Search results for "optical"

Long-Term in vivo Evaluation of Orthotypical and Heterotypical Bioengineered Human Corneas.

2020

Purpose: Human cornea substitutes generated by tissue engineering currently require limbal stem cells for the generation of orthotypical epithelial cell cultures. We recently reported that bioengineered corneas can be fabricated in vitro from a heterotypical source obtained from Wharton’s jelly in the human umbilical cord (HWJSC). Methods: Here, we generated a partial thickness cornea model based on plastic compression nanostructured fibrin-agarose biomaterials with cornea epithelial cells on top, as an orthotypical model (HOC), or with HWJSC, as a heterotypical model (HHC), and determined their potential in vivo usefulness by implantation in an animal model. Results: No major side effects …

2021

Abstract Background Gastric inflammation is a major risk factor for gastric cancer. Current endoscopic methods are not able to efficiently detect and characterize gastric inflammation, leading to a sub-optimal patients’ care. New non-invasive methods are needed. Reflectance mucosal light analysis is of particular interest in this context. The aim of our study was to analyze reflectance light and specific autofluorescence signals, both in humans and in a mouse model of gastritis. Methods We recruited patients undergoing gastroendoscopic procedure during which reflectance was analysed with a multispectral camera. In parallel, the gastritis mouse model of Helicobacter pylori infection was used…

TGF-β Serum Levels in Diabetic Retinopathy Patients and the Role of Anti-VEGF Therapy.

2020

Transforming growth factor &beta

View images with unprecedented resolution in integral microscopy

2018

Integral microscopy is a novel technique that allows the simultaneous capture of multiple perspective images of microscopic samples. This feature is achieved at the cost of a significant reduction of the spatial resolution. In fact, it is assumed that in the best cases the resolution is reduced by a factor that is not smaller than ten, what poses a hard drawback to the utility of the technique. However, to the best of our knowledge, this resolution limitation has never been researched rigorously. For this reason, the aim of this paper is to explore the real limitations in resolution of integral microscopy and to obtain optically, without the need of any image-processing algorithm, perspecti…

Newly Digitized Database Reveals the Lives and Families of Forced Migrants from Finnish Karelia

2017

Studies on displaced persons often suffer from a lack of data on the long-term effects of forced migration. A register created during 1960s and published as a book series ‘Siirtokarjalaisten tie’ in 1970 documented the lives of individuals who fled the southern Karelian district of Finland after its first and second occupation by the Soviet Union in 1940 and 1944. To realize the potential value of these data for scientific research, we have recently scanned the register using optical character recognition (OCR) software, and developed proprietary computer code to extract these data. Here we outline the steps involved in the digitization process, and present an overview of the Migration Kare…

Progressive Characterization of Visual Phenotype in Bardet-Biedl Syndrome Mutant Mice

2019

Purpose Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is an archetypical ciliopathy caused by defective ciliary trafficking and consequent function. Insights gained from BBS mouse models are applicable to other syndromic and nonsyndromic retinal diseases. This progressive characterization of the visual phenotype in three BBS mouse models sets a baseline for testing therapeutic interventions. Methods Longitudinal acquisition of electroretinograms, optical coherence tomography scans, and visual acuity using the optomotor reflex in Bbs6/Mkks, Bbs8/Ttc8, and Bbs5 knockout mice. Gene and protein expression analysis in vivo and in vitro. Results Complete loss of BBS5, BBS6, or BBS8 leads to different rates of reti…

Clinical-Instrumental patterns of neurodegeneration in Essential Tremor: A data-driven approach

2021

Abstract Introduction Essential Tremor (ET) is increasingly recognized as a complex disorder with additional clinical signs other than tremor. It is still unknown whether a unique pathophysiologic or neurodegenerative process underlies progression and prognosis of the disease. The aim of the study was to identify ET phenotypes through a clinical-instrumental data-driven approach and to characterize possible patterns of neurodegeneration. Methods ET patients were categorized using spatio-temporal and kinematic variables related to mobility and dynamic stability processed by motion transducers. Differences between the identified groups in clinical-demographic variables, neuropsychological per…

Anti-erosive effect of calcium carbonate suspensions

2018

Background This study aimed to investigate the ability of different concentrations of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) suspensions to control enamel surface loss. Material and methods Seventy-five enamel slabs were embedded, ground and polished in a pneumatic grinder-polisher machine. Reference areas were created with UPVC tape and the specimens were randomly allocated into five groups (n = 15) for exposure to hydrochloric acid solution to simulate gastric juice (0.01 M, pH 2) for 2 minutes. The samples were then exposed to suspensions containing 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01 or 0.1 mmol/L CaCO3 for 1 minute. Artificial saliva was used as control. The samples were subjected to a total of five erosive cycles…

Fast Inertia-Free Volumetric Light-Sheet Microscope

2017

Fast noninvasive three-dimensional (3D) imag-ing is crucial for quantitatively studying highly dynamic events ranging from flow cytometry to developmental biology. Light-sheet microscopy has emerged as the tool-of-choice for 3D characterization of rapidly evolving systems. However, to obtain a 3D image, either the sample or parts of the microscope are moved, limiting the acquisition speed. Here, we propose a novel inertia-free light-sheet-based scheme for volumetric imaging at high temporal resolution. Our approach comprises a novel combination of an acousto-optic scanner to produce tailored illumination and an acoustic-optofluidic lens, placed in the detection path to provide extended dept…

Retinal Thickness and Microvascular Pattern in Early Parkinson's Disease.

2020

A thinning of intraretinal layers has been previously described in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients compared to healthy controls (HCs). Few studies evaluated the possible correlation between retinal thickness and retinal microvascularization. Thus, here we assessed the thickness of retinal layers and microvascular pattern in early PD patients and HCs, using, respectively, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and SD-OCT-angiography (SD-OCT-A), and more interestingly, we evaluated a possible correlation between retinal thickness and microvascular pattern. Patients fulfilling criteria for clinically established/clinically probable PD and HCs were enrolled. Exclusion criteria …