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A D-optimal design was used to identify and model variables that affect the transit time of wound exudate through an illustrative dressing used for negative pressure wound therapy. Many authors have addressed the clinical benefits of negative pressure wound therapy, but limited information is available on how to assess performances of dressings. In this paper, the transit time of wound exudate through a dressing was chosen as a model parameter to show how experimental design (DOE) can be used for this purpose. Results demonstrated that rate of exudate production, temperature and dressing thickness were the variables with the largest impact on transit time. The DOE approach could be used to model other dressing properties, like for example capability of absorbing excess exudate or breathability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute and chronic wounds have a tremendous impact on patients’ life conditions. As wound healing involves a huge number of biochemical processes, biomedical sensors play a major role for wound monitoring and early detection of infections. This paper describes and discusses the sensors currently under research that can provide invaluable information on the different phases of wound healing. These sensors can allow wound healing to be continuously monitored, thus opening the path for personalized therapies and better patients’ quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The use of ionising radiation in medicine has been steadily increasing, and this trend is set to continue, with obvious health benefits for the population thanks to improved diagnostic and therapy technologies.However, this increase in radiation exposure levels also raises a number of safety concerns:the potential health effects among patients and medical workers need to be evaluated, dose evaluation tools for clinical practice need to be developed, and practices need to be optimised in order to reduce exposure doses and ensure adequate radiation protection.A new EC-funded project will bring together medical and radiation scientists, physicists and clinicians to enhance the radiation protection of patients and medical professionals.The four-year MEDIRAD project (2017–2021) is led by the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR) and comprises a consortium of 33 partners from 14 European countries. Methods The MEDIRAD Project consists of six interdependent and complimentary work packages (WP), listed in Table. Work Packages Description WP1 : Project management and dissemination Scientific and clinical coordination, ethics management, knowledge management and exploitation, internal and external communication WP2 : Dose evaluation and optimisation in medical imaging Optimisation of chest CT, interventional procedures and multimodality imaging, and development of imaging and radiation dose biobank WP3 : Impact of low dose radiation exposure Standardisation, biokinetic modelling and treatment planning, dosimetry, biomarkers of absorbed doses, protocol for epidemiological study WP4 : Possible health impact of paediatric scanning Epidemiological study on cardiovascular changes after radiotherapy, measuring markers of exposure and risk modelling WP5 : Breast radiotherapy and secondary cardiovascular risk Epidemiological study of paediatric CTs and cancer, including (epi) genetic biomarkers of sensitivity, dosimetry and statistical analyses WP6 : Bringing together medical & nuclear scientific communities Formulation of science-based policy recommendations, consultation of stakeholders, organisation of dissemination seminars Results MEDIRAD has three major operational objectives:to improve organ dose estimation and registration; to evaluate and understand the mechanisms of the effects of medical exposures, focusing on two outcomes of public health relevance:cardiovascular effects of radiotherapy in breast cancer treatment, and cancer risks following CT scanning in children and adolescents; and to develop science-based consensus policy recommendations for the effective protection of patients, workers and the general public.The ISS, due to its long and consolidated experience in the field of Quality Assurance in Radiological Sciences, has been invited to contribute to the latter issue. Conclusions MEDIRAD's overall goal is to address these needs by enhancing the scientific bases and practice of radiation protection in medicine. MEDIRAD has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014–2018 (grant agreement N°755523). More information can be found at http://www.medirad-project.eu/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this study is to correlate the physical dose to non-target tissues (blood) to the radiation-induced chromosome damage in terms of the dicentrics and micronuclei (MN) in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) after radium-223 (223RaCl2) therapy in patients with bone metastasis derived from prostate cancer [1]. Methods Four patients undergoing 223RaCl2 therapy for skeletal diseases have been enrolled in this prospective clinical study. The effective dose to blood per injected activity was calculated considering the alpha, beta and gamma emission of Ra-223 and considering a standard man weight of 70 kg. PBL cultures for dicentric assay and MN were performed before treatment (T0), 6 days (T1) and 30 days (T2) after the first cycle of treatment and after the end of the therapy (T3). Haematological toxicity parameters (blood cell count) have been monitored during therapy and analysed along with doses to blood. Results The administration of 223RaCl2 produces a high dose dependent increase of radiation-induced chromosome damage in terms of dicentrics and MN induction observed in the circulating lymphocytes. Surprisingly, the increase of chromosome damage observed between T1 and T2 is not due to an 223RaCl2 addition dose, suggesting that circulating lymphocytes were exposed to an extra dose by the emissions from the target areas. In addition, clinical monitoring during the treatment showed a progressive increasing fatigue, leucopenia and anemia with a partial recovery after some months after the end of therapy. Conclusions The cytogenetic data suggest a persistence of the radiation emission from the target tissue to non-target ones and seem to be correlated to the observed haematological toxicity, highlighting possible adverse effects related to this therapy. These data need further investigation in order to evaluate the potential side effects to normal, non-target tissue in patients treated with alpha emitters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper reports on DNA DSB induction in human fibroblasts by iron ions of different energies, namely 5, 1 GeV/u, 414 and 115 MeV/u, in absence or presence of different shields (PMMA, Al and Pb). Measure of DNA DSB was performed by calibrated Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis using the fragment counting method. The RBE–LET relationships for unshielded and shielded beams were obtained both in terms of dose average LET and of track average LET. Weak dependence on these parameters was observed for DSB induction. The shielding efficiency, evaluated by the ratio between the cross sections for unshielded and shielded beams, depends not only on the shield type and thickness, but also on the beam energy. Protection is only observed at high iron ions energy, especially at 5 GeV/u, where PMMA shield gives higher protection compared to Al or Pb shields of the same thickness expressed in g/cm2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Outside the magnetic field of the Earth, high energy heavy ions constitute a relevant part of the biologically significant dose to astronauts during the very long travels through space. The typical pattern of energy deposition in the matter by heavy ions on the microscopic scale is believed to produce spatially correlated damage in the DNA which is critical for radiobiological effects. We have investigated the influence of a lucite shielding on the initial production of very small DNA fragments in human fibroblasts irradiated with 1 GeV/u iron (Fe) ions. We also used γ-rays as reference radiation. Our results show: (1) a lower effect per incident ion when the shielding is used; (2) an higher DNA Double Strand Breaks (DSB) induction by Fe ions than by γ-rays in the size range 1–23 kbp; (3) a non-random DNA DSB induction by Fe ions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]