We are developing a noninvasive procedure for measuring contractile responses of both adult and neonatal mammalian cardiocytes. This method can be employed to quantify pharmacological effects of drugs on myocytes. Methods for quantifying neonatal cell contraction reported in the literature have required the use of elaborate equipment such as a proximity detector or an atomic force microscope (t...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Excess fat poses a host of local and systemic problems. Various energy sources, for example, laser, ultrasound, and radiofrequency electric current have been studied as potential non-invasive treatments aimed at local destruction of subcutaneous fat. Cryosurgery at very low temperatures is routinely used for non-specific tissue destruction, however the potential for ti...

The need for adaptability to the environment, energy conservation, and safety during physical interaction with humans of many advanced robotic applications has prompted the development of a number of Variable Stiffness Actuators (VSA). These have been implemented in a variety of ways, using different transduction technologies (electromechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, but also piezoelectric, act...

For the early diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis IgG and IgM antibodies to herpes simplex virus in cerebrospinal fluid were measured by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a local production index was calculated. Using these three criteria, 31 cases of various neurological illnesses were analysed. All eight cases of herpes simplex encephalitis were diagnosed correctly in the ...

The physiology of the early embryo may be indicative of embryo vitality and therefore methods for non-invasively monitoring physiological parameters from embryos could improve preimplantation diagnoses. The self-referencing electrophysiological technique is capable of non-invasive measurement of the physiology of individual cells by monitoring the movement of ions and molecules between the cell...

BACKGROUND To measure low neonatal gonadotropin levels, a sensitive non-invasive method is optimal. The aim of the current study was to validate the Architect i2000SR, an automated immunoassay analyser for the measurement of gonadotropins in unextracted neonatal urine samples against serum gonadotropin levels as a gold standard. METHODS Blood and urine were sampled from 30 approximately six-w...

A non-invasive method to determine epidermal thickness from the intensity of transmitted visible light is proposed. A simple model for passing light through the epidermis layers, then measuring what is transmitted back out of the surface, is implemented by using the Montecarlo method. Simulations revealed that the transmittance is linearly dependent on the thickness of the epidermis and so demo...

Evaluation of stage of liver fibrosis in chronic type C hepatitis is very important in patient therapy. Commonly used method for fibrosis stage determination is liver biopsy, but it is an invasive method and also single biopsy does not give the confidence thus it is required to retrieve samples from more than one region of liver [1]. Some non-invasive tests methods are also available, but are e...

Andrew D Farmery and Clive E W Hahn are with Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. Email: andrew. [email protected] / [email protected] Conventional methods for monitoring lung function usually require complex gas analysers and the cooperation of the patient. Therefore, they are not compatible with the crowded environment of the intensive care unit (ICU...