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Treatment of posttraumatic osteoarthritis of the radial column of the elbow joint remains a challenging yet common issue.
While partial joint replacement leads to high revision rates, radial head excision has shown to severely increase joint instability. Shortening osteotomy of the radius could be an option to decrease the contact pressure of the radiohumeral joint and thereby pain levels without causing valgus instability. Hence, the aim of this biomechanical study was to evaluate the effects of radial shortening on axial load distribution and valgus stability of the elbow joint.
Surgical reconstruction of the interosseous membrane (IOM) could restore longitudinal forearm stability to avoid persisting disability due to capituloradial and ulnocarpal impingement in Essex Lopresti lesions. This biomechanical study aimed to assess longitudinal forearm stability of intact specimens, after sectioning of the IOM and after reconstruction with a TightRope construct using either a single or double bundle technique.
Plate osteosynthesis of displaced proximal phalangeal neck fractures of the hand allows early mobilization due to a stable internal fixation. Nevertheless, joint stiffness—because of soft tissue irritation—represents a common complication leading to high complication rates. Del Pinal et al. recently reported promising clinical results for a new, minimally invasive fixation technique with a cannulated headless intramedullary compression screw. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare plate fixation of proximal phalangeal neck fractures to less two less invasive techniques: Crossed k-wire fixation and intramedullary screw fixation. We hypothesized that these fixation techniques provide inferior stability when compared to plate osteosynthesis.
Bonding of polymer-based microfluidics to polymer substrates still poses a challenge for Lab-On-a-Chip applications. Especially, when sensing elements are incorporated, patterned deposition of adhesives with curing at ambient conditions is required. Here, we demonstrate a fabrication method for fully printed microfluidic systems with sensing elements using inkjet and stereolithographic 3D-printing.
The enormous diversity of seed traits is an intriguing feature and critical for the overwhelming success of higher plants. In particular, seed mass is generally regarded to be key for seedling development but is mostly approximated by using scanning methods delivering only two-dimensional data, often termed seed size. However, three-dimensional traits, such as the volume or mass of single seeds, are very rarely determined in routine measurements. Here, we introduce a device named phenoSeeder, which enables the handling and phenotyping of individual seeds of very different sizes. The system consists of a pick-and-place robot and a modular setup of sensors that can be versatilely extended. Basic biometric traits detected for individual seeds are two-dimensional data from projections, three-dimensional data from volumetric measures, and mass, from which seed density is also calculated. Each seed is tracked by an identifier and, after phenotyping, can be planted, sorted, or individually stored for further evaluation or processing (e.g. in routine seed-to-plant tracking pipelines). By investigating seeds of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), rapeseed (Brassica napus), and barley (Hordeum vulgare), we observed that, even for apparently round-shaped seeds of rapeseed, correlations between the projected area and the mass of seeds were much weaker than between volume and mass. This indicates that simple projections may not deliver good proxies for seed mass. Although throughput is limited, we expect that automated seed phenotyping on a single-seed basis can contribute valuable information for applications in a wide range of wild or crop species, including seed classification, seed sorting, and assessment of seed quality.
The human arm consists of the humerus (upper arm), the medial ulna and the lateral radius (forearm). The joint between the humerus and the ulna is called humeroulnar joint and the joint between the humerus and the radius is called humeroradial joint. Lateral and medial collateral ligaments stabilize the elbow. Statistically, 2.5 out of 10,000 people suffer from radial head fractures [1]. In these fractures the cartilage is often affected. Caused by the injured cartilage, degenerative diseases like posttraumatic arthrosis may occur. The resulting pain and reduced range of motion have an impact on the patient’s quality of life. Until now, there has not been a treatment which allows typical loads in daily life activities and offers good long-term results. A new surgical approach was developed with the motivation to reduce the progress of the posttraumatic arthrosis. Here, the radius is shortened by 3 mm in the proximal part [2]. By this means, the load of the radius is intended to be reduced due to a load shift to the ulna. Since the radius is the most important stabilizer of the elbow it has to be confirmed that the stability is not affected. In the first test (Fig. 1 left), pressure distributions within the humeroulnar and humeroradial joints a native and a shortened radius were measured using resistive pressure sensors (I5076 and I5027, Tekscan, USA). The humerus was loaded axially in a tension testing machine (Z010, Zwick Roell, Germany) in 50 N steps up to 400 N. From the humerus the load is transmitted through both the radius and the ulna into the hand which is fixed on the ground. In the second test (Fig. 1 right), the joint stability was investigated using a digital image correlation system to measure the displacement of the ulna. Here, the humerus is fixed with a desired flexion angle and the unconstrained forearm lies on the ground. A rope connects the load actuator with a hook fixed in the ulna. A guide roller is used so that the rope pulls the ulna horizontally when a tensile load is applied. This creates a moment about the elbow joint with a maximum value of 7.5 Nm. Measurements were performed with varying flexion angles (0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, 120°). For both tests and each measurement, seven specimens were used. Student ́s t-test was employed to determine whether the mean values of the measurements in native specimen and operated specimens differ significantly.
Purpose
The most commonly used mobility assessments for screening risk of falls among older adults are rating scales such as the Tinetti performance oriented mobility assessment (POMA). However, its correlation with falls is not always predictable and disadvantages of the scale include difficulty to assess many of the items on a 3-point scale and poor specificity. The purpose of this study was to describe the ability of the new Aachen Mobility and Balance Index (AMBI) to discriminate between subjects with a fall history and subjects without such events in comparison to the Tinetti POMA Scale.
Methods
For this prospective cohort study, 24 participants in the study group and 10 in the control group were selected from a population of patients in our hospital who had met the stringent inclusion criteria. Both groups completed the Tinetti POMA Scale (gait and balance component) and the AMBI (tandem stance, tandem walk, ten-meter-walk-test, sit-to-stand with five repetitions, 360° turns, timed-up-and-go-test and measurement of the dominant hand grip strength). A history of falls and hospitalization in the past year were evaluated retrospectively. The relationships among the mobility tests were examined with Bland–Altmananalysis. Receiver-operated characteristics curves, sensitivity and specificity were calculated.
Results
The study showed a strong negative correlation between the AMBI (17 points max., highest fall risk) and Tinetti POMA Scale (28 points max., lowest fall risk; r = −0.78, p < 0.001) with an excellent discrimination between community-dwelling older people and a younger control group. However, there were no differences in any of the mobility and balance measurements between participants with and without a fall history with equal characteristics in test comparison (AMBI vs. Tinetti POMA Scale: AUC 0.570 vs. 0.598; p = 0.762). The Tinetti POMA Scale (cut-off <20 points) showed a sensitivity of 0.45 and a specificity of 0.69, the AMBI a sensitivity of 0.64 and a specificity of 0.46 (cut-off >5 points).
Conclusion
The AMBI comprises mobility and balance tasks with increasing difficulty as well as a measurement of the dominant hand-grip strength. Its ability to identify fallers was comparable to the Tinetti POMA Scale. However, both measurement sets showed shortcomings in discrimination between fallers and non-fallers based on a self-reported retrospective falls-status.