Pain Management

Pain Management - Current Issues and Opinions is written by international experts who cover a number of topics about current pain management problems, and gives the reader a glimpse into the future of pain treatment. Several chapters report original research, while others summarize clinical information with specific treatment options. The international mix of authors reflects the "casting of a broad net" to recruit authors on the cutting edge of their area of interest. Pain Management - Current Issues and Opinions is a must read for the up-to-date pain clinician

2021 Student Symposium Research and Creative Activity Book of Abstracts

The UMaine Student Symposium (UMSS) is an annual event that celebrates undergraduate and graduate student research and creative work. Students from a variety of disciplines present their achievements with video presentations. It’s the ideal occasion for the community to see how UMaine students’ work impacts locally – and beyond. The 2021 Student Symposium Research and Creative Activity Book of Abstracts includes a complete list of student presenters as well as abstracts related to their works

Investigation and Quantification of FES Exercise – Isometric Electromechanics and Perceptions of Its Usage as an Exercise Modality for Various Populations

Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is the triggering of muscle contraction by use of an electrical current. It can be used to give paralyzed individuals several health benefits, through allowing artificial movement and exercise. Although many FES devices exist, many aspects require innovation to increase usability and home translation. In addition, the effect of changing electrical parameters on limb biomechanics is not entirely understood; in particular with regards to stimulation duty cycle. This thesis has two distinct components. In the first (public health component), interview studies were conducted to understand several issues related to FES technology enhancement, implementation and home translation. In the second (computational biomechanics component), novel signal processing algorithms were designed that can be used to measure mechanical responses of muscles subjected to electrical stimulation. These experiments were performed by changing duty cycle and measuring its effect on quadriceps-generated knee torque. The studies of this thesis have presented several ideas, toolkits and results which have the potential to guide future FES biomechanics studies and the translatability of systems into regular usage for patients. The public health studies have provided conceptual frameworks upon which FES may be used in the home by patients. In addition, they have elucidated a range of issues that need to be addressed should FES technology reach its true potential as a therapy. The computational biomechanics studies have put forward novel data analysis techniques which may be used for understanding how muscle responds to electrical stimulation, as measured via torque. Furthermore, the effect of changing the electrical stimulation duty cycle on torque was successfully described, adding to an understanding of how electrical stimulation parameter modulation can influence joint biomechanics

Brain and Human Body Modeling 2020

​This open access book describes modern applications of computational human modeling in an effort to advance neurology, cancer treatment, and radio-frequency studies including regulatory, safety, and wireless communication fields. Readers working on any application that may expose human subjects to electromagnetic radiation will benefit from this book’s coverage of the latest models and techniques available to assess a given technology’s safety and efficacy in a timely and efficient manner. Describes computational human body phantom construction and application; Explains new practices in computational human body modeling for electromagnetic safety and exposure evaluations; Includes a survey of modern applications for which computational human phantoms are critical

Serotonergic modulation of the ventral pallidum by 5HT1A, 5HT5A, 5HT7 AND 5HT2C receptors

Introduction: Serotonin's involvement in reward processing is controversial. The large number of serotonin receptor sub-types and their individual and unique contributions have been difficult to dissect out, yet understanding how specific serotonin receptor sub-types contribute to its effects on areas associated with reward processing is an essential step. Methods: The current study used multi-electrode arrays and acute slice preparations to examine the effects of serotonin on ventral pallidum (VP) neurons. Approach for statistical analysis: extracellular recordings were spike sorted using template matching and principal components analysis, Consecutive inter-spike intervals were then compared over periods of 1200 seconds for each treatment condition using a student’s t test. Results and conclusions: Our data suggests that excitatory responses to serotonin application are pre-synaptic in origin as blocking synaptic transmission with low-calcium aCSF abolished these responses. Our data also suggests that 5HT1a, 5HT5a and 5HT7 receptors contribute to this effect, potentially forming an oligomeric complex, as 5HT1a antagonists completely abolished excitatory responses to serotonin application, while 5HT5a and 5HT7 only reduced the magnitude of excitatory responses to serotonin. 5HT2c receptors were the only serotonin receptor sub-type tested that elicited inhibitory responses to serotonin application in the VP. These findings, combined with our previous data outlining the mechanisms underpinning dopamine's effects in the VP, provide key information, which will allow future research to fully examine the interplay between serotonin and dopamine in the VP. Investigation of dopamine and serotonins interaction may provide vital insights into our understanding of the VP's involvement in reward processing. It may also contribute to our understanding of how drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, may hijack these mechanisms in the VP resulting in sensitization to drugs of abuse

Progenitor cells in auricular cartilage demonstrate promising cartilage regenerative potential in 3D hydrogel culture

The reconstruction of auricular deformities is a very challenging surgical procedure that could benefit from a tissue engineering approach. Nevertheless, a major obstacle is presented by the acquisition of sufficient amounts of autologous cells to create a cartilage construct the size of the human ear. Extensively expanded chondrocytes are unable to retain their phenotype, while bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) show endochondral terminal differentiation by formation of a calcified matrix. The identification of tissue-specific progenitor cells in auricular cartilage, which can be expanded to high numbers without loss of cartilage phenotype, has great prospects for cartilage regeneration of larger constructs. This study investigates the largely unexplored potential of auricular progenitor cells for cartilage tissue engineering in 3D hydrogels

White Paper 4: Challenges In Biomedicine & Health

Publicado en Madrid, 231 p. ; 17 cm.A lesson that we have learned from the pandemia caused by coronavirus is that solutions in health require coordinated actions. Beside this and other emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, millions of Europeans are suffering a plethora of disorders that are currently acquiring epidemic dimensions, including cancer, rare diseases, pain and food allergies, among others. New tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment need to be urgently designed and implemented using new holistic and multidisciplinary approaches at three different levels (basic research, translational/clinical and public/social levels) and involving researchers, clinicians, industry and all stakeholders in the health system. The CSIC is excellently positioned to lead and coordinate these challenges in Biomedicine and Health.Peer reviewe

Portable Custom Built Device For Thermal Sensitivity Assessment: An Auxiliary Tool To Characterize The Neuropathic Pain Following Spinal Cord Injury

Neuropathic pain is characterized to arise without stimulation of nociceptors, but due to injury or dysfunction of Peripheral and Central Nervous Systems. It involves altered mechanisms of impulse transmission in somatosensory pathways, causing abnormal sensations. Quantitative sensory testing, by the detection of thermal stimuli, is a method used to characterize and study the neuropathic pain. Therefore, this work describes the development and application of portable custom built device for cutaneous thermal sensitivity assessment in spinal cord injured subjects (SCIS). Using method of levels, the assessment was applied in healthy subjects and SCIS with and without neuropathic pain. The thresholds determined for healthy subjects during thermal sensitivity assessment are consistent and other results provided by clinical trials are according to previous works, demonstrating the device feasibility as an auxiliary tool for neuropathic pain study.2834 Inst. Syst. Technol. 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Biomechanical Spectrum of Human Sport Performance

Writing or managing a scientific book, as it is known today, depends on a series of major activities, such as regrouping researchers, reviewing chapters, informing and exchanging with contributors, and at the very least, motivating them to achieve the objective of publication. The idea of this book arose from many years of work in biomechanics, health disease, and rehabilitation. Through exchanges with authors from several countries, we learned much from each other, and we decided with the publisher to transfer this knowledge to readers interested in the current understanding of the impact of biomechanics in the analysis of movement and its optimization. The main objective is to provide some interesting articles that show the scope of biomechanical analysis and technologies in human behavior tasks. Engineers, researchers, and students from biomedical engineering and health sciences, as well as industrial professionals, can benefit from this compendium of knowledge about biomechanics applied to the human body