High-frequency Ultrasound Evaluation of Effects of Early Treatment with Metoprolol on Myocardial Inflammatory Cytokine Expression in Rats with Acute Myocardial Infarction

This study evaluated the effects of early treatment with β-adrenergic blocker metoprolol on ventricular remodeling and function after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) by using high frequency ultrasound.The relationship between the efficacy and the expression level of cardiac myocardial inflammatory cytokine was examined in rats.The rat model of AMI was induced by ligating the left ante-rior descending artery.The surviving rats were randomly assigned to two experimental groups:MI control (MI) group and MI metoprolol (MI-B) group,with the rats undergoing sham operation serving as normal control (Sham).MI-B group was given metoprolol for 4 weeks (refer to the CCS-2 protocol) and the other two groups received equal volume of saline via intragastric (i.g.) administation.The ventricular remodeling and function were evaluated by high frequency ultrasound 4 weeks after the treatment.Then all rats were sacrificed for pathological examination and immunohistochemistrical detection of inflammatory cytokines,including IL-1β,IL-6,IL-10 and TNF-α.Compared with the MI group,the left ventricular end-systolic dimension,end-diastolic dimension,end-systolic volume and end-diastolic volume of the MI-B group were significantly decreased (P<0.01),while the left ventricular anterior wall end-diastolic thickness,ejection fraction and fractional shortening were obviously increased (P<0.01).The conspicuous improvement in the left ventricular morphology and function was coincident with the markedly reduced TNF-α and IL-1β expression and the increased IL-10 expression.We are led to conclude that early metoprolol treatment for AMI can regulate myocardial inflammatory cytokine expression to improve cardiac function and the underlying mechanism might be that it decreases the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increases the level of its anti-inflammatory counterparts in cardiac myocytes.Our study also showed that echocardiography is a useful technique for the structural and functional assessment of left ventricle after acute myocardial infarction.

High Frequency Ultrasound in Determining the Causes of Acute Shoulder Joint Pain

Shoulder ultrasonography is approved as the examination of choice for rotator cuff abnormality in many centers around the world since it is an inexpensive and safe tool for investigation of rotator cuff abnormalities. The goal of this study was to determine the ultrasound findings in patients with acute shoulder joint pain, and also to identify possible predictors of shoulder pain, as well as to compare the ultrasound diagnostic performance to that of MRI in such condition. A total of 65 (mean age 28 ± 1.2 years) consequential patients were recruited for a period of six months between July 2015 and June 2016 in this study. Collected data were confined on age, medical history, and clinical symptoms. Shoulder ultrasound was performed with a linear array transducer (10 - 15 MHz) connected to HI vision Avius ultrasound unit;Hitachi. MRI for the shoulder joint was performed in all cases to confirm the ultrasound results, using 1.5-T MRI system (Magnetom Espree);Siemens. Statistical analysis was completed using the standard Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) version 20 for windows. Ultrasound manages to determine the causes of acute shoulder joint pain in 98% of the patients. Fitted achievement values for shoulder ultrasound in the diagnosis the causes of shoulder joint pain were 100% sensitivity and a range of 96% to 100% of accuracy. Ultrasound presents a high sensitivity and accuracy in diagnosis a wide spectrum of shoulder joint lesions, with a diagnostic performance near to that of MRI.

The High Frequency (HF) Ultrasound as a Useful Imaging Technique for the Efficacy Assessment of Different Anti-Cellulite Treatments

The purpose of the research was to evaluate the role of high frequency ultrasound in monitoring and efficacy assessment of anti-cellulite treatments. A group of 66 women used 3 different types of anti-cellulite treatments;additionally a placebo group (n = 18) was created. The μ-Scan ultrasound device with a 35 MHz mechanical probe was used for the examinations. The following parameters were subjected to the ultrasound evaluation: epidermis thickness, dermis thickness, dermis echogenicity, the length and area of subcutaneous tissue bands projecting into the dermis (dermis-hypodermis junction), as well as the presence/absence of edema within the dermis. As a result of anti-cellulite treatment, the length and area of dermis-hypodermis junction significantly decreased, and dermis echogenicity significantly increased. Ultrasound imaging made it possible to evaluate the efficacy of the applied treatments. The high frequency ultrasound is a useful imaging technique for the application in aesthetic dermatology and cosmetology.

A Flexible and High Speed Digital Scan Converter for High Frequency Ultrasound Imaging

This paper presents a flexible and high speed digital scan converter (DSC) with the ability to handle high frequency ultrasound imaging in real-time. The characteristics in imaging system such as focus length of transducer, the swing radius and sampling length etc. could be changed easily in compliance with the researcher's application based on this flexible digital scan converter. Linear interpolation is employed to achieve the coordinate transformations algorithm. Custom-built software is programmed to preliminarily handle the algorithm according to different ultrasound imaging applications. High performance FPGA will implement high speed interpolation calculation based on the preliminary data which are stored in the DDR2 SDRAM from the software. 64 bit 66 MHz PCI is employed to accomplish high speed data transmission. Experiment has shown that more than 500 frame rate could be achieved based on this high speed digital scan converter. The designed flexible and high speed digital scan converter could be used in current FPGA based high frequency ultrasound imaging system.

The Application Progress of Skin Imaging Technology in Psoriasis

Skin imaging technologies such as dermoscopy, high-frequency ultrasound, reflective confocal microscopy and optical coherence tomography are developing rapidly in clinical application. Skin imaging technology can improve clinical diagnosis rate, and its non-invasiveness and repeatability make it occupy an irreplaceable position in clinical diagnosis. With the “booming development” of medical technology, skin imaging technology can improve clinical diagnosis rate. Researchers have made significant advances in assisting clinical diagnosis, prediction, and treatment of disease. This article reviews the application and progress of skin imaging in the diagnosis of psoriasis.

Systematic review of novel ablative methods in locally advanced pancreatic cancer

Unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer with or without metastatic disease is associated with a very poor prognosis.Current standard therapy is limited to chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy.Few regimens have been shown to have a substantial survival advantage and novel treatment strategies are urgently needed.Thermal and laser based ablative techniques are widely used in many solid organ malignancies.Initial studies in the pancreas were associated with significant morbidity and mortality,which limited widespread adoption.Modifications to the various applications,in particular combining the techniques with high quality imaging such as computed tomography and intraoperative or endoscopic ultrasound has enabled real time treatment monitoring and significant improvements in safety.We conducted a systematic review of the litera-ture up to October 2013.Initial studies suggest that ablative therapies may confer an additional survival benefit over best supportive care but randomised studies are required to validate these findings.

Neuroprotective effects of ultrasound-guided nerve growth factor injections after sciatic nerve injury

Nerve growth factor（NGF） plays an important role in promoting neuroregeneration after peripheral nerve injury. However, its effects are limited by its short half-life; it is therefore important to identify an effective mode of administration. High-frequency ultrasound（HFU） is increasingly used in the clinic for high-resolution visualization of tissues, and has been proposed as a method for identifying and evaluating peripheral nerve damage after injury. In addition, HFU is widely used for guiding needle placement when administering drugs to a specific site. We hypothesized that HFU guiding would optimize the neuroprotective effects of NGF on sciatic nerve injury in the rabbit. We performed behavioral, ultrasound, electrophysiological, histological, and immunohistochemical evaluation of HFU-guided NGF injections administered immediately after injury, or 14 days later, and compared this mode of administration with intramuscular NGF injections. Across all assessments, HFU-guided NGF injections gave consistently better outcomes than intramuscular NGF injections administered immediately or 14 days after injury, with immediate treatment also yielding better structural and functional results than when the treatment was delayed by 14 days. Our findings indicate that NGF should be administered as early as possible after peripheral nerve injury, and highlight the striking neuroprotective effects of HFU-guided NGF injections on peripheral nerve injury compared with intramuscular administration.

The value of intraoperative ultrasonography in the operative project of hepatopancreatobiliary

Objective: To explore the reference value of intraoperative ultrasonography in the operative procedure and post- operative treatment with relation to hepatopancreatobiliary surgery. Methods: 103 cases of hepatopancreatobiliary operations were collected in our hospital from January 1996 to October 2005, in which 68 cases were males and the others were females, age ranged from 45 to 76 years. Hepatocellular carcinoma were 26 cases, gallbladder carcinoma were 5 cases, cholangio- carcinoma were 6 cases, pancreatic carcinoma were 10 cases and other 56 cases were gall stone and/or choledocholithiasis. Intraoperative ultrasonography with high frequency probe was used in all cases. Results: Some minimal occult focuses was found by intraoperative ultrasonography. We found vascular tumor thrombosis in 70% cases of hepatocellular carcinomas. One case was diagnosed as pancreatic carcinoma before operation and found choledochal tract dilatation concurrently with cholangitis by intraoperative ultrasonography. Eight cases of gallstones with no choledochal stones before operation were found by intraoperative ultrasonography that stone lain in low segment of common bile duct. Conclusion: The image data of high quality obtained by intraoperative ultrasonography could not only direct our more proper operative practice but also favor us to make more reasonable postoperative treatment plan.