Three-Dimensional Shear-Wave Viscoelastographic Estimation by System Identification for Prostate Cancer Localization.

Objective: This study aims to estimate viscosity in vivo in the prostate using shear-wave elastography (SWE) and to evaluate its potential, alongside elasticity, for prostate cancer (PCa) localization.

Methods: A cohort of 197 patients referred for radical prostatectomy at four Dutch hospitals underwent three-dimensional (3D) SWE scans. From the acquired data, voxel-based viscosity and shear-wave (SW) velocity were computed using a system identification (SI) approach.

Evaluating the burden of caregivers of patients with visual impairment: a multicenter pilot study in Italian visual rehabilitation centers.

Introduction: Despite growing evidence that underscores the importance of the caregiver's role in the rehabilitation process, visual rehabilitation (VR) programs often overlook these needs. The aim of this pilot study is to investigate the caregiving burden (CB) among informal caregivers of visually impaired (VI) patients who attend Italian VR centers, setting the bases for large-scale research.

Methods: Four Italian VR centers were involved.

Validation of the advanced alert monitor in a Dutch hospital using local optimization and refinement of the outcome definition.

Background: The Advanced Alert Monitor (AAM) is a data-driven Early Warning Score (EWS) system designed to predict ICU admission or mortality within 12 hours. It has demonstrated superior performance compared to the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) and contributed to a consortium-wide reduction in mortality, showcasing its potential for clinical use.

Objective: The study evaluates the generalizability of the AAM in a Dutch hospital setting, comparing its performance against the NEWS and a locally optimized AAM (LO-AAM).

Contrast-ultrasound dispersion imaging for renal cell carcinoma diagnostics.

Cost-effective screening methods for Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) are still lacking. Angiogenesis is a recognized hallmark of cancer growth, leading to distinguishable perfusion patterns in tumors from those in normal tissue. This establishes the basis for diagnostic imaging solutions by dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US).

The impact of monodisperse microbubble size on contrast-enhanced ultrasound super-localization imaging.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) super-localization imaging has shown promise for the assessment of microvascular networks by localizing and tracking microbubbles. The size of the available microbubbles for clinical use is polydisperse, but size-tailorable monodisperse microbubbles are now being developed that present a narrow size distribution. Therefore, proper frequency and pressure tuning have the potential to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and resolution of CEUS acquisitions, which can be expected to increase the performance of CEUS super-localization imaging.

Prediction and analysis of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes across 28 cancers by TILScout using deep learning.

The density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) serves as a valuable indicator for predicting anti-tumor responses, but its broad impact across various types of cancers remains underexplored. We introduce TILScout, a pan-cancer deep-learning approach to compute patch-level TIL scores from whole slide images (WSIs). TILScout achieved accuracies of 0.

Biofeedback rehabilitation in patients with binocular inhibition due to macular disease.

Background: To investigate whether patients with binocular reading inhibition due to central vision loss benefit from a new biofeedback (BF) rehabilitation method that aimed at improving fixation stability and at establishing a correspondence between the monocular preferred retinal loci (PRLs) on functioning retina in both eyes.

Methods: Thirty-three patients with bilateral macular disease and with binocular reading inhibition participated in 10 training sessions consisting of 10-min visual stimulation for each eye to stabilize fixation and relocate the PRL (if needed) using the BF module of the MP-1 microperimeter (Nidek Technologies Srl., Vigonza, PD, Italy).

Estimation of the Number of Active Sweat Glands Through Discrete Sweat Sensing.

Sweat is a biomarker-rich fluid with potential for continuous patient monitoring via wearable devices. However, biomarker concentrations vary with the sweat rate per gland, posing a challenge for sweat sensing. To address this, we propose an algorithm to compute both the number of active sweat glands and their individual sweat rates.

Vision rehabilitation workforce in Italy: a country-level analysis.

Background: Research and monitoring of human resources available for vision rehabilitation services has been a neglected area of work in the past. This study aims to offer an overview of the vision rehabilitation workforce available in Italy, in order to profile the distribution and number of human resources for vision rehabilitation.

Methods: Data on the available vision rehabilitation professionals were collected from the yearly report on the state of implementation of policies relating to the prevention of blindness, education and vision rehabilitation, according to a law which was passed by the Italian Ministry of Health, Department of Health Prevention.

Can 3D Multiparametric Ultrasound Imaging Predict Prostate Biopsy Outcome?

Objectives: To assess the value of 3D multiparametric ultrasound imaging, combining hemodynamic and tissue stiffness quantifications by machine learning, for the prediction of prostate biopsy outcomes.

Methods: After signing informed consent, 54 biopsy-naïve patients underwent a 3D dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) recording, a multi-plane 2D shear-wave elastography (SWE) scan with manual sweeping from base to apex of the prostate, and received 12-core systematic biopsies (SBx). 3D maps of 18 hemodynamic parameters were extracted from the 3D DCE-US quantification and a 3D SWE elasticity map was reconstructed based on the multi-plane 2D SWE acquisitions.

Ultrasound Viscoelastography by Acoustic Radiation Force: A State-of-the-Art Review.

Ultrasound elastography (USE) is a promising tool for tissue characterization as several diseases result in alterations of tissue structure and composition, which manifest as changes in tissue mechanical properties. By imaging the tissue response to an applied mechanical excitation, USE mimics the manual palpation performed by clinicians to sense the tissue elasticity for diagnostic purposes. Next to elasticity, viscosity has recently been investigated as an additional, relevant, diagnostic biomarker.

Use of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaires for clinical decision-making and psychological referral in ophthalmic care: a multicentre observational study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of anxiety and depression on clinician decision-making in patients suffering from chronic eye disease in ophthalmological clinical practice.

Design And Setting: This multicentre observational study, in collaboration with the WHO, included ophthalmologists and their patients affected by chronic eye disease. States of anxiety and depression were screened with specific questionnaires, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), self-administered by patients before the visit.

Quantification of extravasation and binding of PSMA-targeted nanobubbles by modelling the second-wave phenomenon.

Purpose: With about ten-fold smaller diameter than MBs, nanobubbles (NBs) were developed as new-generation ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) able to extravasate and target specific receptors expressed on extravascular cancer cells, such as the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). It has been shown that PSMA-targeted NBs (PSMA-NBs) can bind to specific prostate cancer (PCa) cells and exhibit a prolonged retention effect (PRE), observable by NB-based CEUS (NB-CEUS). However, previous analyses of PRE were mainly limited to the semi-quantitative assessment of the time-intensity curve (TIC) in an entire tumor ROI, possibly losing information on tumor spatial heterogeneity and local characteristics.

Spatiotemporal analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for differentiating between malignant and benign breast lesions.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to apply spatiotemporal analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) loops to quantify the enhancement heterogeneity for improving the differentiation between benign and malignant breast lesions.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included 120 women (age range, 18-82 years; mean, 52 years) scheduled for ultrasound-guided biopsy. With the aid of brightness-mode images, the border of each breast lesion was delineated in the CEUS images.

The Effect of Varied Microperimetric Biofeedback Training in Central Vision Loss: A Randomized Trial.

Significance: This investigation reports for the first time the effects of different microperimetric biofeedback strategies in visually impaired subjects with central field loss.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of two MP-3 microperimeter biofeedback strategies on the visual performance of subjects with central vision loss. Moreover, changes between the groups were compared to provide indications of practice with biofeedback stimulation in subjects with central vision loss.

Prediction of postoperative patient deterioration and unanticipated intensive care unit admission using perioperative factors.

Background And Objectives: Currently, no evidence-based criteria exist for decision making in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU). This could be valuable for the allocation of postoperative patients to the appropriate level of care and beneficial for patient outcomes such as unanticipated intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. The aim is to assess whether the inclusion of intra- and postoperative factors improves the prediction of postoperative patient deterioration and unanticipated ICU admissions.

A multidisciplinary approach to inherited retinal dystrophies from diagnosis to initial care: a narrative review with inputs from clinical practice.

Background: Non-syndromic inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) such as retinitis pigmentosa or Leber congenital amaurosis generally manifest between early childhood and late adolescence, imposing profound long-term impacts as a result of vision impairment or blindness. IRDs are highly heterogeneous, with often overlapping symptoms among different IRDs, and achieving a definite diagnosis is challenging. This narrative review provides a clinical overview of the non-syndromic generalized photoreceptor dystrophies, particularly retinitis pigmentosa and Leber congenital amaurosis.

Radiogenomics Analysis Linking Multiparametric MRI and Transcriptomics in Prostate Cancer.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a highly prevalent cancer type with a heterogeneous prognosis. An accurate assessment of tumor aggressiveness can pave the way for tailored treatment strategies, potentially leading to better outcomes. While tumor aggressiveness is typically assessed based on invasive methods (e.

New Hemodynamic Parameters in Peri-Operative and Critical Care-Challenges in Translation.

Hemodynamic monitoring technologies are evolving continuously-a large number of bedside monitoring options are becoming available in the clinic. Methods such as echocardiography, electrical bioimpedance, and calibrated/uncalibrated analysis of pulse contours are becoming increasingly common. This is leading to a decline in the use of highly invasive monitoring and allowing for safer, more accurate, and continuous measurements.

Efficacy and Patients' Satisfaction with the ORCAM MyEye Device Among Visually Impaired People: A Multicenter Study.

To evaluate usability of and satisfaction with OrCam MyEye, a finger-size wearable assistive technology device for visually impaired during real-world tasks. This prospective multicenter study was conducted on visually impaired people recruited from 5 vision rehabilitation centers. Patients performed real-world tasks such as near and distance reading, money handling, colour identification and face recognition in 2 different scenarios: without using any low vision aid and with OrCam.

Automated detection and classification of patient-ventilator asynchrony by means of machine learning and simulated data.

Background And Objective: Mechanical ventilation is a lifesaving treatment for critically ill patients in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or during surgery. However, one potential harm of mechanical ventilation is related to patient-ventilator asynchrony (PVA). PVA can cause discomfort to the patient, damage to the lungs, and an increase in the length of stay in the ICU and on the ventilator.

Posturographic Analysis in Patients Affected by Central and Peripheral Visual Impairment.

Although vision loss is known to affect equilibrium maintenance, postural control in patients affected by low vision has been poorly investigated. We evaluated postural stability and the ability to use visual, proprioceptive and vestibular information in different low vision patterns. Ten adults with normal vision (NC), fourteen adults affected by central visual impairment (CLV) and eight adults affected by peripheral visual impairment (PLV) were enrolled in our study.

On the value of MRI for improved understanding of cuff-based oscillometric measurements.

Blood pressure (BP) is a key parameter in critical care and in cardiovascular disease management. BP is typically measured via cuff-based oscillometry. This method is highly inaccurate in hypo- and hypertensive patients.