Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Technology / 05.02.2015

Uzma Samadani, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor; Departments of Neuroscience and Physiology NYU Langone Medical CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Uzma Samadani, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor Departments of Neuroscience and Physiology NYU Langone Medical Center Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Samadani: Research dating back as early as 3,500 years ago suggests the eyes serve as a window into the brain, with disconjugate eye movements -- eyes rotating in different directions -- considered a principal marker for head trauma. Current estimates suggest up to 90 percent of patients with concussions or blast injuries exhibit dysfunction in their eye movements. We wanted to find a way to objectively track and analyze eye movements following a head injury to measure injury severity and replace the current “state of the art” method of asking a patient to follow along with a finger. CT-scans and MRIs may not necessarily reveal concussion or traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the absence of structural damage, presenting a need for a diagnostic measure of head injury severity. In a study published earlier this year in the Journal of Neurosurgery, my team at the NYU Cohen Veterans Center tested our novel eye-tracking technology on military veterans, and found our device and tracking algorithm could reveal edema in the brain as a potential biomarker for assessing brain function and monitoring recovery in people with head injuries. Our latest paper, published January 29 in Journal of Neurotrauma, looked at a civilian population of patients admitted to the Bellevue Medical Center emergency department in New York City, with whom the NYU School of Medicine has an affiliation agreement. We compared 64 healthy control subjects to 75 patients who had experienced trauma that brought them to emergency department. We tracked and compared the movements of patients' pupils for over 200 seconds while watching a music video. We found that 13 trauma patients who had hit their heads and had CT scans showing new brain damage, as well as 39 trauma patients who had hit their heads and had normal CT scans, had significantly less ability to coordinate their eye movements than normal, uninjured control subjects. Twenty-three trauma subjects who had bodily or extremity injuries but did not require head CT scans had similar abilities to coordinate eye movements as normal uninjured controls. Among patients who had hit their heads and had normal CT scans, most were slightly worse at 1-2 weeks after the injury, and subsequently recovered about one month after the injury. Among all trauma patients, the severity of concussive symptoms correlated with severity of disconjugacy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dengue, Technology / 31.01.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Jackie Ying Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology The Nanos, Singapore Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) has developed a paper-based disposable device that will allow dengue-specific antibodies to be detected easily from saliva within 20 minutes. Currently, dengue infection is diagnosed in the laboratory by testing the patient’s blood sample for the presence of dengue antigens or antibodies. IBN’s device, on the other hand, is capable of detecting IgG, a dengue-specific antibody found at the onset of secondary infections, directly from saliva in one step. Unlike blood samples, saliva can be collected easily and painlessly for rapid point-of-care diagnostics. However, unlike other body fluids, it cannot be applied directly to commercially available test kits as it would cause the sensor nanoparticles to stick haphazardly to the test strip. In addition, conventional paper-based tests are not designed to handle the larger sample volume of saliva required. As described in the journal Lab on a Chip, the IBN researchers used an innovative stacking flow design to overcome key challenges faced by existing lateral flow devices, which are not designed to handle large volume of saliva samples. In IBN’s device, different flow paths are created for samples and reagents through a multiple stacked system. This allows the saliva sample to flow separately through a fiber glass matrix, which removes the substances that would interfere with the nanoparticle-based sensing system before it mixes with the sensor nanoparticles. IBN’s device configuration also helps to regulate the flow in the test strip, generating uniform test lines for more accurate results. (more…)
Author Interviews, Technology / 16.01.2015

Moe Alsumidaie MBA MSF President & Chief Scientific Officer Annex ClinicalMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Moe Alsumidaie MBA MSF President & Chief Scientific Officer Annex Clinical   MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Response: SUMMARY: A real-world case study measuring the impact of Short Messaging System (SMS) or “Text Messaging” on clinical trial patient recruitment using an interactive two-way patient engagement platform by Mosio, Inc., which provides clinical research services designed to increase patient recruitment, engagement and retention, found that use of text messaging alone can be an effective means of patient engagement that results in clinical trial patient enrollment. Patient recruitment, retention and medication adherence continue to be challenges in conducting effective clinical trials. While clinical trials often rely on email recruitment, recent studies suggest that only 22% of emails are read.1 Alternatively, 98% of text messages are read1 and 90% of text messages are read within the first three minutes of receipt.2 Recent research has evaluated the impact of Short Messaging System (SMS) or “Text Messaging” in healthcare settings, such as appointment reminders and medication adherence. Results have demonstrated that SMS intervention significantly improved patient behavioral outcomes: patients who received SMS reminders were more likely to show up to appointments on time,3 and patients who received SMS reminders were more adherent to medications.4 However, only limited research is available on the effect of SMS on clinical trial subject enrollment. Johnson County Clin-Trials (JCCT), a clinical research facility that specializes in executing 10-15 vaccine clinical trials per year, was facing issues with enrolling patients rapidly in a tight time frame using email. To access a more effective strategy to better engage patients, JCCT employed two-way SMS/text messaging solutions, and this study assessed the impact of SMS/text messaging on patient recruitment and enrollment. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections / 27.10.2014

Dr. Simon Corrie PhD The University of Queensland, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Delivery of Drugs and Genes Group Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, St. Lucia, Queensland, AustraliaMedicalResearch.com: Interview with: Dr. Simon Corrie PhD The University of Queensland, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Delivery of Drugs and Genes Group Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Corrie: P. falciparum malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the world, particularly in developing countries. Some estimates also suggest that in developing countries, children under 5 account for ~90% mortality. As malaria is treatable, positive detection is important rule out other causes, avoid over-treatment leading to resistance, and to guide appropriate treatment. Our focus is on developing diagnostic devices for infectious diseases, which do not require needles, lancets or laboratory processing. These devices are “microprojection arrays”, silicon chips that can be applied to the skin to capture circulating protein biomarkers in the interstitial fluid of the skin. In this publication we: (a) developed methods to improve the sensitivity of the devices for capturing HRP2, (b) confirmed that HRP2 protein injected intravenously is detectable in skin fluid and (c) showed that we could capture both HRP2 and total IgG (as a positive control for penetration into skin) at the same time. (more…)