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Continuous subcutaneous (s.c.) apomorphine infusion is an effective therapy for Parkinson’s disease (PD), but a limitation is the formation of troublesome s.c. nodules. Various chemically non-identical apomorphine formulations are available. Anecdotal experiences have suggested that shifting from one of these (Apo-Go PumpFill®; apoGPF) to another (Apomorphine PharmSwed®; apoPS) may influence the occurrence and severity of s.c. nodules. We, therefore, followed 15 people with advanced PD (median PD-duration, 15 years; median “off”-phase Hoehn and Yahr, IV) on apoGPF and with troublesome s.c. nodules who were switched to apoPS. Data were collected at baseline, at the time of switching, and at a median of 1, 2.5, and 7.3 months post-switch. Total nodule numbers (P P P P = 0.058), and pain (P ≤ 0.032) improved over the observation period. PD severity and dyskinesias tended to improve and increase, respectively. Apomorphine doses were stable, but levodopa doses increased by 100 mg/day. Patient-reported apomorphine efficacy tended to increase and all participants remained on apoPS throughout the observation period; with the main patient-reported reason being improved nodules. These observations suggest that patients with s.c. nodules caused by apoGPF may benefit from switching to apoPS in terms of s.c. nodule occurrence and severity. Alternatively, observed benefits may have been due to the switch itself. As nodule formation is a limiting factor in apomorphine treatment, a controlled prospective study comparing local tolerance with different formulations is warranted.

An optical technique that is based on defocused digital speckle photography is proposed for the evaluation of phase objects. Phase objects are different kinds of transparent or semi-transparent media that allow light to be transmitted. A phase object inserted in a laser speckle field introduces speckle displacement, from which information about the object may be extracted. It is shown that one may use speckle displacements to determine both the phase gradients and the positions of phase objects. As an illustration the positions and focal lengths of two weak lenses have been derived from defocused laser speckle displacement.

Transient events in optically transparent media occur in many engineering applications. Using pulsed TV holography to capture a laser speckle field propagated through an optical disturbance makes it possible to obtain both the position and the phase gradients of the disturbance. The technique depends on the fact that speckles transmitted through an optical disturbance will be displaced by an amount that depends on the relation of the defocus to the object. First the speckle field is captured holographically, without and with disturbance present. Then the recorded fields are numerically refocused in a computer to a number of different focal planes. With a cross-correlation technique a number of speckle displacement fields are obtained, and from them the data about the disturbance are obtained. So far the technique has been shown to work for thin objects.

An optical measurement method is presented for the evaluation of phase objects. Pulsed TV holography in combination with digital speckle photography gives the possibility to study transient events. The phase object is placed in front of a diffuser, on which a CCD camera is focused. Holograms are recorded, with and without the phase object present. The speckle patterns are reconstructed and transformed to different imaging planes using a phase field for propagation. Speckle displacement fields are then calculated for the different imaging planes, which visualize the change of refractive index or phase gradients caused by the phase object. Together with the phase information in the hologram even more information is obtained. A flow of helium gas and a positive weak lens are used as phase objects in two test experiments.

Improved quality of phase maps in pulsed digital holographic interferometry is demonstrated by finding the right reconstruction distance. The objective is to improve the optical phase information when the object under study is a phase object and when it is out of focus, leading to low contrast fringes in the phase map. A numerical refocusing is performed by introducing an ideal lens as a multiplication by a phase field in the Fourier domain, and then a region of maximum speckle correlation is found by comparing undisturbed and disturbed subimages in different refocused imaging planes. After finding the right reconstruction distance, a phase map of high visibility is constructed. By this technique a 30% reduction of the phase error for a flow of helium gas and a 50% reduction of the phase error for a weak thin lens were obtained, which resulted in a significant improvement of the visual appearance of the phase maps.