Light-Emitting Woven Fabric for Treatment with Photodynamic Therapy and Monitoring of Actinic Keratosis

A successful photodynamic therapy (PDT) requires a specific photosensitizer, oxygen and light of a specific wavelength and power. Today photodynamic therapy (PDT) is administered to patients with light-emitting diode (LED) panels. These panels deliver a non-uniform light distribution on the human body parts, as the complex human anatomy is not a flat surface (head vertex, hand, shoulder, etc.). For an efficient photodynamic therapy (PDT), a light-emitting fabric (LEF) was woven from plastic optical fibers (POF) aiming at the treatment of dermatologic diseases such as actinic keratosis (AK). Plastic optical fibers (POF) (Toray, PGR-FB250) have been woven in textile in order to create macro-bendings, and thus emit out the injected light directly to the skin. The light intensity and light-emitting homogeneity of the LEF were improved thanks to Doehlert Experimental Design. During the treatment with PDT, the photosensitizers were activated in the cancerous cells. These cells may be visualized, as they show a characteristic fluorescence under UV light, which is called fluorescence diagnosis (FD). Therefore, it is proposed to modify the developed LEF for PDT to measure the fluorescence amount. For this aim, a part of POFs was cut out to observe the quantity of light that could be collected while the LEF was connected to a light source. The first prototypes showed the possibility of the illumination with the same LEF without losing the efficiency but also imaging the collected light

The Advocate - June 8, 1961

Original title (1951-1987)--The Advocate: official publication of the Archdiocese of Newark (N.J.)

Assessment of the requisites of microbiology based infectious disease training under the pressure of consultation needs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Training of infectious disease (ID) specialists is structured on classical clinical microbiology training in Turkey and ID specialists work as clinical microbiologists at the same time. Hence, this study aimed to determine the clinical skills and knowledge required by clinical microbiologists.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was carried out between June 1, 2010 and September 15, 2010 in 32 ID departments in Turkey. Only patients hospitalized and followed up in the ID departments between January-June 2010 who required consultation with other disciplines were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 605 patients undergoing 1343 consultations were included, with pulmonology, neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology, nephrology, dermatology, haematology, and endocrinology being the most frequent consultation specialties. The consultation patterns were quite similar and were not affected by either the nature of infections or the critical clinical status of ID patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of our study show that certain internal medicine subdisciplines such as pulmonology, neurology and dermatology appear to be the principal clinical requisites in the training of ID specialists, rather than internal medicine as a whole.</p

Smart textiles for healthcare and medicine applications (WG1): state-of-the art report, CONTEXT Project

The aim of this document is to provide information on the state-of-the-art related to the topics covered by each working group within the CONTEXT project. It provides information on materials and technologies used to develop smart textiles with targeted performance, general applications of smart textiles in the field, case-studies on the use of smart textiles, opportunities for smart textiles considering the needs of each field, trends on the development of smart textiles in terms of market and technical expectations. This paper gives an overview of the potential of smart textiles for healthcare & medicine, ongoing developments, state-of-the-art products and future developments

Design and realization of light emitting textile structures for the processing and monitoring of photo dynamic therapy

Cette étude s’inscrit dans le cadre du projet PHOS-ISTOS 7ème Programme Cadre de Recherche et Développement (FP7). L’objectif du projet est de développer une méthode alternative pour une application médicale, la thérapie photo dynamique (PDT), en combinant les méthodes de fabrication de l'industrie textile avec des sources laser et des dispositifs optiques. La PDT est une méthode de traitement de la Kératose Actinique efficace, bien tolérée et non invasive. L’effet thérapeutique de la PDT dépend de la substance photosensibilisante, de l'oxygénation de la tumeur et de la dose de lumière appliquée. Aujourd’hui la lumière utilisée pour activer les agents photo-sensibilisants dans le protocole de la PDT classique est délivrée par des panneaux constitués de LEDs. Cependant, ces panneaux ont des inconvénients tels que la non-uniformité de l’émission de la lumière sur les surfaces courbées, liés à leur rigidité, et la douleur provoquée par la dose élevée de la lumière pendant l'exposition. Afin de développer une alternative efficace aux panneaux LEDs, nous avons proposé d’insérer des fibres optiques en Poly(Méthacrylate de Méthyle) (PMMA) dans un textile flexible qui s’adapte à la morphologie du corps humain et qui diffuse une lumière issue des sources lasers connectées aux extrémités du tissu. Dans cette étude, le comportement des fibres optiques insérées dans des structures tissées est étudié afin de développer un tissu lumineux qui diffuse une lumière puissante et homogène. Ce projet s’intègre dans la démarche de développement des textiles intelligents, en élaborant des applications à haute valeur ajoutée destinées aux marchés des textiles médicaux.This study is part of the PHOS-ISTOS project within 7th Framework Program for Research and Development (FP7). The objective of the project is to develop an alternative method for a medical application, Photo Dynamic Therapy (PDT), combining the manufacturing methods of the textile industry with laser sources and optical devices. PDT is an effective, well tolerated and non-invasive treatment procedure. The therapeutic effect of PDT depends on the photosensitizer substance, the oxygenation of the tumor and the dose of light applied. Today, the light used to activate the photo-sensitizing agents in the conventional PDT protocol is delivered by panels consisting of LEDs. However, these panels have disadvantages such as the non-uniformity of the emission of light on the curved surfaces due to their rigidity and the pain caused by the high dose of light during exposure. In order to develop an efficient alternative to LED panels, we proposed to insert Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) (PMMA) optical fibers into a flexible fabric that adapts to the morphology of the human body and that diffuses light from laser sources laterally. In this study, the behavior of optical fibers inserted in woven structures is studied in order to develop the light emitting fabric that diffuses a powerful and homogeneous light. The value of smart textiles has increased over the past fifteen years. This project is integrated into this approach by developing high value-added applications for the medical textile innovation markets

Anidulafungin treatment for fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans vaginitis with cross-resistance to azoles: a case report

Akdag, Damla/0000-0003-1700-7578WOS: 000527580200001PubMed: 32312119[No abstract available

A Neglected Issue in Ulcerative Colitis: Mesenteric Lymph Nodes

Data evaluating the presence and characteristics of mesenteric lymph nodes (LNs) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) are scarce. The aim of this study is to determine the presence and characteristics of LNs in UC. The LN characteristics in computed tomography (CT), including LN dimension and attenuation, were evaluated retrospectively in 100 patients with UC (61 active and 39 inactive cases). Clinical characteristics and laboratory parameters, including CBC, biochemical analysis, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C reactive protein (CRP) were also compared. Mesenteric LNs were evident in all patients with UC. The attenuation and dimension of mesenteric LNs did not differ between active and inactive patients with UC. No correlation was found among patients with UC in terms of LN dimension, attenuation, ESR, CRP, leucocyte, and albumin (all with p &gt; 0.05). The current study suggested that inflammation results in the development of mesenteric LN in UC, similar to Crohn&rsquo;s disease and other inflammatory disorders

The Role of Helicobacter pylori and NSAIDs in the Pathogenesis of Uncomplicated Duodenal Ulcer

Background/Aim. To identify the etiological role of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in endoscopically diagnosed duodenal ulcers (DUs). Methods. Patients undergoing esophagogastroduodenoscopy in two major hospitals in Antalya and Adiyaman were included in this study and assigned as duodenal ulcer (n=152; median age: 41.0 (16–71) years; 58.6% males) or control group (n=70; median age: 41.0 (18–68) years; 57.1% males). Patient demographics, risk factors, and NSAID/acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) use were recorded. Results. HP was more commonly located in the corpus (75.0 versus 50.0%; odds ratio [OR] = 3.00; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.66–5.44; P<0.001), incisura (75.7 versus 60.0%; OR=2.07; 95% CI: 1.13–3.79; P=0.017), and antrum (80.3 versus 60.0%; OR=2.71; 95% CI: 1.45–5.05; P=0.001) among DU patients than controls. Hp positivity was 84.9% while Hp was negative in 15.1% of patients including those accompanied with NSAID and/or ASA use (9.2%), and those were negative for all three etiological factors (5.9%). Conclusion. Our findings indicate the substantial role of Hp in the pathogenesis of DU disease as identified in 84.9% of DU patients compatible with the background prevalence of 61.4% among age-matched control subjects. Hp was the single causative factor in 44.1% of our patients, while NSAID/ASA exposure was in 9.2%