A rapid multispectral endoscopic imaging system for in vivo assessment of the morphological and physiological characteristics of mouse intestines.

Accurate assessment of blood content in biological tissues is critical for the diagnosis and monitoring of various diseases, including cardiovascular disease, tumors, trauma, and the success rate of organ transplants. In this study, a multispectral endoscopic imaging system was built for capturing tissue reflection optical images in 18 bands across the wavelength range from 400 nm to 760 nm, non-invasively. The system was characterized by six tri-channel narrowband filters installed in front of the light source to achieve spectral separation and was equipped with a specially designed color CCD for achieving a speed of 24 multispectral imaging cubes per second. A method based on linear matrix inversion was proposed to calibrate the CCD spectral response overlaps, while a spectral analysis algorithm was developed for evaluating blood content and detecting tissue composition. The developed system was implemented in an in vivo mouse model for illustrating the blood volume, blood oxygen saturation index, and scattering particle size of the intestinal wall mucosa. The observations not only helped us to understand the blood supply situation in the intestinal mucosa, but also further testified the feasibility of our presented system. Meanwhile, the developed system could provide critical non-invasive optical information for intracavitary cancer diagnosis, surgery guidance, and treatment assessment.

Low-Cost Titanium-Bromine Flow Battery with Ultrahigh Cycle Stability for Grid-Scale Energy Storage.

Flow batteries are one of the most promising large-scale energy-storage systems. However, the currently used flow batteries have low operation-cost-effectiveness and exhibit low energy density, which limits their commercialization. Herein, a titanium-bromine flow battery (TBFB) featuring very low operation cost and outstanding stability is reported. In this battery, a novel complexing agent, 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride, is employed to stabilize bromine/polybromides and suppress Br diffusion. The results reveal that the complexing agent effectively inhibits Br crossover and reduces Br-induced corrosivity, which in turn significantly improves the reliability of the TBFB system. The novel TBFB demonstrates 95% coulombic efficiency and 83% energy efficiency at 40 mA cm-2 current density. Moreover, it can run smoothly for more than 1000 cycles without any capacity decay. Furthermore, an assembled 300 W TBFB stack can be continuously operated for more than 500 cycles, thereby confirming the practical applicability of the proposed TBFB. Because the TBFB utilizes an ultralow-cost electrolyte (41.29 $ kWh-1 ) and porous polyolefin membranes, it serves as a reliable and low-cost energy-storage device. Therefore, considering its ultrahigh stability and low cost, the TBFB can be used as a large-scale energy-storage device.

MDCT assessment of resectability in hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the value of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) assessment of resectability in hilar cholangiocarcinoma, and to identify the factors associated with unresectability and accurate evaluation of resectability. METHODS: From January 2007 to June 2015, a total of 77 consecutive patients were included. All patients had preoperative MDCT (with MPR and MinIP) and surgical treatment, and were pathologically proven with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. The MDCT images were reviewed retrospectively by two senior radiologists and one hepatobiliary surgeon. The surgical findings and pathologic results were considered to be the gold standard. The Chi square test was used to identify factors associated with unresectability and accurate evaluation of resectability. RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy of MDCT assessment were 83.3 %, 75.9 %, and 80.5 %, respectively. The main causes of inaccuracy were incorrect evaluation of N2 lymph node metastasis (4/15) and distant metastasis (4/15). Bismuth type IV tumor, main or bilateral hepatic artery involvement, and main or bilateral portal vein involvement were highly associated with unresectability (P < 0.001). Patients without biliary drainage had higher accuracy of MDCT evaluation of resectability compared to those with biliary drainage (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: MDCT is reliable for preoperative assessment of resectability in hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Bismuth type IV tumor and main or bilateral vascular involvement highly suggest the unresectability of hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Patients without biliary drainage have a more accurate MDCT evaluation of resectability. We suggest MDCT should be performed before biliary drainage to achieve an accurate evaluation of resectability in hilar cholangiocarcinoma.