The presence of fungi on contact electrical stimulation electrodes and ultrasound transducers in physiotherapy clinics

Objectives To evaluate the presence of fungi on contact electrodes and ultrasound transducers from physiotherapy clinics.Design Quantitative study conducted at the Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology of Piaui - NOVAFAPI, Teresina, Brazil.Setting Sample collection was performed in 10 clinics ( 20 ultrasound transducers and 20 contact electrodes).Main outcome measures Swabs were soaked with saline solution, inoculated in culture and incubated for filamentous fungi and yeast growth.Results Fourteen taxons were identified: Acremomium hyalinulum (Sacc.), Aspergillus terreus, Candida albicans, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Cladosporium elatum, Cladosporium oxysporum, Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Cladosphialophora bantiana, Curvularia clavata, Curvularia senegalensis, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium decumbens, Scopulariopsis candida and Sporothrix schenckii. Aspergillus terreus, Cladosporium oxysporum, Sporothrix shenckii and Candida albicans were found most often on contact electrodes, and Penicillium decumbens and Cladosporium cladosporioides were found most often on ultrasound transducers.Conclusion Fungi were found on all of the contact electrodes and ultrasound transducers. Physiotherapy professionals need to improve the disinfection procedures for this equipment. (C) 2010 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Avaliação da cinemática do complexo tóracoabdominal durante repouso e endurance muscular respiratória em obesos

Background: Obesity may affect the respiratory system, causing changes in respiratory function and in the pulmonary volumes and flows. Objectives: To evaluate the influence of obesity in the movement of thoracoabdominal complex at rest and during maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV), and the contribution between the different compartments of this complex and the volume changes of chest wall between obese and non-obese patients. Materials and Methods: We studied 16 patients divided into two groups: the obese group (n = 8) and group non-obese (n = 8). The two groups were homogeneous in terms of spirometric characteristics (FVC mean: 4.97 ± 0.6 L - 92.91 ± 10.17% predicted, and 4.52 ± 0.6 L - 93.59 ± 8.05%), age 25.6 ± 5.0 and 26.8 ± 4.9 years, in non-obese and obese respectively. BMI was 24.93 ± 3.0 and 39.18 ± 4.3 kg/m2 in the groups investigated. All subjects performed breathing calm and slow and maneuver MVV, during registration for optoelectronic plethysmography. Statistical analysis: we used the unpaired t test and Mann-Whitney. Results: Obese individuals had a lower percentage contribution of the rib cage abdominal (RCa) during breathing at rest and VVM. The variation of end expiratory (EELV) and end inspiratory (EILV) lung volumes were lower in obese subjects. It has been found asynchrony and higher distortion between compartments of thoracoabdominal complex in obese subjects when compared to non-obese. Conclusions: Central obesity impairs the ventilation lung, reducing to adaptation efforts and increasing the ventilatory work

Development of phantom for radiographic image optimization of standard patient in the lateral view of chest and skull examination

We present the construction of a homogeneous phantom to be used in simulating the scattering and absorption of X-rays by a standard patient chest and skull when irradiated laterally. This phantom consisted of Incite and aluminium plates with their thickness determined by a tomographic exploratory method applied to the anthropomorphic phantom. Using this phantom, an optimized radiographic technique was established for chest and skull of standard sized patient in lateral view. Images generated with this optimized technique demonstrated improved image quality and reduced radiation doses. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of biological tissues in infant chest for the development of an equivalent radiographic phantom

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Phantom development for radiographic image optimization of chest, skull and pelvis examination for nonstandard patient

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Thermoluminescence measurements of entrance surface skin dose in exams of dog's chest in veterinary radiology

This study aims to determine the entrance surface skin doses in dogs (with suspected pulmonary metastasis) submitted to chest X-rays using the technique of thermoluminescence (TL) dosimetry. Twenty seven radiologic exams of dogs of different breed and sizes were performed. The radiation doses were assessed using thermoluminescent dosimeters of calcium sulphate doped with dysprosium (CaSO(4):Dy) produced at Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN-CNEN). The entrance surface skin dose range evaluated in this type of procedure was between 0.43 mGy to small size dogs and 4.22 mGy to big size dogs with repeated exams. The obtained results indicate that is extremely important the assessment of radiation doses involved in veterinary diagnostic radiology procedures, to evaluate the delivered doses to the animals, to be used as a parameter in the individual monitoring of pet's owners, who assist the animal positioning, and to protect occupationally exposed workers at the Veterinary Radiology Clinics. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Treatment of urinary stress incontinence by intravaginal electrical stimulation and pelvic floor physiotherapy

Treatment of urinary stress incontinence (USI) by intravaginal electrical stimulation (IES) and pelvic floor physiotherapy represents an alternative to other therapies. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of this treatment inpatients with urinary incontinence. From January 1998 to May 2000, 30 women (mean age 54 years) were studied. All patients had USI and 70% urge incontinence; average follow-up was 7 months. Selection criteria were based on clinical history, objective evaluation of perineal musculature by perineometry, and urodynamics. The treatment protocol consisted of three sessions of IES per week for 14 weeks using INNOVA equipment. Physiotherapy was initiated in the fifth week of IES. A significant decrease in the number of micturitions and urgency was observed after treatment (P<0.01). The pad test showed a reduction in urinary leakage from 13.9 to 5.9 g after treatment (P<0.01). Objective evaluation of perineal muscle strength showed a significant improvement in all patients after treatment (P<0.01). A positive correlation was observed between maximum flow rate (Q(max)) and all three variables: urethral pressure profile at rest and on straining (stop test), and abdominal leak-point pressure (ALPP). A positive correlation was also observed between ALPP and the stop test. Over 100 different surgical and conservative treatments have been tried to manage USI. The majority of these procedures reveal that despite progress already made in this area, there is no ideal treatment. Satisfactory results can be achieved with this method, especially with patients who are reluctant to undergo surgery because of personal or clinical problems.

Image quality evaluation of chest for computed radiography

The daily-to-day of medical practice is marked by a constant search for an accurate diagnosis and therapeutic assessment. For this purpose the doctor serves up a wide variety of imaging techniques, however, the methods using ionizing radiation still the most widely used because it is considered cheaper and above all very efficient when used with control and quality. The optimization of the risk-benefit ratio is considered a major breakthrough in relation to conventional radiology, though this is not the reality of computing and digital radiology, where Brazil has not established standards and protocols for this purpose. This work aims to optimize computational chest radiographs (anterior-posterior projection-AP). To achieve this objective were used a homogeneous phantoms that simulate the characteristics of absorption and scattering of radiation close to the chest of a patient standard. Another factor studied was the subjective evaluation of image quality, carried out by visual grading assessment (VGA) by specialists in radiology, using an anthropomorphic phantom to identify the best image for a particular pathology (fracture or pneumonia). Quantifying the corresponding images indicated by the radiologist was performed from the quantification of physical parameters (Detective Quantum Efficiency - DQE, Modulation Transfer Function - MTF and Noise Power Spectrum - NPS) using the software MatLab®. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.

Análise eletromiográfica e de acelerometria na manobra fisioterápica de vibração torácica manual

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEG

Avaliação da manobra fisioterapêutica de vibração torácica

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Efeitos da higienização brônquica nas variáveis cardiorrespiratórias de pacientes em ventilação mecânica

INTRODUCTION: During mechanical ventilation (MV), the airways may accumulate secretions. Patients are submitted to Respiratory Therapy (RT) and tracheal aspiration when in MV, alone or associated, to eliminate these secretions. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to compare the effects of different protocols of bronchial hygiene in blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation and respiratory rate of patients undergoing MV. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled crossover, with intentional non-probabilistic sample in the Medical School Hospital of Marília. We included patients in invasive MV who were submitted to three different bronchial hygiene protocols: PP - physiotherapy protocol (manual chest compression and manual hyperinflation); AP - aspiration protocol; and PP + AP. Respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), oxygen saturation and heart rate were evaluated in three moments: before (M1), immediately after (M2) and 30 minutes after (M3) for each protocol. The differences among protocols and times were assessed using ANOVA and post hoc Student Newman-Keus (p < 0.05). RESULTS: We studied eighteen 71.2 ± 13.9 year-old patients with 15.1 ± 17.7 days of MV. There were no differences among protocols. There was a significant decreasing in SBP (p = 0.0261) and DBP (p = 0.0119) from M2 to M3 in the aspiration protocol. CONCLUSION: There was a decrease of blood pressure on MV patients after 30 minutes of aspiration and no change in the other variables, and there was no difference among protocols.

Quantification of Biological Tissue and Construction of Patient Equivalent Phantom (Skull and Chest) for Infants (1-5 years old)

Our main purpose in this study was to quantify biological tissue in computed tomography (CT) examinations with the aim of developing a skull and a chest patient equivalent phantom (PEP), both specific to infants, aged between 1 and 5 years old. This type of phantom is widely used in the development of optimization procedures for radiographic techniques, especially in computed radiography (CR) systems. In order to classify and quantify the biological tissue, we used a computational algorithm developed in Matlab (R). The algorithm performed a histogram of each CT slice followed by a Gaussian fitting of each tissue type. The algorithm determined the mean thickness for the biological tissues (bone, soft, fat, and lung) and also converted them into the corresponding thicknesses of the simulator material (aluminum, PMMA, and air). We retrospectively analyzed 148 CT examinations of infant patients, 56 for skull exams and 92 were for chest. The results provided sufficient data to construct a phantom to simulate the infant chest and skull in the posterior anterior or anterior posterior (PA/AP) view. Both patient equivalent phantoms developed in this study can be used to assess physical variables such as noise power spectrum (NPS) and signal to noise ratio (SNR) or perform dosimetric control specific to pediatric protocols.

Evaluation of physiological parameters before and after respiratory physiotherapy in newborns with acute viral bronchiolitis

Background: Acute viral bronchiolitis is a respiratory disease with high morbidity that affects newborn in the first two years of life. Its treatment with physiotherapy has been highlighted as an important tool, however, there is no consensus regarding its effects on patients improvement. We aimed to evaluate the physiological parameters before and after the procedure respiratory therapy in newborn with acute viral bronchiolitis. Method: This was a cross sectional observational study in 30 newborns with acute viral bronchiolitis and indicated for physiotherapy care in a hospitalized Urgency and Emergency Unit. It was collected the clinical data of newborn through evaluation form, and we measured heart rate (HR), oxygen saturation (SpO2) and respiratory rate (RR). We measured the variables before physiotherapy treatment, 3, 6 and 9 minutes after the physiotherapy treatment. Results: There has been no change in HR, however, we observed a decrease in RR at 6 and 9 min compared to 3 min and increase in SpO2 at 3, 6 and 9 min compared to before physiotherapy. Conclusion: Respiratory physiotherapy may be an effective therapy for the treatment of newborn with Acute Viral Bronchitis.