Implementing immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.

Background/objectives: Immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) was first introduced into NICE guidelines in 2017. In this approach, patients undergo cataract surgery on both eyes on the same day. Although increasingly popular, only 0.

Potential role of antitachycardia pacing alerts for the reduction of emergency presentations following shocks in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators: implications for the implementation of remote monitoring.

Aims: Despite increased use of remote monitoring (RM) to follow up implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) recipients, many patients still receive ICD shocks in the community and present to the emergency department. Our aim was to identify the best predictors of impending shock delivery that can be measured with an ICD and to identify the most appropriate activities to alert physicians to during RM follow-up.

Methods And Results: All patients presenting to our institution for ICD shock, from November 2011 to November 2014, were enrolled in this prospective study.

Remote monitoring of patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators: can results from large clinical trials be transposed to clinical practice?

Background: Remote monitoring (RM) is increasingly used to follow up patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). Randomized control trials provide evidence for the benefit of this intervention, but data for RM in daily clinical practice with multiple-brands and unselected patients is lacking.

Aims: To assess the effect of RM on patient management and clinical outcome for recipients of ICDs in daily practice.

Predictors of advanced His-Purkinje conduction disturbances in patients with unexplained syncope and bundle branch block.

Background: For patients presenting with syncope and bundle branch block (BBB), results during electrophysiological studies (EPS) might depend on the electrocardiographic pattern of conduction disturbances. We sought to identify predictors of advanced His-Purkinje conduction disturbances (HPCDs) in these patients.

Methods: In this retrospective multicentre study, patients were included who: (1) presented with unexplained syncope; (2) had BBB (QRS duration ≥ 120 ms); and (3) were investigated with EPS.

Fast measurement of sarcomere length and cell orientation in Langendorff-perfused hearts using remote focusing microscopy.

Rationale: Sarcomere length (SL) is a key indicator of cardiac mechanical function, but current imaging technologies are limited in their ability to unambiguously measure and characterize SL at the cell level in intact, living tissue.

Objective: We developed a method for measuring SL and regional cell orientation using remote focusing microscopy, an emerging imaging modality that can capture light from arbitrary oblique planes within a sample.

Methods And Results: We present a protocol that unambiguously and quickly determines cell orientation from user-selected areas in a field of view by imaging 2 oblique planes that share a common major axis with the cell.

Aberration-free three-dimensional multiphoton imaging of neuronal activity at kHz rates.

Multiphoton microscopy is a powerful tool in neuroscience, promising to deliver important data on the spatiotemporal activity within individual neurons as well as in networks of neurons. A major limitation of current technologies is the relatively slow scan rates along the z direction compared to the kHz rates obtainable in the x and y directions. Here, we describe a custom-built microscope system based on an architecture that allows kHz scan rates over hundreds of microns in all three dimensions without introducing aberration.

Agitation-free multiphoton microscopy of oblique planes.

The scanning two-photon fluorescence microscope produces optically sectioned images from the focal plane. It is sometimes desirable to acquire images from other planes of the specimen that are inclined with respect to the focal plane. In this Letter, we discuss the issues concerned with acquiring such images together with the effects of the inclination angle on image resolution and sectioning strength.

Image-based adaptive optics for two-photon microscopy.

We demonstrate wavefront sensorless aberration correction in a two-photon excited fluorescence microscope. Using analysis of the image-formation process, we have developed an optimized correction scheme permitting image-quality improvement with minimal additional exposure of the sample. We show that, as a result, our correction process induces little photobleaching and significantly improves the quality of images of biological samples.

Real-time slit scanning microscopy in the meridional plane.

The standard microscope architecture around which confocal microscopes are built imposes fundamental restrictions on the speed with which images (three-dimensional data sets) can be obtained. Commercially available slit scanning confocal microscopes are able to produce optically sectioned images at frame rates well in excess of 100 Hz. However only the focal (x-y) plane can be imaged at this speed.

Real-time extended depth of field microscopy.

We describe an optical microscope system whose focal setting can be changed quickly without moving the objective lens or specimen. Using this system, diffraction limited images can be acquired from a wide range of focal settings without introducing optical aberrations that degrade image quality. We combine this system with a real time Nipkow disc based confocal microscope so as to permit the acquisition of extended depth of field images directly in a single frame of the CCD camera.

Adaptive optics for structured illumination microscopy.

We implement wave front sensor-less adaptive optics in a structured illumination microscope. We investigate how the image formation process in this type of microscope is affected by aberrations. It is found that aberrations can be classified into two groups, those that affect imaging of the illumination pattern and those that have no influence on this pattern.

Aberration-free optical refocusing in high numerical aperture microscopy.

We describe a method of optical refocusing for high numerical aperture (NA) systems that is particularly relevant for confocal and multiphoton microscopy. This method avoids the spherical aberration that is common to other optical refocusing systems. We show that aberration-free images can be obtained over an axial scan range of 70 mum for a 1.