The management of the painful bipartite patella: a systematic review

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the most effective method for the treatment of the symptomatic bipartite patella. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was completed, and all studies assessing the management of a bipartite patella were included. Owing to the paucity of randomised controlled trials, a narrative review of 22 studies was completed. A range of treatments were assessed: conservative measures, open and arthroscopic fixation or excision and soft tissue release and excision. Results: All of the methods provided results ranging from good to excellent, with acceptable complication rates. Conclusions: This is a poorly answered treatment question. No firm guidance can be given as to the most appropriate method of treating the symptomatic bipartite patella. This study suggests that there are a number of effective treatments with acceptable complication rates and it may be that treatments that conserve the patella are more appropriate for larger fragments

Auditory display for deep brain activation: Hypersonic effect

Presented at the 8th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD), Kyoto, Japan, July 2-5, 2002.We have found that sounds containing high-frequency components above the human audible range (20kHz) significantly increase the regional blood flow in the deep-lying brain structure and the power of the alpha frequency range of the spontaneous electroencephalogram (EEG), and positively affect sound perception. We have termed this phenomenon the ``hypersonic effect'' [1]. To carry out further experiments on this effect, we developed ``Authentic Signal Disc'' that is super audio CD (SACD) software containing the authentic signals for the hypersonic effect and ``Authentic Hypersonic Audio System'' that could reproduce the hypersonic effect. ''Authentic Hypersonic Audio System'' consists of a custom-made SACD player, a de-emphasis controller, filters, two stereo power amplifiers, an output meter unit, and two-way stereo speakers and tweeters. Using these system and disc, we examined recorded EEGs, psychological evaluations based on Scheffe's method, and behavioral evaluations on the optimum listening level, and confirmed the introduction of the hypersonic effect. This system enables us to create some new applications of auditory display