scholarly journals Functional morphology of suction discs and attachment performance of the Mediterranean medicinal leech ( Hirudo verbana Carena)

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (117) ◽  
pp. 20160096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Kampowski ◽  
Laura Eberhard ◽  
Friederike Gallenmüller ◽  
Thomas Speck ◽  
Simon Poppinga
Keyword(s):  
Functional Morphology ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Substrate Surface ◽  
Surrounding Medium ◽  
Medicinal Leech ◽  
Force Measurements ◽  
High Speed Video ◽  
Hirudo Verbana ◽  
Substrate Surface Roughness ◽  
Medicinal Leeches

Medicinal leeches use their suction discs for locomotion, adhesion to the host and, in the case of the anterior disc, also for blood ingestion. The biomechanics of their suction-based adhesion systems has been little understood until now. We investigated the functional morphology of the anterior and posterior suckers of Hirudo verbana by using light and scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, we analysed the adhesion qualitatively and quantitatively by conducting behavioural and mechanical experiments. Our high-speed video analyses provide new insights into the attachment and detachment processes and we present a detailed description of the leech locomotion cycle. Pull-off force measurements of the anterior and posterior suction organs on seven different substrates under both aerial and water-submersed conditions reveal a significant influence of the surrounding medium, the substrate surface roughness and the tested organ on attachment forces and tenacities.

scholarly journals Exploring the attachment of the Mediterranean medicinal leech ( Hirudo verbana ) to porous substrates

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (168) ◽  
pp. 20200300
Author(s):  
Tim Kampowski ◽  
Lara-Louise Thiemann ◽  
Lukas Kürner ◽  
Thomas Speck ◽  
Simon Poppinga
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Medicinal Leech ◽  
Mechanical Tests ◽  
Artificial Substrates ◽  
Hirudo Verbana ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Attachment Mechanism ◽  
Blood Meals ◽  
Porous Substrates

Haematophagous ectoparasites must ensure a reliable hold to their host during blood meals and, therefore, have evolved a broad spectrum of versatile and effective attachment mechanisms. The Mediterranean medicinal leech ( Hirudo verbana ), for example, uses suction on both smooth and textured air-tight substrates. However, preliminary studies showed that H. verbana is also capable of attaching itself to air-permeable substrates, where suction does not work. Using high-speed videography and mechanical tests, we comparatively investigated the attachment of H. verbana on both smooth and textured air-tight as well as on porous artificial substrates, also considering the influence of mucus on sucker surfaces. In general, the leech-specific locomotion cycle did not differ between the tested surfaces, and the leeches were able to reliably attach to both air-tight and porous substrates. From our results, we conclude that suction is presumably the primary attachment mechanism of H. verbana . However, secondary mechanisms such as mechanical interlocking with surface asperities and pores or capillary forces occurring at the interface between the mucus-covered suckers and the substratum are also employed. In any case, the rich repertoire of applicable attachment principles renders the organs of H. verbana functionally highly resilient.

scholarly journals Effects of various environments on number of cocoon and offspring in breeding of southern medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana Carena, 1820

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-211
Author(s):  
Bahadır Ugural ◽  
Ramazan Serezli
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Leech ◽  
Controlled Conditions ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Hirudo Verbana ◽  
New Material ◽  
Controlled Environments ◽  
Medicinal Leeches ◽  
Hygienic Conditions

Breeding medicinal leeches in controlled environments is extremely important in order to prevent their extinction. Moreover, due to medicinal leeches coming into contact with the patient's blood, breeding medicinal leeches in hygienic conditions is essential to prevent possible complications. In this study, breeding patterns of Hirudo verbana were studied in controlled conditions and the effects of various moist environments were examined. Peat, hydrogel and chopped sponge materials were compared in terms of number of cocoon and offspring in medicinal leech breeding. Peat and hydrogel environments didn’t show any statistically significant difference for number of cocoon and offspring breeding. Cocoon per leech was 3.13 ± 0.74 for peat and 2.80 ± 0.56 for hydrogel respectively. Offspring per cocoon was 11.81 ± 2.27 for peat and 12.52 ± 1.98 for hydrogel (P>0.05) respectively. In conclusion, hydrogel could be a new material for medicinal leech cocoon deposition environment especially for laboratory breeders.

Seasonal Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals by Medicinal Leech Hirudo verbana

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 56-62
Author(s):  
L. V. Chornaya ◽  
L. A. Kovalchuk ◽  
N. V. Mikshevich
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Medicinal Leech ◽  
Hirudo Verbana

APPLICATION OF THE EARLY DAMAGE DIAGNOSTICS TECHNIQUE TO EXAMINATION OF THE AVIATION PANEL

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. E. Vasil’ev ◽  
Yu. G. Matvienko ◽  
A. V. Pankov ◽  
A. G. Kalinin
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Emission ◽  
Damage Detection ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Video Data ◽  
High Speed Video ◽  
Damage Diagnostics ◽  
Subsurface Defect ◽  
Sensitive Coating ◽  
Early Damage

The results of using early damage diagnostics technique (developed in the Mechanical Engineering Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMASH RAN) for detecting the latent damage of an aviation panel made of composite material upon bench tensile tests are presented. We have assessed the capabilities of the developed technique and software regarding damage detection at the early stage of panel loading in conditions of elastic strain of the material using brittle strain-sensitive coating and simultaneous crack detection in the coating with a high-speed video camera “Video-print” and acoustic emission system “A-Line 32D.” When revealing a subsurface defect (a notch of the middle stringer) of the aviation panel, the general concept of damage detection at the early stage of loading in conditions of elastic behavior of the material was also tested in the course of the experiment, as well as the software specially developed for cluster analysis and classification of detected location pulses along with the equipment and software for simultaneous recording of video data flows and arrays of acoustic emission (AE) data. Synchronous recording of video images and AE pulses ensured precise control of the cracking process in the brittle strain-sensitive coating (tensocoating)at all stages of the experiment, whereas the use of structural-phenomenological approach kept track of the main trends in damage accumulation at different structural levels and identify the sources of their origin when classifying recorded AE data arrays. The combined use of oxide tensocoatings and high-speed video recording synchronized with the AE control system, provide the possibility of definite determination of the subsurface defect, reveal the maximum principal strains in the area of crack formation, quantify them and identify the main sources of AE signals upon monitoring the state of the aviation panel under loading P = 90 kN, which is about 12% of the critical load.

Implementation of a Leeches + Antimicrobial Prophylaxis Order Panel to Optimize Medicinal Leech Use at a Tertiary Care Academic Medical Center

2021 ◽  
pp. 089719002199368
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Palm ◽  
Jill C. Wesolowski ◽  
Janet Y. Wu ◽  
Pavithra Srinivas
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Prophylaxis ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Medicinal Leech ◽  
Aeromonas Species ◽  
Leech Therapy ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Timing Of Initiation ◽  
Medicinal Leeches

Medicinal leech therapy promotes vascular flow and can be used to salvage grafts. Medicinal leeches have a symbiotic relationship with Aeromonas species and can therefore present a risk of bacterial transmission to patients. Antimicrobial prophylaxis is warranted for the duration of leech therapy, however, an institutional evaluation of 40 patients receiving medicinal leech therapy demonstrated poor adherence with recommendations. An electronic medical record order panel for antimicrobial prophylaxis with medicinal leech therapy was implemented, leading to a subsequent improvement in adherence to prophylaxis use, including significant increases in the ordering of antibiotics and the appropriate timing of initiation in the subsequent 10 patients receiving medicinal leech therapy after panel implementation. Aeromonas infections were rare before and after panel implementation, and developed only in the patient subset with non-optimized prophylaxis.

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