Time-domain monitoring of em exposure during medical device testing

This work presents various probes for measuring radio frequency (RF) electric and magnetic fields for real time measurements of the time-varying RF fields used in MRI. A small single loop (2 cm) and short dipole antenna (2 cm) were developed to monitor the near field magnetic and electric exposure during the medical. Theoretical analysis for each designed probes was performed to convert the real time receive signals to the exposed electric and magnetic field. Probes in this study was tuned and matched at center frequency of 127.6 MHz for 3T MRI scanners to improve the accuracy and sensitivity. Probes were fabricated on a single sided PCB, FR4 of thickness 1.57mm and a copper thickness of 35um

Small footprint high gain and low noise figure preamplifier for 7T MRI scanner

This work presents the design and construction of a low input impedance preamplifier with a gain of more than 30 dB and a noise figure of less than 1 dB. It has a low input impedance, around 1Ω. A λ/4 transmission line is used to transform the low input impedance of the preamplifier to a high impedance at the coil to reduce the cross-coupling between coils. In order to test the preamplifier, a single-transmit, single-receive coil was developed at 297.2 MHz. The designed preamplifier can have a footprint as small as 27 mm × 13 mm. Small footprint preamplifiers are crucial where space is at a premium in multichannel coil arrays

Reliable RF B/E-Field Probes for Time-Domain Monitoring of em Exposure during Medical Device Testing

This paper presents electric and magnetic probes to measure radio frequency (RF) electric and magnetic fields for measuring the time-varying RF fields used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A small single loop (2 cm) and short dipole antenna (2 cm) were developed to monitor the near field magnetic and electric exposure during the medical device testing. Theoretical analysis for each designed probe was performed to convert the real time receive signals to the exposed electric and magnetic field. Probes in this paper were tuned and matched at center frequency of 127.6 MHz for 3T MRI scanners to improve the accuracy and sensitivity. Different cables were designed to reduce the E-field pick up and achieving the most accurate measurement setup. Probes were fabricated on a single sided printed circuit board, FR4 of thickness 1.57 mm and a copper thickness of 35μm. The measured S-parameters of the magnetic and electric field probes show less than-44 and-45 dB return loss at 127.6-MHz center frequency of the RF Birdcage

Informing Human Trafficking Clinical Care Through Two Systematic Reviews on Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence

Background: There is a lack of evidence on the clinical management of patients who have suffered human trafficking. Synthesizing the evidence from similar patient populations may provide valuable insight. This review summarizes findings on therapeutic interventions for survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence (IPV). Method: We conducted two systematic reviews using the MEDLINE database. We included only randomized controlled trials of therapies with primary outcomes related to health for survivors of sexual assault and IPV. For the sexual assault review, there were 78 abstracts identified, 16 full-text articles reviewed, and 10 studies included. For the IPV review, there were 261 abstracts identified, 24 full-text articles reviewed, and 17 studies included. Analysis compared study size, intervention type, patient population, primary health outcomes, and treatment effect. Results: Although our search included physical and mental health outcomes, almost all the studies meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria focused on mental health. The interventions for sexual assault included spiritually focused group therapy, interference control training, image rehearsal therapy, sexual revictimization prevention, educational videos, cognitive behavioral therapy, and exposure therapy. The interventions in the IPV review included group social support therapy, exposure therapy, empowerment sessions, physician counseling, stress management programs, forgiveness therapy, motivational interviewing, and interpersonal psychotherapy. Conclusions: Insights from these reviews included the importance of culturally specific group therapy, the central role of survivor empowerment, and the overwhelming focus on mental health. These key features provide guidance for the development of interventions to improve the health of human trafficking survivors

Trafficking Healthcare Resources and Intra-disciplinary Victim Services and Education (THRIVE) Clinic: A Multidisciplinary One-stop Shop Model of Healthcare for Survivors of Human Trafficking

Introduction: The THRIVE Clinic provides medical/psychiatric care for human trafficking survivors in Miami. Designed to address the comprehensive healthcare needs of this unique population, the clinic's goal is to establish stable and consistent healthcare that is respectful, comprehensive, and sensitive to survivor needs. Methods:The THRIVE Clinic is a patient-centered "one-stop shop" model offering multidisciplinary services in a single location. Due to survivors' chronic multiple morbidities, the model includes primary care, psychiatric, obstetrics/gynecology, and ancillary services. Key components include consistent multidisciplinary professionals, streamlined intake procedures to reduce redundancy of patient histories often painful to repeat, and assistance with securing health insurance. Results: To date, the majority of survivors seen are female, age at first visit is 28.7 years, with 53% reporting childhood sexual abuse and many reporting a history of physical abuse. All survivors left their trafficking encounters as adults, and were trafficked for an average duration of 5.1 years. Multiple chronic medical and psychiatric comorbidities include PTSD, hepatitis C, pelvic pain, major depressive disorder, and chronic headaches. Conclusion: A comprehensive, multidisciplinary, "one-stop shop" model of healthcare for survivors of human trafficking provides patient-centered services in an environment that fosters compassion, trust, support and stability. Reducing the burden on survivors of human trafficking to navigate complicated health systems and providing consistency among providers is an essential component to success

Collaborative Enhancement of Endothelial Targeting of Nanocarriers by Modulating Platelet-Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1/CD31 Epitope Engagement

Nanocarriers (NCs) coated with antibodies (Abs) to extracellular epitopes of the transmembrane glycoprotein PECAM (platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1/CD31) enable targeted drug delivery to vascular endothelial cells. Recent studies revealed that paired Abs directed to adjacent, yet distinct epitopes of PECAM stimulate each other’s binding to endothelial cells <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> (“collaborative enhancement”). This phenomenon improves targeting of therapeutic fusion proteins, yet its potential role in targeting multivalent NCs has not been addressed. Herein, we studied the effects of Ab-mediated collaborative enhancement on multivalent NC spheres coated with PECAM Abs (Ab/NC, ∼180 nm diameter). We found that PECAM Abs do mutually enhance endothelial cell binding of Ab/NC coated by paired, but not “self” Ab. <i>In vitro</i>, collaborative enhancement of endothelial binding of Ab/NC by paired Abs is modulated by Ab/NC avidity, epitope selection, and flow. Cell fixation, but not blocking of endocytosis, obliterated collaborative enhancement of Ab/NC binding, indicating that the effect is mediated by molecular reorganization of PECAM molecules in the endothelial plasmalemma. The collaborative enhancement of Ab/NC binding was affirmed <i>in vivo</i>. Intravascular injection of paired Abs enhanced targeting of Ab/NC to pulmonary vasculature in mice by an order of magnitude. This stimulatory effect greatly exceeded enhancement of Ab targeting by paired Abs, indicating that ‘“collaborative enhancement”’ effect is even more pronounced for relatively large multivalent carriers <i>versus</i> free Abs, likely due to more profound consequences of positive alteration of epitope accessibility. This phenomenon provides a potential paradigm for optimizing the endothelial-targeted nanocarrier delivery of therapeutic agents