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THE APPLICATION OF PHYSICAL-CHEMICAL PRINCIPLES TO BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS FREQUENTLY LEADS TO SITUATIONS IN WHICH THE QUANTITATIVE TREATMENT OF CONCEPTUALLY SIMPLE MODELS IS CONFOUNDED BY THE COMPLEXITY OF THE SYSTEM. SUCH IS THE CASE, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE STUDY OF THE PERMEATION (AND POSSIBLE CONCURRENT METABOLISM) OF DRUGS THROUGH COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL MEMBRANES, THE PHYSIOLOGICAL MODELING OF THE DISTRI ...

TECHNICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, INC. PROPOSES THE DEVELOPMENTOF A NOVEL PLATELET-HARVESTING SYSTEM BASED ON A PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED ULTRASOUND SEPARATION TECHNOLOGY. THIS TECHNOLOGY, DEVELOPED UNDER AN NHLBI GRANT, ALLOWS THE SEQUENTIAL SEPARATION OF CELLS BASED ON THEIR SIZE, EVEN THOSE CELLS THAT HAVE IDENTICAL DENSITIES. FIRST, RESIDUAL ERYTHROCYTES AND LARGE LEUKOCYTES CAN BE SEPARATED FROM PLAT ...

THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE SCANNING SYSTEM FROM WHICH NOVEL AND ADVANCED ULTRASOUND SCANNING SYSTEMS CAN BE MANUFACTURED FOR THE IMAGING, TISSUE CHARACTERIZATION, AND DIAGNOSIS OF CANCER AND OTHER DISEASES. IT WILL GIVE SUPERIOR IMAGES OF OBSTETRICAL CONDITIONS, VASCULAR DISEASE, LIVER DISEASE, ANDOTHER ABDOMINAL CONDITIONS. THIS ADVANCED SYSTEM IS BASED ON E ...

FETAL MONITORING IS USEFUL IN ASSESSING THE PROGRESS OF LABOR AND FOR DETECTION OF PRETERM LABOR, A LEADING CAUSE OF FETAL MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY. COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SENSORS FOR MONITORING INTRAUTERINE CONTRACTIONS USE CUMBERSOME BELTS AND LARGE AND BULKY SENSORS WHICH ARE UNCOMFORATABLE AND LIMIT THE PATIENT'S MOBILITY. A SMALL AND SIMPLE SELF-ADHERING INTRAUTERINE PRESSURE MONITOR HAS BEEN ...

INTRAOPERATIVE AUTOTRANSFUSION SYSTEM (IOAT) ASPIRATES WASTE BLOOD FROM SURGICAL WOUND SITE, PURIFIES AND RETURNS IT TO THE SAME PATIENT. WE DEVELOPED AND EVALUATED IN-VITRO AND IN-VIVO A NEW IOAT SYSTEM WHICH IS DESIGNED TO PURIFY THE ASPIRATED WASTE BLOOD USING HOLLOW FIBER MEMBRANE FILTERS INSTEAD OF USING CENTRIFUGES, AND RETURN THE PURIFIED BLOOD CELLS TO THE PATIENT IN A CLOSED LOOP CONTINUO ...

THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO PRODUCE A MARKETABLE, INTERACTIVE VIDEODISK (IVD) MODULE PROTOTYPE THAT EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY PREPARES PATIENTS FOR SELF-CARE MANAGEMENT OF ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE AND ACCOMMODATES ADULTS WITH LOW LITERACY AND WITHOUT COMPUTER SKILLS. THE MODULE, A SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL MULTIMEDIA PACKAGE, ADDRESSES THE PERVASIVE NEED TO PREPARE PATIENTS FOR SELF-CARE MAN ...

CONTINUOUS BLOOD GAS AND PH MONITORING DEVICES DEVELOPED OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS HAVE FAILED, PRIMARILY DUE TO LACK OFSTABILITY AND THE ASSOCIATED DEPENDENCY ON THE CLINICAL LABORATORY FOR CALIBRATION. DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTINUOUS ELECTROLYTE MONITOR, OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE FOR NEONATAL AND INFANT MONITORING APPLICATIONS, HAS NOT BEEN ATTEMPTED. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A COMMERCIALL ...

WITH THE INCREASING NUMBER OF PREMATURE INFANTS SURVIVING TO REACH BPD UNITS, ONE WONDERS HOW LONG THE SYSTEM CAN SURVIVE THE EXTREMELY HIGH COST OF LONG TERM CARE (ABOUT $700,000/YEAR IN THE BPD UNIT AND $300,000/YEAR FOR HOME CARE). ONE POSSIBLE ANSWER IS RELIABLE MONITORING OF PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIABLES WHICH PERMIT 1) MORE EFFECTIVE RESPIRATORY MANAGEMENT AND 2) MANAGEMENT BY LESS SOPHISTICATED C ...

DURING MOST SURGICAL PROCEDURES THE PATIENT IS PARALYZED AND MUST DEPEND COMPLETELY ON THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST TO MAINTAIN SUCH VITAL PHYSIOLOGIC FUNCTIONS AS BREATHING AND HEART RATE. IT IS THEREFORE NOT SURPRISING THAT WITH RELATIVELY FEW EFFECTIVE PHYSIOLOGICAL MONITORS AVAILABLE TO THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST, THE FREQUENCY OF MISHAPS IS HIGH. OF THE APPROXIMATELY 20 MILLION SURGICAL PROCEDURES PREFORME ...

ALTHOUG RENAL TRANSPLANTATION HAS PROVED TO BE BOTH USEFUL AND COST-EFFECTIVE COMPARED TO DIALYSIS, COMPLICATIONS ARE FREQUENT. MUST OF THE SUCCESS OF RENAL TRANSPLANTATION IS DEPENDENT UPON PROMPT IDENTIFICATION OF THE CAUSE OF IMPAIRMENT OF FUNCTION SO THAT APPROPRIATE TREATMENT CAN BE APPLIED BEFORE THE CONDITION BECOMES IRREVERSIBLE. ALTHOUGH NUCLEAR MEDICINE SYSTEMS AND SEVERAL METHODS OF ANA ...