From traditional to novel treatment of arthritis: a review of recent advances in nanotechnology-based thermal therapy

Arthritis has been a heavy burden on the economy and society at large. Recently, nanomaterials that can convert near-infrared light into localized heat have demonstrated better targeting to arthritic joints, fewer side effects, ease of combined application with current therapeutics and enhanced efficacy for arthritis treatment. In this review, the authors summarize traditional thermal therapies for arthritis treatment and their molecular mechanisms and discuss the advantages and applications of nanotechnology-based thermal therapies for arthritis treatment. In conclusion, nanotechnology-based thermal therapies are effective alternatives or adjuvant strategies to the current pharmacological treatment of arthritis. Future clinical translation of thermal therapies could benefit from research elucidating their mechanisms and standardizing their parameters to optimize efficacy.

Viscero-somatic integration: new therapeutic proposals through integrated thermal cures (CIT)

Traditional thermal medicine, gold standard for some pathologies, focuses its therapeutic target mainly on a sectorial level, focusing only on the pathological symptom and neglecting man as a whole. The importance of the whole, of the phenomena of systemic, viscero-somatic and somato-visceral interrelation, has led to the creation of a new approach called "CTI" - Integrated Thermal Care, which uses all the thermal therapies, integrated and administered according to the individual needs to enhance their therapeutic effect. 235 subjects have received, on average, 40 treatments within about a year. They were treated with hydropinic treatment, inhalation treatments, hydrokinesitherapy, vascular pathways, mud therapy and manual neuromuscular therapy associated with the previous treatments. The results obtained in all the FIM, VAS, TINETTI, EUROQOL scales are positive and statistically significant, which suggests that a modification of the treatment protocols, which provides for a unique and integrated stimulation, is the new objective of thermal medicine for serious disabilities.

Advances in Cancer Therapeutics: Conventional Thermal Therapy to Nanotechnology-Based Photothermal Therapy

In this review, advancement in cancer therapy that shows a transition from conventional thermal therapies to laser-based photothermal therapies is discussed. Laser-based photothermal therapies are gaining popularity in cancer therapeutics due to their overall outcomes. In photothermal therapy, light is converted into heat to destruct the various types of cancerous growth. The role of nanoparticles as a photothermal agent is emphasized in this review article. Magnetic, as well as non-magnetic, nanoparticles have been effectively used in the photothermal-based cancer therapies. The discussion includes a critical appraisal of in vitro and in vivo, as well as the latest clinical studies completed in this area. Plausible evidence suggests that photothermal therapy is a promising avenue in the treatment of cancer.

Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Films Based on Natural Polymers: From Fundamentals to Bio-Applications

Natural polymers are of great interest in the biomedical field due to their intrinsic properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity. Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of natural polymers is a versatile, simple, efficient, reproducible, and flexible bottom-up technique for the development of nanostructured materials in a controlled manner. The multiple morphological and structural advantages of LbL compared to traditional coating methods (i.e., precise control over the thickness and compositions at the nanoscale, simplicity, versatility, suitability, and flexibility to coat surfaces with irregular shapes and sizes), make LbL one of the most useful techniques for building up advanced multilayer polymer structures for application in several fields, e.g., biomedicine, energy, and optics. This review article collects the main advances concerning multilayer assembly of natural polymers employing the most used LbL techniques (i.e., dipping, spray, and spin coating) leading to multilayer polymer structures and the influence of several variables (i.e., pH, molar mass, and method of preparation) in this LbL assembly process. Finally, the employment of these multilayer biopolymer films as platforms for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and thermal therapies will be discussed.

Safety of Laser and Thermal Therapy During Rigid Bronchoscopy Using Manual Hand Jet Ventilation

Introduction: Thermal ablative therapies (laser, radiofrequency ablation, electrocautery, argon plasma coagulation) are often used during rigid bronchoscopy for the treatment of central airway obstructions (CAO). An airway fire is a feared complication that can occur during endobronchial thermal ablation. Materials and Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective, observational study. A total of 175 patients were reviewed undergoing rigid bronchoscopy in the operating room and bronchoscopy suite requiring manual hand jet ventilation and thermal therapy between September 2014 and September 2018. The study objective was to determine the safety of manual hand jet ventilation during endobronchial thermal therapies with rigid bronchoscopy. Results: Over a five-year period, 175 patients underwent endobronchial thermal therapy during rigid bronchoscopy with manual hand jet ventilation for the treatment CAOs. Immediately prior to thermal therapy activation, jet ventilation was paused. No incidences (0/175) of airway fires occurred despite immediate delivery of thermal energy following a jet ventilation hold. Conclusions: Results of our study show that performing thermal ablative therapy during rigid bronchoscopy with jet ventilation using a breath-hold technique is safe.

Quantitative Interpretation of UWB Radar Images for Non-Invasive Tissue Temperature Estimation during Hyperthermia

The knowledge of temperature distribution inside the tissue to be treated is essential for patient safety, workflow and clinical outcomes of thermal therapies. Microwave imaging represents a promising approach for non-invasive tissue temperature monitoring during hyperthermia treatment. In the present paper, a methodology for quantitative non-invasive tissue temperature estimation based on ultra-wideband (UWB) radar imaging in the microwave frequency range is described. The capabilities of the proposed method are demonstrated by experiments with liquid phantoms and three-dimensional (3D) Delay-and-Sum beamforming algorithms. The results of our investigation show that the methodology can be applied for detection and estimation of the temperature induced dielectric properties change.

Light confinement in liquid crystals for optofluidic integrated microsystems -INVITED

In this paper technology to make optical waveguides and microfluidic channels integrated on the same substrate will be reported to envisage novel micro-optofluidic chips. PolyDiMethylSiloxane (PDMS) is used to make microchannels to be filled with biological solutions. Liquid crystals (LC) are used to confine light to produce optical interaction with biological fluidic specimen. Optical waveguides base on PDMS channels filled with LC, named LC:PDMS waveguides, including both straight and bending channels are reported to design photonic devices. Electro-optic effect of LC allows to make tuneable optical waveguides to reconfigure the entire optofluidic microsystem which can include gold nanoparticles for photo-thermal therapies. Coplanar gold electrodes can switch LC molecules with applied voltage of about 2 V. Such electrode configuration can be used to make optical switches and wavelengths demultiplexers. A zero-gap directional coupler based on LC:PDMS waveguides has been designed to switch light from one waveguide to another with an extinction ratio of 16 dB by applying a voltage of just 1.62 V. A multimode interference demultiplexer has been also designed to demultiplex wavelengths at 980 nm and 1550 nm in two output waveguides with an extinction ratio better than 11 dB by applying about 7 V.

Intra-Arterial Infusion of Magnetic Nanoparticle-Based Theragnostic Agent to Treat Colorectal Cancer Liver Implants in Rats

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Nowadays, surgical excision remains the gold standard to treat liver metastases of colorectal cancer (CRCLM). However, as more than 50% of patients are not eligible for surgery, other alternatives such as percutaneous or intravascular interventional therapies (thermal ablation, chemoembolization, or radioembolization), are quite relevant. Recently, the use of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) has been suggested as an adjuvant for these therapies, as they could increase their necrotising effect on the tumour while reducing doses and exposure times of thermal therapies. To investigate the potential curative effect of these compounds, animal models are needed, both for the development of experimental interventional procedures and for MNPs toxicity and distribution assessment. Herein, we describe both an experimental infusion procedure in CRCLM-bearing rats and analytical and histological methods to evaluate MNPs deposits in the tissue. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Eighteen male WAG/RijHsd rats were subjected to intrahepatic injection of 250,000 colorectal cancer cells. Twenty-eight days later, half of the tumour-positive animals (<i>n</i> = 6) were administered with MNPs while the other half (<i>n</i> = 6) did not receive any injection and were used as control. Under microscope magnification, the splenic artery was carefully and completely dissected, and a catheter was inserted through the splenic artery to the common hepatic artery where 1 mL MNPs suspension was administered in 5 min; then STIR, DP*, and T2 MRI sequences were obtained (and signal intensity measured) and both tumour and liver tissue samples were collected for elemental and histological analyses. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Our method for selective administration of MNPs is reproducible and well-tolerated and it fairly mimics the approach used in clinical practice when intravascular interventional therapies are applied.