Axial Scanning Metal-Induced Energy Transfer Microscopy for Extended Range Nanometer-Sectioning Cell Imaging.

Nanometer-sectioning optical microscopy has become an indispensable tool in membrane-related biomedical studies. Finally, many nanometer-sectioning imaging schemes, such as variable-angle total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, metal-induced energy transfer (MIET) imaging, and supercritical-angle fluorescence microscopy have been introduced. However, these methods can measure a single layer of molecules, and the measurement ranges are below 100 nm, which is not large enough to cover the thickness of lamellipodium. This paper proposes an optical imaging scheme that can identify the axial locations of two layers of molecules with an extended measurement range and a nanometer-scale precision by using MIET, axial focal plane scanning, and biexponential analysis in fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated by measuring an artificial sample of a known structure and the lamellipodium of a human aortic endothelial cell whose thickness ranges from 100 to 450 nm with 18.3 nm precision.

Noniterative sub-pixel shifting super-resolution lensless digital holography.

Lensless digital holography (LDH) is gaining considerable attention lately due to a simple experimental setup, wide field-of-view, and three-dimensional (3D) imaging capability. Since the resolution of LDH is limited by the Nyquist frequency of a detector array, the major drawback of LDH is resolution, and a lot of efforts were made to enhance the resolution of LDH. Here we propose and demonstrate a fast noniterative sub-pixel shifting super-resolution technique that can effectively enhance the resolution of LDH by a factor of two. We provide detailed frequency-domain formulae for our noniterative frequency-domain super-resolution method. The validity of our proposed method is experimentally demonstrated both for scattering and phase objects.

Analysis of three-dimensional mapping problems in incoherent digital holography.

Self-interference digital holography (SIDH) and Fresnel incoherent correlation holography (FINCH) are recently introduced holographic imaging schemes to record and reconstruct three-dimensional (3-D) information of objects by using incoherent light. Unlike conventional holography, a reference wave in incoherent holography is not predetermined by an experimental setup, but changes with target objects in incoherent holography. This makes the relation between the 3-D position information of an object and those stored in a measured hologram quite complicated. In this paper, we provide simple analytic equations for an effective 3D mapping between object space and the image space in incoherent holography. We have validated our proposed method with numerical simulations and off-axis SIDH experiments.

3D image distortion problem in digital in-line holographic microscopy and its effective solution.

Digital in-line holographic microscopy (DIHM) has attracted attention because of its simple but powerful three-dimensional (3D) imaging capability. To improve the spatial resolution, 3D image reconstruction algorithms use numerical magnification, which generates distortions in the generated images. We propose a method to overcome this problem by using the simple relation between the object and image positions in 3D space. Several holograms were taken while translating a resolution target at different axial positions by a motorized stage. We demonstrated the effectiveness of our method by reconstructing the 3D positions of 3-µm-diameter polymer beads on a tilted slide glass from a single measured hologram.

Randomized controlled trial for efficacy of intra-articular injection for adhesive capsulitis: ultrasonography-guided versus blind technique.

UNLABELLED: Lee H-J, Lim K-B, Kim D-Y, Lee K-T. Randomized controlled trial for efficacy of intra-articular injection for adhesive capsulitis: ultrasonography-guided versus blind technique. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effect of ultrasonography (US)-guided intra-articular injections compared with a blind (unguided) technique for the treatment of adhesive capsulitis. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Outpatient rehabilitation clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=43) diagnosed as having adhesive capsulitis after clinical examinations and radiologic and ultrasonographic study. INTERVENTION: Under either US-guided or a blind technique, patients received a 20-mg intra-articular injection of triamcinolone mixed with 1.5mL 2% lidocaine and 4mL normal saline in the first week followed by 5 weekly injections of sodium hyaluronate. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A visual analog scale for pain intensity, range of motion (ROM) of the shoulder (flexion, abduction, external rotation, and internal rotation), and general shoulder function during daily activities at preinjection as a baseline and then every week after injection for 6 weeks for each patient. RESULTS: Twenty patients out of 22 in the blind injection group and 20 out of 21 in the US-guided group finished the entire 6-week study period. The improvement in pain intensity, ROM, and shoulder function score was significantly greater in the US-guided injection group than in the blind injection group by the second week postinjection (P<.05). However, there were no further significant differences in the improvement between the 2 groups beyond the third week. CONCLUSIONS: US-guided intra-articular injections may offer advantages over a blind technique for the treatment of adhesive capsulitis and may deliver clinical benefits during the first few weeks of treatment. This finding suggests that the improved targeting to the intra-articular space by using US can result in better treatment of adhesive capsulitis.

Differential imaging in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy II: a filter-assisted Laguerre-Gaussian beam detection scheme.

A new differential imaging technique to obtain contrast improvement in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy is proposed through a spatial spiral phase modulation in the collected signal of CARS microscopy. A spiral phase mask makes the CARS signal from the bulk material to be distributed in a ring centered at the detecting pinhole of a confocal microscope resulting in a weak detected CARS signal from a bulk material. When tiny scatters are included in the focal volume of a CARS setup, the ring-shaped distribution of CARS field is distorted, leading to an increase in the detected signal through the pinhole. The sensitivity and the size selectivity of this proposed technique is studied with varying the particle size, and it is found that this method is to be efficient in edge detection. Simulation results obtained by finite difference time domain (FDTD) methods show that the image contrast is enhanced by many times as it is able to highlight the details of the specimen by suppressing the CARS signal from a bulk or a uniform material.

Changes in balancing ability of athletes with chronic ankle instability after foot orthotics application and rehabilitation exercises.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of foot orthotics and rehabilitation exercises by assessing balancing ability and joint proprioception in athletes who have chronic ankle instability. METHODS: Forty-one athletes who visited hospitals due to chronic ankle instability were randomly assigned to two groups. One group had ankle rehabilitation exercises while the other group had the same rehabilitation exercises as well as foot orthotics. Joint position sense of the ankle joint was examined by using an isokinetic exercise machine. Balancing abilities categorized into static, dynamic and functional balance abilities were evaluated by using computerized posturography. We tested the subjects before and after the four-week rehabilitation program. RESULTS: After the four-week treatment, for joint reposition sense evaluation, external 75% angle evaluation was done, revealing that the group with the application of foot orthotics improved by -1.07±1.64 on average, showing no significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05). Static, dynamic and functional balancing abilities using balance masters were evaluated, revealing that the two groups improved in some items, but showing no significant difference between them (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: This study found that athletes with chronic ankle instability who had foot orthotics applied for four weeks improved their proprioceptive and balancing abilities, but did not show additional treatment effects compared with rehabilitation exercise treatment.

Back pain secondary to Brucella spondylitis in the lumbar region.

Brucellosis is a systemic, infectious disease caused by the bacterial genus Brucella and a common zoonosis that still remains a major health problem in certain parts of the world such as the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, and Latin America. It may involve multiple organs and tissues. Osteoarticular involvement is the most frequent complication of brucellosis, in which the diagnosis of brucellar spondylitis is often difficult since the clinical presentation may be obscured by many other conditions. There are only a few reports on brucellar spondylitis in Korea. Here, we report a case of spondylitis due to brucella in an elderly male.

Silver nanoparticle-induced degranulation observed with quantitative phase microscopy.

Monitoring a degranulation process in a live mast cell is a quite important issue in immunology and pharmacology. Because the size of a granule is normally much smaller than the resolution limit of an optical microscope system, there is no direct real-time live cell imaging technique for observing degranulation processes except for fluorescence imaging techniques. In this research, we propose optical quantitative phase microscopy (QPM) as a new observation tool to study degranulation processes in a live mast cell without any fluorescence labeling. We measure the cell volumes and the cross sectional profiles (x-z plane) of an RBL-2H3 cell and a HeLa cell, before and after they are exposed to calcium ionophore A23187 and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). We verify that the volume and the cross sectional line profile of the RBL-2H3 cell were changed significantly when it was exposed to A23187. When 50 microg/mL of AgNP is used instead of A23187, the measurements of cell volume and cross sectional profiles indicate that RBL-2H3 cells also follow degranulation processes. Degranulation processes for these cells are verified by monitoring the increase of intracellular calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)) and histamine with fluorescent methods.