A Percutaneous Catheter Solution as a Spacer for Regurgitant Heart Valve Disease

Spacers, such as FORMA (Edwards Lifescience) or Mitraspacer, are used to treat mitral regurgitation or tricuspid regurgitations. However, they require external therapeutic liquid filler injection into the spacer device. This should be leak-tight over the time of implantation, which is a major limitation in device design. Here, we propose a self-expandable spacer with a nitinol inner mesh and expanded poly (tetrafluoroethylene) (ePTFE) coating that also functions as a spacer. We designed nitinol 3D mesh templates, coated with a commercially available low and high durometer ePTFE membrane. Finally, we implanted the spacer into a swine pulmonary artery and right atrium (superior vena cava) as an intervention technique. Twenty-four swine were used, except in two cases suspected of procedural infection. The results were analyzed in the remaining 22 cases and all devices were easily delivered and had good function in self-expansion and implantation. After eight weeks, all individuals were examined for gross and pathological analysis to determine the biological safety of the device. There was no evidence of damage or other abnormalities and increased postoperative endothelialization outside of ePTFE coatings. In conclusion, this study suggests using a self-expandable spacer to complement the medical limitations of the existing filling-type spacer devices.

STEM investigations of the influence of copper on alumina scale detachment during in-situ wetting experiments of Al-7Si-0.3Mg alloy with 95Sn-5Cu filler metal

Aluminum alloys have a strong tendency to form alumina layers on their surfaces when exposed to atmospheric air, even at room temperature. This is a severe challenge for brazing aluminum alloys as the alumina layer acts as a diffusion barrier and hinders the interactions between the filler metal and the base material. In order to achieve a good metallurgical bond between the filler metal and the aluminum alloy, it is of crucial importance to remove the alumina layer as well as to simultaneously prevent further oxidation of the aluminum alloy. The current investigation focuses on the detailed micro-structural changes that occur during in-situ brazing of liquid filler metal, 95Sn-5Cu (wt.%) on an aluminum alloy, Al-7Si-0.3Mg. These in-situ studies were performed in a large chamber scanning electron microscope in order to monitor the interactions of the filler metal and the base material, particularly the role of Cu on alumina detachment. After the in-situ experiments, the local surface and cross-sectional regions were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy in conjunction with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to understand the variation in chemistry across the wetted region, which includes the interfacial region between filler metal and the base material. As the alumina scale present on the aluminum alloy is very thin (<50 nm), nanoscale characterization techniques such as transmission electron microscopy in scanning mode, including selected area electron diffraction for crystal structure determination, were performed. From this investigation, it was found that the Cu in liquid filler metal diffuses into the base material via the oxide layer, resulting in the formation of Al2Cu intermetallic precipitates.

A Rare Case of Pulmonary Restrictive Syndrome after Liquid Silicone Injection: The Role of the Plastic Surgeon

Despite being especially used in its solid form, silicone is still injected as a liquid filler for breast contouring in many countries. Here, we present a rare case of a woman with silicone pneumonitis and extended breast scarring after breast silicone injection. Because of evidence of a restrictive syndrome due to the thoracic extensive scarring tissue and the high demand of oxygen therapy, as jointly agreed with the pulmonologists, we decided to perform a surgical asportation of the scarring tissue and covering with microsurgical flap. We chose the deep inferior epigastric perforator flap mainly because of the large amount of skin that is possible to use, the good skin texture matching, and the possibility of double team working without changing patient’s position.

PENILAIAN KINERJA BERBASIS RELIABILITY MENGGUNAKAN METODE COST OF UNRELIABILITY (COUR) PADA MESIN FILLOMATIC ROTARY LIQUID FILLER & CAPPER DI PT XYZ

PT XYZ adalah perusahaan farmasi di Indonesia yang memproduksi obat batuk. Salah satu mesin yang digunakan pada proses pembuatan obat tersebut adalah Mesin Fillomatic Rotary Liquid Filler & Capper untuk proses filling dan capping. Mesin tersebut mengalami masalah kegagalan, dimana terjadi 41 kali kerusakan pada Januari-Desember 2018. Oleh karena itu, perlu untuk menjaga keandalan mesin yang digunakan. Risk matrix digunakan untuk menentukan sistem serta subsistem kritis dan didapatkan subsistem kritis yaitu conveyor, center plate, capper dan star wheel. Penelitian berfokus pada keempat subsistem tersebut menggunakan Cost of Unreliability (COUR) untuk mengetahui kerugian perusahaan saat sistem mengalami kegagalan. Dari hasil perhitungan COUR, didapatkan nilai corrective money lost sebesar Rp14.260.567.697,19 dan downtime money lost sebesar Rp33.112.418.213,73. Setelah diketahui besarnya nilai COUR digunakan business risk matrix untuk mengetahui konsekuensi bisnis perusahaan, keempat subsistem tersebut masuk kedalam area gelap yang artinya perlu dilakukan perbaikan lebih lanjut untuk mengurangi konsekuensi yang tinggi.

Microstructure and Mechanical Performance of the DD98M-DD98M Single Crystal Superalloy Joints Brazed Using a Pd-Si Composite Filler

In this work, the DD98M single crystal superalloys were brazed to themselves using a Pd-Si composite filler. The effect of brazing temperature and soaking time on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of the joints was studied. The microstructure and phase constitution in the joint were identified by the SEM and EDS analysis. The results indicated that the joint obtained was constituted by DD98M/zone 2/zone 1/zone 2/DD98M. The zone 1 was primarily made up of the Ni (Pd, Cr, Co) (s.s), Pd4Si, Pd (Ni, Ti, Al) (s.s) and Pd-rich Ni (Pd, Cr, Co) (s.s), while the zone 2 consisted of the Ni (Pd, Cr, Co) (s.s) and Al2Pd5. During the brazing process, increasing the brazing temperature strengthened the fluidity of the liquid filler, which was favorable to eliminating the solidified pores in the brazing seam. Furthermore, a higher brazing temperature would cause the phases in the zones 1 and 2 to be coarsened remarkably. When setting the brazing temperature to 1060 °C, extending the soaking time made the amount of Pd (Ni, Ti, Al) (s.s) decrease, whereas the amount of Pd4Si increased, because the peritectic reaction between the Pd (Ni, Ti, Al) (s.s) and remnant liquid filler was enhanced. Among the brazing process parameters under investigation, the maximum joint average shear strength obtained reached 338 MPa when the joint was brazed at 1060 °C for 30 min. A ductile fracture mode happened during the shear tests under a joining condition. The work performed can provide valuable data to design the single crystal superalloy brazed joint.

SISTEM KONTROL OTOMATIS PENGISIAN CAIRAN DAN PENUTUP BOTOL MENGGUNAKAN ARDUINO UNO Rev 1.3

The system design test results are obtained that when the sensor detects an object with a certain distance, the sensor will issue a signal to the micro which is then forwarded to the charging driver circuit to turn on the relay. The relay functions as a switch or switch that will fill the liquid in the bottle, when the driver is charging on, the process of filling the liquid occurs in the bottle, and the micro filling process issues a signal in the active motor driver circuit. The conveyor driver is active after giving a signal from Arduino Uno, the conveyor will stop after the sensor detects a bottle then stops, and the micro sends a signal to turn the motor driver down on the bottle cap to close the bottle on. When the bottle closing process is complete the motor driver backs up actively moving the road conveyor back. The percentage error of theoretical value and measurement of the difference is small and when filling the liquid in a bottle takes 17 seconds until the bottle is fully filled and by using the micro, the liquid filler on the bottle and the bottle cover can be completed properly.