Clinical Usage of Photodynamic Therapy

This chapter will provide a brief overview of the fundamentals of photodynamic therapy with an emphasis on its use in a clinical setting. Beginning with the history and fundamental science underlying photodynamic therapy and delving into clinical uses. There will be a primary focus on understanding the use of photodynamic therapy under currently approved clinical indications along with their limitations. There are a number of approved therapeutic indications for photodynamic therapy, but there are important limitations and contraindications when applying this therapy. Photodynamic therapy, as applied to the clinical treatment of cancer will be the primary focus with further emphasis on endoluminal and specifically endobronchial cancer as the primary case study

One-session bilateral sequential whole lung lavage (OSBSWLL) for the management of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis

BACKGROUND: Whole Lung Lavage (WLL) has been an important part in the management of Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP) since it improves radiologic and clinical parameters. Bilateral WLL is usually performed in two sessions on different days. Few case reports have described one-session bilateral sequential lung lavage (OSBSWLL), and none have described ambulatory management (same-day discharge). METHODS: Demographic characteristics, physiologic parameters, procedure details and outcomes were retrospectively collected on consecutive patients who underwent OSBSWLL for PAP following an ambulatory protocol stablished in our institution. RESULTS: A total of 13 patients underwent 30 OSBSWLL (61.5% male; mean age 40). The mean SpO2 was 90% (IQR 9) and 94% (IQR 6), before and after OSBSWLL respectively. In 63.3% of cases, patients were discharged home the same day of procedure. Only in two cases (6.6%), patients required post-procedure prolonged mechanical ventilation (\u3e 4 h) due to persistent hypoxia. CONCLUSIONS: OSBSWLL can be performed with same-day discharge

Vacuum coupling of photo multiplier tube with monochromator for improved monitoring of VUV emission from Aditya tokamak

421-425UV sensitive solar blind photo multiplier tube (PMT) attached on the exit slit of the VUV monchromators through a vacuum interface of MgF2 window are, generally, used for detection of emissions of wavelength larger than 2000 Å. However, using windows in front of PMTs always remains a concern from the point of view of detection of weak radiations and also for monitoring the radiations having wavelength lower than 2000 Å due to absorption by air. In the present paper, a technique is presented to monitor spectral emissions from Aditya tokamak plasma in vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) wavelength range down to 1150 Å using a solar blind UV sensitive photo multiplier tube, which is kept inside a vacuum cavity and directly coupled with exit slit of the monochromator and hence avoiding any window interface between monochromator and detector. This technique enables us to improve the detection of VUV radiation in Aditya tokamak, as the VUV photons reaching to detector increase in number due to the absence of any vacuum interface. The comparison of results obtained with this technique with other window based techniques, is also presented