Miniature Transducer for Chordal Force Measurements In Vivo

Author(s):  
J. B. Askov ◽  
M. O. Jensen ◽  
J. L. Hoenge ◽  
H. Nygaard ◽  
J. M. Hasenkam ◽  
...  

The objective of this study was to develop a miniature force transducer capable of measuring tension in chordae tendineae (CT). The force transducer should be small in size compared with former CT force transducers [1;2] while not compromising implantation, durability and sensitivity.

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Lundgren ◽  
Py Owman-Moll ◽  
Jüri Kurol ◽  
Birgit Mårtensson

This study was designed to test the accuracy of measurement methods for assessment of force and tooth movement in orthodontic procedures. Daily in vivo measurements of the force produced by activated archwires showed that the initial force declined substantially (by 20 per cent of mean value) within 3 days. Both the ‘trueness’ (validity) and precision of the force measurements, obtained with a strain gauge, were found to be high (SD values were 1·0 cN and 0·4 cN, respectively). Horizontal tooth movements were measured with three different instruments: a slide calliper, a co-ordinate measuring machine, and laser measuring equipment based on holograms. There was a good level of agreement between these methods. This was also confirmed by calibration data. The precision of the methods was (SD values) 0·06, 0·07, and 0·13 mm, respectively. The benefits of the use of the co-ordinate measuring machine are obvious, since it can measure tooth movements in relation to reference planes in all directions.


2011 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Becerra ◽  
Alejandra Echeverría ◽  
Aldo Iván Vassallo ◽  
Adrià Casinos

The Talas tuco-tuco ( Ctenomys talarum Thomas, 1898) is a South American subterranean rodent that digs using both forelimbs and incisors, the latter being used when animals face hard soils and fibrous roots. In this rodent, the incisors are also used during intermale competition for mates. Bite forces were measured on wild females (n = 21) and males (n = 21) (both adult and young individuals) using a force transducer. Bite force was significantly higher in adult males than in females (32 vs. 27 N, respectively). Bite forces calculated on the physiological cross-section of jaw adductor muscles in dissected specimens were slightly higher than in vivo measurements. Regressions against body mass showed that bite force scaled with positive allometry, with slopes of 0.89 (females) and 0.99 (males). No significant differences were observed, neither in the slope nor in the y intercept of both sexes’ equations; therefore intersexual differences in bite forces observed in adults should mainly be due to size dimorphism. Considering that soil hardness of C. talarum’s typical habitat averages 100 N/cm2, and taking into account incisor’s cross-section, it was assessed that the pressure exerted by jaw adductor muscles at the incisors level is three times higher than that required for soil penetration.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (22) ◽  
pp. 12132
Author(s):  
Francesco Nappi ◽  
Adelaide Iervolino ◽  
Sanjeet Singh Avtaar Singh ◽  
Massimo Chello

miRNAs have recently attracted investigators’ interest as regulators of valvular diseases pathogenesis, diagnostic biomarkers, and therapeutical targets. Evidence from in-vivo and in-vitro studies demonstrated stimulatory or inhibitory roles in mitral valve prolapse development, aortic leaflet fusion, and calcification pathways, specifically osteoblastic differentiation and transcription factors modulation. Tissue expression assessment and comparison between physiological and pathological phenotypes of different disease entities, including mitral valve prolapse and mitral chordae tendineae rupture, emerged as the best strategies to address miRNAs over or under-representation and thus, their impact on pathogeneses. In this review, we discuss the fundamental intra- and intercellular signals regulated by miRNAs leading to defects in mitral and aortic valves, congenital heart diseases, and the possible therapeutic strategies targeting them. These miRNAs inhibitors are comprised of antisense oligonucleotides and sponge vectors. The miRNA mimics, miRNA expression vectors, and small molecules are instead possible practical strategies to increase specific miRNA activity. Advantages and technical limitations of these new drugs, including instability and complex pharmacokinetics, are also presented. Novel delivery strategies, such as nanoparticles and liposomes, are described to improve knowledge on future personalized treatment directions.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Harlepp ◽  
Fabrice Thalmann ◽  
Gautier Follain ◽  
Jacky G. Goetz

AbstractForce sensing and generation at the tissular and cellular scale is central to many biological events. There is a growing interest in modern cell biology for methods enabling force measurements in vivo. Optical trapping allows non-invasive probing of pico-Newton forces and thus emerged as a promising mean for assessing biomechanics in vivo. Nevertheless, the main obstacles rely in the accurate determination of the trap stiffness in heterogeneous living organisms, at any position where the trap is used. A proper calibration of the trap stiffness is thus required for performing accurate and reliable force measurements in vivo. Here, we introduce a method that overcomes these difficulties by accurately measuring hemodynamic profiles in order to calibrate the trap stiffness. Doing so, and using numerical methods to assess the accuracy of the experimental data, we measured flow profiles and drag forces imposed to trapped red blood cells of living zebrafish embryos. Using treatments enabling blood flow tuning, we demonstrated that such method is powerful in measuring hemodynamic forces in vivo with accuracy and confidence. Altogether, this study demonstrates the power of optical tweezing in measuring low range hemodynamic forces in vivo and offers an unprecedented tool in both cell and developmental biology.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anirban Das ◽  
Anju Yadav ◽  
Mona Gupta ◽  
R Purushotham ◽  
Vishram L. Terse ◽  
...  

AbstractProtein folding can go wrong in vivo and in vitro, with significant consequences for the living cell and the pharmaceutical industry, respectively. Here we propose a general design principle for constructing small peptide-based protein-specific folding modifiers. We construct a ‘xenonucleus’, which is a pre-folded peptide that resembles the folding nucleus of a protein, and demonstrate its activity on the folding of ubiquitin. Using stopped-flow kinetics, NMR spectroscopy, Förster Resonance Energy transfer, single-molecule force measurements, and molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the ubiquitin xenonucleus can act as an effective decoy for the native folding nucleus. It can make the refolding faster by 33 ± 5% at 3 M GdnHCl. In principle, our approach provides a general method for constructing specific, genetically encodable, folding modifiers for any protein which has a well-defined contiguous folding nucleus.


2001 ◽  
Vol 281 (2) ◽  
pp. R511-R518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie H. Cieslar ◽  
Geoffrey P. Dobson

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the products of ATP hydrolysis on the fatigue process in rat gastrocnemius in vivo. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (300–400 g) were anesthetized and ventilated in a custom-built cradle fitted with a force transducer that could be placed into a 7-T NMR magnet. The muscle was stimulated continuously at 2 Hz for 20 min ( n = 7). Isometric twitch force increased in the first 4 min of stimulation accompanied by changes in twitch duration (20% increase in relaxation time). Prolonged relaxation was associated with changes in cytosolic pH (6.91 to 6.58), lactate (1.8 to 12.6 μmol/g wet wt), and H2PO[Formula: see text] (7.57 to 13.99 mM). After 4 min, relaxation time, pH, lactate, and H2PO[Formula: see text] returned toward control values as twitch force progressively decreased. No correlation was found between force decline (or twitch broadening) and total phosphate (3 to 23 mM), free [ADP] (18 to 95 μM), free [Mg2+] (0.58 to 0.96 mM), or free energy of ATP hydrolysis (−65 to −55 kJ/mol). We conclude that force decline is not due to increased pH and/or H2PO[Formula: see text] but to fatigue of the fast-twitch fibers, possibly linked to glycogen depletion and/or failure of nerve impulse transmission in these fibers.


Soft Matter ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (14) ◽  
pp. 3027-3035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Titus Kreis ◽  
Alice Grangier ◽  
Oliver Bäumchen

A universal adhesion mechanism allowsChlamydomonasto effectively colonize abiotic surfaces, as evidenced byin vivoadhesion force measurements.


1963 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 658-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry I. Jacoby ◽  
Paul Bass ◽  
Donald R. Bennett

1992 ◽  
Vol 263 (2) ◽  
pp. G230-G239 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Vassallo ◽  
M. Camilleri ◽  
C. M. Prather ◽  
R. B. Hanson ◽  
G. M. Thomforde

Our aim was to measure axial forces in the stomach and to evaluate their relation to circumferential contractions of the gastric walls and the emptying of gastric content. We used a combination of simultaneous radioscintigraphy, gastroduodenal manometry, and an axial force transducer with an inflatable 2-ml balloon fluoroscopically placed in the antrum. In vitro studies demonstrated that the axial force transducer records only antegrade forces along the longitudinal axis of this probe in an intensity-dependent manner. In vivo studies were performed in five healthy subjects for at least 3 h after ingestion of radiolabeled meals. When administered separately, the emptying of liquids or solids from the stomach is associated with generation of antral axial forces and coincident phasic pressure activity; however, almost 20% (average) of gastric axial forces during emptying of liquids or solids are unassociated with proximal or distal antral pressure activity ("isolated" forces). High amplitude antral axial forces and pressures occur during both lag and postlag emptying phases. During emptying of liquids, there is a trend for axial forces to be coincident more often with proximal than with distal antral pressure activity and vice versa for the emptying of solids (P = 0.015). These data suggest that when placed in the antrum, the transducer can semiquantitatively record axial forces during gastric emptying. By combining these observations with the data from in vitro studies, it appears that axial forces predominantly result from traction on the balloon by the longitudinal vector resulting from circumferential gastric contractions. The combination of radioscintigraphy and measurement of antral axial forces is a promising method to evaluate mechanical forces involved in the emptying of the human stomach.


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