Search results

1 – 10 of 466
Article
Publication date: 7 February 2024

Borja López-Alonso, Pablo Briz, Hector Sarnago, José M. Burdio and Oscar Lucia

This paper aims to study the feasibility of proposed method to focus the electroporation ablation by mean of multi-output multi-electrode system.

26

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the feasibility of proposed method to focus the electroporation ablation by mean of multi-output multi-electrode system.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed method has been developed based on a previously designed electroporation system, which has the capabilities to modify the electric field distribution in real time, and to estimate the impedance distribution. Taking into consideration the features of the system and biological tissues, the problem has been addressed in three phases: modeling, control system design and simulation testing. In the first phase, a finite element analysis model has been proposed to reproduce the electric field distribution within the hepatic tissue, based on the characteristics of the electroporation system. Then, a control strategy has been proposed with the goal of ensuring complete ablation while minimizing the affected volume of healthy tissue. Finally, to check the feasibility of the proposal, several representative cases have been simulated, and the results have been compared with those obtained by a traditional system.

Findings

The proposed method achieves the proposed goal, as part of a complex electroporation system designed to improve the targeting, effectiveness and control of electroporation treatments and serve to demonstrate the feasibility of developing new electroporation systems capable of adapting to changes in the preplanning of the treatment in real-time.

Originality/value

The work presents a thorough study of control method to multi-output multi-electrode electroporation system by mean of a rigorous numerical simulation.

Details

COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0332-1649

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2023

Jinyu Li, Hangyu Yan, Yunfeng Ni, Linlin Fu and Yunchu Yang

At present, electrical heating clothing is widely used to keep ourselves warm at low temperature. The purpose of this paper is to explore the heat transfer performance of…

Abstract

Purpose

At present, electrical heating clothing is widely used to keep ourselves warm at low temperature. The purpose of this paper is to explore the heat transfer performance of electrical heating fabric and the thermal comfort of human skin at low temperature.

Design/methodology/approach

The combined model of skin-electrical heating fabric system was established to simulate human skin tissue wearing electrical heating clothing. A series of simulation experiments are designed on the basis of verifying the effectiveness of the combined model. The temperature distribution inside the combined model and on the skin surface under different heating powers is simulated and analyzed. At the same time, the influence of ambient temperature on the thermal performance of electrical heating fabric was explored.

Findings

The skin model with blood vessels reflected the temperature change of human skin wearing electrical heating clothing. The higher the heating power of the electrical heating fabric was, the greater the temperature of the skin surface changed, the faster the temperature rose and the longer the time required to reach the stable state would be. After the heating element was electrified, it had the greatest effect on the average temperature of the epidermis and dermis, had smaller effect on the average temperature of subcutaneous layer and had little effect on the temperature of blood vessels. When the heating power was the same, the higher the ambient temperature was, the more obvious the heating effect of electrical heating fabric was. Electrical heating fabrics with different heating powers were suitable for different ambient temperature ranges.

Originality/value

A reasonable and effective evaluation method for the thermal comfort of electrical heating fabric was provided by establishing the skin model and combined model of the skin-electrical heating fabric system. It provides a reference for the design and application of electrical heating clothing.

Details

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, vol. 35 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-6222

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 September 2023

Dejan B. Jovanovic, Dragan Krasic, Nenad N. Cvetkovic, Dragan Vuckovic and Vladimir B. Stanković

The purpose of this paper is to determine the electric field and specific absorption rate (SAR) distribution within biological tissues in the vicinity of dental implants, exposed…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the electric field and specific absorption rate (SAR) distribution within biological tissues in the vicinity of dental implants, exposed to the mobile phone radiation.

Design/methodology/approach

This research was performed for the frequency of 2.6 GHz, which corresponds to 4G mobile network. The adequate 3D realistic numerical models of the mobile phone user’s head, dental implants and actual smartphone model are created using packages based on the finite integral technique numerical method.

Findings

The obtained results yield to a conclusion that the presence of dental implants affects the increase in electric field intensity and SAR values within biological tissues in its vicinity.

Research limitations/implications

The presented procedure is limited to the 4G mobile network frequency of 2.6 MHz. The study should be extended to other mobile network frequencies to be more general.

Practical implications

The criteria for selection of the materials used for dental implants production should be extended with the recommended material characteristics related to their influence on the electric field and SAR distribution, to keep their values in the limits prescribed by standards.

Social implications

The obtained results provide the foundation for future research in mobile devices’ electromagnetic fields’ influence on human health.

Originality/value

The accurate determination of the electric field and SAR values within different biological tissues and organs in the vicinity of dental implants exposed to mobile phone electromagnetic radiation, demands highly realistic model of observed biological structures. For purposes of the current study, the procedure for modeling of highly nonhomogeneous structure with finite number of homogenous domains having known electromagnetic parameters is described in the paper. As a result, the 3D complex users’ head model formed of 16 homogeneous domains of different electromagnetic parameters is created.

Details

COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering , vol. 42 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0332-1649

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2023

Adib Bin Rashid, Abu Saleh Md. Nakib Uddin, Fahima Akter Azrin, Khondker Safin Kaosar Saad and Md Enamul Hoque

The main objective of this paper is to illustrate an analytical view of different methods of 3D bioprinting, variations, formulations and characteristics of biomaterials. This…

Abstract

Purpose

The main objective of this paper is to illustrate an analytical view of different methods of 3D bioprinting, variations, formulations and characteristics of biomaterials. This review also aims to discover all the areas of applications and scopes of further improvement of 3D bioprinters in this era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviewed a number of papers that carried evaluations of different 3D bioprinting methods with different biomaterials, using different pumps to print 3D scaffolds, living cells, tissue and organs. All the papers and articles are collected from different journals and conference papers from 2014 to 2022.

Findings

This paper briefly explains how the concept of a 3D bioprinter was developed from a 3D printer and how it affects the biomedical field and helps to recover the lack of organ donors. It also gives a clear explanation of three basic processes and different strategies of these processes and the criteria of biomaterial selection. This paper gives insights into how 3D bioprinters can be assisted with machine learning to increase their scope of application.

Research limitations/implications

The chosen research approach may limit the generalizability of the research findings. As a result, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed hypotheses further.

Practical implications

This paper includes implications for developing 3D bioprinters, developing biomaterials and increasing the printability of 3D bioprinters.

Originality/value

This paper addresses an identified need by investigating how to enable 3D bioprinting performance.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 29 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2023

Chenghui Xu, Sen Leng, Deen Li and Yajun Yu

This paper aims to focus on the accurate analysis of the fractional heat transfer in a two-dimensional (2D) rectangular monolayer tissue with three different kinds of lateral…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to focus on the accurate analysis of the fractional heat transfer in a two-dimensional (2D) rectangular monolayer tissue with three different kinds of lateral boundary conditions and the quantitative evaluation of the degree of thermal damage and burn depth.

Design/methodology/approach

A symplectic method is used to analytically solve the fractional heat transfer dual equation in the frequency domain (s-domain). Explicit expressions of the dual vector can be constructed by superposing the symplectic eigensolutions. The solution procedure is rigorously rational without any trial functions. And the accurate predictions of temperature and heat flux in the time domain (t-domain) are derived through numerical inverse Laplace transform.

Findings

Comparison study shows that the maximum relative error is less than 0.16%, which verifies the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method. The results indicate that the model and heat source parameters have a significant effect on temperature and thermal damage. The pulse duration (Δt) of the laser heat source can effectively control the time to reach the peak temperature and the peak slope of the thermal damage curve. The burn depth is closely correlated with exposure temperature and duration. And there exists the delayed effect of fractional order on burn depth.

Originality/value

A symplectic approach is presented for the thermal analysis of 2D fractional heat transfer. A unified time-fractional heat transfer model is proposed to describe the anomalous thermal behavior of biological tissue. New findings might provide guidance for temperature prediction and thermal damage assessment of biological tissues during hyperthermia.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 February 2024

Xiaoqing Zhang, Genliang Xiong, Peng Yin, Yanfeng Gao and Yan Feng

To ensure the motion attitude and stable contact force of massage robot working on unknown human tissue environment, this study aims to propose a robotic system for autonomous…

Abstract

Purpose

To ensure the motion attitude and stable contact force of massage robot working on unknown human tissue environment, this study aims to propose a robotic system for autonomous massage path planning and stable interaction control.

Design/methodology/approach

First, back region extraction and acupoint recognition based on deep learning is proposed, which provides a basis for determining the working area and path points of the robot. Second, to realize the standard approach and movement trajectory of the expert massage, 3D reconstruction and path planning of the massage area are performed, and normal vectors are calculated to control the normal orientation of robot-end. Finally, to cope with the soft and hard changes of human tissue state and body movement, an adaptive force tracking control strategy is presented to compensate the uncertainty of environmental position and tissue hardness online.

Findings

Improved network model can accomplish the acupoint recognition task with a large accuracy and integrate the point cloud to generate massage trajectories adapted to the shape of the human body. Experimental results show that the adaptive force tracking control can obtain a relatively smooth force, and the error is basically within ± 0.2 N during the online experiment.

Originality/value

This paper incorporates deep learning, 3D reconstruction and impedance control, the robot can understand the shape features of the massage area and adapt its planning massage path to carry out a stable and safe force tracking control during dynamic robot–human contact.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 April 2024

Majid Monajjemi and Fatemeh Mollaamin

Recently, powerful instruments for biomedical engineering research studies, including disease modeling, drug designing and nano-drug delivering, have been extremely investigated…

Abstract

Purpose

Recently, powerful instruments for biomedical engineering research studies, including disease modeling, drug designing and nano-drug delivering, have been extremely investigated by researchers. Particularly, investigation in various microfluidics techniques and novel biomedical approaches for microfluidic-based substrate have progressed in recent years, and therefore, various cell culture platforms have been manufactured for these types of approaches. These microinstruments, known as tissue chip platforms, mimic in vivo living tissue and exhibit more physiologically similar vitro models of human tissues. Using lab-on-a-chip technologies in vitro cell culturing quickly caused in optimized systems of tissues compared to static culture. These chipsets prepare cell culture media to mimic physiological reactions and behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used the application of lab chip instruments as a versatile tool for point of health-care (PHC) applications, and the authors applied a current progress in various platforms toward biochip DNA sensors as an alternative to the general bio electrochemical sensors. Basically, optical sensing is related to the intercalation between glass surfaces containing biomolecules with fluorescence and, subsequently, its reflected light that arises from the characteristics of the chemical agents. Recently, various techniques using optical fiber have progressed significantly, and researchers apply highlighted remarks and future perspectives of these kinds of platforms for PHC applications.

Findings

The authors assembled several microfluidic chips through cell culture and immune-fluorescent, as well as using microscopy measurement and image analysis for RNA sequencing. By this work, several chip assemblies were fabricated, and the application of the fluidic routing mechanism enables us to provide chip-to-chip communication with a variety of tissue-on-a-chip. By lab-on-a-chip techniques, the authors exhibited that coating the cell membrane via poly-dopamine and collagen was the best cell membrane coating due to the monolayer growth and differentiation of the cell types during the differentiation period. The authors found the artificial membrane, through coating with Collagen-A, has improved the growth of mouse podocytes cells-5 compared with the fibronectin-coated membrane.

Originality/value

The authors could distinguish the differences across the patient cohort when they used a collagen-coated microfluidic chip. For instance, von Willebrand factor, a blood glycoprotein that promotes hemostasis, can be identified and measured through these type-coated microfluidic chips.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 October 2023

Christopher Benedetti

Teacher burnout is a persistent challenge for school principals, complicated by the lack of a proven, repeatable strategy to mitigate burnout. If left unresolved, burnout can…

Abstract

Teacher burnout is a persistent challenge for school principals, complicated by the lack of a proven, repeatable strategy to mitigate burnout. If left unresolved, burnout can adversely affect school culture and student learning, leading to turnover that can compound these harmful effects. Since burnout can vary in severity and frequency, principals can work to mitigate burnout in the moment, seizing the opportunity when burnout is first observed. In this narrative sketch, I provide an overview of my experiences in my development as a principal and how this informed my approach to supporting teachers. I also discuss my experiences as principal in working with teachers at different stages of burnout severity, sharing specific stories and reflecting on both the successes and failures of my efforts, including the use of chocolates and tissues to create an individualized safe space to initiate open dialogue. The title, “Chocolates or Tissues,” is a metaphor that represents my momentary burnout mitigation strategy but may also serve as a metaphor for the need for principals to seek individualized opportunities for resolution in a burnout moment when working with teachers.

Article
Publication date: 10 January 2023

Neha Choudhary, Chandrachur Ghosh, Varun Sharma, Partha Roy and Pradeep Kumar

The purpose of this paper is to fabricate the scaffolds with different pore architectures using additive manufacturing and analyze its mechanical and biological properties for…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to fabricate the scaffolds with different pore architectures using additive manufacturing and analyze its mechanical and biological properties for bone tissue engineering applications.

Design/methodology/approach

The polylactic acid (PLA)/composite filament were fabricated through single screw extrusion and scaffolds were printed with four different pore architectures, i.e. circle, square, triangle and parallelogram with fused deposition modelling. Afterwards, scaffolds were coated with hydroxyapatite (HA) using dip coating technique. Various physical and thermo-mechanical tests have been conducted to confirm the feasibility. Furthermore, the biological tests were conducted with MG63 fibroblast cell lines to investigate the biocompatibility of the developed scaffolds.

Findings

The scaffolds were successfully printed with different pore architectures. The pore size of the scaffolds was found to be nearly 1,500 µm, and porosity varied between 53% and 63%. The fabricated circular pore architecture resulted in highest average compression strength of 13.7 MPa and modulus of 525 MPa. The characterizations showed the fidelity of the work. After seven days of cell culture, it was observed that the developed composites were non-toxic and supported cellular activities. The coating of HA made the scaffolds bioactive, showing higher wettability, degradation and high cellular responses.

Originality/value

The research attempts highlight the development of novel biodegradable and biocompatible polymer (PLA)/bioactive ceramic (Al2O3) composite for additive manufacturing with application in the tissue engineering field.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 29 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Fouad Al Bayaty, Mazen M. Jamil Al-Obaidi, Anissa Lokman, Suhaila Yazid and Omar Emad Ibrahim

This study examines the osteoconductive and healing capabilities of locally implanted synthetic hydroxyapatite (sHAp) derived from eggshells in the central incisor sockets of rats.

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the osteoconductive and healing capabilities of locally implanted synthetic hydroxyapatite (sHAp) derived from eggshells in the central incisor sockets of rats.

Design/methodology/approach

Toxicity experiments were conducted in vitro and in vivo, to testify the safety dosage of sHAp. Around 24 mature male Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats had their upper central incisors extracted. The rats were placed into three groups of eight rats each: Group 1: the sockets of extracted central incisors were left unfilled (control), Group 2: filled up with commercially available hydroxyapatite (HAp) and Group 3: implanted with sHAp locally retrieved from eggshells. After extraction, four rats from each group were sacrificed at 2nd and 4th weeks. Maxillary tissue sections were obtained and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson’s trichome (MT) staining. Anti-osteocalcin (OCN) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were used primary antibodies for immunohistochemistry (IHC) special labeling.

Findings

The results showed that the locally implanted sHAp was non-toxic and safe in cell lines (human osteoblast and fibroblast) and animals. Histological analysis of H&E, MT and IHC showed that the sockets treated with locally implanted sHAp from eggshells were filled with new bone tissue of comparable thickness to other groups.

Originality/value

This unique technique uses locally implanted eggshell-derived sHAp with osteoconductive characteristics. In an in vivo model, sHAps increased OCN and PCNA expression to improve bone repair.

Details

Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-9899

Keywords

1 – 10 of 466