Alterations of Hematologic and Hematopoietic Parameters in Mice Exposed to Pulsed Electromagnetic Field.

Effects of pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) on hematology and hematopoiesis might vary with different PEMF parameters. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible effects of PEMF exposure at different pulses on hematologic and hematopoietic parameters in mice. Groups of male BALB/c mice were whole body exposed or were sham exposed (control) to PEMF at 100, 1000, and 10000 pulses. After PEMF exposure, blood samples and bone marrow cells of mice were collected for hematologic examinations, bone marrow nucleated cell counting, colony-forming units of granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) colony assay, and serum granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) assay. Compared with the control group, white blood cells (WBC) and lymphocytes (LYM) in the 100 and 1000 pulses exposed groups were significantly increased but not changed in the 10000 pulses exposed group. Red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), and platelets (PLT) were not changed in all exposed groups. There was no significant difference in mouse bone marrow nucleated cell number between the control group and each exposed group 7 days after PEMF exposure. The CFU-GM clone number of bone marrow cells and serum GM-CSF level were significantly increased in the 100 and 1000 pulses exposed group but not changed in the 10000 pulses exposed group. Our results indicated that the PEMF exposure at fewer pulses may induce statistically significant alterations in some hematologic and hematopoietic parameters of mice but no changes can be found in the more pulses PEMF-exposed groups.

Decreased middle temporal gyrus connectivity in the language network in schizophrenia patients with auditory verbal hallucinations.

As the most common symptoms of schizophrenia, the long-term persistence of obstinate auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) brings about great mental pain to patients. Neuroimaging studies of schizophrenia have indicated that AVHs were associated with altered functional and structural connectivity within the language network. However, effective connectivity that could reflect directed information flow within this network and is of great importance to understand the neural mechanisms of the disorder remains largely unknown. In this study, we utilized stochastic dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to investigate directed connections within the language network in schizophrenia patients with and without AVHs. Thirty-six patients with schizophrenia (18 with AVHs and 18 without AVHs), and 37 healthy controls participated in the current resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. The results showed that the connection from the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) to left middle temporal gyrus (LMTG) was significantly decreased in patients with AVHs compared to those without AVHs. Meanwhile, the effective connection from the left inferior parietal lobule (LIPL) to LMTG was significantly decreased compared to the healthy controls. Our findings suggest aberrant pattern of causal interactions within the language network in patients with AVHs, indicating that the hypoconnectivity or disrupted connection from frontal to temporal speech areas might be critical for the pathological basis of AVHs.

Excitation-resolved cone-beam x-ray luminescence tomography.

Cone-beam x-ray luminescence computed tomography (CB-XLCT), as an emerging imaging technique, plays an important role in in vivo small animal imaging studies. However, CB-XLCT suffers from low-spatial resolution due to the ill-posed nature of reconstruction. We improve the imaging performance of CB-XLCT by using a multiband excitation-resolved imaging scheme combined with principal component analysis. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, the physical phantom experiment is performed with a custom-made XLCT/XCT imaging system. The experimental results validate the feasibility of the method, where two adjacent nanophosphors (with an edge-to-edge distance of 2.4 mm) can be located.

Fast X-ray luminescence computed tomography imaging.

X-ray luminescence computed tomography (XLCT) opens new possibilities to perform molecular imaging with X-ray. However, challenges remain in dynamic XLCT imaging, where short scan time, good spatial resolution, and whole-body field of view should be considered simultaneously. In this paper, by the use of a single-view XLCT reconstruction method based on a compressive sensing (CS) technique, incorporating a cone beam XLCT imaging system, we implement fast 3-D XLCT imaging. To evaluate the performance of the method, two types of phantom experiments were performed based on a cone beam XLCT imaging system. In Case 1, one tube filled with the X-ray-excitable nanophosphor (Gd 2O 3 :Eu (3+)) was immerged in different positions in the phantom to evaluate the effect of the source position on single-view XLCT reconstruction accuracy. In Case 2, two tubes filled with Gd 2O 3 :Eu (3+) were immerged in different heights in the phantom to evaluate the whole-body imaging performance of single-view XLCT reconstruction. The experimental results indicated that the tubes used in previous phantom experiments can be resolved from single-view XCLT reconstruction images. The location error is less than 1.2 mm. In addition, since only one view data are needed to implement 3-D XLCT imaging, the acquisition time can be greatly reduced (∼1 frame/s) compared with previous XLCT systems. Hence, the technique is suited for imaging the fast distribution of the X-ray-excitable nanophosphors within a biological object.

In vivo x-ray luminescence tomographic imaging with single-view data.

X-ray luminescence computed tomography (XLCT) is a new molecular imaging modality. In this Letter, we first in vivo tomographically image the near-IR-emitting nanophosphor (Gd2O3:Eu3+) in nude mice (N=2). In practically, incorporating the compressive sensing technique, the XLCT reconstruction is performed only using single-view data. The experimental results indicate that the single-view reconstruction is feasible to image XLCT in vivo. The location error is less than 1.5 mm. Further, the imaging time can be greatly reduced compared with previous XLCT systems. Therefore, it is suited for imaging fast distribution of x-ray-excitable nanophosphors within a biological object.

Electrical impedance scanning in breast tumor imaging: correlation with the growth pattern of lesion.

BACKGROUND: This study researched the electric impedance properties of breast tissue and demonstrated the different characteristic of electrical impedance scanning (EIS) images. METHODS: The impedance character of 40 malignant tumors, 34 benign tumors and some normal breast tissue from 69 patients undergoing breast surgery was examined by EIS in vivo measurement and mammography screening, with a series of frequencies set between 100 Hz - 100 kHz in the ex vivo spectroscopy measurement. RESULTS: Of the 39 patients with 40 malignant tumors, 24 showed bright spots, 11 showed dark areas in EIS and 5 showed no specific image. Of the 30 patients with 34 benign tumors there were almost no specific abnormality shown in the EIS results. Primary ex vivo spectroscopy experiments showed that the resistivity of various breast tissue take the following pattern: adipose tissue > cancerous tissue > mammary gland and benign tumor tissue. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant differences in the electrical impedance properties between cancerous tissue and healthy tissue. The impedivity of benign tumor is lower, and is at the same level with that of the mammary glandular tissue. The distinct growth pattern of breast lesions determined the different electrical impedance characteristics in the EIS results.

[Study on technique of thermal imaging and soft-sensing].

The differences of body surface temperature reflect the changes of the status of body tissues. In this regard, detecting and forecasting the changes of the surface temperature is the objective of the technique of medical thermal diagnosis, and how to diagnose the disease earlier with the use of thermal images is a common problem in the field of medical diagnostics and biological engineering. The authors put forward that utilizing the soft-sensing techniques in the field of engineering will be a good solution.