Clinical assessment of a low-cost, hand-held, smartphone-attached intraoral imaging probe for ALA PDT monitoring and guidance

India has one of the highest rates of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in the world, with an incidence of 15 per 100,000 and more than 70,000 deaths per year. The problem is exacerbated by lack of medical infrastructure and routine screening, especially in rural areas. This collaboration recently developed, and clinically validated, a low-cost, portable and easy-to-use platform for intraoral photodynamic therapy (PDT) specifically engineered for use in global health settings. Here, we explore the implementation of our low-cost PDT system in conjunction with a small, handheld smartphone-coupled, multichannel fluorescence and white-light oral cancer imaging probe, which was also developed for global health settings. Our study aimed to use this mobile intraoral imaging device for treatment guidance and monitoring PDT using 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-induced protoporphyrin IX (PS; PpIX) fluorescence. A total of 12 patients with 14 lesions having moderately/well-differentiated micro-invasive OSCC lesions (<2 cm diameter, depth <5 mm) were systemically administered with three doses of 20mg/kg ALA (total 60mg/kg). Lesion site PpIX and auto fluorescence was analyzed before/after ALA administration, and again after light delivery (fractionated, total 100 J/cm^{2} of 630nm red LED light). Quantification of relative PpIX fluorescence enables lesion area segmentation to improve guidance of light delivery and reports extent of photobleaching. These results indicate the utility of this approach for image-guided PDT and treatment monitoring while also laying groundwork for an integrated approach, combining cancer screening and treatment with the same hardware

Bio-composting oil palm waste for improvement of soil fertility

Sources of bio-compost as agro-industrial wastes includes wide range of oil palm wastes viz. waste, biomass, palm kernels, empty fruit bunch, mill effluent, trunk and frond compost. Various composting processes are summarized in brief with distinct reference of oil–palm composting covering aerated static pile, and co-composting with earthworms (vermicomposting). However, in-vessel composting and windrow composting has meritorious advantages in composting. This review article refers to various significant roles played by microorganisms associated. Noteworthy study of bio-compost applications and procedures are correspondingly glosses framework of ecological, economical and agro-ecosystemic benefits

Clinical evaluation of smartphone-based fluorescence imaging for guidance and monitoring of ALA-PDT treatment of early oral cancer

SIGNIFICANCE: India has one of the highest rates of oral cancer incidence in the world, accounting for 30% of reported cancers. In rural areas, a lack of adequate medical infrastructure contributes to unchecked disease progression and dismal mortality rates. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as an effective modality with potential for treating early stage disease in resource-limited settings, while photosensitizer fluorescence can be leveraged for treatment guidance. AIM: Our aim was to assess the capability of a simple smartphone-based device for imaging 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-induced protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) fluorescence for treatment guidance and monitoring as part of an ongoing clinical study evaluating low-cost technology for ALA-based PDT treatment of early oral cancer. APPROACH: A total of 29 subjects with <2  cm diameter moderately/well-differentiated microinvasive (  <  5  mm depth) oral squamous cell carcinoma lesions (33 lesions total, mean area ∼1.23  cm2) were administered 60  mg  /  kg ALA in oral solution and imaged before and after delivery of 100  J  /  cm2 total light dose to the lesion surface. Smartphone-based fluorescence and white light (WL) images were analyzed and compared with ultrasound (US) imaging of the same lesions. RESULTS: We present a comparative analysis of pre- and post-treatment fluorescence, WL, and US images of oral lesions. There was no significant difference in the distribution of lesion widths measured by fluorescence and US (mean widths of 14.5 and 15.3 mm, respectively) and linear regression shows good agreement (R2  =  0.91). In general, PpIX fluorescence images obtained prior to therapeutic light delivery are able to resolve lesion margins while dramatic photobleaching (∼42  %  ) is visible post-treatment. Segmentation of the photobleached area confirms the boundaries of the irradiated zone. CONCLUSIONS: A simple smartphone-based approach for imaging oral lesions is shown to agree in most cases with US, suggesting that this approach may be a useful tool to aid in PDT treatment guidance and monitoring photobleaching as part of a low-cost platform for intraoral PDT