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Sodium imaging typically employs ultrashort echo time radial, density adapted and cones trajectories to capture the rapidly decaying short T2 signal. The present study considers the parameter choices involved in the use of these trajectories in terms of their impact on the resolution and signal to noise ratio. Many parameters have a strong effect on these image properties, particularly the number of spokes which impacts voxel size. The present article develops an understanding of the trade-offs involved and how to choose optimal (or at least reasonable) parameter values. This has a practical role in designing clinical protocols for imaging sodium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research uses a hybrid dynamic DEA model to measure the expense efficiency of wastewater treatment improvement by taking account of both the initial time and location gap between regions as a slack factor in a developing country. We empirically examine the expense efficiency of wastewater treatment by combining radial and non-radial methods, employing a radial measurement to evaluate the efficiency of the radial variables, and comparing with a non-radial measurement to evaluate the efficiency of the slack variable. The study further sets up a dynamic model to reflect each region's economic development trends with two notable discoveries. First, the expense efficiency of wastewater treatment in most regions is inefficient. Second, some regions are subjected to existing disadvantages in both time and geographic location gap and thus are hindered by obstacles in the expense efficiency of wastewater treatment improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Transradial access for neurointerventional procedures was adopted and modified from cardiovascular intervention and is increasingly established as a safe and effective alternative to transfemoral catheterization. As social media influences public opinion on medical treatment, this study analyzes Twitter conversations to elucidate social media's depiction of transradial access as a neurointerventional tool. Materials and methods: Twitter hashtags #RadialFirst and #RadialForNeuro were evaluated using a mixed-method analysis of quantitative social media metrics and qualitative thematic analysis. Results: Between January 2015 and April 2020, 104,146 tweets from 141 countries employed the hashtag #RadialFirst (2015 (1); 2016 (0); 2017 (22,804); 2018 (33,074); 2019 (38,352); 2020 (9,915 January-April)). These generated 226,909,374 impressions and were retweeted 80,120 times by 13,707 users. Media was present in 62.5% of tweets (e.g. wrist image, angiographic runs) but only 14.5% had a reference article. Physicians authored 70.8% of tweets; interventional cardiologists accounted for 83% of top 100 influencers. #RadialForNeuro is more nascent (6 posts in 2019; 323 posts January–April 2020), with 392,662 impressions, and 254 retweets by 177 users; physicians authored 35.6%. Compared to #RadialFirst, #RadialforNeuro tweets were more likely to include media (76%), less likely to include citations (9.7%), and more likely to discuss complications and troubleshooting techniques. Conclusion: Twitter activity regarding transradial access permits information dissemination and discussion on approach benefits and challenges. However, many posts arise from non-physician sources and lack links to peer-reviewed publication. The public should be mindful that tweets may reflect opinions, rather than experience or scientific evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to determine the radiographic, second-look, and functional outcomes after arthroscopic side-to-side repair for complete radial posterior lateral meniscus root tears (PLMRTs). Methods Patients who underwent arthroscopic side-to-side repair for complete radial PLMRTs were identified. Clinical assessment consisted of symptoms (locking, catching, giving way and effusion), examinations of joint-line tenderness and McMurray test, and subjective scores of International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), Lysholm, and Tegner. In addition, postoperative MRI scan and second-look arthroscopy were performed to assess the healing status of the repaired meniscus. Results Twenty-nine patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 25.41 years. The mean follow-up period was 26.68 months. During the follow-up, none of the patients had symptoms of meniscal retear, lateral joint-line tenderness or a positive McMurray test. The postoperative subjective scores of IKDC, Lysholm, and Tegner improved significantly compared to the preoperative values (P = 0.01). Postoperative MRI scan showed that 28/29 (96.6%) patients achieved meniscus healing. Twenty-two patients underwent second-look arthroscopy, among whom 19 (86.4%) patients showed complete meniscus healing and 3 (13.6%) patients showed partial healing. Conclusion Arthroscopic side-to-side repair was a valuable surgical repair technique for complete radial PLMRTs, which leaded to significant improvements in both objective and subjective functional outcomes with a high rate of meniscus healing. Level of evidence Level IV, case series.

Recent trends in neuroendovascular surgery have seen a rise in alternative access utilization. Social media feeds such as #RadialFirst or #RadialForNeuro are the beacons of a growing movement among more and more endovascular neurosurgeons, as they venture away from the traditional femoral access gravitating toward radial access. We have previously shown our distal radial access technique utilizing the snuffbox to be a reliable means of endovascular access and in addition to traditional ventral radial access provides access to the entire cerebrum. Stroke thrombectomy often encounters reticence from those who prefer transfemoral access over the radial access. Thrombectomy has been performed radially in a few series and only once previously in a case report of distal radial access for thrombectomy. Hesitance to adopt radial access for mechanical thrombectomy is often related to perceived increased access times and a lack of suitable balloon guide catheters for radial techniques. Here, we present one of the first descriptions of a distal transradial access with balloon guide flow arrest for stentriever thrombectomy.

Although the classical treatments listed in the guidelines for osteoarthritis are widely used, the majority of patients do not fully recover from their pain. It is a fact that new treatment methods are needed both to relieve pain and restore deteriorated joint function. No study has been found to date that evaluated the efficacy of ESWT in hip OA. This pilot trial is the first in the literature to investigate the comparative effects of the two ESWT types (f-ESWT and r-ESWT) in the treatment of hip OA. Briefly, 148 patients were randomly distributed into the three ESWT groups: focused (f-ESWT), radial (r-ESWT), and sham (s-ESWT). Patients were assessed with the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores just before the treatment (0 week), just after the treatment (4th week), and 1 month after completion of the treatment (8th week). VAS and all WOMAC scores were significantly reduced at follow-up points (4th and 8th weeks) in both the f-ESWT and r-ESWT groups compared with baseline (0 week) (for all, p < 0.001). Statistical comparisons between the f-ESWT and r-ESWT groups showed that f-ESWT was superior to r-ESWT for the decrease in VAS and WOMAC scores from baseline to the 4th and 8th weeks (p < 0.001 or p < 0.002). Both r-ESWT and f-ESWT were found to have significant treatment efficacy compared with s-ESWT. However, f-ESWT produced a superior improvement in follow-up parameters compared to r-ESWT.

Introduction: This study is the first multicentric report on the safety, efficacy, and technical performance of utilizing a large bore (0.081″ inner diameter) access catheter in neurovascular interventions., Methods: Data were retrospectively collected from seven sites in the United States for neurovascular procedures via large bore 0.081″ inner diameter access catheter (Benchmark BMX81, Penumbra, Inc.). The primary outcome was technical success, defined as the access catheter reaching its target vessel. Safety outcomes included periprocedural device-related and access site complications., Results: There were 90 consecutive patients included. The median age of the patients was 63 years (IQR: 53, 68); 53% were female. The most common interventions were aneurysm embolization (33.3%), carotid stenting (12.2%), and arteriovenous malformation embolization (11.1%). The transradial approach was most used (56.7%), followed by transfemoral (41.1%). Challenging anatomic variations included severe vessel tortuosity (8/90, 8.9%), type 2 aortic arch (7/90, 7.8%), type 3 aortic arch (2/90, 2.2%), bovine arch (2/90, 2.2%), and severe angle (<30°) between the subclavian artery and target vessel (1/90, 1.1%). Technical success was achieved in 98.9% of the cases (89/90), with six cases requiring a switch from radial to femoral (6.7%) and one case from femoral to radial (1.1%). There were no access site complications or complications related to the 0.081″ catheter. Two postprocedural complications occurred (2.2%), unrelated to the access catheter., Conclusion: The BMX™ 81 large-bore access catheters was safe and effective in both radial and femoral access across a wide range of neurovascular procedures, achieving high technical success without any access site or device-related complications., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) have disclosed any potential conflicts of interest regarding the research, authorship, and publication of this article in the disclosure section.

Conventional radial access in endovascular surgery has certain limitations, primarily associated with the presence of local complications and radial artery occlusion. Over the past 7 years, distal radial access has exploded into all areas of endovascular procedures, from interventional cardiology to vascular surgery and interventional oncology. However, puncture of the distal radial artery has its own nuances and features: a learning curve, the use of ultrasound navigation in the initial stages of mastering the access, limitations in patients with acute conditions (acute coronary syndrome and stroke). This review aims to analyze on important aspects of the procedure of distal radial access from preparation for it to hemostasis and to explore all data about the new roles of distal radial access in avoiding but also treating radial artery occlusion, as the first thing to begin with the development and implementation of new access., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

A multiphase microstructural system of two types of hydrides; f.c.c. δ and b.c.c.. ε hydride precipitates within a parent h.c.p. zircaloy-4 parent matrix were modelled by a crystalline dislocation-density and a finite-element (FE) method that is specialized for large inelastic strains and nonlinear behavior. The different crystalline structure of the hydrides, the parent matrix, and the orientation relationships between the different crystalline phases have been accounted for and modeled with a validated FE approach. The effects of radial hydride factors, hydride volume fraction, hydride morphology, and hydride orientation and distribution on overall behavior were investigated. The predictions provide an understanding of why a distribution of circumferential hydrides have higher strength and ductility than a distribution of radial hydrides. Furthermore, zircaloy δ (f.c.c.) hydride systems have less ductility and strength than the zircaloy ε (b.c.c.) systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a strong need for improvements in motion robust T1-weighted abdominal imaging sequences in children to enable high-quality, free-breathing imaging. Objective: To compare imaging time and quality of a radial stack-of-stars, free-breathing T1-weighted gradient echo acquisition (volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination [VIBE]) three-dimensional (3-D) Dixon sequence in sedated pediatric patients undergoing abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) against conventional Cartesian T1-weighed sequences. Materials and methods: This study was approved by the institutional review board with informed consent obtained from all subjects. Study subjects included 31 pediatric patients (19 male, 12 female; median age: 5 years; interquartile range: 5 years) undergoing abdominal MRI at 3 tesla with a free-breathing T1-weighted radial stack-of-stars 3-D VIBE Dixon prototype sequence, StarVIBE Dixon (radial technique), between October 2018 and June 2019 with previous abdominal MR imaging using conventional Cartesian T1-weighed imaging (traditional technique). MRI component times were recorded as well as the total number of non-contrast T1-weighted sequences. Two radiologists independently rated images for quality using a scale from 1 to 5 according to the following metrics: overall image quality, hepatic edge sharpness, hepatic vessel clarity and respiratory motion robustness. Scores were compared between the groups. Results: Mean T1-weighted imaging times for all subjects were 3.63 min for radial exams and 8.01 min for traditional exams (P<0.001), and total non-contrast imaging time was 32.7 min vs. 43.9 min (P=0.002). Adjusted mean total MRI time for all subjects was 60.2 min for radial exams and 65.7 min for traditional exams (P=0.387). The mean number of non-contrast T1-weighted sequences performed in radial MRI exams was 1.0 compared to 1.9 (range: 0–6) in traditional exams (P<0.001). StarVIBE Dixon outperformed Cartesian methods in all quality metrics. The mean overall image quality (scale 1–5) was 3.95 for radial exams and 3.31 for traditional exams (P<0.001). Conclusion: Radial stack-of-stars 3-D VIBE Dixon during free-breathing abdominal MRI in pediatric patients offers improved image quality compared to Cartesian T1-weighted imaging techniques with decreased T1-weighted and total non-contrast imaging time. This has important implications for children undergoing sedation for imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stress state of the glass coating in a pipe in the petrochemical industry is studied. Formulas are obtained for determining the longitudinal, radial, and tangential stresses arising in the cross sections of a coating. The stress state of a glass coating of a pipe was studied experimentally. The tensile strength of the coating at high temperatures is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Radial sampling is one method to accelerate 4D flow MRI acquisition, making feasible dual-velocity encoding (Venc) assessment of slow flow in the left ventricle (LV). Here, two radial trajectories are compared in vitro for this application: 3D radial (phase-contrast vastly undersampled isotropic projection, PC-VIPR) versus stack of stars (phase-contrast stack of stars, PC-SOS), with benchtop particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) serving as a reference standard. Methods: The study contained three steps: (1) Construction of an MRI-and PIV-compatible LV model from a healthy adult's CT images. (2) In vitro PIV using a pulsatile flow pump. (3) In vitro dual-Venc 4D flow MRI using PC-VIPR and PC-SOS (two repeat experiments). Each MR image set was retrospectively undersampled to five effective scan durations and compared with the PIV reference. The root-mean-square velocity vector difference (RMSE) between MRI and PIV images was compared, along with kinetic energy (KE) and wall shear stress (WSS). Results: RMSE increased as scan time decreased for both MR acquisitions. RMSE was 3% lower in PC-SOS images than PC-VIPR images in 30-min scans (3.8 vs. 3.9 cm/s) but 98% higher in 2.5-min scans (9.5 vs. 4.8 cm/s). PIV intrasession repeatability showed a RMSE of 4.4 cm/s, reflecting beat-to-beat flow variation, while MRI had intersession RMSEs of 3.8/3.5 cm/s for VIPR/SOS, respectively. Speed, KE, and WSS were overestimated voxel-wise in 30-min MRI scans relative to PIV by 0.4/0.3 cm/s, 0.2/0.1 μJ/mL, and 36/43 mPa, respectively, for VIPR/SOS. Conclusions: PIV is feasible for application-specific 4D flow MRI protocol optimization. PC-VIPR is better-suited to dual-Venc LV imaging with short scan times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a method for joint phase identification and topology recovery in unbalanced three phase radial networks using only voltage measurements. By recovering phases and topology jointly, we utilize all three phase voltage measurements and can handle networks where some buses have a subset of three phases. Our method is theoretically justified by a novel linearized formulation of unbalanced three phase power flow and makes precisely defined and reasonable assumptions on line impedances and load statistics. We validate our method on three IEEE test networks simulated under realistic conditions in OpenDSS, comparing our performance to the state of the art. In addition to providing a new method for phase and topology recovery, our intuitively structured linearized model will provide a foundation for future work in this and other applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PurposeEstablishing a high-resolution non-ECG-gated first-pass perfusion (FPP) cardiac MRI technique may improve accessibility and diagnostic capability of FPP imaging. We propose a non-ECG-gated FPP imaging technique using continuous magnetization-driven golden-angle radial acquisition. The main purpose of this preliminary study is to evaluate whether, in the simple case of single-slice two-dimensional imaging, adequate myocardial contrast can be obtained for accurate visualization of hypoperfused territories in the setting of myocardial ischemia.MethodsA T1-weighted pulse sequence with continuous golden-angle radial sampling was developed for non-ECG-gated FPP imaging. A sliding-window scheme with no temporal acceleration was used to reconstruct 8 frames/s. Canines were imaged at 3T with and without coronary stenosis using the proposed scheme and a conventional magnetization-prepared ECG-gated FPP method.ResultsOur studies showed that the proposed non-ECG-gated method is capable of generating high-resolution (1.7 × 1.7 × 6 mm(3) ) artifact-free FPP images of a single slice at high heart rates (92 ± 21 beats/min), while matching the performance of conventional FPP imaging in terms of hypoperfused-to-normal myocardial contrast-to-noise ratio (proposed: 5.18 ± 0.70, conventional: 4.88 ± 0.43). Furthermore, the detected perfusion defect areas were consistent with the conventional FPP images.ConclusionNon-ECG-gated FPP imaging using optimized continuous golden-angle radial acquisition achieves desirable image quality (i.e., adequate myocardial contrast, high spatial resolution, and minimal artifacts) in the setting of ischemia.

Introduction: Being the chief flexor of the elbow joint, brachialis muscle, also known as ‘work horse’ of the elbow or Portal’s muscle is one of the three muscles of the front of arm. Ascertaining the morphology of the muscle is of considerable clinical significance because infrequent mention of the pathologies like tear, rupture, tendinopathies, etc., coupled with the conflicting reports of its morphology may often leads to inaccurate diagnosis of clinical conditions pertaining to it. Aim: To study the origin of the muscle in the form of number of heads and type of fibres at origin, site and manner of insertion, mode of nerve supply and presence of accessory slips. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in the Department of Anatomy, Parul Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Parul University, Vadodara on the 82 upper limbs used for routine dissection of first MBBS students. After incising the skin, superficial and deep fascia of the arm and cubital fossa, the biceps was retracted to visualise the origin, insertion and nerve supply of the brachialis muscle. Results: In all 82 (100%) arms, the muscle arose by lateral superficial and medial deep heads. Deep head inserted into the coronoid process and upper part of the ulnar tuberosity by an aponeurosis. In 81 (98.8%) specimens, superficial head was inserted by round tendon on to the ulnar tuberosity distal to the deep head. In one (1.2%) specimen, fibres of the superficial head were merging with biceps tendon and inserted on to the radial tuberosity. In 75 (91.5%) arms, muscle was supplied by musculocutaneous nerve and radial nerves and in four (5%) cases by the musculocutaneous, median and Radial Nerve (RN) whereas in 3 (3.5%) case by median and radial nerves. Accessory slips were present in four (5%) specimens. Conclusion: Considerable difference in the morphology of the brachialis was found with regards to the classical picture and should be kept in mind before undertaking any surgical procedure in the arm and elbow region.

Although the Wassel-Flatt classification system has been widely used for radial polydactyly, it has some limitations. We modified the classification system by introducing the hypoplastic types and refining the definition of triphalangeal thumb without changing the main structure of the original classification system. A total of 200 consecutive duplicated thumbs of 183 patients treated surgically from June 2016 to June 2018 were included. We evaluated intra-observer and inter-observer reliability using the kappa coefficient in the modified and original Wassel-Flatt classification systems (three examiners evaluated each case twice, with an interval of 4 weeks). We also evaluated the surgical methods according to the types of deformity in the modified and original Wassel-Flatt classification systems. The modified Wassel-Flatt classification system had good inter-observer reliability and provides useful information for determining the surgical plan according to the types of radial polydactyly. Level of evidence: IV [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Depending on the operating parameters, a dynamic sealing system with O-rings can be in different friction modes: dry, limit, mixed or fluid. Modification of the friction mode occurs throughout the operating life, but also in a single working cycle, as a result working parameters variation: variation in speed of the mobile part of the hydraulic equipment from zero (at start and at reversal of the movement sense) to a maximum value, specific to each application; the fluctuation of the viscosity of the hydraulic fluid according to the pressure and the working temperature; variation of the contact pressures between the sealing ring and the sealing surfaces, depending on the pressure and the temperature of the sealed environment.

Background: As in any vascular access the size of guiding catheter is an operator preference. Although multiple studies showed the use of 5-Fr versus 6-Fr guiding catheters for Transradial coronary intervention (TCI) have similar vascular safety profile and can be performed safely and successfully with both of them, the data comparing the 5-Fr vs 6-Fr guiding catheters for TCI in terms of fluoroscopy time, procedure time and contrast amount in the setting of ACS is limited. We conducted this study to compare the use of 5-Fr versus 6-Fr guiding catheters for TCI in the settings of ACS. Method: Our study is a single center, retrospective cohort study designed to compare the use of 5-Fr versus 6-Fr guiding catheters for TCI in the setting of ACS. In the period between July 2014 and July 2015, all patients who had previously undergone PCI with at least one stent being placed, utilizing a radial access, and using a 5Fr or 6Fr guiding catheter were included. No exclusion criteria were applied. The study was approved by Marshall University’s institutional review board. Results: There was a significant reduction in the volume of contrast medium used with the 5 Fr group compared to the 6 Fr group (130.66 +/- 3.46 ml vs. 166.25 +/- 10.05 ml in the 5 and 6 Fr groups, respectively; p < 0.001), fluoroscopy time (12.62 +/- 0.50 min vs. 16.61 +/- 1.28 min in the 5 and 6 Fr groups, respectively; p = 0.005) and there was also significant reduction in the procedure time in the 5 Fr group (38.74 +/- 1.27 min vs. 46.03 +/- 2.86 min in the 5 and 6 Fr groups, respectively; p = 0.023). Conclusion: TCI in the settings of ACS is safe and feasible, whether using 5 Fr or 6 Fr catheters. Our study concluded that using 5 Fr catheters for TCI could be preferred for patients presenting with ACS due to lower amount of contrast medium used and less fluoroscopy and procedure time. However, this is a single center retrospective study, so we suggest that large randomized controlled studies are needed.

Objective: The aim of the study is to assess the predictors of failure of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesions using a retrograde approach. Methods: The present study retrospectively enrolled all 211 patients who underwent retrograde CTO PCI from January 2009 to December 2015 at Shanghai Institute of Cardiovascular Disease. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to assess potential predictors of retrograde CTO PCI failure including sex, vascular access site, sheath size, prior PCI, prior coronary artery bypass grafting, history of myocardial infarction, target vessel of CTO, J-CTO score, retrograde wire crossing collaterals, and reverse controlled antegrade and retrograde subintimal tracking (CART) use. Results: Of the 211 patients studied, retrograde CTO PCI was successful in 115 (54.5%) patients, and in an additional 46 (21.8%) with an antegrade approach after retrograde failure. For the 50 (23.7%) patients who failed both retrograde and antegrade approaches, the most common (50% [25/50]) reason was inability to cross collaterals with the retrograde wire. This group of patients had fewer instances of a prior PCI (P < 0.05). Retrograde CTO PCI failure rate was lower with increasing sheath size and with either radial-only or one radial and one femoral access versus femoral-only access (P < 0.05). A multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the inability to cross collaterals with the retrograde wire (hazard ratio, 5.52 [95% confidence interval, 2.08–12.81];P < 0.001), no prior PCI (3.27 [1.24–8.58];P = 0.01), and no reverse CART use (4.19 [1.33–13.19];P = 0.03) were an independent predictors of retrograde CTO PCI failure. Conclusion: Independent predictors of retrograde CTO PCI failure were the inability to cross collaterals with the retrograde wire, no prior PCI, and no reverse CART use. Vascular access site and sheath size do not have effect on the success of the retrograde approach.

Abstract Background Arterial cannulation is usually indicated for both sampling and invasive pressure monitoring. Radial artery access is increasingly favored over other sites for arterial cannulation. However, radial cannulation in morbidly obese patients is an anesthetic challenge. This study evaluates the effect of subcutaneous infiltration of nitroglycerine on radial artery cannulation in morbidly obese patients. Sixty patients were randomly allocated into two equal groups according to subcutaneous infiltrate used before radial artery cannulation. In the LN group, the syringe contains 0.2 ml of nitroglycerine (NTG) plus 0.8 ml lidocaine hydrochloride 2%, while in L group, the syringe is filled with 1 ml of lignocaine 2%. Results Subcutaneous infiltration of the lignocaine-NTG mixture in the LN group resulted in a significant increase in arterial dimensions in comparison to lignocaine alone in the L group. Consequently, a significantly higher overall success rate, first attempt success was observed in the LN group. Also, insertion time and number of attempts were significantly lower in the LN group in relation to the L group. Conclusions Subcutaneous infiltration of nitroglycerin mixed with a lignocaine before ultrasound-guided radial artery cannulation increases the procedure success rate with no detected side effects.

Purpose: Wall shear stress (WSS) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) are important parameters to characterize blood flow in the vessel wall. Their quantification with flow-sensitive phase-contrast (PC) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), however, is time-consuming. Furthermore, the measurement of WSS requires high spatial resolution, whereas high temporal resolution is necessary for PWV measurements. For these reasons, PWV and WSS are challenging to measure in one CMR session, making it difficult to directly compare these parameters. By using a retrospective approach with a flexible reconstruction framework, we here aimed to simultaneously assess both PWV and WSS in the murine aortic arch from the same 4D flow measurement. Methods: Flow was measured in the aortic arch of 18-week-old wildtype (n = 5) and ApoE−/− mice (n = 5) with a self-navigated radial 4D-PC-CMR sequence. Retrospective data analysis was used to reconstruct the same dataset either at low spatial and high temporal resolution (PWV analysis) or high spatial and low temporal resolution (WSS analysis). To assess WSS, the aortic lumen was labeled by semi-automatically segmenting the reconstruction with high spatial resolution. WSS was determined from the spatial velocity gradients at the lumen surface. For calculation of the PWV, segmentation data was interpolated along the temporal dimension. Subsequently, PWV was quantified from the through-plane flow data using the multiple-points transit-time method. Reconstructions with varying frame rates and spatial resolutions were performed to investigate the influence of spatiotemporal resolution on the PWV and WSS quantification. Results: 4D flow measurements were conducted in an acquisition time of only 35 min. Increased peak flow and peak WSS values and lower errors in PWV estimation were observed in the reconstructions with high temporal resolution. Aortic PWV was significantly increased in ApoE−/− mice compared to the control group (1.7 ± 0.2 versus 2.6 ± 0.2 m/s, p < 0.001). Mean WSS magnitude values averaged over the aortic arch were (1.17 ± 0.07) N/m2 in wildtype mice and (1.27 ± 0.10) N/m2 in ApoE−/− mice. Conclusion: The post processing algorithm using the flexible reconstruction framework developed in this study permitted quantification of global PWV and 3D-WSS in a single acquisition. The possibility to assess both parameters in only 35 min will markedly improve the analyses and information content of in vivo measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attenuation of distortion caused by the shallow layer generates reliable subsoil's pictures, which static corrections attempt to do, under the assumption of surface consistency. However, such an assumption is frequently invalid, and nowadays, this problem is still unsolved. Besides, the first break handpicking is monotonous, many men hours consuming task and prone to human error, mainly when different persons process a project's high data volume. This paper presents a new method to redatuming seismic data by transforming the data to the ray path domain, avoiding the consistent surface restriction. As it does not require first break picking, it becomes automatable and less prone to human error. The application of static correction and seismic interferometry to synthetic and real data allowed the comparison between both approaches' performances. Besides, an AVO analysis of the processed lines allowed knowing how interferometry affects the reflection amplitudes. Seismic interferometry has two steps: transforming the gathers to the ray-consistent domain and constructing a time corrected function and its inverse filter. The convolution of the inverse filter with the gathers generates seismic records free of distortions. The trace mixing constructs the reference wavefield, which has more stable data with a well-being S/N ratio. Compared with static corrections, the interferometry supplies enhanced and reliable subsoil images, particularly in deep and steep reflectors. Additionally, after applying interferometry, AVO analysis of data indicated errors comparable to those of static corrections. On the other hand, seismic interferometry is a more resource-consuming method that requires a high-skill processor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperpolarized (HP) 129Xe MRI is increasingly used to noninvasively probe regional lung structure and function in the preclinical setting. As in human imaging, the primary barrier to quantitative imaging with HP gases is nonequilibrium magnetization, which is depleted by T1 relaxation and radio frequency excitation. Preclinical HP gas imaging commonly involves mechanically ventilating small animals and encoding k‐space over tens or hundreds of breaths, with small subsets of k‐space data collected within each breath. Breath‐to‐breath magnetization renewal enables the use of large flip angles, but the resulting magnetization decay generates large view‐to‐view differences in within‐breath signal intensity, leading to artifacts and degraded image quality. This deleterious signal decay has motivated the use of variable flip angle (VFA) sampling schemes, in which the flip angle is progressively increased to maintain constant view‐to‐view signal intensity. However, VFA imaging complicates data acquisition and provides only a global correction that fails to compensate for regional differences in signal dynamics. When constant flip angle (CFA) imaging is used alongside 3D radial golden means acquisition, the center of k‐space is sampled with every excitation, thereby encoding signal dynamics alongside imaging data. Here, keyhole reconstruction is used to generate multiple images to capture in‐breath HP 129Xe signal dynamics in mice and thus provide flip angle maps to quantitatively correct images without extra data collection. These CFA images display SNR that is not significantly different from VFA images, and further, high frequency k‐space scaling can be used to mitigate decay‐induced image artifacts. Results are supported by point spread function calculations and simulations of radial imaging with preclinical signal dynamics. Together, these results show that CFA 3D radial golden means ventilation imaging provides comparable image quality with VFA in small animals and allows for keyhole reconstruction, which can be used to generate flip angle maps and correct images for signal depletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Young children present frequently to the emergency department with an immobile, painful arm. It is often difficult to discern a point of tenderness in a frightened, injured child. Common approaches included sending the child for x-ray studies of the extremity or empirically attempting reduction of radial head subluxation. We created a step-by-step point-of-care ultrasound screening protocol of the upper extremity to increase or decrease the probability of fracture before x-ray study or reduction.Case Report: We present the cases of 6 children younger than 4 years without a clear history of pulled elbow and without swelling or deformity on examination, for whom this protocol revealed fracture or lowered the probability of fracture, thereby increasing the safety of radial head reduction. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: In most cases, identification of a single fracture on ultrasound allows for focused x-ray study on the area of fracture. Children with a normal ultrasound screen can undergo reduction of radial head subluxation safely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Because of short signal lifetimes and respiratory motion, 3D lung MRI is still challenging today. Zero‐TE (ZTE) pulse sequences offer promising solutions as they overcome the issue of short T2∗. Nevertheless, as they rely on continuous readout gradients, the trajectories they follow in k‐space are not adapted to retrospective gating and inferred motion correction. Theory and methods: We propose AZTEK (adaptive ZTE k‐space trajectories), a set of 3D radial trajectories featuring three tuning parameters, to adapt the acquisition to any moving organ while keeping seamless transitions between consecutive spokes. Standard ZTE and AZTEK trajectories were compared for static and moving phantom acquisitions as well as for human thoracic imaging performed on 3 volunteers (1 healthy and 2 patients with lung cancer). Results: For the static phantom, we observe comparable image qualities with standard and AZTEK trajectories. For the moving phantom, spatially coherent undersampling artifacts observed on gated images with the standard trajectory are alleviated with AZTEK. The same improvement in image quality is obtained in human, so details are more delineated in the lung with the use of the adaptive trajectory. Conclusion: The AZTEK technique opens the possibility for 3D dynamic ZTE lung imaging with retrospective gating. It enables us to uniformly sample the k‐space for any arbitrary respiratory motion gate, while preserving static image quality, improving dynamic image quality and guaranteeing continuous readout gradient transitions between spokes, which makes it appropriate to ZTE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A distal radius fracture (DRF) is a common initial fragility fracture among women in their early postmenopausal period, which is associated with an increased risk of subsequent fractures. Gait assessments are valuable for evaluating fracture risk; inertial measurement units (IMUs) have been widely used to assess gait under free-living conditions. However, little is known about long-term changes in patients with DRF, especially concerning daily-life gait. We hypothesized that, in the long term, the daily-life gait parameters in patients with DRF could enable us to reveal future risk factors for falls and fractures., Objective: This study assessed the spatiotemporal characteristics of patients with DRF at 4 weeks and 6 months of recovery., Methods: We recruited 16 women in their postmenopausal period with DRF as their first fragility fracture (mean age 62.3, SD 7.0 years) and 28 matched healthy controls (mean age 65.6, SD 8.0 years). Daily-life gait assessments and physical assessments, such as hand grip strength (HGS), were performed using an in-shoe IMU sensor. Participants' results were compared with those of the control group, and their recovery was assessed for 6 months after the fracture., Results: In the fracture group, at 4 weeks after DRF, lower foot height in the swing phase (P=.049) and higher variability of stride length (P=.03) were observed, which improved gradually. However, the dorsiflexion angle in the fracture group tended to be lower consistently during 6 months (at 4 weeks: P=.06; during 6 months: P=.07). As for the physical assessments, the fracture group showed lower HGS at all time points (at 4 weeks: P<.001; during 6 months: P=.04), despite significant improvement at 6 months (P<.001)., Conclusions: With an in-shoe IMU sensor, we discovered the recovery of spatiotemporal gait characteristics 6 months after DRF surgery without the participants' awareness. The consistently unchanged dorsiflexion angle in the swing phase and lower HGS could be associated with fracture risk, implying the high clinical importance of appropriate interventions for patients with DRF to prevent future fractures. These results could be applied to a screening tool for evaluating the risk of falls and fractures, which may contribute to constructing a new health care system using wearable devices in the near future., (©Akiko Yamamoto, Eriku Yamada, Takuya Ibara, Fumiyuki Nihey, Takuma Inai, Kazuya Tsukamoto, Tomohiko Waki, Toshitaka Yoshii, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi, Kentaro Nakahara, Koji Fujita. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (https://mhealth.jmir.org), 20.03.2024.)

The introduction of transradial access for percutaneous coronary diagnostic and interventional procedures has led to a decrease in access site complications. The aim of this paper is to propose a combined stepwise technical approach where real time ultrasound ("echo-first" approach) can be used to select the best vascular access and, together with angiography, to manage the potential obstacles that may occur during transradial procedures. In each section, we summarize some tips and tricks based on both our experience and current literature that can be easily implemented in daily practice to increase the success of transradial procedures., (© 2024 The Authors. Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Introduction: The first-choice vascular access to starting dialysis in patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) is autogenous distal arteriovenous-fistula (AVF) to spare vascular district avoiding proximal fistula complications. One of most significant exclusion criteria to create distal AVF is still now the presence of huge calcification of the feeding artery due to large numbers of early failure (EF) and failure in maturation (FTM). In recent years the possibility to use new devices able to deliver intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) to treat high calcified stenosis could be a possibility to recruit these marginal arteries to create distal AVF., Methods: ESRD patients with totally calcified radial artery wall were enrolled to participate to this prospective, single arm, multicentric study. The selected patients were treated with intraoperative IVL at surgical time, during anastomosis creation to soften calcified radial artery. Patients were followed 1 month after surgery with eco-doppler, for flow and vessels maturation assessment. At 3 month was investigated how many patients have started dialysis treatment with two needle cannulation and good efficiency., Results: Nineteen distal forearm radio-cephalic fistula were built in 19 patients. One-month doppler assessment showed mean AVF flow of 743 ml/min and efferent vein caliper of 6.46 mm. At 3 months 14 patient have started stable 2 needles dialysis (other three patients were not yet dialysis dependent CKD). Were observed one immediate failure, one failure in maturation, and two late failures at 4 and 16 months respectively. Sixteen months primary and secondary patency was 78.9% and 89.5% respectively., Conclusion: These results showed how intraoperative IVL could help to recruit huge calcified marginal artery to create autogenous distal forearm AVF, avoiding proximal AVF, risking distal ischemia syndrome, and sparing vascular district to eventually rebuilt more proximal AVF in future., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: Carotid artery stenting (CAS) through transradial access (TRA) is emerging as an alternative to carotid endarterectomy. However, the current evidence base is limited, mainly comprising single-center studies., Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to assess the safety and effectiveness of TRA for CAS, providing evidence to support clinical decisions., Methods: We conducted searches on PUBMED, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science databases, including studies on TRA for CAS. Studies with fewer than 20 patients, non-primary outcomes, and non-full-text articles were excluded., Results: We analyzed 14 studies involving 1,166 patients who underwent CAS via TRA. Procedural success rate was high in 13 studies, with a 95% rate (95% CI; 92%-98%). Crossover to TFA access was observed in 12 studies at 6% (95% CI: 3%-9%). Transradial access failure was reported in four studies, with a rate of 0% (95% CI: 0%-0%). Cannulation failure resulted in a rate of 4% (95% CI: 2%-7%). Asymptomatic radial artery occlusion (ARAO) occurred at a rate of 2% based on eight studies (95% CI: 0%-5%). Forearm hematoma was reported in 10 studies, with an occurrence of 1% (95% CI: 0%-2%). Cerebral vascular attacks (CAV) within 30 days were assessed in 13 studies, indicating a 2% occurrence (95% CI: 1%-2%)., Conclusion: The findings suggest that TRA for CAS yields promising outcomes with high success rates and low complication rates. Further research should focus on randomized controlled trials and long-term outcomes to validate and extend findings., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objective: Distal radial fracture reduction is a common procedure in the ED. Previous studies have suggested that ultrasound (US)‐guided reduction improves outcomes for patients who undergo manipulation and reduction of distal radial fractures in the ED. We aimed to investigate this with the first randomised controlled trial looking at US‐guided distal radial fracture reduction. Our primary objective was to compare rates of operative intervention between the study groups. Rate of re‐manipulation was compared as a secondary outcome. Methods: ED patients were prospectively randomised to either standard landmark guided or US‐guided closed reduction of distal radial fractures. The closed reductions were performed by senior emergency clinicians and the USs were performed by emergency physicians experienced in point‐of‐care US. Following reduction patients were managed equally and referred to the local orthopaedic service who were blinded to whether US was used to assist manipulation or not. This service decided on the need for re‐manipulation or operative intervention. Results: One hundred patients were enrolled and randomised equally into each cohort. We found no statistically significant difference between the control and intervention groups of our study. In the control group, 46% of patients underwent operative fixation, compared to 48% in the US‐guided group (P = 0.36). Our secondary intervention of re‐manipulation in the ED or theatre following the initial reduction showed no statistically significant difference between the groups (P = 1.0). Conclusion: US‐guided reduction of dorsally displaced, distal radius fractures in the ED setting, did not improve measured clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Computed tomography angiography (CTA) or contrast-enhanced (CE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance angiography (CMRA) is often obtained in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing evaluation prior to pulmonary vein (PV) isolation. Drawbacks of CTA include radiation exposure and potential risks from iodinated contrast agent administration. Free-breathing 3D balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) Non-contrast CMRA is a potential imaging option, but vascular detail can be suboptimal due to ghost artifacts and blurring that tend to occur with a Cartesian k-space trajectory or, in some cases, inconsistent respiratory gating. We therefore explored the potential utility of both breath-holding and free-breathing non-contrast CMRA, using radial k-space trajectories that are known to be less sensitive to flow and motion artifacts than Cartesian. Main body: Free-breathing 3D Cartesian and radial stack-of-stars acquisitions were compared in 6 healthy subjects. In addition, 27 patients underwent CTA and non-contrast CMRA for PV mapping. Three radial CMR acquisition strategies were tested: (1) breath-hold (BH) 2D radial bSSFP (BH-2D); (2) breath-hold, multiple thin-slab 3D stack-of-stars bSSFP (BH-SOS); and (3) navigator-gated free-breathing (FB) 3D stack-of-star bSSFP using a spatially non-selective RF excitation (FB-NS-SOS). A non-rigid registration algorithm was used to compensate for variations in breath-hold depth. In healthy subjects, image quality and vessel sharpness using a free-breathing 3D SOS acquisition was significantly better than free-breathing (FB) Cartesian 3D. In patients, diagnostic image quality was obtained using all three radial CMRA techniques, with BH-SOS and FB-NS-SOS outperforming BH-2D. There was overall good correlation for PV maximal diameter between BH-2D and CTA (ICC = 0.87/0.83 for the two readers), excellent correlation between BH-SOS and CTA (ICC = 0.90/0.91), and good to excellent correlation between FB-NS-SOS and CTA (ICC = 0.87/0.94). For PV area, there was overall good correlation between BH-2D and CTA (ICC = 0.79/0.83), good to excellent correlation between BH-SOS and CTA (ICC = 0.88/0.91) and excellent correlation between FB-NS-SOS and CTA (ICC = 0.90/0.95). CNR was significantly higher with BH-SOS (mean = 11.04) by comparison to BH-2D (mean = 6.02; P = 0.007) and FB-NS-SOS (mean = 5.29; P = 0.002). Conclusion: Our results suggest that a free-breathing stack-of-stars bSSFP technique is advantageous in providing accurate depiction of PV anatomy and ostial measurements without significant degradation from off-resonance artifacts, and with better image quality than Cartesian 3D. For patients in whom respiratory gating is unsuccessful, a breath-hold thin-slab stack-of-stars technique with retrospective motion correction may be a useful alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to make and test radial derivatives for identification of single layers. Radial Derivatives are derivatives of gravitational anomaly values with respect to the horizontal distance in the radial direction of a particular point. The center of the derivative is chosen based on consideration as the center of the anomaly of target. Several synthetic single layer models have been made in the form of temple artifacts and water table changes over time. From these models, the gravity anomalies are calculated forward. Radial derivatives of these anomalies are performed to determine the vertical boundary of a single layer. Radial derivatives in a single layer of temple artifacts are useful for determining the boundaries of temple walls, so that the analysis of artifact excavation points can be better determined. Radial derivatives in anomalies in water table changes over time are useful for sorting shallow gravity anomalies which have significant value. The result of this research shows that radial derivative is able to detect boundary of buried temple and also boundary of water table. The advantage of the radial derivative method is that it is not necessary to re-measure if gravity data has been previously measured. In other words, this method is a software to review the further analysis that might have been done before.

Abstract Background Double inversion recovery (DIR) fast spin-echo (FSE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) sequences are used clinically for black-blood T2-weighted imaging. However, these sequences suffer from slice inefficiency due to the non-selective inversion pulses. We propose a multi-band (MB) encoded DIR radial FSE (MB-DIR-RADFSE) technique to simultaneously excite two slices. This sequence has improved signal-to-noise ratio per unit time compared to a single slice excitation. It is also motion robust and enables the reconstruction of high-resolution black-blood T2-weighted images and T2 maps for the excited slices. Methods Hadamard encoded MB pulses were used in MB-DIR-RADFSE to simultaneously excite two slices. A principal component based iterative reconstruction was used to jointly reconstruct black-blood T2-weighted images and T2 maps. Phantom and in vivo experiments were performed to evaluate T2 mapping performance and results were compared to a T2-prepared balanced steady state free precession (bSSFP) method. The inter-segment variability of the T2 maps were assessed using data acquired on healthy subjects. A reproducibility study was performed to evaluate reproducibility of the proposed technique. Results Phantom experiments show that the T2 values estimated from MB-DIR-RADFSE are comparable to the spin-echo based reference, while T2-prepared bSSFP over-estimated T2 values. The relative contrast of the black-blood images from the multi-band scheme was comparable to those from a single slice acquisition. The myocardial segment analysis on 8 healthy subjects indicated a significant difference (p-value

Background/Aims Although both radial- and convex-arrayed endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) scopes are widely used for observational EUS examinations, there have been few comparative studies on their power of visualization. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of these EUS scopes for observation of the pancreatobiliary junction. Methods The rate of successful visualization of the pancreatobiliary junction was retrospectively compared between a radial-arrayed and a convex-arrayed echoendoscope, from a prospectively maintained database. Study periods were defined as January 2010 to December 2012 for the radial group, and February 2015 to October 2016 for the convex group because the respective scope was mainly used during those periods. Results During the study period, 1,660 cases with radial EUS and 1,984 cases with convex EUS were recruited. The success rates of observation of the pancreatobiliary junction were 80.0% and 89.5%, respectively (p

Abstract Background Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetic disease was characterised by left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), myocardial fibrosis, fiber disarray. The short-axis systolic function is important in left ventricle function. Methods Forty one healthy subjects and 37 HCM patients were enrolled for this research. Parasternal short-axis at the basal, middle, and apical levels were acquired by Echocardiography. The peak systolic circumferential strain of the endocardial, the middle and the epicardial layers, the peak systolic radial strain, and the peak systolic rotational degrees at different short-axis levels were measured by 2-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D–STI). Results The peak systolic circumferential strain of the septum and anterior walls in HCM patients was significantly lower than normal subjects. All of the peak systolic radial strain in HCM patients was significantly lower than normal subjects. The rotational degrees at the base and middle short-axis levels in HCM patients were larger than normal subjects. The interventricular septal thickness in end-diastolic period correlated to the peak systolic circumferential strain of the septum wall. Conclusions The short-axis systolic function was impaired in HCM patients. The peak circumferential systolic strain of the different layers, peak systolic radial strain and rotation degrees of the different short-axis levels detected by 2D–STI are very feasible for assessing the short-axis function in HCM patients.

The energy industry must change dramatically in order to reduce CO2-emissions and to slow down climate change. Germany, for example, decided to shut down all large nuclear (2022) and fossil thermal power plants by 2038. Power generation will then rely on fluctuating renewables such as wind power and solar. However, thermal power plants will still play a role with respect to waste incineration, biomass, exploitation of geothermal wells, concentrated solar power (CSP), power-to-heat-to-power plants (P2H2P), and of course waste heat recovery (WHR). While the multistage axial turbine has prevailed for the last hundred years in power plants of the several hundred MW class, this architecture is certainly not the appropriate solution for small-scale waste heat recovery below 1 MW or even below 100 kW. Simpler, cost-effective turbo generators are required. Therefore, the authors examine uncommon turbine architectures that are known per se but were abandoned when power plants grew due to their poor efficiency compared to the multistage axial machines. One of these concepts is the so-called Elektra turbine, a velocity compounded radial re-entry turbine. The paper describes the concept of the Elektra turbine in comparison to other turbine concepts, especially other velocity compounded turbines, such as the Curtis type. In the second part, the 1D design and 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) optimization of the 5 kW air turbine demonstrator is explained. Finally, experimentally determined efficiency characteristics of various early versions of the Elektra are presented, compared, and critically discussed regarding the originally defined design approach. The unsteady CFD calculation of the final Elektra version promised 49.4% total-to-static isentropic efficiency, whereas the experiments confirmed 44.5%.

One process to improve wood quality is densification or wood surface compression. Our study analyzed the changes in some basic properties of pine wood, including its anatomical structure, density, modulus of elasticity (MOE), and dimensions of cellulose crystallites, after densification following soaking pretreatment in CH3COOH and H2O2 at a concentration of 20%. Samples were sawn in radial and tangential directions for analysis of the wood. The results showed a change in the shape of tracheid cells from hexagonal to oval, as well as damage to the ray cell constituents on the tangential surface. The thickness decrease of the samples was in accordance with the target, which meant that spring-back was short. In general, the tangential boards had a higher density than the radial boards, with a lower MOE and crystallite dimensions. Our findings showed that the densified tangential board was stronger than the radial board.

Objective To present a technical note on how to perform upper extremity peripheral nerve stimulators for three major nerves: median, ulnar, and radial. Design Literature review and expert opinion. Setting Single academic center. Results Peripheral nerve stimulation has recently become popular with the development and availability of peripheral nerve stimulators with an external pulse generator. Here, we describe ultrasound anatomy and technical details for peripheral nerve stimulation in the upper extremity for three major nerves: median, ulnar, and radial. Conclusions Upper extremity peripheral nerve stimulation can be considered as an option for refractory neuropathic upper extremity pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the relative efficacy of intravenous heparin as compared to intra-arterial heparin used during transradial coronary angiography for the prevention of radial artery occlusion. Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted at the Department of Cardiology, AFIC/NIHD Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from Jul 2019 to Dec 2019. Methodology: A total number of 144 patients were considered for the study using the consecutive sampling technique who were undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography. Patients were divided into the intra-arterial group (n=72) who received 50 IU/kg of unfractionated heparin (maximal dose 5,000 U) intra-arterially, and an intravenous group (n=72) received the similar dose through intravenous route. All patients were administered 100 mcg of nitroglycerin to minimize radial artery spasm. Coronary Angiography was performedusing a 6F introducer sheath and diagnostic catheters. Early radial artery occlusion (RAO) at 24 hours after the procedure was detected by performing the plethysmographic (reverse Barbeau's) and doppler USG evaluation. Chronic RAO was assessed 30 days after the procedure by performing the same tests. Data was collected through a predesigned proforma and analyzed using SPSS 23. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Early RAO was found in 4 (5.6%) of the patients from the intra-arterial groupand 5 (6.9%) of the intravenous group. The difference was found to be statistically insignificant (p-value 0.731). Chronic RAO was observed in 3 (4.4%) of the intra-arterial group as compared to 4 (6%) of the intravenous group. This difference was also statistically insignificant (p-value 0.683) for chronic RAO. Conclusion: Intra-arterial and intravenous heparin administration providedsimilar efficacy to prevent RAO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A radial mesoporous MBG with high P and Ca content is synthesized in this study. • MBG with high P and Ca content has excellent ability of inducing apatite formation. • MBG has excellent biocompatibility at an appropriate concentration. A novel uniform monodispersed radial mesoporous bioactive glass nanosphere (MBG) with high phosphorus and calcium content has been successfully synthesized. The synthesis was first taken place in a cyclohexane-water biphasic stratification reaction system, which fabricated the radial mesoporous SiO 2 -P 2 O 5 nanosphere (SPN) using hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a template agent and triethanolamine (TEA) as a hydrolysis catalyst. Solid reactions were then carried out to synthesize SiO 2 -CaO-P 2 O 5 MBG using SPN as both the silicon source and phosphorus source, and Ca(NO 3) 2 as the calcium source. The prepared MBG not only displayed the radial structure and high specific surface area (~321 m2/g), but also had high phosphorus and calcium content. The results of energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) demonstrated that P 2 O 5 content was enhanced by properly increasing the reaction temperature. The in vitro bioactivity test showed that MBG had an excellent ability of inducing apatite formation. Furthermore, the MBG showed excellent biocompatibility at a low concentration of 50–100 μg/mL in vitro, and it would have a promising prospect as drug delivery system for bone tissue regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]