New techniques for imaging of brain function are described, which utilize magnetic resonance imaging. Echo-planar imaging (EPI), the preferred method, is introduced and technical issues are discussed. Two recent approaches for measurement of blood flow are explained: contrast agent bolus tracking and black blood perfusion. An intrinsic contrast technique, which utilizes the paramagnetism of deo...

Patients with connective tissue disorders are clinically challenging for radiation oncologists as these patients may be at increased risk for radiation-related skin toxicity. A clinical dilemma presents itself in a patient with lupus who presents with confluent skin lesions from mycosis fungoides requiring radiotherapy. In this report, we discuss an innovative technique used to develop an immob...

CT angiography is an emerging technique for noninvasive evaluation of peripheral vascular disease. CT was first used to evaluate the peripheral vasculature in the early 1990s. Single-detector spiral CT scanners were limited by their inability to cover the whole vasculature from the diaphragm to the feet quickly enough to track a contrast bolus. These limitations were overcome with the advent of...

BACKGROUND Many patients do not intensify their insulin regimens. It is believed that lack of adherence may be largely due to fear of hypoglycemia. We hypothesized that utilization of an automated bolus calculator (bolus advisor) might reduce fear of hypoglycemia and encourage patients to achieve improved glycemic control. METHOD We surveyed 1,412 type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients trea...

We examined the measurement error in inhaled and exhaled aerosol concentration resulting from the bolus delivery system when small volumes of monodisperse aerosols are inspired to different lung depths. A laser photometer that illuminated approximately 75% of the breathing path cross section recorded low inhaled bolus half-widths (42 ml) and negative deposition values for shallow bolus inhalati...

Eighteen digital subtraction angiography (DSA) examinations were retrospectively evaluated for factors that led to their erroneous interpretation. Overlapping vessels obscured pathologic conditions in five cases. In four cases the lesions were not adequately profiled by the DSA projections. Eight lesions were rendered inconspicuous by misregistration artifacts attributable to motion, either fro...

BACKGROUND Complement, activated during myocardial ischemia and reperfusion, causes myocardial damage through multiple processes. The COMplement inhibition in Myocardial infarction treated with Angioplasty (COMMA) trial was performed to determine the effect of pexelizumab, a C5 complement inhibitor, on infarct size in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (MI) undergoing prim...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine if persistent changes in the duration of bolus movement through the pharynx and bolus movement coordination with pharyngeal swallowing gestures occur after treatment of oropharyngeal carcinoma with chemoradiation therapy. METHODS The timing of bolus movement and coordination with swallowing gestures was evaluated in 30 patients using a mod...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Swallowing is a complex function with the control of the swallowing center being located in the brain stem. Our aim in this investigation was to evaluate, in healthy volunteers, the oral and pharyngeal transit of 2 bolus volumes and 2 consistencies, and the influence of these boluses on the proportion of pharyngeal clearance duration/hyoid movement duration. METHODS Videofluor...

INTRODUCTION While two laboratory techniques are commonly used to assess the tensile properties of muscle tissue, emerging evidence suggests that the fascial components of these tissues also serve an active role in force generation. Hence, we investigated whether these techniques are sensitive for assessment of fascial micromechanics. METHODS Force measurements on dissected fascial tissue wer...