A survey on the state of the art of force myography technique (FMG): analysis and assessment.

Precise feedback assures precise control commands especially for assistive or rehabilitation devices. Biofeedback systems integrated with assistive or rehabilitative robotic exoskeletons tend to increase its performance and effectiveness. Therefore, there has been plenty of research in the field of biofeedback covering different aspects such as signal acquisition, conditioning, feature extraction and integration with the control system. Among several types of biofeedback systems, Force myography (FMG) technique is a promising one in terms of affordability, high classification accuracies, ease to use, and low computational cost. Compared to traditional biofeedback systems such as electromyography (EMG) which offers some invasive techniques, FMG offers a completely non-invasive solution with much less effort for preprocessing with high accuracies. This work covers the whole aspects of FMG technique in terms of signal acquisition, feature extraction, signal processing, developing the machine learning model, evaluating tools for the performance of the model. Stating the difference between real-time and offline assessment, also highlighting the main uncovered points for further study, and thus enhancing the development of this technique.

Assessment of Intrafraction Breathing Motion on Left Anterior Descending Artery Dose During Left-Sided Breast Radiation Therapy.

PURPOSE: To use 4-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) imaging to predict the level of uncertainty in cardiac dose estimates of the left anterior descending artery that arises due to breathing motion during radiation therapy for left-sided breast cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The fast helical CT (FH-CT) and 4D-CT of 30 left-sided breast cancer patients were retrospectively analyzed. Treatment plans were created on the FH-CT. The original treatment plan was then superimposed onto all 10 phases of the 4D-CT to quantify the dosimetric impact of respiratory motion through 4D dose accumulation (4D-dose). Dose-volume histograms for the heart, left ventricle (LV), and left anterior descending (LAD) artery obtained from the FH-CT were compared with those obtained from the 4D-dose. RESULTS: The 95% confidence interval of 4D-dose and FH-CT differences in mean dose estimates for the heart, LV, and LAD were ±0.5 Gy, ±1.0 Gy, and ±8.7 Gy, respectively. CONCLUSION: Fast helical CT is a good approximation for doses to the heart and LV; however, dose estimates for the LAD are susceptible to uncertainties that arise due to intrafraction breathing motion that cannot be ascertained without the additional information obtained from 4D-CT and dose accumulation. For future clinical studies, we suggest the use of 4D-CT-derived dose-volume histograms for estimating the dose to the LAD.

Validation of an electrospray ionisation LC-MS/MS method for quantitative analysis of telaprevir and its R-diastereomer.

A sensitive high-performance reverse phase liquid chromatography-positive ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the quantification of telaprevir and its inactive R-diastereomer (VRT-127394) in human plasma. The analytes and the internal standard (telaprevir-d11) were extracted from plasma by liquid-liquid extraction using tert-Butyl methyl ether (TBME). Chromatographic separation was achieved on a reversed-phase Accucore C18 column with a gradient programme consisting of water:ammonia (25%), 100:0.01 (v/v) (mobile phase A) and ACN:MeOH:ammonia (25%), 15:85:0.01 (v/v/v) (mobile phase B). The MS acquisition was performed with selective reaction monitoring mode using the respective [M+H](+) ions, m/z 680.59→322.42 for telaprevir and VRT-127394, and 691.15→110.13 for telaprevir-d11. The assay exhibited a linear dynamic range of 5-5000ng/mL for telaprevir and VRT-127394. Acceptable precision (%RSD<6.5%) and accuracy (94-108%) were obtained for concentrations over the range of the standard curve. A procedure was established to stabilise the plasma to prevent ex vivo interconversion of the isomers.