The electrode buffer layer is crucial for high-performance and stable OSCs, optimizing charge transport and energy level alignment at the interface between the polymer active layer and electrode. Recently, SnO has emerged as a promising material for the cathode buffer layer due to its desirable properties, such as high electron mobility, transparency, and stability. Typically, SnO nanoparticle layers require a postannealing treatment above 150°C in an air environment to remove the surfactant ligands and obtain high-quality thin films.

Diverse clinical presentation of primary spontaneous pneumothorax in patients with pectus excavatum.

Objective: Patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) tend to be young, tall, and thin, as do those with pectus excavatum (PE). Notably, the Haller index, which measures the severity of PE, tends also to be higher in patients with PSP, further suggesting a potential predisposing factor for the development of PSP in individuals with PE. This study aimed to share clinical experiences with case series of concomitant PSP and PE and to emphasize the importance of evaluating these two conditions together.

Controlling Superhydrophobicity and Oleophobicity of Polydimethylsiloxane-Coated Silica Hybrid Particles.

Hierarchical functional organic-inorganic hybrid particles for versatile control of surface wettability have attracted much attention in a wide range of applications from makeup cosmetics to anti-smudging optoelectronic devices. In this study, superhydrophobic and oleophobic organic-inorganic hybrid particles were prepared by a simple and systematic fabrication strategy using the synergistic combination of commonly available silica particles and polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMSs) with hydrophobic chain ends. Various types of PDMSs with different chain lengths and chemical structures were surface-grafted to silica microparticles through facile physical dispersion and subsequent thermal treatment to form hydrogen bonds or covalent bonds between the inorganic silica and organic PDMS polymers and thus induce a core-shell structure for the hybrid particles, which imparts superhydrophobicity and oleophobicity to the surface of silica particles.

Portable 3D-printed hand orthosis with spatial stiffness distribution personalized for assisting grasping in daily living.

Stroke survivors having limited finger coordination require an active hand orthosis to assist them with grasping tasks for daily activities. The orthosis should be portable for constant use; however, portability imposes constraints on the number, size, and weight of the actuators, which increase the difficulty of the design process. Therefore, a tradeoff exists between portability and the assistive force.

Use of thoracoscopy for thoracic sympathetic nerve block in primary hyperhidrosis.

Thoracic sympathetic nerve block (TSNB) has been widely used in the treatment of neuropathic pain. To reduce block failure rates, TSNB is assisted with several modalities including fluoroscopy, computed tomography, and ultrasonography. The present study describes our experience assessing the usefulness of thoracoscopy in TSNB for predicting compensatory hyperhidrosis before sympathectomy in primary hyperhidrosis.

Bilateral tension pneumothoraxes in buffalo chest several months after Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum.

Primary spontaneous pneumothorax usually occurs in tall and thin young people without an underlying disease or traumatic history. Most patients with pectus excavatum have similar body shapes as patients with pneumothorax. Haller indices of the patients with pneumothorax and pectus excavatum are higher than normal.

Natural History of Contralateral Bullae/Blebs After Ipsilateral Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery for Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Contralateral bullae/blebs are frequently found in patients who are scheduled to undergo ipsilateral video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP).

Research Question: Should visible contralateral bullae/blebs be simultaneously resected when ipsilateral VATS bullectomy is performed?

Study Design And Methods: In this single-center, retrospective cohort study, we included patients aged ≤ 30 years who underwent ipsilateral VATS for PSP from April 2009 to December 2019. Electronic medical records, radiograph images, and preoperative high-resolution CT images were reviewed.

Thoracoscopic sympathetic block to predict compensatory hyperhidrosis in primary hyperhidrosis.

Background: Compensatory hyperhidrosis is the main cause of patients' dissatisfaction following sympathectomy for primary hyperhidrosis. Therefore, thoracoscopic sympathetic nerve block before sympathectomy can be used to predict compensatory hyperhidrosis after sympathectomy. The objective of this study is to review our recent experience with the nerve block procedure, describing efficacy, safety and validity.

Highly Stable Bulk Perovskite for Blue LEDs with Anion-Exchange Method.

To date, the light emitting diode (LED) based halide perovskite was rapidly developed due to the outstanding property of perovskite materials. However, the blue perovskite LEDs based on the bulk halide perovskites have been rarely researched and showed low efficiencies. The bulk blue perovskite LEDs suffered from insufficient coverage on the substrate due to the low solubility of the inorganic Cl sources or damaged by the structural instability with participation of organic cations.

Bronchopleurobiliary fistula following right lower lobectomy in a patient with prior hepatic abscess: a case report.

In a 68-year-old male patient with cholangitis microabscess in the liver, cavitary lung cancer of the right lower lobe was incidentally diagnosed. The patient's medical history comprised totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (TLDG) and cholecystectomy 9 years ago. Before TLDG, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) was performed because of a common bile duct stone and cholangitis.

Origin of the luminescence spectra width in perovskite nanocrystals with surface passivation.

Though halide perovskite nanocrystal (PeNC) based blue light emitting devices have been improved in the last few years, and the reasons for the improvements have been successfully explained, the origin of the narrow emission spectra of PeNCs have not been studied much. Here, the factors that affect the width of the emission spectra of PeNCs are analyzed with controlled synthesis and surface passivation treatment. The overall spectra are governed by the size of PeNCs; however, the width could be narrowed by surface passivation treatment.

Design and Evaluation of a Novel Experimental Setup for Upper Limb Intermuscular Coordination Studies.

Motor disabilities limiting the mobility of limbs affect the quality of lives of people with neural injuries. Among various types of motor disabilities, abnormal intermuscular coordination is commonly observed from people with severe impairment. The concept of muscle synergy, defined as characteristic muscle co-activation patterns activated to produce complex motor behavior, has been applied to assess the alteration in intermuscular coordination in pathological populations.

New bullae formation in the staple line increases the risk of recurrent pneumothorax following video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery bullectomy for primary spontaneous pneumothorax.

Background: The study aimed to investigate the association between the recurrence of pneumothorax following video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) and the formation of new bullae.

Methods: This retrospective review examined patients who underwent VATS for PSP between April 2009 and December 2014. Of the 415 operated lungs, high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans of 85 were analyzed.

Low grade myxofibrosarcoma in the right ventricle presenting as pulmonary thromboembolism.

We report an unusual malignant cardiac neoplasm that initially presented as pulmonary thromboembolism in a 78-year-old male. Despite anticoagulation, the pulmonary artery lesion progressed and a mass-like lesion developed in the right ventricular outflow tract. Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was applied before surgery due to the presence of severe right-side heart failure with pulmonary hypertension.