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Purpose: To evaluate a novel laser angle selection system (LASS) for improving the efficiency of a computed tomography (CT)–guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB). Methods: Thirty-eight patients referred for CT-guided PTNB were randomly separated into a LASS-assisted puncture group (18 patients) or conventional freehand control group (20 patients). The puncture time, number of control CT scans, and patients' radiation dose were compared for each group. Results: The lesion size, target-to-pleural distance, planned puncture depth, and angle of the two groups were not significantly different. LASS-assisted PTNB significantly reduced the number of control scans (1.7 ± 0.8 vs 3.5 ± 1.5, P <.001) and the mean operation time (12.0 ± 4.3 min vs 28.8 ± 13.3 min, P <.001) compared with the conventional method. The corresponding room time (27.1 ± 6.6 min vs 44.1 ± 14.4 min, P <.001) and total radiation dose (7.9 ± 1.0 mSv vs 10.1 ± 1.7 mSv, P <.001) of each procedure also decreased significantly. Fifty-six percent (10/18) of the operations hit the target on the first needle pass when using LASS compared with 10% (2/20) using the conventional method. Conclusions: Compared with a conventional method, this novel laser angle simulator improves puncture efficiency with fewer needle readjustments and reduces patient radiation dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole Slide Images (WSIs) are paramount in the medical field, with extensive applications in disease diagnosis and treatment. Recently, many deep-learning methods have been used to classify WSIs. However, these methods are inadequate for accurately analyzing WSIs as they treat regions in WSIs as isolated entities and ignore contextual information. To address this challenge, we propose a novel Dual-Granularity Cooperative Diffusion Model (DCDiff) for the precise classification of WSIs. Specifically, we first design a cooperative forward and reverse diffusion strategy, utilizing fine-granularity and coarse-granularity to regulate each diffusion step and gradually improve context awareness. To exchange information between granularities, we propose a coupled U-Net for dual-granularity denoising, which efficiently integrates dual-granularity consistency information using the designed Fine- and Coarse-granularity Cooperative Aware (FCCA) model. Ultimately, the cooperative diffusion features extracted by DCDiff can achieve cross-sample perception from the reconstructed distribution of training samples. Experiments on three public WSI datasets show that the proposed method can achieve superior performance over state-of-the-art methods. The code is available at https://github.com/hemo0826/DCDiff.

In the field of drug discovery, a proliferation of pre-trained models has surfaced, exhibiting exceptional performance across a variety of tasks. However, the extensive size of these models, coupled with the limited interpretative capabilities of current fine-tuning methods, impedes the integration of pre-trained models into the drug discovery process. This paper pushes the boundaries of pre-trained models in drug discovery by designing a novel fine-tuning paradigm known as the Head Feature Parallel Adapter (HFPA), which is highly interpretable, high-performing, and has fewer parameters than other widely used methods. Specifically, this approach enables the model to consider diverse information across representation subspaces concurrently by strategically using Adapters, which can operate directly within the model's feature space. Our tactic freezes the backbone model and forces various small-size Adapters' corresponding subspaces to focus on exploring different atomic and chemical bond knowledge, thus maintaining a small number of trainable parameters and enhancing the interpretability of the model. Moreover, we furnish a comprehensive interpretability analysis, imparting valuable insights into the chemical area. HFPA outperforms over seven physiology and toxicity tasks and achieves state-of-the-art results in three physical chemistry tasks. We also test ten additional molecular datasets, demonstrating the robustness and broad applicability of HFPA.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to describe the CT and MRI features of sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT) of the spleen with pathologic correlation., Materials and Methods: Ten patients with surgically resected and pathologically confirmed SANTs were included. Clinical history was reviewed, and gross pathologic, histologic, and immunohistochemical findings were recorded. CT and MRI examinations were evaluated by two radiologists., Results: Patients included seven men and three women, with a mean age of 42.9±16.7 years. Pathologic features of SANTs involved multiple angiomatous nodules in a radiating pattern with a central stellate fibrous scar and evidence of hemosiderin deposition. 9 cases showed a lobulated demarcated margin, 8 cases a slight hypoattenuating, 1 isoattenuating, and 1 case with two lesions demonstrated a slight hyperattenuating margin, respectively. Multiple scattered punctate calcifications were involved in 2 cases. 5 cases manifested hypointensity on in-phase imaging, 1 iso-intensity, and 4 iso-hypointensity on out-of-phase imaging. Progressive and centripetal enhancement were exhibited in 10 cases, spoke-wheel pattern in 3 cases, and nodular enhancement in 4 cases, respectively. The central fibrous scar was identified in 8 cases during delayed enhancement., Conclusion: Characteristics of SANTs on CT/MRI reflected the underlying pathology. Hypointensity on DWI and T2WI, and change of signal on T1 chemicalshift imaging were found to be due to hemosiderin deposition and fibrous tissue. Typical feature was a solitary, round, lobulated mass with a fibrous scar. Progressive and centripetal enhancement, spoke-wheel pattern, nodular enhancement, and delayed enhancement of central fibrous scar were observed., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

The purpose of this article is to describe a novel technique of multiphase fusion three-dimensional (3D) images in patients with malignant pancreatobiliary obstruction. Multiphase fusion 3D images of CT arteriography, portovenography and hepatic venography combined with negative-contrast CT cholangiopancreatography can be done with enhanced multiphase CT scan using intravenous contrast agent at once. This technique may be feasible for one-stop evaluation of malignant pancreatobiliary obstruction., Competing Interests: All authors declares that they have not an actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organization, that can inappropriately influence the work., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Although photothermal therapy (PTT) has been extensively applied in the treatment of cancer using various types of nanomaterials, low penetration of excitation light, low nanoparticle concentration enrichment and abominable nanoparticle permeation still remain huge obstacles in cancer therapy. Herein, we synthesized stable cupric sulfide nanoparticles (CuS NPs) with small size, which after functionalization with a MnO 2 coating, were employed for diagnosing and treating tumors. After reacting with an RGD peptide, the nanoparticles were able to target and focus on tumor sites. Once the nanoparticles were enriched in tumors by RGD targeting, the MnO 2 coating decomposed to Mn 2+ ions in the tumor microenvironment. Meanwhile, the decomposition of MnO 2 allowed the dispersion of aggregated CuS NPs to enter deep tumors, and a 1064 nm laser with powerful penetration was utilized to activate CuS NPs in deep tumors for PTT. More importantly, the generated Mn 2+ ions were used for stimuli-enhanced T 1 -weighted magnetic resonance imaging (T 1 -MRI) and agminated CuS NPs in tumors were accepted for computed tomography (CT) imaging. It was found that these nanocomposites can accurately indicate tumor sites after being intravenously injected, and in vitro and in vivo experiments illustrated the tremendous potential of these nanoplatforms for use in imaging-guided PTT against HepG2 tumors., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Objective: To establish rabbit VX2 colorectal cancer(CRC) model and to compare CT images with gross pathology in order to offer help for TNM staging in patients with CRC., Methods: VX2 tumor pieces were implanted into colonic wall in 9 New Zealand white rabbits and rectal wall in 2 New Zealand white rabbits. Four weeks after inoculation, Ultravist(370 mg/ml) was injected through ear marginal vein with high pressure injector for stage 3 scanning of chest, abdomen and pelvis, and enhanced CT (collimation 0.5 mm mm × 320, pitch factor 0.828, bulb rotation speed 0.5 s/cycle, 120 kV, automatic ma, range 80 to 100 mAs) was performed to determine the presence of CRC or metastasis once a week for 4-6 weeks. Once inoculated CRC or metastases occurred or 6 weeks after implantation, the rabbits were sacrificed regardless of the presence or absence of CRC or metastasis on the CT images. One rabbit was used for gross anatomy observation. Others were placed in wood boxes with -80centi-degree for 24 hours, then samples of 3 mm thickness were cut using a motorized saw to make macropathology. Each cutting surface of the specimens was photographed in serial number. If certain or suspected lesions were found on the slices, such part was labeled and then placed in 10% phosphate-buffered formaldehyde numbered box for subsequent pathological examination. CT image postprocessing was performed referring to the gross slice specimens and all findings were compared with the pathological reports., Results: Among 11 rabbits, tumor was successfully established in 8 rabbits. Pathology showed that single lung metastasis (7 to 10 mm) was found in 2 rabbits and liver metastasis (9 mm) in 1 rabbit. Number of lymph node located around the inoculated tumor was 22 and that around mesenteric vessels was 13 with diameter of 2 to 16 mm. Among these 35 lymph nodes from 8 successful rabbits, 9 nodes were positive, including 7 around inoculated tumor and 2 around mesenteric vessels. CT identified above 8 primary inoculated tumors, 2 lung metastatic lesions and 1 liver metastatic lesion, with detection rate of 100%. For the detection of lymph node in CT, 27 nodes were identified in the pericolorectal region (17 nodes) and perimesenteric vessels (10 nodes), in which 6 were positive metastasis (ring-shaped enrichment and central low density necrosis), resulting in a detection rate of 77.1%(27/35 nodes), and positive detection rate of 66.7% (6/9 nodes), respectively., Conclusion: Living rabbit CT-gross pathological slice(3 mm-cut) of VX2 CRC model can be applied in image evaluation of small metastatic lesion.

Objective: To investigate the clinical value of sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection in laryngeal and hypopharyngeal carcinoma patients with clinically negative neck (cN0) by methylene blue method, radiolabeled tracer method and combination of these two methods., Method: Thirty-three patients with cN0 laryngeal carcinoma and six patients with cN0 hypopharyngeal carcinoma underwent SLN detection using both of methylene blue and radiolabeled tracer method. All these patients were accepted received the injection of radioactive isotope 99 Tc(m)-sulfur colloid (SC) and methylene blue into the carcinoma before surgery, then all these patients underwent intraopertive lymphatic mapping with a handheld gamma-detecting probe and blue-dyed SLN. After the mapping of SLN, selected neck dissections and tumor resections were peformed. The results of SLN detection by radiolabeled tracer, dye and combination of both methods were compared., Result: The detection rate of SLN by radiolabeled tracer, methylene blue and combined method were 89.7%, 79.5%, 92.3% respectively. The number of detected SLN was significantly different between radiolabeled tracer method and combined method, and also between methylene blue method and combined method. The detection rate of methylene blue and radiolabeled tracer method were significantly different from combined method (P < 0.05). Nine patients were found to have lymph node metastasis by final pathological examination. The accuracy and negative rate of SLN detection of the combined method were 97.2% and 11.1%., Conclusion: The combined method using radiolabeled tracer and methylene blue can improve the detection rate and accuracy of sentinel lymph node detection. Furthermore, sentinel lymph node detection can accurately represent the cervical lymph node status in cN0 laryngeal and hypopharyngeal carcinoma.