Digital workflow for fabrication of bespoke facemask in burn rehabilitation with smartphone 3D scanner and desktop 3D printing: clinical case study

We present a digital workflow for the production of custom facial orthosis used for burn scar management using smartphone three-dimensional (3D) scanner and desktop 3D printing. 3D facial scan of a 48-year-old lady with facial burn scars was obtained. 3D modeling with open-source programs were used to create facemask then 3D printed using rigid polylactic acid (PLA) filament and semi-rigid thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). Conventional facemask was used as a control. Each mask was worn for 7 days. Primary outcomes were level of comfort, and adherence to treatment. The conventional facemask was the most convenient followed by the TPU-facemask (mean comfort score of 9/10 and 8.7/10, respectively). Patient’s compliance was high for both TPU and conventional masks, each was worn for at least 21 hours/day for 7 days. On the contrary, PLA-facemask was not well tolerated. The proposed digital workflow is simple, patient-friendly and can be adopted for resource-intensive healthcare

Risks of Cardiac Arrhythmia Associated with COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize the current evidence regarding the association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination and the risk of cardiac arrhythmia. MEDLINE, via PubMed and OVID, Scopus, CENTRAL, and Web of Science were searched using the relevant keywords to identify the relevant citations. Comprehensive Meta-analysis and Review Manager 5.4.1 were used for all the statistical analyses. Seventeen studies (n = 567,033,087 patients) were included. The pooled analysis showed that the incidence of cardiac arrhythmia post-COVID-19 vaccination with Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, CoronaVac, and Sinopharm was 0.22%, 95% CI: (0.07% to 0.66%), 0.76%, 95% CI: (0.04% to 12.08%), 0.04%, 95% CI: (0.00% to 0.98%), 0.01%, 95% CI: (0.00% to 0.03%), and 0.03%, 95% CI: (0.00% to 18.48%), respectively. Compared to CoronaVac, Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Sinopharm had a higher incidence ratio rate (IRR; 22-times, 76-times, 4-times, and 3-times higher), respectively. Likewise, Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca showed a higher IRR than Sinopharm (7.3-times, 25.3-times, and 1.3-times higher). The current evidence shows that the incidence rate (IR) of cardiac arrhythmia post-COVID-19 vaccination is rare and ranges between 1 and 76 per 10,000. mRNA vaccines were associated with a higher IR of arrhythmia compared to vector-based vaccines. Inactivated vaccines showed the lowest IR of arrhythmia

Discovery, Development, and Patent Trends on Molnupiravir: A Prospective Oral Treatment for COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic needs no introduction at present. Only a few treatments are available for this disease, including remdesivir and favipiravir. Accordingly, the pharmaceutical industry is striving to develop new treatments for COVID-19. Molnupiravir, an orally active RdRp inhibitor, is in a phase 3 clinical trial against COVID-19. The objective of this review article is to enlighten the researchers working on COVID-19 about the discovery, recent developments, and patents related to molnupiravir. Molnupiravir was originally developed for the treatment of influenza at Emory University, USA. However, this drug has also demonstrated activity against a variety of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. Now it is being jointly developed by Emory University, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, and Merck to treat COVID-19. The published clinical data indicate a good safety profile, tolerability, and oral bioavailability of molnupiravir in humans. The patient-compliant oral dosage form of molnupiravir may hit the market in the first or second quarter of 2022. The patent data of molnupiravir revealed its granted compound patent and process-related patent applications. We also anticipate patent filing related to oral dosage forms, inhalers, and a combination of molnupiravir with marketed drugs like remdesivir, favipiravir, and baricitinib. The current pandemic demands a patient compliant, safe, tolerable, and orally effective COVID-19 treatment. The authors believe that molnupiravir meets these requirements and is a breakthrough COVID-19 treatment