bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Selling your skincare online: pros and cons of having a virtual store on your website
Authors: White Mary
Published: December 2016

Many patients who have undergone cosmetic procedures will require a range of at-home products to maintain their results. Launching on online shop can enable clinics that retail skincare to extend their sales success in the virtual world, and offer existing patients the convenience to order their favourite creams, gels and lotions online. Mary White covers the key considerations for aesthetic practitioners
From the Journals
Authors: Whiston R.J.
Published: December 2016

The ‘trap’ theory of venous ulcer formation

Therapeutic touch for dermal wounds
Management of necrotic wounds as a complication of histiocytosis X
Authors: Riggs R.L. , Bale S.
Published: December 2016

A case study of the treatment of a 10-month-old baby with necrotic perineal and abdominal wounds
Using leeches for venous drainage after surgery
Authors: Coull A.F.
Published: December 2016

A review of the properties of medicinal leeches and of their application following microsurgery to assist in the relief of venous congestion
Letters
Authors: Cudder S. , Walker K.J. , Allen J. , Hultschig F.A. , Rainey J.
Published: December 2016

JOURNAL POLICY DEBATE

COMPARING DRESSINGS
Using water-filled gloves for pressure relief on heels
Authors: Williams C.
Published: December 2016

A small study set out to evaluate the pressure difference between heels on a mattress and on a latex glove filled with 260ml water (the mean volume in local practice). The study also explored the popularity of the technique. In a convenience sample of patients aged 19-92 (n=40) using a Talley pressure evaluator, interface pressure on the mattress was 126.5mmHg (range 104-143) and on a water-filled glove mean interface pressure was 144.6mmHg (range 123-159). A questionnaire survey of wards and nursing homes revealed that 79.4% of ward respondents had seen or employed the practice of using water-filled latex gloves ‘to relieve pressure on the heel’. It would seem that water-filled gloves are a popular but ineffective method of preventing pressure damage
Ascorbic acid, zinc and wound healing
Authors: Dickerson J.W.T.
Published: December 2016

An examination of the biochemical roles of vitamin C and zinc in wound healing and of circumstances in which supplements may help the process
Air exposure versus occlusion: merits and disadvantages of different dressings
Authors: Hermans M.H.E. , Bolton L.L.
Published: December 2016

A review of the literature on occlusive and non-occlusive conventional dressings for the treatment of acute wounds and chronic lesions
Reviews
Authors: Finlay A.V. , Benbow M.
Published: December 2016

ABC OF DERMATOLOGY

A STRATEGY FOR WOUND CARE IN THE NURSING HOME ENVIRONMENT
The use of alcoholic wipes for disinfection of injection sites
Authors: Lawrence J.C. , Lilly H.A. , Kidson A. , Davies J.
Published: December 2016

An evaluation of a proprietary skin disinfection wipe — paper impregnated with 70% isopropanol — with a discussion of pre-inoculation disinfection methods used
Letters
Authors: Moffatt C. , Greenshields W. , Gebhardt K.S.
Published: December 2016

THE DIFFICULTY OF SECURING RESEARCH FUNDING

POSTNATAL CARE

THE DANGERS OF WATER-FILLED GLOVES
From the Journals
Authors: Jones V. , Banks V.
Published: December 2016

Pressure sore prevention model

Assessing mattress durability
Letters
Authors: Marais F. , Jones V. , Mitchell S. , Halworth Redcroft S. W. , Prieto J. , Dealey C.
Published: December 2016

ANTIBIOTICS AND OLDER PEOPLE

PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY

RESEARCH ON LEG ULCERS

INFECTION AND SOCIAL HAND-WASHING

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE
Collaborative care of a patient with soft tissue injuries
Authors: Benbow M.
Published: December 2016

A review of the treatment of a patient whose injuries, sustained in a road accident, were painful and slow to heal
Patients' perceptions of chronic leg ulcers
Authors: Hamer C. , Cullum N.A , Roe B.H.
Published: December 2016

Leg ulceration affects approximately 0.15% of the UK population at any point in time1, and the disease is typically one of ulceration, healing and re-ulceration. The cost of leg ulceration in both financial and human terms is large; however, human costs (pain, immobility, social isolation, embarrassment) have been largely ignored by researchers. This study aimed to explore patients' perceptions of their leg ulcer disease, and the impact of leg ulceration on quality of life. A random sample of leg ulcer patients was interviewed in the patients' own homes, and a variety of data were collected using semi-structured interviews and validated health-assessment tools. A sample of healthy elderly subjects participated by completing the health and quality of life assessment. Data analysis is currently at a preliminary stage
Assessment of patients with chronic wounds
Authors: Thomas S. , Fear M. , Humphreys j.
Published: December 2016

A report on a system that aims to establish an objective method of monitoring and recording progress in wound healing
Comparing two dressings for exuding pressure sores in community patients
Authors: Banks V. , Bale S. E. , Harding K. G.
Published: December 2016

A report of a study in which a semi-permeable polyurethane dressing was compared with a hydrocolloid dressing in the treatment of grade 2 and 3 pressure sores
Healing: a patient's perspective
Authors: Masham Baroness
Published: December 2016

A personal account of the problems of pressure sores and the importance of pressure relief in patients with paraplegia
Comparing two dressings in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers
Authors: Foster A.V.M. , Greenhill M.T. , Edmonds M.E.
Published: December 2016

A report of a study that compared a polyurethane foam dressing with an alginate dressing for foot ulcers in patients with diabetes
Reviews
Authors: Ranks V. , Gilchrist B.
Published: December 2016

FOAM MATTRESSES: A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION

HANDBOOK OF WOUND DRESSINGS
Reviews
Authors: Flanagan M , Heenan A.L.J.
Published: December 2016

WOUND MANAGEMENT EDUCATION SYSTEM

BODYWORKS 3.0 FOR DOS AND WINDOWS
Research application: wound care in community practice
Authors: Davies C. , Lawrance S. , Moore C
Published: December 2016

This report describes the development of a wound management manual for district nurses. A working party of district nurses interested in wound management was established to evaluate research on wound management and its application in practice. A survey was undertaken to determine how district nurses rated their knowledge of wound care. The results showed that some nurses had a very good insight into wound management, but that a significant number felt that they needed more education on wound management in the community. A wound management manual was developed in order to meet this need. The manual puts the results of research into practice, providing a useful guide to the main principles of wound management and a basis for further research
A novel presentation of saline for wound irrigation
Authors: Lawrence J.C. , Lilly H.A. , Kidson A.
Published: December 2016

Laboratory studies were carried out to investigate whether a multiuse container of sodium chloride 0.9% presents a cross-infection risk when used for wound irrigation. The container was subjected to bacterial contamination well in excess of that normally encountered during wound dressing procedures. It was concluded that this product is appropriate for community and hospital use provided that normal, sensible precautions are observed
From the Journals
Authors: Baragwanath P. , Salaman R.A. , Melville E.
Published: December 2016

The role of collagenase in wound healing

Effect of aspirin on venous ulcer healing

Post-discharge wound infection
An evaluation of topical nursing interventions in the treatment of submammary lesions
Authors: McMahon R.
Published: December 2016

A report of a study that compared the size and bacterial colonisation of submammary lesions following the application of five different types of treatment
Pressure sore care in Clwyd nursing homes
Authors: Roberts R.
Published: December 2016

A study of 2 245 people resident in 95 nursing homes (general elderly and elderly mentally ill) was carried out to look at the prevalence of pressure sores and the percentage of sores which had developed in the homes or had been present on admission. The study also examined the quality of pressure area care provided by the nursing homes, indicated by the use of risk assessment scales, the availability of pressure-relieving equipment and the training undertaken by both trained and untrained staff. The prevalence was found to be 7.5% and sores were concentrated in the hip, buttock and sacral areas. Fifty-seven per cent of patients' ulcers had developed in the homes and 3 2% occurred following admission to hospital. Seventy-seven homes reported training of some type. There was a range of equipment available and various assessment scales were in use. The prevalence and site of the ulcers were similar to those found in hospital studies and were in line with the Department of Health's estimate of national prevalence (6.7%) K The number of ulcers which had developed in the homes, however, does show that more preventive measures could be taken in nursing homes
Teacher recruitment targets hit in just four secondary subjects
Authors: Henshaw Pete
Published: December 2016

Recruitment crisis: New figures show DfE has missed its overall ITT target for the fourth year running, with key EBacc subjects hit hard
LA METÁFORA COMO EMERGENTE DISCURSIVO EN LA ENCÍCLICA LAUDATO SI’
Authors: Piteo Pablo Sebastián
Published: December 2016

La metáfora es un esquema cognitivo emergente del discurso. En la encíclicaLaudato si’ el texto se sirve de estas estructuraciones para, por un lado, ejem-plificar y materializar un concepto complejo y abstracto y, por el otro, convocara la instancia receptora a la realización de un cambio ecológico integral. Eltexto papal construye de sí un ethos disruptivo. Si bien el discurso que confi-gura el Papado de Francisco no rompe con los lineamientos doctrinarios másfirmes de la tradición católica, establece determinada dialogía con discursosde lo cotidiano y lo científico —como son el discurso ecológico, biológico einformático—. Esto hace del texto de Francisco un documento abiertamentepolifónico. El carácter disruptivo, además, se observa con la configuración dela instancia de recepción. El documento no sólo se dirige a los miembros dela curia vaticana sino que también ostenta un hablar sencillo y llano para darcabida en la recepción a una feligresía global general. Este artículo analiza eluso cognitivo de la metáfora en un texto eminentemente argumentativo.
Representações sociais do envelhecimento ativo num olhar genderizado
Authors: Daniel Fernanda , Caetano Elsa , Monteiro Rosa , Amaral Inês
Published: December 2016

O objetivo deste estudo é analisar as representações sociais do envelhecimento ativo, procurando detetar os impactos das conceções diferenciadas de homens e mulheres idosos. Foi desenvolvido um estudo de coorte transversal. Foram inquiridas 123 pessoas idosas (M = 76,84; DP = 8,46). Utilizámos para aceder às evocações sobre o envelhecimento ativo a Técnica de Associação Livre de Palavras. As representações que emergiram com maior frequência foram a “família”, “passeio”, “convívio” e “saúde”. Foi possível destacar diferenças na representação social do envelhecimento ativo a partir de um olhar genderizado. Das evocações exclusivas do sexo masculino a evocação proeminente âncora no “desporto”, enquanto no sexo feminino a “atividade doméstica” predomina. Ambos os sexos elegeram a “família” como evocação proeminente na representação social do envelhecimento ativo. As mulheres, refletindo os papéis que desempenharam ao longo da sua vida parecem assumir que um envelhecimento ativo representa a execução das tarefas que sempre fizeram, centrando-se muitas das suas evocações em conteúdos de cariz familista, onde o papel de cuidadoras se destaca. As atividades de carácter instrumental e associadas à esfera privada, como as tarefas domésticas emergem com maior proeminência. No caso dos homens, a componente familista é também evocada, emergindo concomitantemente atividades de lazer.
O sono em adolescentes portugueses: Proposta de um modelo tridimensional
Authors: Rebelo Pinto Teresa , Pinto Joana Carneiro , Rebelo-Pinto Helena , Paiva Teresa
Published: December 2016

O sono é uma necessidade básica que influencia e é simultaneamente influenciada pela diversidade de atividades, papéis e contextos de vida, assumindo particular importância nos adolescentes. Apresenta-se um estudo com 400 alunos do 9º e 11º anos de escolaridade, de duas escolas da região de Lisboa, avaliados através do Questionário Sobre Sono para Adolescentes - QSSA. Os resultados quantitativos da caracterização do sono incidiram sobre hábitos, auto perceções e conhecimentos. Da exploração qualitativa dos fatores invocados por uma subamostra de 100 adolescentes como fundamento das suas auto perceções, emergiram as categorias de qualidade, importância e atitudes. Com base nestes resultados, propõe-se um modelo tridimensional acerca do sono dos adolescentes que contempla hábitos de sono, fatores pessoais e fatores ambientais.
Is deliberation a laudable goal when policy is a done deal? The Habermasian public sphere and legitimacy in a market era of education policymaking
Authors: Pappas Liza N.
Published: December 2016

The state mandated public hearings concerning school closing proposals in New York City provide a window into a diverse set of policy actors and their deliberations. Opposition to school closures is often cast as entrenched interests, emotional attachment, support for the status quo or at worst negligence. However, content analysis reveals that testimony offered by parent, community, and educator leaders contained a range of substantial critiques of school closing proposals, their motivations, justifications, and expected results. I argue that the hearings did not fully constitute a public sphere by Habermasian criteria, nor a counterpublic by Fraser and Dawson criteria. In fact, the hearings had contradictory effects; one school successfully fought closure by both resisting and reifying neoliberal logic in education policymaking. Some data demonstrates that this school’s market-based argument resonated with state authorities, while other data indicates that this market-based argument coincided with the state’s own interest to defend its legitimacy in policymaking.
The creation of performance funding in Michigan: Partnership, promotion and points
Authors: Opoczynski Renata
Published: December 2016

While accountability in higher education has been a topic of debate for decades, in recent years the discussions have shifted to emphasize efficiency and economic measures of success. A prominent example of this accountability movement is the increase in popularity of performance funding policies. One of the most recent states to implement performance funding is Michigan, which began their performance funding policy in 2012. This study explored the creation and implementation of the state of Michigan’s performance funding policy. In particular, the decision making processes institutional administrators and state leaders engaged in while designing, promoting, and implementing the policy. Using a case study design and interviewing both higher education administrators and state leaders who were involved in the creation of the performance funding policy in Michigan yielded five large trends: 1) The importance of advocacy coalitions; 2) Securing support through a focus on higher education affordability; 3) Concerns with how to measure data and compare institutions; 4) Insufficient financial incentives; and 5) Limited impact on institutional decision making.
Implementasi Jaringan Syaraf Tiruan Perambatan Balik untuk Memprediksi Harga Logam Mulia Emas Menggunakan Algoritma Lavenberg Marquardt
Authors: Hidayat Reza Najib , Isnanto R. Rizal , Nurhayati Oky Dwi
Published: December 2016

Gold is one of commodities investment which its value continue to increase by year. The rising price of gold will encourage investors to choose to invest in gold rather than the stock market. With the risks that are relatively low, gold can give better resultsin accordance with its increasing price. In addition, gold can also be a safe value protector in the future.The Objectives of the research are to predict the price of gold using artificial neural networks backpropagations methods and to analyze best network used in prediction. In the process of training data, it is used some training parameters to decide the best gold prediction architecture. Comparative parameters that is used are the variation of the number of hidden layers, number of neurons in each hidden layer, learning rate, minimum gradients and fault tolerance. The results showed that the best architecture has an accuracy rate of 99,7604% of data training and test data at 98,849% with architecture combinations are have two hidden layer neurons combined 10-30, the error rate 0.00001 and 0.00001 of learning rate.
Synthesis and characterization of PIL/pNIPAAm hybrid hydrogels
Authors: Pfensig Sylvia , Arbeiter Daniela , Schmitz Klaus-Peter , Grabow Niels , Eickner Thomas , Illner Sabine
Published: December 2016

In this study, varying amounts of NIPAAm and an ionic liquid (IL), namely 1-vinyl-3-isopropylimidazolium bromide ([ViPrIm]+[Br]−), have been used to synthesize hybrid hydrogels by radical emulsion polymerization. Amounts of 70/30%, 50/50%, 30/70%, 15/85% and 5/95% (wt/wt) of PIL/pNIPAAm were used to produce hybrid hydrogels as well as the parental hydrogels. The adhesive strength was investigated and evaluated for mechanical characterization. Thermal properties of resulting hydrogels have been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in a default heating temperature range (heating rate 10 K min−1). The presence of poly ionic liquids (PIL) in the polymer matrix leads to a moved LCST (lower critical solution temperature) to a higher temperature range for certain hybrid hydrogels PIL/pNIPAAm. While pNIPAAm exhibits an LCST at 33.9 ± 0.3°C, PIL/pNIPAAm 5/95% and PIL/pNIPAAm 15/85% were found to have LCSTs at 37.6 ± 0.9°C and 52 ± 2°C, respectively. This could be used for controlled drug release that goes along with increasing body temperature in response to an implantation caused infection.
Novel blood protein based scaffolds for cardiovascular tissue engineering
Authors: Kuhn Antonia I. , Müller Marc , Knigge Sara , Glasmacher Birgit
Published: December 2016

A major challenge in cardiovascular tissue engineering is the fabrication of scaffolds, which provide appropriate morphological and mechanical properties while avoiding undesirable immune reactions. In this study electrospinning was used to fabricate scaffolds out of blood proteins for cardiovascular tissue engineering. Lyophilised porcine plasma was dissolved in deionised water at a final concentration of 7.5% m/v and blended with 3.7% m/v PEO. Electrospinning resulted in homogeneous fibre morphologies with a mean fibre diameter of 151 nm, which could be adapted to create macroscopic shapes (mats, tubes). Cross-linking with glutaraldehyde vapour improved the long-term stability of protein based scaffolds in comparison to untreated scaffolds, resulting in a mass loss of 41% and 96% after 28 days of incubation in aqueous solution, respectively.
Cell adhesion and viability of human endothelial cells on electrospun polymer scaffolds
Authors: Matschegewski Claudia , Matthies Jörn-Bo , Grabow Niels , Schmitz Klaus-Peter
Published: December 2016

The usage of electrospun polymer scaffolds is a promising approach for artificial heart valve design. This study aims at the evaluation of biological performance of nanofibrous polymer scaffolds poly(L-lactide) PLLA L210, PLLA L214 and polyamide-6 fabricated by electrospinning via analyzing viability, adhesion and morphology of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (EA.hy926). Nanofibrous surface topography was shown to influence cell phenotype and cell viability according to the observation of diminished cell spreading accompanied with reduced cell viability on nonwovens. Among those, highest biocompatibility was assessed for PLLA L214, although being generally low when compared to the planar control surface. Electrospinning was demonstrated as an innovative technique for the fabrication of advanced biomaterials aiming at guided cellular behavior as well as the design of novel implant platforms. A better understanding of cell–biomaterial interactions is desired to further improve implant development.
Long-term stable modifications of silicone elastomer for improved hemocompatibility
Authors: Boudot Cécile , Burkhardt Sarah , Haerst Miriam
Published: December 2016

Silicone elastomers are well established in medical engineering and particularly in blood-contacting applications such as catheters and medical tubing. Still, their intrinsic surface properties have potential for improvement. For example, hydrophobicity reduction can be a way to provide better hemocompatibility. In this study, several bulk and surface modifications of silicone elastomers using polyethylene glycol (PEG) were investigated. All modifications induced long-term (2 months), stable wettability of the surface. Moreover, cytotoxicity testing demonstrated their suitability as implant material. Hemocompatibility was investigated through a thrombin generation assay as well as a platelet adhesion study combining an enzymatic assay and a scanning electron microscope analysis. That the hemocompatibility of silicone was considerably improved thanks to the PEG modifications could be shown. The study introduces easily processable, cost-efficient, and long-term stable hydrophilic modifications of silicone elastomer for improved hemocompatibility.
The effect of thermal treatment on the mechanical properties of PLLA tubular specimens
Authors: Arbeiter Daniela , Schümann K. , Sahmel O. , Eickner T. , Schmitz K.-P. , Grabow N.
Published: December 2016

Conventional permanent stent systems for vascular applications are associated with long-term risks, such as restenosis and thrombosis. To overcome these limitations, novel approaches using various biodegradable materials for stent construction have been investigated. In this context, thermal treatment of polymer materials is investigated to adjust the mechanical properties of biodegradable stents. In this work polymeric tubular specimens of biodegradable poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) were extruded and subjected to a molding process using different temperatures above glass transition temperature TG. Physicochemical properties of the molded samples were analyzed using DSC measurements and uniaxial tensile tests. The molding process resulted in a weakening of the PLLA tubular specimens with a simultaneous increase in the degree of crystallinity (χ).
Biocompatible wear-resistant thick ceramic coating
Authors: Vogt Nicola , Wozniak Katarzyna , Salito Armando , Wild Michael de
Published: December 2016

Sensitisation to immunologically active elements like chromium, cobalt or nickel and debris particle due to wear are serious problems for patients with metallic implants. We tested the approach of using a hard and thick ceramic coating as a wear-resistant protection of titanium implants, avoiding those sensitisation and foreign body problems. We showed that the process parameters strongly influence the coating porosity and, as a consequence, also its hardness.
Protection of active implant electronics with organosilicon open air plasma coating for plastic overmolding
Authors: Zeppenfeld Matthias , Wardenberg Maximilian , Rapp Christin , Eblenkamp Markus
Published: December 2016

To overcome challenges for manufacturing of modern smart medical plastic parts by injection molding, e.g. for active implants, the optimization of the interface between electronics and the polymer component concerning adhesion and diffusion behavior is crucial. Our results indicate that a nano-sized SiOxCyHz layer formed by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PE-CVD) via open air atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) and by use of a hexamthyldisiloxane (HMDSO) precursor can form a non-corrosive, anti-permeable and biocompatible coating. Due to the open air character of the APPJ process an inline coating before overmolding could be an easy applicable method and a promising advancement.
Examination of dielectric strength of thin Parylene C films under various conditions
Authors: Heid Andreas , Metzen Rene von , Stett Alfred , Bucher Volker
Published: December 2016

The breakdown voltage of the biocompatible polymer Parylene C was determined after storage in 60°C saline solution and treatment by autoclave. It occurred that both, storage at 60°C in saline solution and autoclaving, lead to distinct decrease of dielectric strength by approximately 50%.
Open air plasma deposited antimicrobial SiOx/TiOx composite films for biomedical applications
Authors: Rapp Christin , Baumgärtel Andreas , Artmann Lucas , Eblenkamp Markus , Asad Syed Salman
Published: December 2016

Open air atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) enhanced chemical vapour deposition process was used to deposit biocompatible SiOx/TiOx composite coatings. The as deposited films are hydrophilic and show visible light induced photocatalytic effect, which is a consequence of the formation of defects in the TiOx structure due to the plasma process. This photocatalytic effect was verified by the demonstration of an antimicrobial effect under visible light on E. coli as well as by degradation of Rhodamine B. The films are non-cytotoxic as shown by the cytocompatibility tests. The films are conductive to cell growth and are stable in DMEM and isopropanol. The structural evaluation using SEM, EDS and XPS shows a dispersion of TiOx phase in a SiOxCyHz matrix. These analyses were used to correlate the structure-property relationship of the composite coating.
Systemic analysis about residual chloroform in PLLA films
Authors: Teske Michael , Arbeiter Daniela , Schober Konstanze , Eickner Thomas , Grabow Niels
Published: December 2016

Toxic volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), such as chloroform, are widely used in polymer manufacture in the field of implants and polymeric drug carriers. Several processes have to be carried out in order to remove toxic VOCs for patient safety without changing the thermal characteristics of the polymers. Therefore, we analyze the common commercial implant polymer poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) and screen different annealing- and rinsing processes considering influence on their morphology and thermal properties. For PLLA a rinsing step followed by annealing results in acceptable chloroform contents according to the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) recommendations. Annealing processes reveal the lowest chloroform content after one day, which did not further decrease significantly with extended annealing time.
A macrophage model of osseointegration
Authors: Jennissen Herbert P.
Published: December 2016

The mechanisms of peri-implant de novo bone formation and contact osteogenesis are still largely unknown. In 1984 Donath et al. showed that macrophages were the first cells to colonize a titanium implant. Recently it was shown that that there are inflammatory (M1) and healing macrophages (M2), the latter of which can secrete BMP 2. In the context of data from a gap healing experiment a macrophage model of osseointegration is suggested.
Technical concept and evaluation of a novel shoulder simulator with adaptive muscle force generation and free motion
Authors: Verjans Mark , Siroros Nad , Eschweiler Jörg , Radermacher Klaus
Published: December 2016

The human shoulder is one of the most complex joints of the human body, and due to the high range of motion and the complex soft tissue apparatus prone to injuries. Surgical therapies and joint replacements often lead to unsatisfactory results. To improve the understanding of the complex biomechanics of the shoulder, experimental investigations have to be conducted. For this purpose a new shoulder simulator with an innovative muscle force generation was developed. On the basis of a modular concept six artificial pneumatic muscles were integrated to represent the functionally most important muscles of the shoulder joint, whereby a free and controlled movement of the humerus can be conducted. For each muscle individual setpoints for muscle length control based on a user defined shoulder movement for any artificial or cadaver specimen are created by manual motion “Teach-In”. Additional to muscle forces and lengths, optical tracking and a joint force measurement is used to enable different biomechanical studies of the shoulder joint. This paper describes the technical setup as well as the control strategy and first results of its experimental functional validation.
Integration of a semi-automatic in-vitro RFA procedure into an experimental setup
Authors: Pollnow Stefan , Busch Lisa-Mareike , Wülfers Eike Moritz , Arnold Robert , Dössel Olaf
Published: December 2016

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a standard clinical procedure for treating many cardiac arrhythmias. In order to increase the success rate of this treatment, the evaluation of lesion development with the help of intracardiac electrogram (EGM) criteria has to be improved further. We are investigating in-vitro the electrophysiological characteristics of cardiac tissue by using fluorescence-optical and electrical techniques. In this project, it is intended to create ablation lesions under defined conditions in rat atria or ventricle and to determine the electrical activity in the myocardium surrounding these lesions less than 1 s after the ablation. Therefore, we developed a semi-automatic RFA procedure, which was integrated into an existing experimental setup. Firstly, a controllable protection circuit board was designed to galvanically isolate the sensitive amplifiers for measuring extracellular potentials during the ablation. Secondly, a real-time system was implemented to control and to autonomously monitor the RFA procedure. We verified each component as well as the different sequences of the RFA procedure. In conclusion, the expanded setup will be used in future in-vitro experiments to determine new EGM criteria to assess lesion formation during the RFA procedure.
Fabrication of MEMS-based 3D-μECoG-MEAs
Authors: Deckert Martin , Lippert Michael , Takagaki Kentaroh , Brose Andreas , Ohl Frank , Schmidt Bertram
Published: December 2016

The microfabrication and packaging of novel, three-dimensional, polyimide-based, highly flexible, microscale electrocorticography multi-electrode arrays for enhanced epicortical recording of local field potentials is presented. A polyimide foil embeds metallic structures relating to 32 taper-type electrode sites, contact pads as well as interconnecting conductor paths which are integrated in the planar portion of the electrode substrate material. Circular exposed and, thus, active electrode sites are 50 μm in diameter and employed center-to-center pitches range from 250 μm to 1 mm, respectively. As-fabricated 3D-μECoG-MEAs provide taper heights of approximately 4 μm as well as 59 μm being distinguished by characteristic impedances of about 368.9 kΩ at 1 kHz measured in saline electrolyte. The applied packaging strategies favor flip-chip bonding and vapor phase soldering of the polymer substrates to customized printed circuit boards.
High speed digital interfacing for a neural data acquisition system
Authors: Bahr Andreas , Saleh Lait Abu , Schroeder Dietmar , Krautschneider Wolfgang H.
Published: December 2016

Diseases like schizophrenia and genetic epilepsy are supposed to be caused by disorders in the early development of the brain. For the further investigation of these relationships a custom designed application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) was developed that is optimized for the recording from neonatal mice [Bahr A, Abu-Saleh L, Schroeder D, Krautschneider W. 16 Channel Neural Recording Integrated Circuit with SPI Interface and Error Correction Coding. Proc. 9th BIOSTEC 2016. Biodevices: Rome, Italy, 2016; 1: 263; Bahr A, Abu-Saleh L, Schroeder D, Krautschneider W. Development of a neural recording mixed signal integrated circuit for biomedical signal acquisition. Biomed Eng Biomed Tech Abstracts 2015; 60(S1): 298–299; Bahr A, Abu-Saleh L, Schroeder D, Krautschneider WH. 16 Channel Neural Recording Mixed Signal ASIC. CDNLive EMEA 2015 Conference Proceedings, 2015.]. To enable the live display of the neural signals a multichannel neural data acquisition system with live display functionality is presented. It implements a high speed data transmission from the ASIC to a computer with a live display functionality. The system has been successfully implemented and was used in a neural recording of a head-fixed mouse.
Portable auricular device for real-time swallow and chew detection
Authors: Steimer Konrad C. , Zimmermann Christoph , Zeilfelder Jennifer , Pylatiuk Christian , Stork Wilhelm
Published: December 2016

Monitoring a person’s nutritional consumption is costly and complex. To solve this problem a new technique is proposed to draw conclusions of a person’s food intake. The air pressure signal, recorded in the external acoustic meatus, is used to detect swallow and chew events. A portable device has been developed to record this pressure signal. Due to the constraint of running on a low-power microcontroller, real-time algorithms, used in pattern and speech recognition, were used to develop methods to automatically detect swallow and chew events. A binary classifier was trained by means of manually annotated data sets. Direct comparisons with state of the art technology and tests with several subjects are provided for evaluation purposes.
Detection of miRNA using a surface plasmon resonance biosensor and antibody amplification
Authors: Schmieder Stefan , Weißpflog Janek , Danz Norbert , Klotzbach Udo , Sonntag Frank
Published: December 2016

MiRNAs are non-coding RNA molecules that control biological functions by reducing the translation of target proteins when binding to the mRNA. Alterations of the miRNA expression profile affect the cell metabolism, which can lead to distinctive disease patterns thus suggesting miRNA as an interesting biomarker. Here we present a SPR biosensor that utilizes disposable, injection-molded sensor chip/microfluidic hybrids combined with a lateral imaging optical system for parallel analysis of three one-dimensional spot arrays to detect miRNA-93. Using a RNA-DNA-hybrid antibody for signal enhancement we could reach a limit of detection of 10 pmol/l.
Simulation and evaluation of stimulation scenarios for targeted vestibular nerve excitation
Authors: Schier Peter , Handler Michael , Baumgarten Daniel , Baumgartner Christian
Published: December 2016

Recent studies show that vestibular implants have the potential to compensate the loss of functionality of the organ of equilibrium. The objective of this study was the development of a simulation framework which estimates the capability of various electrode arrangements and stimulation waveforms to selectively excite the ampullary nerves in the vestibular system. The choice of electrode configuration and stimulation waveform shows a significant influence in resulting selectivity, energy expenditure and injected charge in our simulations. This simulation environment could be beneficial in the development of safe and selective stimulation electrode designs.
Classification of cardiac excitation patterns during atrial fibrillation
Authors: Reich Christian , Oesterlein Tobias , Rottmann Markus , Seemann Gunnar , Dössel Olaf
Published: December 2016

The goal of this research was to classify cardiac excitation patterns during atrial fibrillation (AFib). For this purpose, virtual models of intracardiac mapping catheters were moved across in-silico cardiac tissue to extract local activation times (LATs) of each catheter electrode from simulated cardiac action potential (AP) signals. The resulting LAT patterns consisting of the LATs of all electrodes resemble patterns measured in clinical cases. The LATs represent the input information for features that were used to separate four different excitation patterns during AFib. Those four excitation patterns were plane wave, ectopic focus (spherical wave), rotor (spiral wave) and block. A feature selection algorithm was used to investigate the features concerning their power to classify the different simulated excitation patterns. The scores of the selected features were used to train and optimize a support vector machine (SVM). The optimized and cross-validated SVM was then used to classify the simulated cardiac excitation patterns. The achieved overall classification accuracy of this SVM model was 98.4 %.
An algorithm to automatically determine the cycle length coverage to identify rotational activity during atrial fibrillation – a simulation study
Authors: Kaltenbacher Wenzel , Rottmann Markus , Dössel Olaf
Published: December 2016

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. Many physicians believe in the hypothesis that persistent atrial fibrillation is maintained by centers of rotatory activity. These so called rotors are sometimes found by physicians during catheter ablation or electrophysiological studies but there are also physicians who claim that they did not find any rotors at all. One reason might be that today rotors are mainly identified by visual inspection of the data. Thus we are aiming at an algorithm for rotor detection. We first developed an algorithm based on the local activation times of the intracardiac electrograms recorded by a multielectrode catheter that can automatically determine the cycle length coverage. This was done to get an objective view on possible rotors and therefore help to quantify whether a rotor was found or not. The algorithm was developed and evaluated in two different simulation setups, where it could reliably determine cycle length coverage. But we found out that effects like wave collision and slow conduction have strong influence on cycle length coverage. This prevents cycle length coverage from being suited as the only parameter to quantify whether a rotor is present or not. On the other hand we could confirm that rotors imply a cycle length coverage of >70% if the multielectrode catheter is centered in an area of <5 mm away from the rotor tip. Therefore cycle length coverage can at least be used in some situations to exclude the presence of possible rotors.
Deriving respiration from high resolution 12-channel-ECG during cycling exercise
Authors: Schumann Andy , Schmidt Marcus , Herbsleb Marco , Semm Charlotte , Rose Georg , Gabriel Holger , Bär Karl-Jürgen
Published: December 2016

Monitoring of cardiac and respiratory activity, is essential in several clinical interventions like bicycle ergometries. The respiration signal can be derived from the ECG if it is not recorded itself (ECG derived respiration, EDR). In this study, we tried to reconstruct breathing rates (BR) from stress test high resolution 12-channel-ECGs in nine healthy subjects using higher order central moments. A mean absolute error per subjects of 2.9/min and relatively high correlation (r
p
= 0.85) and concordance coefficient (rc = 0.79) indicated a quite accurate reproduction of respiratory activity. The analysis of the different test stages revealed an increase of BR errors while subjects were effortful cycling compared to rest. During incremental cycling exercise test the mean absolute error per subjects was 3.4/min. Compared to the results reported in other studies at rest in supine position, this seems adequately accurate. In conclusion, our results indicate that EDR using higher order central moments is suited for monitoring BR during physical activity.
Postprocessing algorithm for automated analysis of pelvic intraoperative neuromonitoring signals
Authors: Wegner Celine , Krueger Thilo B. , Hoffmann Klaus-Peter , Kauff Daniel W. , Kneist Werner
Published: December 2016

Two dimensional pelvic intraoperative neuromonitoring (pIONM®) is based on electric stimulation of autonomic nerves under observation of electromyography of internal anal sphincter (IAS) and manometry of urinary bladder. The method provides nerve identification and verification of its’ functional integrity. Currently pIONM® is gaining increased attention in times where preservation of function is becoming more and more important. Ongoing technical and methodological developments in experimental and clinical settings require further analysis of the obtained signals. This work describes a postprocessing algorithm for pIONM® signals, developed for automated analysis of huge amount of recorded data. The analysis routine includes a graphical representation of the recorded signals in the time and frequency domain, as well as a quantitative evaluation by means of features calculated from the time and frequency domain. The produced plots are summarized automatically in a PowerPoint presentation. The calculated features are filled into a standardized Excel-sheet, ready for statistical analysis.
Efficient design of FIR filter based low-pass differentiators for biomedical signal processing
Authors: Wulf Michael , Staude Gerhard , Knopp Andreas , Felderhoff Thomas
Published: December 2016

This paper describes an alternative design of linear phase low-pass differentiators with a finite impulse response (type III FIR filter). To reduce the number of necessary filter coefficients, the differentiator’s transfer function is approximated by a Fourier series of a triangle function. Thereby the filter’s transition steepness towards the stopband is intentionally reduced. It can be shown that the proposed design of low-pass differentiators yields to similar results as other published design recommendations, while the filter order can be significantly reduced.
Nonlinear causal influences assessed by mutual compression entropy
Authors: Schumann Andy , Fleckenstein Berit , Bär Karl-Jürgen
Published: December 2016

Autonomic control of the heart rate was demonstrated to be complex and nonlinear. Respiratory sinus arrhythima plays a crucial role in heart rate vagal modulation. Here we present an approach of assessing nonlinear causal relationships in bivariate time series, called mutual compression entropy (MCE). We applied MCE to cardiorespiratory data of 29 patients with acute schizophrenia and 29 matched controls. The method is based on data compression and estimates to which extend a (target) time series can be compressed regarding another time series (driver). In schizophrenia an elevated sympathetic and reduced parasympathetic heart rate modulation was found. The nonlinear influence of respiration on heart rate variability was demonstrated by a highly significant reduction of MCE (0.816 vs. 0.808, p¡0.01). In healthy subjects MCE was mainly related to sympathovagal balance. We conclude, that this index has the potential to uncover physiological information beyond linear measures.
Comparative study of methods for solving the correspondence problem in EMD applications
Authors: Piper Diana , Schiecke Karin , Witte Herbert , Leistritz Lutz
Published: December 2016

We address the correspondence problem which arises when applying empirical mode decomposition (EMD) to multi-trial and multi-subject data. EMD decomposes a signal into a set of narrow-band components named intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). The number of IMFs and their signal properties can be different between trials, channels and subjects. In order to assign IMFs with similar characteristics to each other, we compare two assignment methods, unbalanced assignment and k-cardinality assignment and two clustering algorithms, namely hierarchical clustering and density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise based on heart rate variability data of children with temporal lobe epilepsy.
fNIRS for future use in auditory diagnostics
Authors: Bauernfeind Günther , Haumann Sabine , Lenarz Thomas
Published: December 2016

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an emerging technique for the assessment of functional activity of the cerebral cortex. Recently fNIRS was also envisaged as a novel neuroimaging approach for measuring the auditory cortex (AC) activity in cochlear implant (CI) users. In the present study we report on initial measurements of AC activation due to spatial sound presentation with a first target to generate data for comparison with CI user and the future use in auditory diagnostics.
Left cardiac atrioventricular delay and inter-ventricular delay in cardiac resynchronization therapy responder and non-responder
Authors: Heinke Matthias , Kühnert Helmut , Heinke Tobias , Tumampos Jonas , Dannberg Gudrun
Published: December 2016

Cardiac resynchronization therapy is an established therapy for heart failure patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate electrical left cardiac atrioventricular delay and interventricular desynchronization in sinus rhythm cardiac resynchronization therapy responder and non-responder. Cardiac electrical desynchronization were measured by surface ECG and focused transesophageal bipolar left atrial and left ventricular ECG before implantation of cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators. Preoperative electrical cardiac desynchronization was 195.7 ± 46.7 ms left cardiac atrioventricular delay and 74.8 ± 24.5 ms interventricular delay in cardiac resynchronization therapy responder. Cardiac resynchronization therapy responder New York Heart Association class improved during long term biventricular pacing. Transesophageal left cardiac atrioventricular delay and interventricular delay may be additional useful parameters to improve patient selection for cardiac resynchronization therapy.
An automatic systolic peak detector of blood pressure waveforms using 4th order cumulants
Authors: Schmidt Marcus , Schumann Andy , Bär Karl-Jürgen , Rose Georg
Published: December 2016

The arterial blood pressure (ABP) holds a lot of information about the cardiovascular system. To analyse the ABP signal, at first the pulse wave has to be detected correctly. Due to influences, e.g. of noise, an accurate beat detection is a challenging task. In this work, a novel real-time ABP detector based on higher-order statistics is presented. The method uses the 4th order cumulants for ABP-peak detection. To evaluate this detector, the Fantasia database freely available at physionet was used. In this database, 142,936 systolic peaks were available to check the efficiency of the beat detector. A sensitivity of 99.91% and a positive predictive value of 99.50% were achieved with the novel method.
In-vitro experiments to characterize ventricular electromechanics
Authors: Arnold Robert , Prassl Anton J. , Hofer Ernst , Plank Gernot
Published: December 2016

Computer simulation turns out to be beneficial when clinical data lack spatio-temporal resolution or parameters cannot be measured at all. To derive trustworthy results, these in-silico models have to thoroughly parameterized and validated. In this work we present data from a simplified in-vitro setup for characterizing ventricular electromechanics. Right ventricular papillary muscles from New Zealand rabbits were isolated and stretched from slack length to lmax
, i.e. the muscle length at maximum active force development. Active stress development showed an almost linear increase for moderate strain (90–100% of lmax
) and a significant decrease for larger strain (100–105% of lmax
). Passive strain development showed a nonlinear increase. Conduction velocity CV showed an increase of ≈10% between low and moderate strain and no significant decrease beyond. Fitting active active stress-strain relationship using a 5th-order polynomial yielded adequate results for moderate and high strain values, whereas fitting using a logistic function yielded more reasonable results for low strain values. Passive stress-strain relationship was satisfactorily fitted using an exponential function.