scholarly journals Aura of technology and the cutting edge: a history of lasers in neurosurgery

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. E6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Ryan ◽  
Robert F. Spetzler ◽  
Mark C. Preul

In this historical review the authors examine the important developments that have led to the availability of laser energy to neurosurgeons as a unique and sometimes invaluable tool. They review the physical science behind the function of lasers, as well as how and when various lasers based on different lasing mediums were discovered. They also follow the close association between advances in laser technology and their application in biomedicine, from early laboratory experiments to the first clinical experiences. Because opinions on the appropriate role of lasers in neurosurgery vary widely, the historical basis for some of these views is explored. Initial enthusiasm for a technology that appears to have innate advantages for safe resections has often given way to the strict limitations and demands of the neurosurgical operating theater. However, numerous creative solutions to improve laser delivery, power, safety, and ergonomics demonstrate the important role that technological advances in related scientific fields continue to offer neurosurgery. Benefiting from the most recent developments in materials science, current CO2 laser delivery systems provide a useful addition to the neurosurgical armamentarium when applied in the correct circumstances and reflect the important historical advances that come about from the interplay between neurosurgery and technology.

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Lee ◽  
Matthew Katz ◽  
Ojas Shah

Ureteral stents have been utilized for decades in maintaining ureteral patency, most commonly after ureteroscopy in the treatment of urolithiasis. Since their initial development, ureteral stents have had many technological advances that have allowed for better patient outcomes with improvements in comfort, durability, patency, encrustation resistance, biocompatibility, ease of insertion, migration, and biofilm development. Several new ureteral stents enter the market every year, each with their own touted benefits. It is essential to understand the different advantages for each ureteral stent to provide the best available care to patients when possible. The purpose of this review is to give a brief history of ureteral stent development and summarize the recent developments in ureteral stent designs. We aim to review the data supporting the clinical advantages of the latest ureteral stents available for use by urologists.


2017 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence J. Kemp

Elemental carbon has been known from time immemorial in its forms of diamond and graphite, while the Industrial Revolution was powered by coal. The molecular structures of diamond and graphite were established following the inception of X-ray crystallography while the complex natures of charcoal and coal have been investigated for 100 years. Recent developments in activated charcoal are described in an article in this issue of Science Progress. However, no-one could have guessed that carbon would have presented such structural surprises as those of C60 fullerene, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. Materials science has benefited from the discovery of carbon fibres, and our understanding of the spectroscopy and bonding in the simplest carbon molecule, C2, has reached new depths.


Author(s):  
C. Colliex ◽  
P. Trebbia

The physical foundations for the use of electron energy loss spectroscopy towards analytical purposes, seem now rather well established and have been extensively discussed through recent publications. In this brief review we intend only to mention most recent developments in this field, which became available to our knowledge. We derive also some lines of discussion to define more clearly the limits of this analytical technique in materials science problems.The spectral information carried in both low ( 0<ΔE<100eV ) and high ( >100eV ) energy regions of the loss spectrum, is capable to provide quantitative results. Spectrometers have therefore been designed to work with all kinds of electron microscopes and to cover large energy ranges for the detection of inelastically scattered electrons (for instance the L-edge of molybdenum at 2500eV has been measured by van Zuylen with primary electrons of 80 kV). It is rather easy to fix a post-specimen magnetic optics on a STEM, but Crewe has recently underlined that great care should be devoted to optimize the collecting power and the energy resolution of the whole system.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 95-115
Author(s):  
Brandon Plewe

Historical place databases can be an invaluable tool for capturing the rich meaning of past places. However, this richness presents obstacles to success: the daunting need to simultaneously represent complex information such as temporal change, uncertainty, relationships, and thorough sourcing has been an obstacle to historical GIS in the past. The Qualified Assertion Model developed in this paper can represent a variety of historical complexities using a single, simple, flexible data model based on a) documenting assertions of the past world rather than claiming to know the exact truth, and b) qualifying the scope, provenance, quality, and syntactics of those assertions. This model was successfully implemented in a production-strength historical gazetteer of religious congregations, demonstrating its effectiveness and some challenges.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Humberto Guanche Garcell ◽  
Juan José Pisonero Socias ◽  
Gilberto Pardo Gómez

Background: During the last 30 years an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) was implemented in a facility with periods of weakness. We aim to describe the history of the sustainability failure in the local ASP. Methods: A historical review was conducted using original data from the facility library and papers published. An analysis of factors related to the failure was conducted based on the Doyle approach. Results: The first ASP was implemented from 1989 to 1996 based on the international experiences and contributes to the improvement in the quality of prescription, reduction of 52% in cost and in the incidence of nosocomial infection. The second program restarts in 2008 and decline in 2015, while the third program was guided by the Pan-American Health Organization from 2019. This program, in progress, is more comprehensive than previous ones and introduced as a novel measure the monitoring of antibiotic prophylaxis in surgery. The factors related to the sustainability were considered including the availability of antimicrobials, the leader´s support, safety culture, and infrastructure. Conclusions: The history behind thirty years of experiences in antimicrobial stewardship programs has allowed us to identify the gaps that require proactive strategies and actions to achieve sustainability and continuous quality improvement.


Author(s):  
Manjil Hazarika

Northeast India is situated at the nexus of the South Asian, Southeast Asian, and East Asian biogeographical realms and harbours diverse biota, providing a unique opportunity to archaeologists and anthropologists for the study of the relationship between humans and their environment over the ages. Moreover, this region, the abode of diverse ethnic groups with diverse cultures and customs, hints at a long history of continuous and close association between humans and nature, which is important in the understanding of plant and animal domestication. Genetic analysis of present-day domesticates with their wild counterparts provides valuable insights into their differentiation, time of domestication, and changes in their morphological traits through control by humans. The chapter also elucidates the role played by rice in Northeast Indian culture and highlights the long-term history of rice agriculture in the region.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 185
Author(s):  
Adrian S. Monthony ◽  
Serena R. Page ◽  
Mohsen Hesami ◽  
Andrew Maxwell P. Jones

The recent legalization of Cannabis sativa L. in many regions has revealed a need for effective propagation and biotechnologies for the species. Micropropagation affords researchers and producers methods to rapidly propagate insect-/disease-/virus-free clonal plants and store germplasm and forms the basis for other biotechnologies. Despite this need, research in the area is limited due to the long history of prohibitions and restrictions. Existing literature has multiple limitations: many publications use hemp as a proxy for drug-type Cannabis when it is well established that there is significant genotype specificity; studies using drug-type cultivars are predominantly optimized using a single cultivar; most protocols have not been replicated by independent groups, and some attempts demonstrate a lack of reproducibility across genotypes. Due to culture decline and other problems, the multiplication phase of micropropagation (Stage 2) has not been fully developed in many reports. This review will provide a brief background on the history and botany of Cannabis as well as a comprehensive and critical summary of Cannabis tissue culture. Special attention will be paid to current challenges faced by researchers, the limitations of existing Cannabis micropropagation studies, and recent developments and future directions of Cannabis tissue culture technologies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin N. Danson ◽  
Malcolm White ◽  
John R. M. Barr ◽  
Thomas Bett ◽  
Peter Blyth ◽  
...  

Abstract The first demonstration of laser action in ruby was made in 1960 by T. H. Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories, USA. Many laboratories worldwide began the search for lasers using different materials, operating at different wavelengths. In the UK, academia, industry and the central laboratories took up the challenge from the earliest days to develop these systems for a broad range of applications. This historical review looks at the contribution the UK has made to the advancement of the technology, the development of systems and components and their exploitation over the last 60 years.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-277
Author(s):  
Khalad Maliyar ◽  
Patrick Fleming ◽  
Boluwaji Ogunyemi ◽  
Charles Lynde

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory disease with a varying degree of clinical presentations. Managing psoriasis has always been arduous due to its chronicity and its propensity to relapse. Prior to the development of targeted biologic therapies, there were few effective treatments for psoriasis. Ancient psoriasis therapies included pinetar, plant extracts, psychotherapy, arsenic, and ammoniated mercury. In the 19th century, chrysarobin was developed. Then, in the early half of the 20th century, anthralin and coal tar were in widespread use. In the latter half of the 20th century, treatments were limited to topical first-line therapies, systemic drugs, and phototherapy. However, as the treatment of psoriasis has undergone a revolutionary change with the development of novel biologic therapies, patients with moderate to severe psoriasis have been able to avail therapies with high efficacy and durability along with an acceptable safety profile. This article is a brief historical review of the management of psoriasis prior to the inception of biologics and with the development of novel biologic therapies.


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