Purpose
The diagnosis and classification of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) can be difficult with radiography alone; therefore, computed tomography (CT) is also usually ...performed. There are many reports on the usefulness of digital tomosynthesis (DTS) for image analysis in orthopedics. This study aimed to compare the accuracy of DTS with radiography and CT for the diagnosis and classification of cervical OPLL (C-OPLL).
Materials and methods
We included 31 patients with OPLL and 30 with cervical spondylotic myelopathy. The patients' cervical spine radiography, DTS, and CT images were each evaluated twice by three specialists and three residents.
Results
In the intra-observer reliability study, there was one observer with a fair level of kappa values for radiography and DTS among three residents. The kappa values for CT were the best for all observers. In the inter-observer reliability study, the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values were high for both diagnosis and classification by specialists at the almost perfect level for all three imaging modalities. On the other hand, the ICC values for both diagnosis and classification for radiography by the residents were lower than those for DTS and CT.
Conclusions
This study revealed that DTS may be an alternative to CT for the diagnosis and classification of C-OPLL by specialists. Caution should be exercised in diagnosing and classifying C-OPLL using radiography and DTS by residents, and the use of CT is recommended.
We present three cases of IgA nephropathy with gross hematuria following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccination. Case 1 was a 60-year-old woman ...who has previously experienced transient proteinuria. Case 2 was a 22-year-old woman with no history of urinary abnormality. Finally, case 3 was a 66-year-old woman who has had microscopic hematuria since she was in her 50s. They were all diagnosed as IgA nephropathy with little histological active lesion. Their renal function and proteinuria improved without the use of corticosteroids. There were differences in the findings of vascular endothelial damage based on the time between the appearance of gross hematuria and renal biopsy. Glomerular endocapillary damage could be a part of the mechanism triggered by mRNA vaccination. When a patient presents with gross hematuria following vaccination, a comprehensive approach including renal biopsy should be considered.
Usually, development of automobile brake hose and power steering hose has been realized through investigating several actual prototype hoses experimentally. Recently, high durability for brake hose ...has been required because periodic renewing the brake hose has not been requested anymore. In this study, three-dimensional FEM analysis has been applied to the crimped portion of hydraulic brake hose in order to investigate the effects of manufacturing errors upon the sealing performance. In order to evaluate the sealing performance, the normal stress σr appearing between the inner rubber and nipple is mainly considered. Then, the sealing performance is investigated when the manufacturing error is included for the crimped portion of hydraulic brake hose. It is found that maximum stress between the nipple and inner rubber decreases by less than 30% when the manufacturing errors are smaller than the upper limit of tolerance. It may be concluded that the error may causes deterioration of sealing performance of hydraulic brake hose.
Safety of Growing Rod System by Ultrasonic Vibration Makino, Koji; Taniguchi, Naofumi; Ohba, Tetsuro ...
2022 IEEE 4th Global Conference on Life Sciences and Technologies (LifeTech),
03/2022
Conference Proceeding
Scoliosis is a disease of the spine that is deformed, and the most of the age of outbreak is 10-15 age. It is necessary that the rod is planted at the spine by the surgical operation to prevent from ...progression of the deformation if the condition is serious. And the position has to be adjusted every time the patient grows up. We have studied the growing rod system which enables the position to be adjusted without the surgical operation. In this paper, the continuous motions are verified by the experiments when expansive/compressive force occurs. As a result, we confirm that the safety can be guaranteed by the experiments, since the growing rod system has desirable features.
Usually, development of automobile brake hose and power steering hose has been realized through investigating several actual prototype hoses experimentally. Recently, high durability for brake hose ...has been required because periodic renewing the brake hoses has not been requested anymore. In this study, three-dimensional FEM analysis has been applied to the crimped portion of hydraulic brake hose in order to investigate the effects of manufacturing errors upon the sealing performance. In order to evaluate the sealing performance, the normal stress σr appearing between the inner rubber and nipple is mainly considered. Then, the sealing performance is investigated when the manufacturing error is included for the crimped portion of hydraulic brake hose. It is found that maximum stress between the nipple and inner rubber decreases by less than 30% when the manufacturing errors are smaller than the upper limit of tolerance. It may be concluded that the error may causes deterioration of sealing performance of hydraulic brake hose.
Scoliosis is a symptom of the deformation of the backbone, and a few percentage of teenagers suffer from it. The patient needs to receive the operational surgery, if the curve of backbone is over the ...certain degrees. In the surgery, pedicle screws are planted in the backbone, and fixed by the straight rod. And the surgical operation is given many times until the patient stops growing up, since the backbone is extension according to growth of the patient. Therefore, a method that the surgical operation is not necessary is desirable. We have developed a growing rod that is able to be controlled using an ultrasonic vibration. In the previous work, the primitive principle of the growing rod was proposed, and were verified by some experiments in an ideal state. It is important to verify the proposed principle using the biomaterial to progress the nextstage (the crinical trials). In this paper, the proposed method is verified using biomaterial that is the meat with bone for food. And, the extension force that occurs in the backbone is discussed, since the length of the gap of the backbone becomes large according to growth of the patient. As a result, it is clear that the extend force of the rod is proportional to the magnitude of the extend force that occurs in spine. Therefore, the extension of the rod stop naturally, if the force in the backbone is released. We confirm that this method has safety.
Usually, automobile high-pressure hose, such as hydraulic brake hose, has been developed through investigating several actual prototype hoses experimentally. Recently, high durability for brake hose ...has been required because periodic renewing the brake hoses has not been requested anymore. In this study, FEM stress analysis has been applied to the crimped portion of hydraulic brake hose in order to promote the development of the automobile hoses more efficiently. The sealing performance is discussed focusing on the normal stress between the nipple and inner rubber with varying several important geometrical dimensions of crimped portion.
Scoliosis is the disease that the spine curves, and that occurs most often during the growth spurt just before puberty. The seriously ill patient undergoes surgery on the spine that the pedicle ...screws and the rod are implanted in. And the surgery is repeated until the growing up stops to adjust the rod. To decrease the physical and psychic load of the surgical operation, we have studied and developed the growing rod system using an ultrasonic vibration. The automatic stop mechanism for the guarantee of the safety is necessary to adapt the system for the home care. In this paper, we confirm that the system includes a mechanism for the automatic stop of the motion of the rod. First, we consider the principle and the relationship between the external force and the amount of movement. Second, it is investigated by the experiments. As a result, it is clear that the system includes a mechanism for the automatic stop, and that the amount of movement is kept small if the unexpected large force. In addition, the feature is not influenced by the vibration point where the external force is applied to the growing rod, even if the point is not same.
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