Passive Microwave Radiometry (MWR) as a Component of Imaging Diagnostics in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA)

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a disease with unknown causes within all forms of arthritis in children under 16 years of age. The diagnosis is made when another joint pathology is excluded. Difficulties in early and differential diagnosis lead to the rapid disability of patients and an unfavourable life prognosis. Therefore, timely diagnosis is necessary to prevent irreversible damage to the joints and preserve their function. Due to the widespread use of new technologies, modern multimodal imaging has gained recognition, which includes X-ray, ultrasound, and MRI. The combination of methods plays a key role in confirming the diagnosis, monitoring disease activity, prognosis during the course, and outcome in children with JIA. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. The introduction of the method of passive microwave radiometry (MWR), in combination with other imaging methods, makes it possible to expand the possibilities of screening the disease in the preclinical and early clinical phases.

Monitoring Protein Denaturation of Egg White Using Passive Microwave Radiometry (MWR)

Passive microwave radiometry (MWR) is a measurement technique based on the detection of passive radiation in the microwave spectrum from different objects. This radiation in equilibrium is known to be proportional to the thermodynamic temperature of an emitting body. We hypothesize that living systems feature other mechanisms of emission that are based on protein unfolding and water rotational transitions. To understand the nature of these emissions, microwave radiometry has been used in several in vitro experiments. In our study, we performed pilot measurements of microwave emissions from egg whites during denaturation induced by ethanol. Egg whites are 10% proteins such as albumins, mucoproteins, and globulins. We found a novel phenomenon that microwave emissions changed without a corresponding change of the water thermodynamic temperature. increase 100 times faster than thermodynamic temperature. We have also found striking differences between microwave emission and thermodynamic temperature kinetics. Therefore, we hypothesize that these two processes are unrelated, contrary to what was thought before. It is known that some pathologies like stroke or brain trauma feature increased microwave emissions. We hypothesize that this phenomenon originates from protein denaturation and is not related to the thermodynamic temperature. So, our finding could explain first time the reason for microwave emissions increase after trauma and postmortem. It could be used for the development of novel diagnostics methods. The MWR method is inexpensive, and it does not require fluorescent or radioactive labels. It can be used in different areas of basic and applied pharmaceutical research, including kinetics studies in biomedicine.

Remotely Measuring Oil Slick Thickness: An Epic Challenge

<p>Abstract: The thickness of oil spills on the sea is an important but poorly studied topic. Means to measure slick thickness are reviewed. More than 30 concepts are summarized. Many of these are judged not to be viable for a variety of scientific reasons. Two means are currently available to remotely measure oil thickness, namely, passive microwave radiometry and time of acoustic travel. Microwave radiometry is commercially developed at this time. Visual means to ascertain oil thickness are restricted by physics to thicknesses smaller than those of rainbow sheens (~3 µm), which rarely occur on large spills, and thin sheen. One can observe that some slicks are not sheen and are probably thicker. These three thickness regimes are not useful to oil spill countermeasures, as most of the oil is contained in the thick portion of a slick, the thickness of which is unknown and ranges over several orders of magnitude. There is a continuing need to measure the thickness of oil spills. This need continues to increase with time, and further research effort is needed. Several viable concepts have been developed but require further work and verification. One of the difficulties is that ground truthing and verification methods are generally not available for most thickness measurement methods.</p>

Evaluation of the precipitation-type dependent uncertainty in rain/no-rain classification using PCT from GPM/GMI data

<p>Spaceborne passive microwave sensors have been developed to improve the knowledge of precipitation systems based on channels that interact directly with hydrometeors in clouds. In particular, understanding the global distribution of precipitation is one of the main missions. Prior to these precipitation studies, many researchers tend to implement the rain/no-rain classification (RNC) procedure. As a simple way, the polarized corrected temperature at 89 GHz (PCT89) from passive microwave radiometry has been widely used to identify rain pixels. The PCT89 can estimate the scattering intensity accompanied by precipitating clouds while minimizing the effects of the surface at high resolution, however, the diversity of the hydrometeor distributions can be a problem in the use of a consistent cut-off threshold. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate differences in the accuracy of the PCT-based RNC method induced by the various hydrometeor distributions and to present a new perspective to users so that it can be used appropriately. Precipitation data observed by the global precipitation measurement (GPM) microwave imager (GMI) for the period from January to December of 2015 in the tropics were used in the study. Based on the classification algorithm of the GPM dual precipitation radar (DPR), the precipitation data were subdivided into 11 types (3 stratiform types, 4 convective types, and others), and then a statistical verification was attempted to ensure that the cut-off threshold was appropriate. The PCT89-based RNC method leads to an increase of 70% and 54% in the number of two significant stratiform types compared to the DPR precipitation flag. On the other hand, the convective types decreased by up to 53%. Although regional diversity could lead to systematic differences in the verification, they did not exceed magnitudes of the difference between precipitation types. Therefore, this study suggests that the precipitations identified by the PCT89-based RNC method have features that enhance the bias toward the stratiform type.</p>

Passive Microwave Radiometry for the Diagnosis of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Lung Complications in Kyrgyzstan

The global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), could be due to limited access to diagnostic tests and equipment. Currently, most diagnoses use the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and chest computed tomography (CT). However, challenges exist with CT use due to infection control, lack of CT availability in low- and middle-income countries, and low RT-PCR sensitivity. Passive microwave radiometry (MWR), a cheap, non-radioactive, and portable technology, has been used for cancer and other diseases’ diagnoses. Here, we tested MWR use first time for the early diagnosis of pulmonary COVID-19 complications in a cross-sectional controlled trial in order to evaluate MWR use in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and healthy individuals. We measured the skin and internal temperature using 30 points identified on the body, for both lungs. Pneumonia and lung damage were diagnosed by both CT scan and doctors’ diagnoses (pneumonia+/pneumonia−). COVID-19 was determined by RT-PCR (covid+/covid−). The best MWR results were obtained for the pneumonia−/covid− and pneumonia+/covid+ groups. The study suggests that MWR could be used for diagnosing pneumonia in COVID-19 patients. Since MWR is inexpensive, its use will ease the financial burden for both patients and countries. Clinical Trial Number: NCT04568525.

Passive Microwave Radiometry (MWR) for diagnostics of COVID-19 lung complications in Kyrgyzstan

It becomes clear that the COVID-19 virus is spreading globally due to limited access to diagnostics tests and equipment. Now, most of the diagnostics has been focused on RT-PCR, chest CT manifestations of COVID-19. However, there are problems with CT due to infection control, lack of CT availability in LMIC (Low Middle Income Countries) and sensitivity of RT-PCR. Passive microwave radiometry (MWR) is a cheap, non-radioactive and portable technology. It has already been used for diagnostics of cancer, and other diseases. We have tested if MWR could be used for early diagnostics of pulmonary COVID-19 complications. This was a randomized controlled trial to evaluate MWR in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia in hospitals, and in healthy individuals. We have measured skin and internal temperature at 30 points on both lungs. Pneumonia and lung damage were diagnosed by CT scan and doctor diagnosis (pn+/pn-). COVID-19 was determined by RT-PCR tests (covid+/covid-). The best MWR results were obtained between pn-/covid- and pn+/covid+ groups with sensitivity 92% and specificity 75%. The study suggests that the MWR is a safe method for diagnostics of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients. Since MWR is an inexpensive, it will ease the financial burden for both patients and the countries.Clinical Trial NumberNCT04568525Study designRandomized controlled clinical trials