Applications In Medical Diagnosis Research Articles

Quantitative polarization-sensitive super-resolution solid immersion microscopy reveals biological tissues’ birefringence in the terahertz range

Terahertz (THz) technology offers a variety of applications in label-free medical diagnosis and therapy, majority of which rely on the effective medium theory that assumes biological tissues to be optically isotropic and homogeneous at the scale posed by the THz wavelengths. Meanwhile, most recent research discovered mesoscale (sim lambda ) heterogeneities of tissues; lambda is a wavelength. This posed a problem of studying the related scattering and polarization effects of THz-wave–tissue interactions, while there is still a lack of appropriate tools and instruments for such studies. To address this challenge, in this paper, quantitative polarization-sensitive reflection-mode THz solid immersion (SI) microscope is developed, that comprises a silicon hemisphere-based SI lens, metal-wire-grid polarizer and analyzer, a continuous-wave 0.6 THz (lambda = 500 µm) backward-wave oscillator (BWO), and a Golay detector. It makes possible the study of local polarization-dependent THz response of mesoscale tissue elements with the resolution as high as 0.15 lambda . It is applied to retrieve the refractive index distributions over the freshly-excised rat brain for the two orthogonal linear polarizations of the THz beam, aimed at uncovering the THz birefringence (structural optical anisotropy) of tissues. The most pronounced birefringence is observed for the Corpus callosum, formed by well-oriented and densely-packed axons bridging the cerebral hemispheres. The observed results are verified by the THz pulsed spectroscopy of the porcine brain, which confirms higher refractive index of the Corpus callosum when the THz beam is polarized along axons. Our findings highlight a potential of the quantitative polarization THz microscopy in biophotonics and medical imaging.

Development of a lead-free, high-frequency ultrasound transducer with broad bandwidth and enhanced pulse-echo response, employing β-Ni(OH)2/PVDF-TrFE piezoelectric composite

Piezoelectric composite-based high-frequency ultrasound transducers (USTs) have gained significant prominence as a leading and effective tool in non-invasive medical diagnosis, non-destructive testing and diverse industrial applications. In this study, we present the fabrication of a lead-free, high-frequency ultrasound transducer (P-UST), having a very simple and unique assembly procedure. To achieve this, we employed PVDF-TrFE based piezoelectric composite thin film (NTr5) integrated with a transition metal hydroxide (β-Ni(OH)2 nanoplates) and demonstrated its outstanding performance, thereby showcasing its potential in various applications. The composite exhibited exceptional β-phase crystallization, reaching impressive maximum value of 90.04%, owing to the favorable interaction between electrostatic ions and dipoles, along with the presence of strong surface polarization. Upon analysis, remarkable piezoelectric (d33∼50.22 pm/V) and ferroelectric properties were observed in the composite material, accompanied by significant enhancement in surface roughness. Here, the piezoelectric property's impact on UST output is well-explained using Maxwell's equation. P-UST, being a versatile system, is capable of generating and receiving pulse signals. By conducting a pulse-echo test on an aluminium block with ultrasound gel, we achieved a peak-to-peak output voltage of 5.19 V, surpassing the output voltage magnitude of any previously reported UST in this field. The Fast Fourier transformed data of the voltage output revealed an impressive −6 dB bandwidth of 51.22 MHz (102.4%) with a high central frequency of 50.01 MHz. Hence, our P-UST's exceptionally high central frequency promises significantly enhanced ultrasound image resolution, which expands the potential for highly accurate medical assessments for advanced healthcare outcomes and improving patient well-being.

Fast fixed granular-ball for attribute reduction in label noise environments and its application in medical diagnosis

Fast fixed granular-ball for attribute reduction in label noise environments and its application in medical diagnosis

Hindsight Bias and its Application in Financial Investment, Legal Decisions, and Medical Diagnosis

This essay seeks to explicate hindsight bias as a pervasive cognitive heuristic and discusses its manifestation in everyday judgment and decision-making, incorporating the representative psychological factors that underlie different conceptual constructs. With the combination of theoretical frameworks with past contextualized experiments, three essential applications of hindsight bias in financial investment, legal decisions, and medical diagnosis, including their significance in society, are introduced respectively by extrapolation. Judgment concerning financial investment and economic outlook necessitate an unprejudiced future-centric perspective but is often susceptible to a biased retrospection that results in unwise decisions. Similarly, in the criminal justice system, hindsight bias may be responsible for numerous impartial decisions made, which would interfere with legal impartiality. In medical settings, people also have a habitual tendency to overestimate their diagnostic abilities, which may have negative implications for future therapeutic treatment. Finally, potential methods to ameliorate the influence of hindsight bias are suggested to guide more sound decisions and enhance societal efficiency.

PIMedSeg: Progressive interactive medical image segmentation

Background and Objective: Accurate object segmentation in medical images is a crucial step in medical diagnosis and other applications. Despite years of research on automatic segmentation approaches, achieving clinically acceptable image quality remains challenging. Interactive segmentation is seen as a promising alternative; thus, we propose a new interactive segmentation framework based on a progressive workflow to reduce user effort and provide high-quality results. Method: First, our approach encodes user-provided region clicks and edge scribbles using our proposed disk and curve transform. Then, it is followed by refinement with a transformer-based module that extracts effective features from the outputs of the convolutional neural network (CNN) and the extra input maps. Result: Extensive experiments conducted on various medical images, including ultrasound (US), computerized tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance images (MRI), have demonstrated the effectiveness of our new approach over the state-of-the-art alternatives. Conclusion: The proposed framework can achieve high-quality segmentation using minimal interactions without the substantial cost of manual segmentation.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using durian rind extract and optical characteristics of surface plasmon resonance-based optical sensor for the detection of hydrogen peroxide

Abstract Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been efficaciously synthesized from AgNO3 via an easy and green method, also called green synthesis, using Mon Thong durian (Durio zibethinus L.) rind extract. The inner shell of durian rind extract was used as an intermediary for the synthesis of AgNPs because the absorption spectra of the AgNP colloid extracted from the inner shell had a higher absorption than that of the outer shell. Additionally, we have found more fructose and glucose – which act as a reducing agent – and protein and carbohydrates – which act as the stabilizer – in a higher amount in the inner shell than the extract from the outer shell. The synthesized AgNPs were mainly spherical in shape and exhibited a relatively narrow size distribution with an average particle diameter of 10.2 ± 0.2 nm. In the reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), these nanoparticles demonstrate catalytic activity. The degradation of AgNPs, including the catalytic decomposition of H2O2, causes a considerable change in the absorbance strength of the surface plasmon resonance band depending on the H2O2 concentration. Over a broad concentration range of 10−1–10−6 mol·L−1 H2O2, a good sensitivity and a linear response are achieved. This sensor’s quantification limit is found to be 0.9 µmol·L−1 H2O2. Therefore, this optical sensor for the detection of H2O2 can be potentially applied in the determination of color indicators in medical or clinical diagnosis, biochemical analysis, and environmental applications.

A three-dimensional boron-doped diamond mesh aptasensor for the sensitive determination of cefquinome

Aptamer can specifically identify the target and combine with surface functionalized electrodes to construct highly selective electrochemical aptasensor, so it has a wide range of applications in environmental monitoring, medical diagnosis and other fields. In this study, we designed and fabricated a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrochemical aptasensor based on three-dimensional mesh structure for the detection of trace cefquinome (CFQ). The low detection limit of 9.29 × 10−16 mol L−1 as well as broad linear relationship ranging from 1.0 × 10−15 to 1.0 × 10−9 mol L−1 were achieved through a modification to the surface of BDD mesh using gold nanoparticle (Au-NPs), aptamers and 6-mercapto-1-ethanol (MCH). The experimental findings demonstrate that the aptasensor is of significant sensitivity, specificity and stability, and it has broad application prospects in the field of trace detection.

Biosensor sensitivity and steric hindrance: A comparison of InGaAs pocket and conventional TFET designs

This research article unveils a novel approach to boost the sensing ability of a biosensor by incorporating a pocket of indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) at the source-channel junction of a tunnel field-effect transistor (TFET). The InGaAs pocket acts as a source of electrons, improving the sensitivity of the biosensor. In addition to the above, this research article also presents a comparative assessment of the proposed charge plasma-based doping less heterostructure (InGaAs pocket) TFET-based biosensor (CPDLHTFET) with a proposed (CPDLTFET) through simulations. The comparison is made based on their respective sensitivity and steric hindrance performances. Additionally, the effects of varying the pocket length and cavity length on the performance of both devices are studied and compared. The outcomes demonstrate that optimizing the InGaAs pocket and cavity length can improve sensitivity. The study also addresses the steric hindrance issue (restriction caused by the already hybridized biomolecules) and the impact on sensitivity due to probe position. The study highlights the potential of TFET-based biosensors for various biotechnology and medical diagnosis applications. Overall, this research presents a promising InGaAs pocket TFET-based design for improved performance.

Pessimistic multigranulation rough bipolar fuzzy set and their application in medical diagnosis

Pessimistic multigranulation rough bipolar fuzzy set and their application in medical diagnosis

Perovskite-Based X-ray Detectors.

X-ray detection has widespread applications in medical diagnosis, non-destructive industrial radiography and safety inspection, and especially, medical diagnosis realized by medical X-ray detectors is presenting an increasing demand. Perovskite materials are excellent candidates for high-energy radiation detection based on their promising material properties such as excellent carrier transport capability and high effective atomic number. In this review paper, we introduce X-ray detectors using all kinds of halide perovskite materials along with various crystal structures and discuss their device performance in detail. Single-crystal perovskite was first fabricated as an active material for X-ray detectors, having excellent performance under X-ray illumination due to its superior photoelectric properties of X-ray attenuation with μm thickness. The X-ray detector based on inorganic perovskite shows good environmental stability and high X-ray sensitivity. Owing to anisotropic carrier transport capability, two-dimensional layered perovskites with a preferred orientation parallel to the substrate can effectively suppress the dark current of the device despite poor light response to X-rays, resulting in lower sensitivity for the device. Double perovskite applied for X-ray detectors shows better attenuation of X-rays due to the introduction of high-atomic-numbered elements. Additionally, its stable crystal structure can effectively lower the dark current of X-ray detectors. Environmentally friendly lead-free perovskite exhibits potential application in X-ray detectors by virtue of its high attenuation of X-rays. In the last section, we specifically introduce the up-scaling process technology for fabricating large-area and thick perovskite films for X-ray detectors, which is critical for the commercialization and mass production of perovskite-based X-ray detectors.

Biomimetic Flexible Sensors and Their Applications in Human Health Detection.

Bionic flexible sensors are a new type of biosensor with high sensitivity, selectivity, stability, and reliability to achieve detection in complex natural and physiological environments. They provide efficient, energy-saving and convenient applications in medical monitoring and diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and detection and identification. Combining sensor devices with flexible substrates to imitate flexible structures in living organisms, thus enabling the detection of various physiological signals, has become a hot topic of interest. In the field of human health detection, the application of bionic flexible sensors is flourishing and will evolve into patient-centric diagnosis and treatment in the future of healthcare. In this review, we provide an up-to-date overview of bionic flexible devices for human health detection applications and a comprehensive summary of the research progress and potential of flexible sensors. First, we evaluate the working mechanisms of different classes of bionic flexible sensors, describing the selection and fabrication of bionic flexible materials and their excellent electrochemical properties; then, we introduce some interesting applications for monitoring physical, electrophysiological, chemical, and biological signals according to more segmented health fields (e.g., medical diagnosis, rehabilitation assistance, and sports monitoring). We conclude with a summary of the advantages of current results and the challenges and possible future developments.

Label-Free Detection of Cardiac Biomarkers: A Review on Microfluidic Electrochemical Biosensors.

Biosensors are valuable tools for the detection of biological species, including cells, pathogens, proteins, and other biological molecules. Biosensing devices integrated with microfluidics not only allow for easier sample preparation, portability, and reduced detection time and cost but also offer unique features such as label-free detection and improved sensitivity. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), particularly acute myocardial infarction, which is considered one of the main causes of death, are currently diagnosed by electrocardiography (ECG), which has been proven to be inadequate. To overcome the limitations of ECG, the efficient detection of cardiac biomarkers and specifically the measurement of cardiac troponins (cTnT and cTnI) are suggested. This review aims to expound on microfluidics, the most recent materials to develop these devices, and their application in medical diagnosis, particularly in CVD detection. Moreover, we will explore some of the prevalent and last readout methods to investigate in-depth electrochemical label-free detection methods for CVDs, primarily based on voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, with the main focus on structural details.

Transparent Flat Panel X-Ray Source Using ITO Transmission Anode and ZnO Nanowire Cold Cathode

X-ray sources have important applications in medical diagnosis, industrial inspection, etc. Transparent X-ray source has not been reported before, which enables the applications such as simultaneous imaging using X-ray and visible light. In this article, a fully vacuum-encapsulated transparent flat-panel X-ray source was prepared by using ZnO nanowires cold cathode and indium-tin-oxide (ITO) transmission anode. The effect of thicknesses of ITO film on X-ray radiation intensity was studied. A radiation dose rate of 6.85 mGy/s measured at 5 cm in front of the flat-panel X-ray source (FPXS) under 48-kV anode voltage and an optical transmittance of 72.63% at 550-nm light were achieved. X-ray spectra show the indium is the main element to generate the X-ray. By adopting the device in an X-ray and visible light dual-functional inspection set-up, the X-ray and visible light imaging of objects were demonstrated simultaneously.

Multi-scale sequential feature selection for disease classification using Raman spectroscopy data

Raman spectroscopy (RS) optical technology promises non-destructive and fast application in medical disease diagnosis in a single step. However, achieving clinically relevant performance levels remains challenging due to the inability to search for significant Raman signals at different scales. Here we propose a multi-scale sequential feature selection method that can capture global sequential features and local peak features for disease classification using RS data. Specifically, we utilize the Long short-term memory network (LSTM) module to extract global sequential features in the Raman spectra, as it can capture long-term dependencies present in the Raman spectral sequences. Meanwhile, the attention mechanism is employed to select local peak features that were ignored before and are the key to distinguishing different diseases. Experimental results on three public and in-house datasets demonstrate the superiority of our model compared with state-of-the-art methods for RS classification. In particular, our model achieves an accuracy of 97.9 ± 0.2% on the COVID-19 dataset, 76.3 ± 0.4% on the H-IV dataset, and 96.8 ± 1.9% on the H-V dataset.

Effects of moderate static magnetic fields on the lipogenesis and lipolysis in different genders of Caenorhabditis elegans

With the rapid development of magnetic technology, the biological effects of moderate static magnetic fields (SMFs) have attracted increasing research interest due to their potential medical diagnosis and treatment application. The present study explored the effects of moderate SMFs on the lipid metabolism of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) in different genders including male, female, and hermaphrodite. We found that the fat content was significantly decreased by moderate SMFs in wild-type N2 worms, which was associated with their development stages. The diameters of lipid droplets in N2 worms, him-5 worms, and fog-2 worms were greatly decreased by 19.23%, 15.38%, and 23.07% at young adult stage under 0.5 T SMF, respectively. The mRNA levels of lipolysis related genes atgl-1 and nhr-76 were significantly up-regulated by SMF exposure, while the mRNA levels of the lipogenesis related genes fat-6, fat-7, and sbp-1 were down-regulated by SMF, whereas the concentration of β-oxidase was increased. There was a slight effect of SMF on the mRNA levels of β-oxidation related genes. Moreover, the insulin and serotonin pathway were regulated by SMF, instead of the TOR pathway. In wild-type worms, we found that their lifespan was prolonged by exposure to 0.5 T SMF. Our data suggested that moderate SMFs could significantly modify the lipogenesis and lipolysis process in C. elegans in a gender and development stage-dependent manner, which could provide a novel insight into understanding the function of moderate SMFs in living organisms.

Intuitionistic Trapezoidal Fuzzy based Aggregation Operator: Applications in Medical Diagnosis

Since the inception of fuzzy sets given by Zadeh, uncertainty arises due to partial information or imprecise information has been measured. The generalized version of fuzzy sets has been introduced by Atanassov, known as intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs), which have wide applications in decision making processes and consider both membership and non-membership functions. A generalized fuzzy based decision making method with aggregation operator has been discussed with application in medical diagnosis. In this paper, IF based method have been discussed for the application of the diagnosis of the type of child cancer.

Dual-Mode Paper Biosensing Platform Based on Oxidase-Like CoFeMn Nanozymes for Point-of-Care Detection of Glutathione

A paper-based biosensing platform is a point-of-care (POC) analysis toolkit for detection of various biomarkers. Nonetheless, its lack of high sensitivity, selectivity, and multi-signal readout poses a high degree of challenge. Herein, we introduce an interesting colorimetric-temperature dual-signal readout biosensor based on multifunctional CoFeMn biomimetic oxidase. Due to the cost-effectiveness, no additional detector requirement, dual-signal readout capacity, and darker signal change, CoFeMn hydroxide is innovatively fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method using Mn as an active center to construct a multifunctional signal tag for mimicking the structure of oxidase. This strategy allows CoFeMn hydroxide to exhibit an unusual oxidase-like activity, transforming O2 into ·OH in the absence of H2O2 and resulting in the generation of a colorimetric temperature dual signal by oxidizing 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB). We used glutathione (GSH) as the analyst and successfully applied this biosensor to determine GSH, which showed excellent analytical performance of rapidity, high specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy. Employing the colorimetric and temperature test strips, these toolkits are designed to visualize GSH. Benefiting from a relatively independent signal transduction pathway, the constructed test strip POC devices display satisfactory coupling efficiency and are further employed to monitor GSH in tumor cells. This research will be conducive to the rational design of a mimetic oxidase-based dual-response nanoprobe in paper-based POC devices, the exploration of more nanomaterial-derived mimetic oxidase, and the extension of their applications in medical diagnosis.

Stable Polyhedron-Cluster-Based Rigid Fluoride Framework toward Zero-Thermal-Quenching Near-Infrared Emission for Prolonged LED Applications.

Development of highly thermally stable broadband near-infrared (NIR) luminescence materials is crucial for advancing the prolonged stable application of smart NIR light sources. In this study, a zero-thermal-quenching and reversible temperature-dependent broadband NIR-emitting Cs2NaAl3F12:Cr3+ phosphor is demonstrated, benefiting from its stable polyhedron-cluster-building rigid structure. The excellent thermal stability of Cs2NaAl3F12:Cr3+ is rooted in its stable [Al6Na4F45] cluster building unit, which provides a rigid structure with a weak electron-phonon coupling effect and a wide band gap with a huge thermal activated barrier. Such characteristics are well revealed by multiple studies on crystal structure, electronic structure, Huang-Rhys factor S, configuration coordinate model, and Debye temperature. The incorporation of Li or K instead of Na weakens the luminescence thermal stability, directly proving the importance of the stable [Al6Na4F45] cluster for stable Cr3+ substitution and rigid structure construction. Furthermore, Cs2NaAl3F12:Cr3+ presents much superior thermal stability compared to traditional rigid garnet-type fluorides Na3X2Li3F12:Cr3+ (X = Al, Ga, In). A high-power NIR LED is presented, utilizing the high quantum efficiency (∼71%) and extremely thermally stable broadband NIR emission around 750 nm of Cs2NaAl3F12:Cr3+. It realizes clear vein and cartilage imaging in the human hand, demonstrating its potential in medical diagnosis applications. This result provides important insights for designing new-type rigid crystal structures using stable polyhedron clusters as basic units, advancing the development of highly thermally stable NIR-emitting phosphors.

Development of a novel electrochemical biosensor based on plastic antibodies for detection of STEAP1 biomarker in cancer

STEAP1 is a cell surface protein of the STEAP family whose main function focuses on intercellular communication and cell growth. STEAP1 is considered a promising putative biomarker and a candidate target for prostate cancer treatment.For specific and selective detection of STEAP1, a molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) was developed on a screen-printed electrode (C-SPE) whose surface was modified with a nanocomposite based on carbon nanotubes decorated with dendritic platinum nanoparticles (CNTs- PAH /Pt). Then, the MIPs were produced on the modified C-SPE by electropolymerization of a mixture of STEAP1 and a monomer (pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid). Then, the protein was removed from the polymeric network by enzymatic treatment with trypsin, which created the specific template cavities for further STEAP1 detection. Electrochemical techniques such as EIS and CV were used to follow the chemical modification steps of C-SPE. The analytical performance of the biosensor was evaluated by SWV in PBS buffer and in lysates of neoplastic prostate cancer cells (LNCaP) extracts. The MIP material showing a linear range from 130 pg/ml to 13 µg/ml. Overall, the biosensor exhibits essential properties such as selectivity, sensitivity and reproducibility for its application in medical and clinical research diagnosis and/or prognosis of prostate cancer.

Nonlinear ultrasound in liquid containing multiple coated microbubbles: effect of buckling and rupture of viscoelastic shell on ultrasound propagation

With promising applications in medical diagnosis and therapy, the behavior of shell-encapsula-ted ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) has attracted considerable attention. Currently, second-generation contrast agents stabilized by a phospholipid membrane are widely used and studies have focused on the dynamics of single phospholipid shell-encapsulated microbubbles. To improve the safety and the efficiency of the methods using the propagation or targeted ultrasound, a better understanding of the propagation of ultrasound in liquids containing multiple encapsulated microbubbles is required. By incorporating the Marmottant–Gompertz model into the multiple scale analysis of two-phase model, this study derived a Korteweg–de Vries–Burgers equation as a weakly nonlinear wave equation for one-dimensional ultrasound in bubbly liquids. It was found that the wave propagation characteristics changed with the initial surface tension, highlighting two notable features of the phospholipid shell: buckling and rupture. These results may provide insights into the suitable state of microbubbles, and better control of ultrasound for medical applications, particularly those that require high precision.