3 research outputs found
Effective Reduction of Radiation Exposure during Cardiac Catheterization
Exposure to ionizing radiation during cardiac catheterization can have harmful consequences
for patients and for the medical staff involved in the procedures. Minimizing radiation
doses during the procedures is essential. We investigated whether fine-tuning the radiation
protocol reduces radiation doses in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.
In January 2016, we implemented a new protocol with reduced radiation doses in
the Hospital de Jerez catheterization laboratory. We analyzed 170 consecutive coronary
interventional procedures (85 of which were performed after the new protocol was implemented)
and the personal dosimeters of the interventional cardiologists who performed
the procedures.
Overall, the low-radiation protocol reduced air kerma (dose of radiation) by 44.9% (95%
CI, 18.4%–70.8%; P=0.001). The dose-area product decreased by 61% (95% CI, 30.2%–
90.1%; P <0.001) during percutaneous coronary interventions. We also found that the annual
deep (79%, P=0.026) and shallow (62.2%, P=0.035) radiation doses to which primary
operators were exposed decreased significantly under the low-radiation protocol. These
dose reductions were achieved without increasing the volume of contrast media, fluoroscopy
time, or rates of procedural complications, and without reducing the productivity of
the laboratory.
Optimizing the radiation safety protocol effectively reduced radiation exposure in patients
and operators during cardiac catheterization procedures
Biopolymers from Waste Biomass — Extraction, Modification and Ulterior Uses
The residues coming from woodlands and agricultural exploitation constitute the most abundant biomass available on earth. Its importance as a source of renewable energy has grown in addition to the environmental impact. Biomass waste is a lignocellulosic feedstock which contains three main biopolymers: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. It could be utilized for the production of a number of value-added products due to their chemical composition, but it is necessary to efficiently recover the valuable biopolymer as intact as possible by different processing techniques.For different applications, the principal objective of pre-treatment is to keep the cellulose intact, meanwhile hemicellulose and lignin are removed. The yields of the fractions depend on the pre-treatment method, which is the most expensive step in biomass conversion. Traditionally, cellulose is obtained by kraft, sulphite and soda treatments. These methods are non-environmentally friendly and generate huge quantities of toxic wastes. Recently developed models considering the environmental laws encourage the sustainable processing of biomass into value-added products. The use of ionic liquids as new solvents for biomass waste and organosolv processes is reviewed, which are used to obtain cellulose. One of the possible applications of cellulose is membrane synthesis, which has been reported for other biomass materials, such as sugarcane bagasse, mango seed and newspaper. In this chapter, some green pre-treatment methods, different sustainable routes for cellulose modification and some of the results obtained on membrane development based on waste biomass are discussed
ENGIU: Encuentro Nacional de Grupos de Investigación de UNIMINUTO.
El desarrollo del prototipo para el sistema de detección de Mina Antipersona
(MAP), inicia desde el semillero ADSSOF perteneciente al programa de Administración en Seguridad y Salud en el trabajo de la UNIMINUTO, se realiza a partir de un
detector de metales que emite una señal audible, que el usuario puede interpretar
como aviso de presencia de un objeto metálico, en este caso una MAP. La señal
audible se interpreta como un dato, como ese dato no es perceptible a 5 metros de
distancia, se implementa el transmisor de Frecuencia Modulada FM por la facilidad
de modulación y la escogencia de frecuencia de transmisión de acuerdo con las
normas y resolución del Ministerio de Comunicaciones; de manera que esta sea la
plataforma base para enviar los datos obtenidos a una frecuencia establecida. La
idea es que el ser humano no explore zonas peligrosas y buscar la forma de crear
un sistema que permita eliminar ese riesgo, por otro lado, buscar la facilidad de uso
de elementos ya disponibles en el mercado