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Diagnostics, Volume 4, Issue 2 (June 2014) – 3 articles , Pages 27-93

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Review

190 KiB  
Review
Trends in Nanomaterial-Based Non-Invasive Diabetes Sensing Technologies
by Prashanth Makaram, Dawn Owens and Juan Aceros
Diagnostics 2014, 4(2), 27-46; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics4020027 - 21 Apr 2014
Cited by 124 | Viewed by 14365
Abstract
Blood glucose monitoring is considered the gold standard for diabetes diagnostics and self-monitoring. However, the underlying process is invasive and highly uncomfortable for patients. Furthermore, the process must be completed several times a day to successfully manage the disease, which greatly contributes to [...] Read more.
Blood glucose monitoring is considered the gold standard for diabetes diagnostics and self-monitoring. However, the underlying process is invasive and highly uncomfortable for patients. Furthermore, the process must be completed several times a day to successfully manage the disease, which greatly contributes to the massive need for non-invasive monitoring options. Human serums, such as saliva, sweat, breath, urine and tears, contain traces of glucose and are easily accessible. Therefore, they allow minimal to non-invasive glucose monitoring, making them attractive alternatives to blood measurements. Numerous developments regarding noninvasive glucose detection techniques have taken place over the years, but recently, they have gained recognition as viable alternatives, due to the advent of nanotechnology-based sensors. Such sensors are optimal for testing the amount of glucose in serums other than blood thanks to their enhanced sensitivity and selectivity ranges, in addition to their size and compatibility with electronic circuitry. These nanotechnology approaches are rapidly evolving, and new techniques are constantly emerging. Hence, this manuscript aims to review current and future nanomaterial-based technologies utilizing saliva, sweat, breath and tears as a diagnostic medium for diabetes monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue In Vitro Diagnostics)
231 KiB  
Review
Development of a Cancer Treatment with the Concomitant Use of Low-Intensity Ultrasound: Entering the Age of Simultaneous Diagnosis and Treatment
by Makoto Emoto
Diagnostics 2014, 4(2), 47-56; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics4020047 - 22 Apr 2014
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 7587
Abstract
In recent years, studies using ultrasound energy for cancer treatment have advanced, thus revealing the enhancement of drug effects by employing low-intensity ultrasound. Furthermore, anti-angiogenesis against tumors is now attracting attention as a new cancer treatment. Therefore, we focused on the biological effects [...] Read more.
In recent years, studies using ultrasound energy for cancer treatment have advanced, thus revealing the enhancement of drug effects by employing low-intensity ultrasound. Furthermore, anti-angiogenesis against tumors is now attracting attention as a new cancer treatment. Therefore, we focused on the biological effects and the enhancement of drug effects brought by this low-intensity ultrasound energy and reported on the efficacy against a uterine sarcoma model, by implementing the basic studies, for the first time, including the concomitant use of low-intensity ultrasound irradiation, as an expected new antiangiogenic therapy for cancer treatment. Furthermore, we have succeeded in simultaneously utilizing low-intensity ultrasound in both diagnosis and treatment, upon real time evaluation of the anti-tumor effects and anti-angiogenesis effects using color Doppler ultrasound imaging. Although the biological effects of ultrasound have not yet been completely clarified, transient stomas were formed (Sonoporation) in cancer cells irradiated by low-intensity ultrasound and it is believed that the penetration effect of drugs is enhanced due to the drug being more charged inside the cell through these stomas. Furthermore, it has become clear that the concomitant therapy of anti-angiogenesis drugs and low-intensity ultrasound blocks the angiogenic factor VEGF produced by cancer cells, inhibits the induction of circulating endothelial progenitor cells in the bone marrow, and expedites angiogenic inhibitor TSP-1. Based on research achievements in recent years, we predict that the current diagnostic device for color Doppler ultrasound imaging will be improved in the near future, bringing with it the arrival of an age of “low-intensity ultrasound treatment that simultaneously enables diagnosis and treatment of cancer in real time.” Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasound Imaging in Medicine)
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Review
Endoscopic Optical Coherence Tomography for Clinical Gastroenterology
by Tsung-Han Tsai, James G. Fujimoto and Hiroshi Mashimo
Diagnostics 2014, 4(2), 57-93; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics4020057 - 05 May 2014
Cited by 60 | Viewed by 11688
Abstract
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a real-time optical imaging technique that is similar in principle to ultrasonography, but employs light instead of sound waves and allows depth-resolved images with near-microscopic resolution. Endoscopic OCT allows the evaluation of broad-field and subsurface areas and can [...] Read more.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a real-time optical imaging technique that is similar in principle to ultrasonography, but employs light instead of sound waves and allows depth-resolved images with near-microscopic resolution. Endoscopic OCT allows the evaluation of broad-field and subsurface areas and can be used ancillary to standard endoscopy, narrow band imaging, chromoendoscopy, magnification endoscopy, and confocal endomicroscopy. This review article will provide an overview of the clinical utility of endoscopic OCT in the gastrointestinal tract and of recent achievements using state-of-the-art endoscopic 3D-OCT imaging systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Collection Hybrid Imaging in Medicine)
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