Development of an Al-load-cell-based wireless ringer's solution monitoring and alarm system: insight into vibrational error correction

In this study, we developed an aluminum-load-cell-based wireless Ringer's solution monitoring and alarm (WRMA) system. The Al load cell was designed with a rectangular shape, and the load was concentrated in the lower beam part of the load cell because of the anisotropic thickness. From the static analysis, we identifi ed the appropriate location for a Wheatstone bridge circuit consisting of four strain gauges. In addition, the modal and harmonic analyses showed that the vibrational frequencies of the hospital environment do not seriously interfere with the output voltage of the Al load cell. However, random vibrations generated by the movement of the WRMA system on various surfaces severely increase the standard deviation of the measured solution weight by ± 10 g or more. Such vibrational error is too large because the average weight of Ringer's solution is 30–40 g at the time of replacing Ringer's solution. Thus, this error could be confusing for nurses and result in mistakes in the timely replacement of the Ringer's solution. However, the standard deviation of the measured weight was dramatically reduced to ± 3 g or less by using the vibration correction algorithm developed in the present study.

Fully Implantable Deep Brain Stimulation System with Wireless Power Transmission for Long-term Use in Rodent Models of Parkinson's Disease

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study to develop new deep-brain stimulation system for long-term use in animals, in order to develop a variety of neural prostheses. METHODS: Our system has two distinguished features, which are the fully implanted system having wearable wireless power transfer and ability to change the parameter of stimulus parameter. It is useful for obtaining a variety of data from a long-term experiment. RESULTS: To validate our system, we performed pre-clinical test in Parkinson's disease-rat models for 4 weeks. Through the in vivo test, we observed the possibility of not only long-term implantation and stability, but also free movement of animals. We confirmed that the electrical stimulation neither caused any side effect nor damaged the electrodes. CONCLUSION: We proved possibility of our system to conduct the long-term pre-clinical test in variety of parameter, which is available for development of neural prostheses.

Treatment of spontaneous intracranial hypotension with multiple leakage sites of cerebrospinal fluid : A case report

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is an uncommon disease that's caused by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage and this disease is considered to be an important cause of persistent headache. It is characterized by a postural headache in patients who are without any history of dural puncture or trauma. Conservative management, including bed rest analgesics and intravenous fluid administration, are the first-line treatment of SIH, and an autologous epidural blood patch (EBP) is generally indicated for those who fail the conservative management. We report here on a case of SIH with confirmed CSF leakage at the cervical, thoracic and lumbar levels, and this was successfully managed with a single autologous EBP at the lumbar level. We believe that an EBP at the leakage site with the highest pressure level should be considered as a primary treatment for SIH with multiple sites of leakage.