Objective To investigate the accuracy of split three-dimensional (3D) printing patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) in medial open-wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO) and its effectiveness in treating medial knee osteoarthritis.MethodsClinical data of 14 patients with medial knee osteoarthritis and treated with split 3D printing PSI-assisted MOWHTO between August 2019 and August 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 5 males and 9 females with an average age of 61 years (range, 43-68 years). The disease duration ranged from 1 to 16 years, with an average of 4.7 years. Preoperative Kellgren-Lawrence grading of knee osteoarthritis included grade Ⅰ in 2 cases, grade Ⅱ in 6 cases, and grade Ⅲ in 6 cases. The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) score was 59.1±4.9. The weight bearing line ratio (WBL), hip-knee-ankle angle (HKA), medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA), posterior tibial slope angle (PTSA), and actual correction angle of the lower limbs were measured on postoperative imaging data, and compared with the preoperative measurements and the designed target values to evaluate the accuracy of the PSI-assisted surgery. The patients’ knee function were evaluated with the HSS score at 3 and 6 months postoperatively, and at last follow-up.ResultsOne patient suffered from an incision exudation at 2 weeks postoperatively, and the incision healed after symptomatic treatment. The incisions of other patients healed by first intention. All patients were followed up 7-19 months (mean, 14.8 months). There was no neural injuries, hinge fracture, plate or screw fractures, loosening, or other complications. The WBL was maintained at the postoperative level according to the X-ray examination during the follow-up period. The WBL, HKA, MPTA, and PTSA were all within a satisfactory range after operation. The WBL, HKA, and MPTA were significantly improved when compared with the preoperative measurements (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between preoperative and postoperative PTSA (P>0.05). The differences in postoperative WBL, HKA, MPTA, and correction angle compared with the preoperative designed target values were not significant (P>0.05). The HSS scores were 69.2±4.7, 77.7±4.3, and 88.1±5.4 at 3 and 6 months postoperatively, and last follow-up, respectively. The differences between time points were significant (P<0.05).ConclusionFor patients with medial knee osteoarthritis, the split 3D printing PSI can assist the surgeon in MOWHTO with accurate osteotomy orthopedics and achieve favorable effectiveness.
ObjectiveTo study the method of rapid and accurate measurement of body temperature in dense population during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.MethodsFrom January 27th to February 8th, 2020, subjects were respectively measured with two kinds of non-contact infrared thermometers (blue thermometer and red one) to measure the temperature of forehead, neck, and inner side of forearm under the conditions of 4–6℃ (n=152), 7–10℃ (n=103), and 11–25℃ (n=209), while the temperature of axillary was measured with mercury thermometer under the same conditions. Taking the mercury thermometer temperature as the gold standard, the measurement results with non-contact infrared thermometers were compared.ResultsAt 7–10℃, there was no statistical difference among the forehead temperatures measured by the two non-contact infrared thermometers and the axillary temperature (P>0.05); there was no difference among the temperature measured by blue thermometer on forehead, neck, and inner side of forearm (P>0.05); no difference was found between the temperature measured by the red thermometer on forehead and inner side of forearm (P>0.05), while there was statistical difference between the temperatures measured by the red thermometer on forehead and neck (P<0.05). Under the environment of 11−25℃, there was no statistical difference among the forehead temperatures measured by the two infrared thermometers and the axillary temperature (P>0.05); the difference between the temperatures of forehead and inner side of forearm measured by the blue thermometer was statistically significant (P<0.05), while no difference appeared between the forehead and neck temperatures measured by the blue thermometer (P>0.05); there was no statistical difference among the temperatures of three body regions mentioned above measured by the red thermometer (P>0.05). According to the manual, the allowable fluctuation range of the blue thermometer was 0.3℃, and that of the red one was 0.2℃. The mean differences in measured values between different measured sites of the two products were within the allowable fluctuation range. Therefore, the differences had no clinical significance in the environment of 7–25℃. Under the environment of 4–6℃, the detection rate of blue thermometer was 2.2% and that of the red one was 19.1%.ConclusionsThere is no clinical difference between the temperature measured by mercury thermometer and the temperature measured by temperature guns at 7–10 or 11–25℃, so temperature guns can be widely used. In order to maintain the maximum distance between the measuring and the measured persons and reduce the infection risk, it is recommended to choose the inner forearm for temperature measurement. Under the environment of ambient temperature 4–6℃, the detection rate of non-contact electronic temperature gun is low, requiring taking thermal measures for the instrument.
The QUADAS-2, QUIPS, and PROBAST tools are not specific for prognostic accuracy studies and the use of these tools to assess the risk of bias in prognostic accuracy studies is prone to bias. Therefore, QUAPAS, a risk of bias assessment tool for prognostic accuracy studies, has recently been developed. The tool combines QUADAS-2, QUIPS, and PROBAST, and consists of 5 domains, 18 signaling questions, 5 risk of bias questions, and 4 applicability questions. This paper will introduce the content and usage of QUAPAS to provide inspiration and references for domestic researchers.
This paper proposes algorithm in predicting the RNA secondary structure that combines several sequence comparisons, searches the eigenvalue for subsequence division with dynamic programing, utilizing the minimum free energy method. Moreover, the paper assesses the results derived from this new algorithm based on base-pairs distance, climbing distance and morphology distance. The paper also compares the assessment result and the prediction results of different prediction tools, and analyzes the advantages of the new method and its improvement direction.
The comparative diagnostic test accuracy (CDTA) study is an important part of diagnostic test accuracy, which aims to compare the accuracy of two or more index tests in the same study. With the development of CDTA studies and the methodology of systematic reviews, the number of CDTA systematic reviews has grown year by year and has provided evidence to support clinical decision-making. Compared with systematic review of single diagnostic test accuracy, the CDTA systematic review has its own unique features, especially in data extraction, risk of bias, and statistical analysis. This paper introduced the steps and precautions for writing a CDTA systematic review to provide references for CDTA systematic reviewers.
Previous methods of grading evidence for systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy have generally focused on assessing the certainty (quality) of evidence at the level of diagnostic indicators. When the question is not limited to follow the diagnostic test accuracy results themselves, the grading results may be inaccurate due to the lack of consideration of the downstream effects of the test accuracy in specific settings. To address these challenges, the GRADE working group conducted a series of studies focused on updating methods to explore or simulate important downstream effects of diagnostic test accuracy outcomes within a contextual framework. This paper aimed to introduce advances in the contextual framework of the GRADE approach to rate the certainty of evidence from systematic reviews of single diagnostic test accuracy.
ObjectiveTo explore the short-term effectiveness of Mako robot-assisted total hip arthroplasty (THA) via posterolateral approach.MethodsThe clinical data of 64 patients (74 hips) treated with Mako robot-assisted THA via posterolateral approach (robot group) between May 2020 and March 2021 were retrospectively analyzed and compared with the clinical data of 52 patients (55 hips) treated with traditional THA via posterolateral approach (control group) in the same period. There was no significant difference in general data such as gender, age, side, body mass index, disease type, and preoperative Harris score between the two groups (P>0.05). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and complications were recorded and compared between the two groups. Acetabular inclination angle, acetabular anteversion angle, and lower limbs discrepancy were measured after operation. At last follow-up, the improvement of hip pain and function was evaluated by visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Harris score, and forgetting joint score (FJS-12).ResultsIn the robot group, 3 patients (including 1 patient with acetabular fracture during operation) were converted to routine THA because the pelvic data array placed at the anterior superior iliac spine was loose, resulting in data error and unable to register the acetabulum; the other patients in the two groups completed the operation successfully. The operation time and intraoperative blood loss in the robot group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). All patients were followed up 1-10 months, with an average of 4.6 months. In the robot group, 1 patient with ankylosing spondylitis had acetabular prosthesis loosening at 2 days after operation, underwent surgical revision, and 10 patients had lower limb intermuscular vein thrombosis; in the control group, 1 patient had left hip dislocation and 5 patients had lower extremity intermuscular vein thrombosis; there was no complication such as sciatic nerve injury, incision exudation, and periprosthetic infection in both groups. There was no significant difference in the incidence of complications between the robot group and the control group (17.2% vs.11.5%) (χ2=0.732, P=0.392). At last follow-up, the acetabular anteversion angle and FJS-12 score in the robot group were was significantly greater than those in the control group, and the lower limbs discrepancy was significantly less than that in the control group (P<0.05); there was no significant difference in acetabular inclination angle and VAS score between the two groups (P>0.05). The Harris scores of the two groups were significantly improved when compared with those before operation (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the difference of pre- and post-operative score between the two groups (t=1.632, P=0.119).ConclusionCompared with traditional surgery, Mako robot-assisted THA can optimize the accuracy and safety of acetabular cup implantation, reduce the length difference of the lower limbs, and has a certain learning curve. Its long-term effectiveness needs further research to confirm.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the diagnostic value of T-SPOT.TB and QuantiFERON-TB (QFT-GIT/QFT-Plus) in active tuberculosis (ATB). MethodsThe PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data, and CBM databases were electronically searched to collect diagnostic accuracy studies comparing QFT-GIT/QFT-Plus and T-SPOT.TB for diagnosing ATB from inception to February 8, 2022. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies, then, meta-analysis was performed by using Stata 16.0 software. ResultsA total of 20 studies were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the pooled sensitivity of T-SPOT.TB and QFT-GIT were 0.89 (95%CI 0.85 to 0.92) and 0.84 (95%CI 0.79 to 0.89), the pooled specificity were 0.85 (95%CI 0.68 to 0.93) and 0.86 (95%CI 0.72 to 0.94), the area under the curve (AUC) of summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) were 0.93 (95%CI 0.84 to 0.97) and 0.90 (95%CI 0.56 to 0.99), respectively. The pooled sensitivity of T-SPOT.TB and QFT-Plus were 0.93 (95%CI 0.81 to 0.97) and 0.93 (95%CI 0.89 to 0.96), specificity were 0.99 (95%CI 0.39 to 1.00) and 0.94 (95%CI 0.67 to 0.99), the AUC of SROC were 0.99 (95%CI 0.67 to 1.00) and 0.98 (95%CI 0.65 to 1.00), respectively. ConclusionBoth T-SPOT.TB and QFT have high diagnostic accuracy for ATB, and the diagnostic sensitivity of T-SPOT.TB is better than QFT-GIT. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
This paper presents the preliminary design of data acquisition system of a portable uroflowmeter. The system uses double-hole cantilever pressure sensor. The signal is transferred to ATmega644PA microprogrammed control unit (MCU), converted by A/D (analog to digital) convertor. Then the further data are processed and get the corresponding relationship of weight-time and two curves of urine flow and urinary flow rate. In the measurement accuracy of the device about urine flow, two factors about the placement and height of the data acquisition are analyzed to show the accuracy of the equipment through the Origin 8.0 data analysis software. The design is characterized by low cost and high speed of data collection, real-time, high accuracy.
The standards for reporting of diagnostic accuracy (STARD) was developed for guiding the reporting of diagnostic accuracy studies. Its newest version was published in 2015. The study mainly introduced the checklist, terminology, and diagram of the STARD 2015. It is hoped that domestic researchers could use the STARD 2015 to guide the implementation and reporting of their diagnostic accuracy studies, so as to improve the reporting quality of diagnostic accuracy studies.