Objective: Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) can happen if the support tissues are weak or damaged, or if the pelvic floor muscles are weak and saggy. POP tends to be more likely after childbirth, menopause or overweight. Although it is better to prevent POP than try to fix it, there was little way to prevent except for the pelvic floor muscles training. Besides, this is an uncomfortable condition that affects one in three women, however, it is a hidden problem many people aren’t comfortable talking about. Thus, this study proposed a method to self-check with the vaginal endoscope which was made through a three-dimensional printing. Methods: The prototype design was divided into two parts: flexible material for inserting into and contacting with the wall of vagina, and rigid body for observing. While putting air in the material through the rigid body, the camera which was set to the tip of rigid body could observe the inside of vagina. The position and orientation of camera was measured with two sensors. The provided air pressure was possible to estimate the pressure inside of vagina. Results: The forced disturbance from the test bed which was made to confirm the effectiveness enabled us to perceive the position and degree of disturbance which was regarded as the early stage of prolapse. Discussion: It was discussed that the continuous observation through 3D-printing-based vaginal endoscope helped prevent POP because the low-cost design was possible to self-check anytime.
We have developed the point-of-care therapeutic drug monitoring kit based on Raman Spectroscopy of tear fluid. In this study, we were examined a soft substrate for an optimal lattice based on nanoimprint lithography using cyclo-olefin polymer to improve the sensitivity for measuring drug concentration in tear fluid. This is photonics crystal which is one of the nano-photonics based device was fabricated. Target is Sodium Phenobarbital which is an anticonvulsant agent. We show the effectiveness of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of tear fluid with soft substrate for point-of-care therapeutic drug monitoring.
The purpose of this study was to show the effectiveness of therapeutic drug level testing by Paper-based Surfaced Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (PSERS) for artificial lacrimal fluid. We have been used substrates which consist of a common filter paper and gold nano-rods. The targets were Phenobarbital (PB) which dissolved in artificial lacrimal fluid. We measured them using PSERS which the wavelength was 785nm, the power was 30mW. It was found that there were the strong peaks of PB at 997cm-1 and 1026cm-1 which corresponded with solid PB spectral peak for 1mM artificial lacrimal fluid. The results demonstrated the usefulness of this method. It is concluded that our method for therapeutic drug level testing is very efficient.
Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) contributes to safe and effective pharmacotherapy in clinical fields. A simple, rapid, low-cost, and minimally-invasive drug measurement method attracts much interest for point-of-care TDM. Tear fluids can be collected minimally-invasively compared to blood sampling and there is a correlation between a drug concentration in tears and that in bloods. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with paper-based substrate is useful for point-of-care TDM owing to inexpensiveness and high-sensitivity. Paper is also a safe tear collection tool. Then we are studying on a paper-based SERS of tear specimen for point-of-care TDM. In this paper, to improve sensitivity in measuring drug concentration in tear fluids, we fabricated a SERS substrate by coating gold nano-rods on a paper substrate and evaluated whether the fabricated substrate can enhance Raman scattering. Sodium phenobarbital (PB), an anti-convulsant agent, was used as a target. In experiment, the fabricated substrate indicated the lower detection limit of PB in a solution than a plain paper substrate. This result showed the potential of the paper based SERS substrate to measure drug concentration in tears simply and inexpensively.
We propose a quantitative evaluation method of skin barrier function using Optical Coherence Microscopy system
(OCM system) with coherency of near-infrared light. There are a lot of skin problems such as itching, irritation and so
on. It has been recognized skin problems are caused by impairment of skin barrier function, which prevents damage
from various external stimuli and loss of water. To evaluate skin barrier function, it is a common strategy that they
observe skin surface and ask patients about their skin condition. The methods are subjective judgements and they are
influenced by difference of experience of persons. Furthermore, microscopy has been used to observe inner structure of
the skin in detail, and in vitro measurements like microscopy requires tissue sampling. On the other hand, it is necessary
to assess objectively skin barrier function by quantitative evaluation method. In addition, non-invasive and nondestructive
measuring method and examination changes over time are needed. Therefore, in vivo measurements are
crucial for evaluating skin barrier function. In this study, we evaluate changes of stratum corneum structure which is
important for evaluating skin barrier function by comparing water-penetrated skin with normal skin using a system with
coherency of near-infrared light. Proposed method can obtain in vivo 3D images of inner structure of body tissue, which
is non-invasive and non-destructive measuring method. We formulate changes of skin ultrastructure after water
penetration. Finally, we evaluate the limit of performance of the OCM system in this work in order to discuss how to
improve the OCM system.
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