Effects of electroacupuncture combined with paliperidone palmitate long-acting injection on withdrawal symptoms and neurotransmitters in methamphetamine addicts.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of electroacupuncture combined with paliperidone palmitate long-acting injection (PP-LAI) on withdrawal symptoms and neurotransmitters in methamphetamine (MA) addicts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 109 methamphetamine addicts, who were treated in the hospital from October 2021 to October 2022, were selected. According to the random number table, the patients were divided into the study group (n=54) and the control group (n=55), in which the control group was treated with PP-LAI and the study group was treated with electroacupuncture on the basis of the control group; the methamphetamine withdrawal symptom score scale was used to assess the therapeutic effect before treatment and within 12 months after treatment; the changes of brain neurotransmitters dopamine, γ-aminobutyric acid, serotonin, acetylcholine values were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: 1) There was no statistical difference in MA withdrawal symptom scores between the two groups before treatment (p>0.05); 2) MA withdrawal symptom scores have a statistically significant difference between the study group and the control group after 3 and 6 months of treatment; 3) dopamine levels in the study group were significantly higher than those in the control group after 6 months of completion of treatment, and γ-aminobutyric acid values and 5- serotonin values in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Electroacupuncture combined with PP-LAI can partially improve the withdrawal symptoms and anxiety of methamphetamine addicts. This is a potential treatment for preventing relapse of withdrawal symptoms.

Robotic system for magnetic resonance imaging-guided high-intensity focus ultrasound application: Feasibility of breast fibroadenoma treatment.

PURPOSE: This paper presents a high-intensity focus ultrasound (HIFU) robotic system for treating breast fibroadenoma under the guidance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Based on the thermal and mechanical effects of ultrasound, the system aims to deliver ultrasound energy to a target precisely without damaging the normal tissue. The temperature elevation can be monitored in real time by MRI, and the treatment plan can be adjusted during the procedure. The requirements, design specifications, control system and registration of the robotic system are specified. METHODS: The robotic system was designed with a 3 degrees of freedom manipulator with limit switches and encoders, a customised MRI-compatible breast coil, a water bladder with sets of breast-conforming brackets, and a probe capable of generating ultrasound. Twenty volunteers were recruited for this study, and their data were analysed to provide more precise data for the design. The accuracy of the robot was evaluated in free space using a coordinate measuring machine, phantom and ex vivo porcine tissue in MRI room. The study also verified the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the MRI with the effect of the robotic system. RESULTS: The research findings revealed that the manipulator exhibited a translational precision of 0.10 ± 0.14 mm, a rotational fidelity around the X direction of 0.11 ± 0.09°, and an oscillatory exactness around the Y direction of 0.10 ± 0.08°. The investigation of positioning accuracy demonstrated that the robot's error in free space was 0.26 ± 0.07 mm. When subjected to MRI room with agar-silica phantom and ex vivo porcine tissue, the positioning accuracy amounted to 1.11 ± 0.47 mm and 1.57 ± 0.52 mm. In the presence of the robotic system, the SNR of the MRI experienced a 4.2% reduction, which had a negligible impact on image quality. CONCLUSIONS: The conducted experiments validate the efficacy of the proposed MRI-guided HIFU robotic system in executing agar-silica phantom and ex vivo porcine tissue investigations with adequate positioning accuracy. Consequently, this system exhibits certain feasibility for the treatment of breast fibroadenomas.