Master of Science / Department of Animal Sciences and Industry / Michael E. Dikeman / Objectives were to determine the effects of needle-free (NF) versus needle (N) injection methods and/or solutions for enhancement of beef longissimus lumborum muscle (LM) on color, instrumental tenderness, sensory attributes, pump yields, and cooking losses. In experiment 1, LM (n=15) at 9 d postmortem were halved before random assignment to N or NF injection enhancement with a solution containing 2.2% salt, 4.4% sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), and 1.5% K lactate. Different steaks from each loin half were either placed on a 5 d color display, frozen for later sensory analysis, or aged until d 13 postmortem for LM slice shear force measurements. Pump yields tended (P=0.08) to be higher for NF injection. Needle injected steaks were darker (P<0.05) on day 1, but not after that. Discoloration was not different (P>0.05) between treatments. The NF treatment had greater (P<0.05) instrumental tenderness and intensity of off-flavors but less (P<0.05) cooking loss and beef flavor. In Experiment 2, LM (n=28) at 5 d postmortem were halved before random assignment to one of four treatments: 1) N, or 2) NF injection with a solution containing 2.2% salt, 4.4% STPP, 15% K lactate, and 0.58% rosemary; 3) N, or 4) NF injection with a solution containing 2.4% Ca lactate and 0.58% rosemary. Steaks from each loin half were either frozen for later sensory analysis or aged until d 14 postmortem for LM slice shear force measurements. Loins phosphate enhanced with the NF injector had the highest (P<0.05) pumped yields with no differences (P>0.05) among other treatment combinations. Instrumental tenderness was not different (P>0.05) between N and NF treatments but was higher with the phosphate solution than the Ca lactate solution. The NF treatment had lower (P<0.05) cooking losses when the phosphate solution was used, which resulted in less (P<0.05) cooking loss than the Ca lactate solution. More (P<0.05) off-flavors and abnormal texture resulted from NF injection. The phosphate solution resulted in greater (P<0.05) myofibrillar and overall tenderness, juiciness, off-flavors and abnormal texture with less (P<0.05) connective tissue than the Ca lactate solution. Enhancing beef LM with a phosphate solution and NF injection might improve yields, tenderness, and juiciness while harming texture and flavor.

Most robotic systems reported for MRI-guided prostate interventions use manual needle insertion, based on a previously acquired image, which requires withdrawing the patient from the scanner multiple times during the procedure. This makes the intervention longer, more expensive and elongating the discomfort to patient and, most importantly, less accurate due to the virtually inevitable motion of the target. As a remedy, automated needle placement methods were proposed, putting human supervision out of the control loop. This thesis presents the development of enabling technologies for human-operated in-room master-slave needle placement under real-time MRI guidance, while the patient is kept in the scanner and having the process of needle placement under continuos control of the physician. The feasibility of teleoperated needle insertion was demonstrated by developing a 1-DOF (degree of freedom) MRI-compatible master-slave system, which was integrated with a 4-DOF robot for transperineal prostate biopsy and brachytherapy. An accuracy study was conducted on a robotic system for MRI-guided prostate needle placement. Different error sources were identified and quantified. This study concluded that errors occurring during needle insertion have the most significant contribution to needle placement error. In order to compensate for these errors, teleoperated needle steering under real-time MRI guidance was proposed. A 2-DOF piezo-actuated MRI-compatible needle steering module was developed and integrated with the aforementioned 4-DOF transperineal robot, yielding a fully actuated 6-DOF (x, y, z, yaw, pitch, roll) robotic platform for MRI-guided prostate interventions. A novel MRI-compatible master robot was also developed to enable teleoperated needle steering inside the MRI room. MRI-compatible controller hardware and software were developed. A novel MRI-compatible force/torque sensor was devised using Fiber Bragg Grating for force measurement in MRI room. Phantom experiments proved the feasibility iii of teleoperated needle steering under real-time MRI guidance. A system was also developed for real-time 3D shape tracking of a bevel-tip needle with Fiber Bragg Grating sensors embedded along the needle shaft. The needle profile was overlaid on the real-time MR image, yielding real time navigation with accuracy better than 0.5 mm. The experimental system is presently being refitted for clinical safety and feasibility trials on real patients. / Thesis (Ph.D, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-05-30 12:26:18.732

Bakgrund: Stickrädsla förekommer i alla åldrar och uppskattningsvis lider minst 10 procent av befolkningen av det. För individen kan stickrädsla innebära stort obehag som kan leda till att en stickrädd person undviker hälso- och sjukvården och därmed riskerar att drabbas av ohälsa. Behoven hos en stickrädd person kan förbises inom hälso- och sjukvården på grund av bristande resurser och kompetens vilket kan leda till lidande. Syfte: Att belysa omvårdnadsåtgärder för vuxna personer med stickrädsla. Metod: En allmän litteraturstudie utfördes med en systematisk litteratursökning i databaserna Cinahl, PubMed och PsycINFO. Resultatet baserades på 12 vetenskapliga artiklar som granskades med avseende på vetenskaplig kvalitet och etik. Resultat: Resultatet mynnade ut i fem teman som belyser omvårdnadsåtgärder för stickrädda vuxna personer: ett empatiskt förhållningssätt, skapa distraktion, ge information och utbildning, anpassa rum och utrustning, ge farmakologisk och icke farmakologisk smärtlindring. Omvårdnadsåtgärderna lindrar lidande hos personer med stickrädsla när de utförs av kompetent hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal genom ett professionellt vårdande. Implikation: Genom dialog, utbildning och förändrade arbetsrutiner kan medvetenheten kring stickrädsla och lindrande omvårdnadsåtgärder ökas hos hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal och sjuksköterskestudenter. / Background: Needle fear occurs in all ages and an estimated minimum of 10 percent of the population suffers from it.For the individual, needle fear can involve great discomfort which can lead to that a person with needle fear avoids health care and therefore risks to become ill. The needs of a person with needle fear can be overlooked in health care due to lack of resources and competence which can lead to suffering. It is important to identify effective nursing interventions for health care personnel to alleviate the suffering of persons with needle fear. Aim: To illuminate nursing interventions for adults with needle fear. Methods: A literature review was conducted with a systematic litterature search in the databases Cinahl, PubMed and PsycINFO. The result was based on 12 scientific articles that were viewed regarding scientific quality and ethics. Results: The outcome resulted in five themes that illuminate nursing interventions for adult persons with needle fear: an empathic approach, create distraction, give information and education, adjust room and equipment, give pharmacological and non pharmacological pain relief. The nursing interventions alleviate suffering for persons with needle fear when performed by competent health care personnel through professional care. Implication: The awareness of needle fear and alleviating nursing interventions can be raised among health care professionals and nursing students through dialogue, education and altered working procedures.

Focal liver lesions are commonly encountered in clinical practice. To be able to differentiate potentially life-threatening lesions from clinically insignificant lesions, and to be able to treat them effectively are the two basic problems of a clinician who comes across such lesions. Percutaneous intervention of the liver with a needle enables a clinician to solve the above two problems in a minimally invasive manner. To date, there is a diversity of needle-related percutaneous interventional procedures that are applicable to the clinical management of patients with liver lesions, such as biopsy of focal lesions, drainage of abscesses, and ablation of tumors. Despite a reasonable safety and efficacy associated with these procedures, there are always grounds of further improvement in techniques and technology of needle-related percutaneous procedures to achieve an even better outcome. It was hypothesized that the application of needle-related interventional radiology to clinical management of focal liver lesions could be facilitated and extended with advancement and refinement in needle-related techniques and technology. This thesis was based on a series of nine studies that aimed to explore the potential of needle-related percutaneous interventions in the clinical management of focal liver lesions and to study the effect of the introduction of innovations in needle-related techniques and technology on such clinical applications. It was concluded that the hypothesis was confirmed. / Yu Chun Ho. / "April 2006." / Adviser: Anil Ahuja. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-08, Section: B, page: 5176. / Thesis (M.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-235). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / School code: 1307.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references ([399]-463). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

United States (U.S.) Navy sailors are exposed to a very large number of hazards, both chemical and physical. Occupational vibration from pneumatic air tools is one of the potential exposure hazards. There are very limited data as to the exposures to one type of tool, a needle gun or needle scaler, used by the sailors.The purpose of this study was to characterize the vibration levels generated by a needle gun used in the U.S. Navy. The design of the study evaluated the difference pressure had on the acceleration levels generated from the needle scaler. Five subjects were used in the evaluation of the tool. Each subject was required to hold the tool for twenty seconds activated without contact and activated on a surface and at two different pressures, 60 and 80 pound per square inch (psi). Each subject repeated each of the conditions three times for a total of 12 measurements. Each subject was also required to hold the tool in hand without the tool activated. The measurements were collected from an accelerometer on the needle gun following ISO 5349-1:2001 and ISO 5349-2:2001 methods. Significant differences were observed individually in pressure (p<0.0001), contact (p<0.0001)), and subjects (p<0.001). In addition, there was a significant interaction between contact and pressure (p<0.001). It was concluded that U.S. Navy sailors are not likely at significant risk to Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome for lifetime exposures to hand transmitted vibration.

Plastic hypodermic needles are a potential solution to the problem of disease spread through needle reuse. Plastics could be used to potentially reduce needle reuse as they are easier to destroy than steel. A key issue in their acceptance is the force required to penetrate a patient; a smaller force is associated with less pain. The effect that needle parameters have on the penetration force is studied in an effort to better understand how to reduce penetration forces and increase the success of penetrations for plastic needles. These parameters - geometry, tip radius, diameter, material, and lubricant - are studied through penetration, buckling, and coefficient of friction testing. The tests are conducted on steel needles, which serve as a control group, as well as two varieties of plastic needles. The outcome is a quantitative understanding of the effect that the various parameters have on penetration force, which is used to inform plastic needle design.

Introduktion: Uppsatsen är en systematisk litteraturstudie där författaren kritiskt granskar adekvata artiklar och annan aktuell litteratur, vilka beskriver Dupuytren´s kontraktur. Dupuytrens kontraktur är en fibroproliferativ sjukdom i palmar fascia och kännetecknas av en överdriven kollageninlagring. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka situationen för det kliniska arbetet samt forskning, hur man med den samlade kunskapen kan behandla Dupuytren´s kontraktur, vilka behandlings-metoder som har evidens idag samt vilken praxis som tillämpas inom området. Metod: En litteratursökning genomfördes i PubMed med sökord och kombination med Booleska sökoperationer för framtagning av relevanta artiklar, vilka faller inom ramen för uppsatta inklusionskriterier samt matchar syftet för uppsatsen. Resultat: Ingen behandling är överlägsen någon annan behandling och det finns en betydande och delad uppfattning om respektive metoder. Mindre invasiva tekniker, såsom perkutan nålfasciotomi samt injektionsbehandling med enzymet Kollagenas, är många gånger ett alternativ till kirurgi Slutsats: Hanteringen av en handkontraktur hos patienter med Dupuytrens sjukdom innebär fortfarande många utmaningar för handkirurger, trots framsteg inom medicinsk vetenskap och kirurgiska tekniker.

Legitimate and underground needle exchange programs, specifically targeted for intravenous drug users (IVDUs) (i.e., currently the second largest risk group in the AIDS epidemic), have emerged in various locales in a desperate attempt to change their drug use practices and behaviors associated with the transmission of HIV-1/AIDS. This study focuses on one such program, the Tacoma-Pierce County Needle Exchange Program, in which the pioneering efforts of a private individual are provided, the manifestations of public entrepreneurism are examined, and in which various attributes of program acceptance are identified and explored. An introductory and exploratory case study approach is the research strategy used in this dissertation, since it is adaptive and flexible to accommodate the use of multiple data sources. Data have been collected through semi-structured interviews involving four law enforcement personnel and 21 program clients (i.e., IVDUs), which consisted of open-and close-ended questions regarding program acceptance. Existing data sources, such as court documents, published interviews with key officials, journals, and various news articles provide an assessment of the events and activities that relate to the evolution and success of the Tacoma-Pierce County Needle Exchange Program. The attributes identified and explored in this study include: settings, type of staff, method of service delivery (including spillover effects), nature of the geographic area, concern over the effects of AIDS, external environmental conduits (the informal communication network and the media), and characteristics of program clients. These attributes were found to be important to program acceptance of the Tacoma-Pierce County Needle Exchange Program; however, they should be further examined in other communities to see if they remain important. To this extent, the findings indicated that needle exchange programs have complex characteristics attached to them, and that they deserve to be further studied to understand those complexities. Other benefits of the Tacoma-Pierce County Needle Exchange Program found to be important include: (1) fewer citizen complaints about the carelessly discarded, used syringes often found in gutters, parks, greenbelts, alleys, and streets; and (2) fewer reports of infections caused by accidental needle stick injuries among law enforcement personnel (which can occur when a law enforcement officer frisks a suspect), maintenance employees, and grounds-keepers. Overall, phenomenal savings can accrue from such unintentional and additional benefits of needle exchange programs. In light of this debilitating disease, and of the high cost associated with medical care, such innovative interventions are perceived worthy in the course of this deadly epidemic.