Biomarker changes with systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and cardiac troponin-I (cTnI) are biomarkers commonly evaluated in cats with suspected heart disease. Many cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) have systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve (SAM), but its influence on circulating NT-proBNP or cTnI concentrations is currently unknown. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: Cats with HCM and SAM (HCMSAM+ ) have higher NT-proBNP and cTnI concentrations than do cats with HCM but without SAM (HCMSAM- ). ANIMALS: One hundred forty cats with HCM: 70 with SAM and 70 without SAM. METHODS: Retrospective case-to-case study. Cats were recruited if diagnosed with HCM by echocardiography and results were available for NT-proBNP or cTnI concentrations or both. Cats with SAM were matched to those without SAM for clinical presentation, left atrial (LA) size and left ventricular (LV) fractional shortening. RESULTS: A total of 119 NT-proBNP and 123 cTnI results were available. The HCMSAM+ cats had higher median concentrations than did HCMSAM- cats for NT-proBNP (729 pmoL/L; interquartile range [IQR], 275-1467 versus 65 pmoL/L; IQR, 25-271; P < .001) and cTnI (0.27 ng/mL; IQR, 0.10-0.81 versus 0.07 ng/mL; IQR, 0.01-0.43; P = .002). In general linear models for both NT-proBNP and cTnI, the independent explanatory variables were SAM, congestive heart failure, maximal LV wall thickness, and LA size. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: For cats with HCM and equivalent LA size and LV systolic function, those with SAM had higher NT-proBNP and cTnI concentrations than did those without SAM. Presence of SAM should be considered when interpreting biomarker concentrations in cats with HCM

Development of the sensorized hybrid gripper for the proprioceptive grasping

Various soft grippers using soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) have been developed for roboticmanipulators owing to the inherent compliance, and a simple morphological structure. However, it is important for the grasping capability to enhance the ability of SPA, as well as the sensorization for the feedback actuation. In this study, we developed a sensorized hybrid gripper that incorporates both soft and rigid components to improve the fingertip force and actuation speed simultaneously based on three design principles: 1) bendingmotion is proportional to the ratio of the rigid structure; 2) a concave soft chamber design is preferred; and 3) a round shape between soft and rigid materials increases the fingertip force. The proprioceptive feedback was applied through the embedded bending sensors. The fingertip force and the actuation speed was verified experimentally and the proprioceptive information was evaluated

A Hybrid Gripper With Soft Material and Rigid Structures

Various robotic grippers have been developed over the past several decades for robotic manipulators. Especially, the soft grippers based on the soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) have been studied actively, since it offers more pliable bending motion, inherent compliance, and a simple morphological structure. However, few studies have focused on simultaneously improving the fingertip force and actuation speed within the specified design parameters. In this study, we developed a hybrid gripper that incorporates both soft and rigid components to improve the fingertip force and actuation speed simultaneously based on three design principles: first, the degree of bending is proportional to the ratio of the rigid structure; second, a concave chamber design is preferred for large longitudinal strain; and third, a round shape between soft and rigid materials increases the fingertip force. The suggested principles were verified using the finite element methods. The improved performance of the hybrid gripper was verified experimentally and compared with the performance of a conventional SPAs. The ability of the hybrid gripper to grasp different objects was evaluated and was applied in a teleoperated system

Development of a Sensorized Hybrid Gripper to Evaluate Grasping Quality

Various soft grippers based on the soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) have been studied actively since it offers pliable bending motion, inherent compliance, and a simple morphological structure. For improved functionality or feedback control, embedding sensors to SPAs has also been studied vigorously. However, evaluating grasping quality of the gripper with the embedded sensor has rarely been studied even if the stable grasping is significant in robotic manipulation. Thus, in this study, we developed a sensorized hybrid gripper which embeds a commercial bending sensor and a customized tactile sensor, and the grasping quality based on the largest-minimum wrench (LMW), which evaluate the contact wrenches, was calculated. The grasping quality metrics with two different grips were compared experimentally

Origami-structured Actuating Modules for Upper Limb Support

Soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) based on inherently compliant materials have been developed by integrating with a fabric, a fiber reinforcement, or applying origami patterns. However, the fabric and fiber-reinforced SPAs are limited by the relatively large volumes of air needed to achieve the desired motions, and conventional &apos;origami-structured&apos; SPAs based on simple paper folding may not be durable and provide limited force. In this letter, an origami-structured actuating module fabricated by embedding a rigid origami structure in a fabric, which is applicable to any origami patterns including Yoshimura, Waterbomb, and so on, was proposed to improve durability and supporting force. Specially, the Yoshimura pattern-based origami-structured actuating module was analytically modeled to determine the design parameters of the actuating module so that it can provide enough supporting force and range of motion of the upper limb. A wearable system with the optimized origami-structured actuating module, which is durable, adaptable, and capable of supporting the upper limb motion, was developed to assist the upper limb without interfering natural movements

A Sensorized Hybrid Gripper to Evaluate a Grasping Quality based on a Largest Minimum Wrench

Soft pneumatic grippers, which are based on soft pneumatic actuators have been widely studied owing to their simple morphological structure, inherent compliance, and pliable grasp. Additionally, the integration of the soft gripper with various sensors to improve its functionality has also been extensively studied. Although the soft gripper is known to exhibit a robust grasping performance without accurate control, the grasping quality of the soft gripper has rarely been studied due to the lack of adequate embedded sensors and quality metrics of the soft gripper. Therefore, a hybrid gripper, which is a soft gripper with rigid components, was sensorized by embedding a soft force sensor and a bending sensor to evaluate the grasping quality. Furthermore, a new grasping quality metric for a soft gripper was proposed, which calculates the largest minimum wrench of a convex hull in the wrench space. The proposed grasping quality metric was experimentally verified, and a real-time program was developed to evaluate the grasping quality

Natural history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats from rehoming centers: The CatScan II study.

Funder: Everts Luff Feline EndowmentFunder: IDEXX LaboratoriesFunder: Petplan Charitable Trust; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100009449BACKGROUND: The natural history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in cats has been mainly studied in cats referred for suspected heart disease, which can skew the results towards cats with clinical signs. Few data are available on factors associated with development of HCM in cats. HYPOTHESES: (1) Clinical variables can predict which cats will develop HCM; (2) HCM in cats not referred for suspected heart disease is associated with a low rate of cardiovascular events. ANIMALS: One hundred seven cats from rehoming centers without a history of clinical signs of cardiac or systemic disease at the time of adoption. METHODS: Prospective longitudinal study. After rehoming, shelter cats were reexamined for serial echocardiograms. Cox regression analysis was used to identify predictors of development of HCM in cats that were normal at baseline. Adverse cardiovascular events including heart failure, thromboembolism, or sudden death were recorded. RESULTS: Cats were monitored for a median of 5.6 [1.2-9.2] years. At baseline, 68/107 cats were normal, 18/107 were equivocal and 21/107 had HCM. Nineteen cats developed HCM during the study period. The factors at baseline associated with increased hazard of developing HCM were lower left atrial fractional shortening, higher left ventricular fractional shortening, and higher body weight. Cardiovascular events were observed in 21% of cats with HCM. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Cardiovascular events were common in cats with HCM from a rehoming center study sample. Lower left atrial systolic function appears to precede overt HCM.Petplan Charitable Trust, Everts Luff Feline Endowment and IDEXX Laboratorie

Aortic annular plane systolic excursion in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Publication status: PublishedAbstractBackgroundImpairment of left ventricular (LV) longitudinal function is an early marker of systolic dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Aortic annular plane systolic excursion (AAPSE) is a measure of LV longitudinal function in people that has not been evaluated in cats.HypothesisAortic annular plane systolic excursion is lower in cats with HCM compared to control cats, and cats in stage C have the lowest AAPSE.AnimalsOne hundred seventy‐five cats: 60 normal, 61 HCM stage B and 54 HCM stage C cats.MaterialsMulticenter retrospective case‐control study. Electronic medical records from 4 referral hospitals were reviewed for cats diagnosed with HCM and normal cats. HCM was defined as LV wall thickness ≥6 mm and normal cats ≤5 mm. M‐mode bisecting the aorta in right parasternal short‐axis view was used to measure AAPSE.ResultsAortic annular plane systolic excursion was lower in HCM cats compared to normal cats (3.9 ± 0.9 mm versus 4.6 ± 0.9 mm, P &lt; .001) and was lowest in HCM stage C (2.4 ± 0.6 mm, P &lt; .001). An AAPSE &lt;2.9 mm gave a sensitivity of 83% (95% CI 71%‐91%) and specificity of 92% (95% CI 82%‐97%) to differentiate HCM stage C from stage B. AAPSE correlated with mitral annular plane systolic excursion (r = .6 [.4‐.7], P &lt; .001), and atrial fractional shortening (r = .6 [.5‐.7], P &lt; .001), but showed no correlation with LV fractional shortening.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceAortic annular plane systolic excursion is an easily acquired echocardiographic variable and might be a new measurement of LV systolic performance in cats with HCM.</jats:sec