Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health in compliance with the requirements for a Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic at Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 / Due to sustained partial neck flexion when operating a computer terminal for prolonged periods and by holding a stooped posture being proposed aetiologies for hypertonic posterior cervical muscles and subsequent mechanical neck pain, subjects for this research study were chosen according to their occupation and had to sit at a desk for more the three hours and less than eight hours a day. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with heat therapy as opposed to proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with cryotherapy in the treatment of mechanical neck pain caused by hypertonic posterior cervical muscles. This was a comparative, randomised, clinical trial consisting of two groups. Group A received proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) combined with heat therapy as their treatment protocol. Group B received proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with cryotherapy as their treatment protocol. Each group consisted of thirty people between the ages of 25 and 50 who were randomly allocated to their respective groups. It was hypothesized that the analgesic properties related to cryotherapy would result in the treatment group that received PNF stretching combined with cryotherapy yielding better results in terms of objective clinical findings. It was also hypothesized that the therapeutic effects of heat therapy would result in the treatment group receiving PNF stretching combined with heat therapy would yield better results in terms of subjective clinical findings and it is hypothesized that there is an association between the subjective and objective clinical findings between the cryotherapy and the heat therapy groups. The treatment regimen consisted of each participant receiving three treatments over a period of one week and then a one-week follow-up consultation. Subjective data monitored consisted of the Numerical Pain Rating Scale –101 (NRS-101) and the CMCC Neck Disability index. Objective data was collected using the Cervical Range of Motion goniometer (CROM) and the Algometer. At the end of all treatment protocols, statistical (quantitative) analysis was performed to determine whether one treatment protocol was more effective than the other. The analysis of the data collected showed that for all outcomes measured, either of the two treatments was effective overall. Trends suggested optimum treatments were dependent on the age of the patient. Age groups of 46-50 years old, 41-45 years old and the 31-35 years old responded best and improved the most with heat intervention, while age group of 36-40 years old responded best to the cryotherapy intervention. For the youngest age group of 25-30 years old, it did not make a difference whether they received heat therapy or cryotherapy as an intervention. It would seem that the older the patient the more effective the application of heat therapy as a result of the effect of heat therapy on the collagen and elastin fibers within the muscle and its fascia which allowed for increased and sustained improvement of the majority of the age groups represented in this study. Conversely it would seem that the cryotherapy group had only immediate and unsustained effects in the long term, which suggests that the cryotherapy had only a pain relieving function that allowed for the improvement of patients in the study, which when removed resulted in regression to the initial clinical syndrome severity. Most of the outcomes did not show a statistically significant interaction between time, age group and treatment group. The study was underpowered at the age group level, with only 12 subjects per age group. Further studies with a larger sample size in each of the age groups are needed in order to determine whether age is a definitive factor in one treatment being preferred over the other.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / Background: Myofascial Pain Syndrome is a condition characterized by the development of hyperirritable foci in muscle. Treatments include modalities such as cryotherapy, electrotherapy, ultrasound, ischeamic compression and dry-needling, the latter of which is reported to be the most effective. A side-effect of dry-needling is post-needling soreness which results from bleeding in the area of needle insertion. The application of heat as a therapy to an injured area has been reported to decrease pain by blocking nociceptors, decreasing muscle spasm, and increasing connective tissue extensibility. Objectives: To determine the relative effectiveness of heat therapy immediately after dry-needling versus dry-needling alone on post-needling soreness in the deltoid muscle of asymptomatic subjects. This was done in terms of subjective and objective clinical findings. Methodology: This study was designed as a randomised, parallel-controlled clinicaltrial. Thirty asymptomatic subjects were used. Each subject acted as their own control in that both the left and right arms of each subject were dry-needled. One of the arms received heat therapy after the dry-needling procedure while the other arm acted as a control. Algometer readings, a Numerical Pain Rating Scale-101 (NRS- 101) and a 24 Hour Pain Diary were used as assessment tools. Algometer and NRS-101 readings were taken before and after the dry-needling procedure and during the 24 hour follow up visit. Subjects used a 24 hour pain diary which was filled out at 3 hour intervals, to record the development of post-needling soreness. Independent samples t-test and Pearson’s chi square test were used to compare age and gender between the treatment groups. Repeated measures ANOVA testing was used to compare the effect of heat treatment with no heat treatment in the 60 arms over the three time periods of assessment for the outcomes which were 4 5 measured as continuous variables (NRS-101 and algometer). For binary outcomes such as the presence or absence of pain at any time point, Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare the heat treated with the control arms in the left and right arms separately. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Both the objective and subjective measurements from the heat intervention and control groups revealed the development of post-needling soreness. There was a slight trend of heat therapy decreasing post-needling soreness in terms of subjective (NRS-101 and pain diary) and objective (algometer) findings which was however, not found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Although the results of the study revealed no statistical evidence of a beneficial effect of heat therapy on objective or subjective findings clinical significance could not be excluded due to the observed trend of heat therapy decreasing post-needling soreness in terms of subjective (NRS-101 and pain diary) and objective (algometer) findings. Further investigation is recommended.

During hyperthermia therapy it is desirable to know the entire temperature field in the treatment region. Tikhonov regularization of order zero has been implemented. The accuracy of the estimates depends upon the value of regularization parameter, which has an optimal value that is dependent on the perfusion pattern and magnitude. The transient power-off time sampling length (i.e. the amount of transient data used) influences the accuracy of the estimates, and an optimal sampling length exists. The effects of additive noise are investigated, as are the effects of the initial guess of the perfusion values, and the effect of both symmetric and asymmetric blood perfusion patterns. The asymmetric patterns with noisy data are the most difficult cases to evaluate. The cases studied are not a comprehensive set, but a representative set whose results continue to show the feasibility of using state and parameter estimation methods to reconstruct the entire temperature field. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

Goal of this master thesis is describe effect of ferrite nanopartickles FeSi and FeH on the thermal exposure of biological tissue phantom by microwave Thermotherapy. Blank samples and the samples with increased concentration nanopartickles FeSi and FeH were prepared. Exposition was performed by open cavity resonator with 2, 45 GHz generator. Temperature profiles were taken by thermocamera Flir P25. Results of both types of samples were compared and were statistically interpreted. Agar samples with nanopartickles FeSi and FeH show higher increase of temperature, than blank samples. The differences are not statistically significant. Keywords: Microwave thermotherapy, nanopartickles

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2001Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:41:02Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 gobbo_cam_dr_botfm.pdf: 2237852 bytes, checksum: 36f747b0a3fe9bd7241127f2671ab158 (MD5) / Nos últimos anos, foram desenvolvidas diversas modalidades alternativas para o tratamento da HPB. Entre elas, incluem-se terapêuticas medicamentosas e aquelas que se convencionou denominar de minimamente invasivas. Estas últimas fundamentam-se na aplicação de calor (hipertermia e termoterapia), de laser, de radiofreqüência, de ultrasom, na dilatação uretral com balões, na colocação de endopróteses uretrais e na incisão transuretral da próstata. Entre os métodos que utilizam o calor para tratamento da HPB, encontra-se a termoterapia induzida pela água ou WIT (water induced thermotherapy). Com o objetivo de se estudar os efeitos do calor sobre a próstata, foi realizado este trabalho experimental, que utilizou o equipamento ThermoflexTM (Argomed Ltda.), o qual, de modo controlado, produz aquecimento da água que circula de um reservatório até a extremidade de uma sonda tipo Foley, onde existe um balão insuflável termotransmissor, que deve ser posicionado na uretra prostática. Utilizou-se, no experimento, 27 cães, sem raça definida, com peso variando de 11,5 a 32,0kg, distribuídos em três subgrupos controles (n=9) e três experimentais (n=18). Os animais foram sacrificados 12, 72 horas e duas semanas (momentos M1, M2 e M3) após o procedimento. Nessa ocasião, as próstatas foram removidas e seus volumes foram aferidos por gravimetria, volume de água deslocado em bureta, peso do volume de água deslocado e, indiretamente, pelas medidas dos eixos cranio-caudal, dorsoventral e latero-lateral, com um paquímetro. Durante todo o período de experimentação, foram realizados exames ultra-sonográficos... / Over the past years, several alternative treatments for Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) have been developed including drug therapies and the so called “minimally invasive” therapies. These latter are based on the application of heat (hyperthermia and thermotherapy), laser, radiofrequency, ultrasound; balloon urethral dilation; placement of urethral endoprotheses and transurethral incision of the prostate. One of the methods that use heat to treat BPH is water-induced thermotherapy (WIT). The present experimental work was undertaken with the purpose of studying the effects of heat on the prostate using ThermoflexTM (Argomed Ltda.), a device that heats the water that circulates from a reservoir to the tip of a Foley-like catheter, which has an inflatable thermotransmitting balloon that is placed in the prostatic urethra. Twenty-seven mongrel dogs, weighing 11.5-32.0 kg, were divided into three control (N=9) and three experimental (N=18) subgroups. The animals were sacrificed 12 hrs., 72 hrs. and two weeks (moments M1, M2 and M3, respectively) after heat application. Their prostates were removed and prostatic volume was estimated by gravimetry, the amount of water displaced from a burette, weight of the displaced water volume and, indirectly, by measuring the cranio-caudal, dorso-ventral and latero-lateral axes with a pachymeter. Throughout the experiment, transabdominal ultrasonographic examinations were performed to determine prostatic volume, considering prostatic shape... (Complete abstract click electronic address below)

Not available / text

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health in compliance with the requirements for a Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic at Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 / Due to sustained partial neck flexion when operating a computer terminal for prolonged periods and by holding a stooped posture being proposed aetiologies for hypertonic posterior cervical muscles and subsequent mechanical neck pain, subjects for this research study were chosen according to their occupation and had to sit at a desk for more the three hours and less than eight hours a day. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with heat therapy as opposed to proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with cryotherapy in the treatment of mechanical neck pain caused by hypertonic posterior cervical muscles. This was a comparative, randomised, clinical trial consisting of two groups. Group A received proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) combined with heat therapy as their treatment protocol. Group B received proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with cryotherapy as their treatment protocol. Each group consisted of thirty people between the ages of 25 and 50 who were randomly allocated to their respective groups. It was hypothesized that the analgesic properties related to cryotherapy would result in the treatment group that received PNF stretching combined with cryotherapy yielding better results in terms of objective clinical findings. It was also hypothesized that the therapeutic effects of heat therapy would result in the treatment group receiving PNF stretching combined with heat therapy would yield better results in terms of subjective clinical findings and it is hypothesized that there is an association between the subjective and objective clinical findings between the cryotherapy and the heat therapy groups. The treatment regimen consisted of each participant receiving three treatments over a period of one week and then a one-week follow-up consultation. Subjective data monitored consisted of the Numerical Pain Rating Scale –101 (NRS-101) and the CMCC Neck Disability index. Objective data was collected using the Cervical Range of Motion goniometer (CROM) and the Algometer. At the end of all treatment protocols, statistical (quantitative) analysis was performed to determine whether one treatment protocol was more effective than the other. The analysis of the data collected showed that for all outcomes measured, either of the two treatments was effective overall. Trends suggested optimum treatments were dependent on the age of the patient. Age groups of 46-50 years old, 41-45 years old and the 31-35 years old responded best and improved the most with heat intervention, while age group of 36-40 years old responded best to the cryotherapy intervention. For the youngest age group of 25-30 years old, it did not make a difference whether they received heat therapy or cryotherapy as an intervention. It would seem that the older the patient the more effective the application of heat therapy as a result of the effect of heat therapy on the collagen and elastin fibers within the muscle and its fascia which allowed for increased and sustained improvement of the majority of the age groups represented in this study. Conversely it would seem that the cryotherapy group had only immediate and unsustained effects in the long term, which suggests that the cryotherapy had only a pain relieving function that allowed for the improvement of patients in the study, which when removed resulted in regression to the initial clinical syndrome severity. Most of the outcomes did not show a statistically significant interaction between time, age group and treatment group. The study was underpowered at the age group level, with only 12 subjects per age group. Further studies with a larger sample size in each of the age groups are needed in order to determine whether age is a definitive factor in one treatment being preferred over the other.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Thomas W. Kaminski, Dept. of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.