Optimising magnetic sentinel lymph node biopsy in an in vivo porcine model

The magnetic technique for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has been evaluated in several clinical trials. An in vivo porcine model was developed to optimise the magnetic technique by evaluating the effect of differing volume, concentration and time of injection of magnetic tracer. A total of 60 sentinel node procedures were undertaken. There was a significant correlation between magnetometer counts and iron content of excised sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) (r = 0.82; P < 0.001). Total number of SLNs increased with increasing volumes of magnetic tracer (P < 0.001). Transcutaneous magnetometer counts increased with increasing time from injection of magnetic tracer (P < 0.0001), plateauing within 60 min. Increasing concentration resulted in higher iron content of SLNs (P = 0.006). Increasing magnetic tracer volume and injecting prior to surgery improve transcutaneous ‘hotspot’ identification but very high volumes, increase the number of nodes excised. From the Clinical Editor Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is the standard of care for axillary staging of breast cancer patients. Although the current gold standard technique is the combined injection of technetium-labelled nanocolloid and blue dye into the breast, the magnetic technique, using superparamagnetic carboxydextran-coated iron oxide (SPIO), has also been demonstrated as a feasible alternative. In this article, the authors set up to study factors in order to optimize the magnetic tracers. Graphical abstract Variable volumes and concentrations of a magnetic tracer were injected into the third inguinal mammary gland bilaterally in an in vivo porcine model (1) allowing the performance of magnetic sentinel lymph node biopsy of draining inguinal nodes (2). The harvested nodes were ‘darkly stained’ for iron uptake and ‘hot’ for magnetometer counts (3). The iron was deposited within the cortex and subcapsular space – visible as blue using PERL’s staining – on histopathology (4) and was quantified using quantitative magnetometry and a validated iron-grading scale

Persoonlijk leiderschap

Brandon Pouw (26 jaar) is werkzaam als beleidsmedewerker Bestuurlijk Zaken bij de provincie Zuid-Holland. Geboren Utrechter, nu woont hij samen met zijn vriendin in Leiden. Hij studeerde Politicologie in Nijmegen, Grenoble en Leiden en werd in januari verkozen tot Jonge Ambtenaar van het Jaar. Voor vragen over de column kun je gerust een mailtje sturen naar [email protected]

Masked-Piper: Masking personal identities in visual recordings while preserving multimodal information

In this increasingly data-rich world, visual recordings of human behavior are often unable to be shared due to concerns about privacy. Consequently, data sharing in fields such as behavioral science, multimodal communication, and human movement research is often limited. In addition, in legal and other non-scientific contexts, privacy-related concerns may preclude the sharing of video recordings and thus remove the rich multimodal context that humans recruit to communicate. Minimizing the risk of identity exposure while preserving critical behavioral information would maximize utility of public resources (e.g., research grants) and time invested in audio–visual​ research. Here we present an open-source computer vision tool that masks the identities of humans while maintaining rich information about communicative body movements. Furthermore, this masking tool can be easily applied to many videos, leveraging computational tools to augment the reproducibility and accessibility of behavioral research. The tool is designed for researchers and practitioners engaged in kinematic and affective research. Application areas include teaching/education, communication and human movement research, CCTV, and legal contexts

Ex vivo magnetic sentinel lymph node detection in colorectal cancer with a SPIO tracer

A new method for selecting sentinel lymph nodes (SNs) in colorectal cancer tissue was investigated in 12 patients. A tracer consisting of superparamagnetic ironoxide (SPIO) nanoparticles was injected in the resected tissue. A handheld magnetic probe was used to select SNs to which the SPIO was drained. Vibrating sample magnetometry was performed on the lymph nodes to quantify the amount of SPIO in the nodes. High-field MRI allowed to depict the distribution of SPIO in the node, and revealed small anatomical structures. One or more SPIO containing nodes were successfully selected with the magnetic probe in all 12 patients

In vivo PET imaging of the neuroinflammatory response in rat spinal cord injury using the TSPO tracer [F-18]GE-180 and effect of docosahexaenoic acid

Centre for Trauma Sciences, funded by the Barts & The London Charity, GE Healthcare Ltd, the Experimental Medicine Awards from the Blizard Institute and the Imaging Centre at the Barts Cancer Institute

Right drug, right patient, right time: aspiration or future promise for biologics in rheumatoid arthritis?

Individualising biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) to maximise outcomes and deliver safe and cost-effective care is a key goal in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Investigation to identify predictive tools of bDMARD response is a highly active and prolific area of research. In addition to clinical phenotyping, cellular and molecular characterisation of synovial tissue and blood in patients with RA, using different technologies, can facilitate predictive testing. This narrative review will summarise the literature for the available bDMARD classes and focus on where progress has been made. We will also look ahead and consider the increasing use of ‘omics’ technologies, the potential they hold as well as the challenges, and what is needed in the future to fully realise our ambition of personalised bDMARD treatment