Search Results
Medical gas plasma promotes blood coagulation via platelet activation
2021, Bekeschus, Sander, Poschkamp, Broder, van der Linde, Julia
Major blood loss still is a risk factor during surgery. Electrocauterization often is used for necrotizing the tissue and thereby halts bleeding (hemostasis). However, the carbonized tissue is prone to falling off, putting patients at risk of severe side effects, such as dangerous internal bleeding many hours after surgery. We have developed a medical gas plasma jet technology as an alternative to electrocauterization and investigated its hemostatic (blood clotting) effects and mechanisms of action using whole human blood. The gas plasma efficiently coagulated anticoagulated donor blood, which resulted from the local lysis of red blood cells (hemolysis). Image cytometry further showed enhanced platelet aggregation. Gas plasmas release reactive oxygen species (ROS), but neither scavenging of long-lived ROS nor addition of chemically-generated ROS were able to abrogate or recapitulate the gas plasma effect, respectively. However, platelet activation was markedly impaired in platelet-rich plasma when compared to gas plasma-treated whole blood that moreover contained significant amounts of hemoglobin indicative of red blood cell lysis (hemolysis). Finally, incubation of whole blood with concentration-matched hemolysates phenocopied the gas plasmas-mediated platelet activation. These results will spur the translation of plasma systems for hemolysis into clinical practice.
Adaptive elimination of synchronization in coupled oscillator
2017, Zhou, S., Ji, P., Zhou, Q., Feng, J., Kurths, J., Lin, W.
We present here an adaptive control scheme with a feedback delay to achieve elimination of synchronization in a large population of coupled and synchronized oscillators. We validate the feasibility of this scheme not only in the coupled Kuramoto's oscillators with a unimodal or bimodal distribution of natural frequency, but also in two representative models of neuronal networks, namely, the FitzHugh-Nagumo spiking oscillators and the Hindmarsh-Rose bursting oscillators. More significantly, we analytically illustrate the feasibility of the proposed scheme with a feedback delay and reveal how the exact topological form of the bimodal natural frequency distribution influences the scheme performance. We anticipate that our developed scheme will deepen the understanding and refinement of those controllers, e.g. techniques of deep brain stimulation, which have been implemented in remedying some synchronization-induced mental disorders including Parkinson disease and epilepsy.
A novel characterisation approach to reveal the mechano-chemical effects of oxidation and dynamic distension on polypropylene surgical mesh
2021, Farr, Nicholas T. H., Roman, Sabiniano, Schäfer, Jan, Quade, Antje, Lester, Daniel, Hearnden, Vanessa, MacNeil, Sheila, Rodenburg, Cornelia
Polypropylene (PP) surgical mesh, used successfully for the surgical repair of abdominal hernias, is associated with serious clinical complications when used in the pelvic floor for repair of stress urinary incontinence or support of pelvic organ prolapse. While manufacturers claim that the material is inert and non-degradable, there is a growing body of evidence that asserts PP fibres are subject to oxidative damage and indeed explanted material from patients suffering with clinical complications has shown some evidence of fibre cracking and oxidation. It has been proposed that a pathological cellular response to the surgical mesh contributes to the medical complications; however, the mechanisms that trigger the specific host response against the material are not well understood. Specifically, this study was constructed to investigate the mechano-chemical effects of oxidation and dynamic distension on polypropylene surgical mesh. To do this we used a novel advanced spectroscopical characterisation technique, secondary electron hyperspectral imaging (SEHI), which is based on the collection of secondary electron emission spectra in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to reveal mechanical-chemical reactions within PP meshes. This journal is