Optimizing Ophthalmology Patient Education via ChatBot-Generated Materials: Readability Analysis of AI-Generated Patient Education Materials and The American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Patient Brochures.

PURPOSE: This study aims to compare the readability of patient education materials (PEM) of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery to that of PEMs generated by the AI-chat bots ChatGPT and Google Bard. METHODS: PEMs on 16 common American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery topics were generated by 2 AI models, ChatGPT 4.0 and Google Bard, with and without a 6th-grade reading level prompt modifier. The PEMs were analyzed using 7 readability metrics: Flesch Reading Ease Score, Gunning Fog Index, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Coleman-Liau Index, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook Index Score, Automated Readability Index, and Linsear Write Readability Score. Each AI-generated PEM was compared with the equivalent American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery PEM. RESULTS: Across all readability indices, PEM generated by ChatGPT 4.0 consistently had the highest readability scores, indicating that the material generated by this AI chatbot may be most difficult to read in its unprompted form (Flesch Reading Ease Score: 36.5; Simple Measure of Gobbledygook: 14.7). Google's Bard was able to generate content that was easier to read than both the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and ChatGPT 4.0 (Flesch Reading Ease Score: 52.3; Simple Measure of Gobbledygook: 12.7). When prompted to produce PEM at a 6th-grade reading level, both ChatGPT 4.0 and Bard were able to significantly improve in their readability scores, with prompted ChatGPT 4.0 being able to consistently generate content that was easier to read (Flesch Reading Ease Score: 67.9, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook: 10.2). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that AI tools, when guided by appropriate prompts, can generate accessible and comprehensible PEMs in the field of ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgeries, balancing readability with the complexity of the necessary information.

Exogenous DNA Loading into Extracellular Vesicles via Electroporation is Size-Dependent and Enables Limited Gene Delivery.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) hold immense promise for utilization as biotherapeutics and drug delivery vehicles due to their nature as biological nanoparticles that facilitate intercellular molecular transport. Specifically, EVs have been identified as natural carriers of nucleic acids, sparking interest in their use for gene therapy and RNA interference applications. So far, small RNAs (siRNA and miRNA) have been successfully loaded into EVs for a variety of delivery applications, but the potential use of EVs for DNA delivery has scarcely been explored. Here, we report that exogenous linear DNA can be associated with EVs via electroporation in quantities sufficient to yield an average of hundreds of DNA molecules per vesicle. We determined that loading efficiency and capacity of DNA in EVs is dependent on DNA size, with linear DNA molecules less than 1000 bp in length being more efficiently associated with EVs compared to larger linear DNAs and plasmid DNAs using this approach. We further showed that EV size is also determinant with regard to DNA loading, as larger microvesicles encapsulated more linear and plasmid DNA than smaller, exosome-like EVs. Additionally, we confirmed the ability of EVs to transfer foreign DNA loaded via electroporation into recipient cells, although functional gene delivery was not observed. These results establish critical parameters that inform the potential use of EVs for gene therapy and, in agreement with other recent results, suggest that substantial barriers must be overcome to establish EVs as broadly applicable DNA delivery vehicles.

Emerging roles for extracellular vesicles in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs)-comprising a heterogeneous population of cell-derived lipid vesicles including exosomes, microvesicles, and others-have recently emerged as both mediators of intercellular information transfer in numerous biological systems and vehicles for drug delivery. In both roles, EVs have immense potential to impact tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. For example, the therapeutic effects of several progenitor and stem cell-based therapies have been attributed primarily to EVs secreted by these cells, and EVs have been recently reported to play direct roles in injury-induced tissue regeneration processes in multiple physiological systems. In addition, EVs have been utilized for targeted drug delivery in regenerative applications and possess unique potential to be harnessed as patient-derived drug delivery vehicles for personalized medicine. This review discusses EVs in the context of tissue repair and regeneration, including their utilization as drug carriers and their crucial role in cell-based therapies. Furthermore, the article highlights the growing need for bioengineers to understand, consider, and ultimately design and specifically control the activity of EVs to maximize the efficacy of tissue engineering and regenerative therapies.