High dose rate (HDR) endobronchial brachytherapy is a palliative treatment for symptomatic airway obstruction by malignant tumours. We report a novel use of HDR brachytherapy for treating nonmalignant bronchial obstruction. The patient had a metal stent placed in a reconstructed airway after a bronchial tear to ensure patency. Granulation tissue formation in and around the stent caused symptoma...

One of the key advantages to a lab-on-a-chip system based on digital microfluidics is the reconfigurability and reusability of the same chip for different tasks. The ability to manipulate magnetic microspheres in solution on a lab-on-a-chip will expand the variety of tasks that can be performed if the microspheres are used as reagent immobilization surfaces. Because the microspheres can be tran...

An investigation into the suitability of mucuna gum microspheres for oral delivery of glibenclamide is presented. Mucuna gum microspheres were formulated under different conditions of polymer concentration and crosslinking time at constant speed. The formulated microspheres were thereafter loaded with glibenclamide by the remote loading process. The microspheres were evaluated according to part...

Interstitial brachytherapy represents the treatment of choice for small tumours, regionally localized in the oral cavity and the oropharynx. In the technical setting, continuous low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy represented for many years the gold standard for administering radiation in head and neck brachytherapy. Large series of head and neck cancer patients treated with LDR brachytherapy hav...

BACKGROUND We evaluated whether detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and human kallikrein 2 (hK2) transcripts in the peripheral blood during brachytherapy could predict biochemical outcome. METHODS Eighty-one patients who underwent (125)Iodine-based brachytherapy for localized prostate cancer (Gleason score <8, PSA <20 ng/ml, stage <T3), participated in the study. Brachytherapy was gi...

OBJECTIVES We sought to demonstrate that brachytherapy reduces coronary spasm in refractory and highly symptomatic variant angina. BACKGROUND In some patients with variant angina due to extensive vasoconstriction, intensive drug therapy fails to sufficiently relieve symptoms. METHODS In 18 patients with frequent angina episodes despite triple anti-anginal therapy, coronary spasm was induced...

Microcapsules offer a wide variety of convenience in drug delivery when compared with conventional dosage forms. It is unique carrier system for many pharmaceuticals. Microencapsulation potential process which prolongs the efficacy significantly and improves patient compliance. This approach can alleviate limitations dose dumping, multiple inconvenience, kidney disease. form has advantages elde...

Brachytherapy is an essential component of the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancers. It enables the dose to the tumor to be boosted whilst allowing relative sparing of the normal tissues. Traditionally, cervical brachytherapy was prescribed to point A but since the GEC-ESTRO guidelines were published in 2005, there has been a move towards prescribing the dose to a 3D volume. Image gui...

BACKGROUND Surgical treatment remains the mainstay therapy for recurrence of head and neck cancer after previous radiotherapy. In inoperable cases, interstitial high-dose rate brachytherapy is a treatment option for local dose escalation. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective analysis of all patients who were treated solely with brachytherapy for advanced non-resectable recurrences of squamous...

PURPOSE To report peri-operative fractionated high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy with a 3D customized Freiburg flap applicator to treat locally recurrent Wilms' tumor, followed by immediate hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for a 16-year-old with a second recurrence of nephroblastoma (Wilms' tumor). MATERIAL AND METHODS The tumor was excised and surgical bed was treated with fractiona...