Thermoacoustic imaging (TAI) is a new non-invasive, non-ionization and nondestructive modality capable of high microwave contrast and high ultrasound resolution, and it has attracted extensive attention in recent years. This review introduces the technical principle, imaging system and imaging characteristics of TAI, and then introduces the application of TAI for breast cancer detection as an example. This review introduces the advantages of TAI in solving corresponding clinical problems in view of its high resolution and high contrast. In addition, it also explains the roles of TAI in medical diagnosis and treatment. Finally, the potential applications of TAI in medical diagnosis is introduced from many aspects and multiple perspectives. The future development of TAI in the challenges of current medical diagnosis is also prospected.
Acoustics ; Breast Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Diagnostic Imaging ; methods ; Humans ; Microwaves

Objective To explore the effect of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) on expressions of aquaporin (AQP)1 and AQP 5 in young rats with acute lung injury (ALI) caused by lipopolysaccharide (LPS).Methods Eighty-four young rats were randomly divided into control group,ALI model group and CGRP group.The rats in ALI model group were given intraperitoneal injection of LPS (5 mg/kg)for 2,6,12,24 hours;while the rats in CGRP group were given intraperitoneal CGRP (1 mg/kg) after 1 h injection of LPS.At 2 h,6 h,12 h and 24 h,all rats were sacrificed and lung tissues were obtained.The histopathological changes in lung tissues were evaluated by adopting hematoxylin-eosin staining,and wet/dry(W/D) was measured.The mRNA and protein levels of AQP1 and AQP5 in lung tissues were detected by adopting fluorogenic quantitative PCR (qPCR) and Western blot.Results Pathological stain showed that rats in control group had a normal lung tissue structure,and LPS made lung tissue edema,narrowing the alveolar cavity and inflammatory cell infiltration.CGRP attenuated the effect of LPS on rat's lung.The W/D ratio of lung tissue was significantly higher than that in the control group,and CGRP reduced the W/D ratio of lung tissue.qPCR showed that the mRNA levels of AQP1 and AQP5 from rats in ALI group (0.009 ±0.001 and 0.055 ±0.006)decreased compared with those in the control group (0.035±0.002 and 0.167 ±0.006) and CGRP group (0.024 ± 0.002 and 0.134 ± 0.012) (all P ＜ 0.001).Western blot results showed after 24 h injection of LPS,both AQP1 and AQP5 levels from ALI group (0.397 ± 0.041 and 0.215 ± 0.029) were significantly lower than those in the control group (0.850 ± 0.020 and 0.741 ± 0.032) (all P ＜ 0.001),and their levels in CGRP group (0.593-± 0.065 and 0.461 ± 0.039) were also lower than those in the control group,but higher than those in ALI group (all P ＜ 0.001).Conclusion CGRP can enhance AQP1 and AQP5 levels and reduce pulmonary edema,and it has a protective effect on rats with acute lung injury.

OBJECTIVETo develop a brief version scale with good validity and reliability to evaluate self-management knowledge, attitude and behavior (KAB) of diabetes patients in a shorter time.

METHODS20 authority experts who specialized in the field of diabetes clinical and non-communicable disease self-management, and familiar with the relevant content of diabetes self-management were selected. Face to face and Email consultation methods were applied in two rounds delphi expert consultations to choose items from the Diabetes Self-management Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior Assessment Scale (DSKAB, total scale, 98 items). In the first round of expert consultation, experts were asked to select the core items from every dimension and score the extent of familiarity and basis of judgment. In the second round of expert consultation, the significance of the core items which were selected by experts in first round, were graded. The items which entered into the brief scale were determined by harmonious condition of expert opinions.

RESULTSTwo rounds of consultation reclaimed 16 and 15 responses respectively, Positive coefficients of experts were 80% and 94% respectively, and both authoritative coefficients were 0.90. In the first round of consultation, experts selected 44.3 ± 6.2 items on average, 42 items were selected according to the integrity of the scale for measuring dimension and content at last. In the second round of consultation, experts thought that the 42 items could measure the important contents of each dimension comprehensive and representative, the item importance scores of knowledge, attitude, and behavior subscale were 8.42 ± 1.17, 8.61 ± 1.24, 8.61 ± 1.02 respectively, and the coordination coefficients of the three subscale were 0.36, 0.20, 0.49 (χ(2) were 89.74, 11.13, 96.03, P<0.05). The total coordination coefficient was 0.38 (χ(2) =199.36, P<0.001), which indicated the concentration of experts(')opinion was acceptable, showed the brief scale with good face validity and content validity.

CONCLUSIONThe brief scale could evaluate Diabetes Self-management KAB Scale rapidly and relatively comprehensive in groups or individuals diabetes with good face validity and content validity.

Diabetes Mellitus ; therapy ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results ; Self Care ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective To investigate the sonographic characteristic of hepatic lymphoma. Methods Fifteen patients with pathological proven hepatic lymphomas (4 primary and 11 secondary hepatic lymphomas) were included in this retrospective study. All the 15 patients underwent conventional B-mode ultrasound examinations. Two patients (one with primary lymphoma and another with secondary lymphoma) underwent contrast enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS). Results In the conventional ultrasonography, hepatic masses were detected in 9 patients (4 primary and 5 secondary lymphomas). No hepatic mass was detected in the remaining 6 patients with pathological proven secondary lymphomas. For the 4 patients with detectable primary masses, 2 had a single mass and 2 had multiple masses. All primary hepatic lymphomas were hypoechoic. For the 5 patients with detectable secondary masses, 2 had a single mass and 3 had multiple masses. The hypoechoic lymphomas were found in 3 patients, while hyperechoic and isoechoic lymphomas were found in the other 2 patients. In the 4 patients with primary hepatic lymphomas, 3 had hepatomegaly, while none of the 4 patients had splenomegaly. In the 5 patients with detectable secondary masses, hepatomegaly was found in 3 patients in whom 2 had splenomegaly and 1 had a plate-shaped hypoechoic region within spleen. For the 6 patients without detectable secondary masses, splenomegaly was found in all 6 patients and hepatomegaly was found in 4 patients. In the spleen of one patient, a plate-shaped hypoechoic region was detected in the B-mode ultrasonography. In the CEUS, the primary lymphoma presented a thick ring region with slight enhancement peripheral to the mass during the hepatic artery phase;while the secondary lymphoma presented the uneven enhancement pattern with a small plate-shaped region unenhanced in its center during the hepatic artery phase. Conclusions In ultrasonography, the patients with hepatic lymphomas commonly present a single or multiple hypoechoic well-deifned hepatic masses, poor blood lfow and uneven enhancement peripheral to the mass during the hepatic artery phase of CEUS. Other sonographic characteristic include hepatomegaly and splenomegaly. No mass is detected in ultrasonography can not exclude the diagnosis of hepatic lymphoma.

Objective To evaluate the image quality of coronary CT angiography (CTA) and the diagnostic accuracy for the assessment of coronary artery stenosis with a 64-slice CT scanner.Methods 120 patients with suspected coronary artery disease were studied by ECG-gated 64-slice spiral CT (120 kV, 850 mAs,0.33 s-rotation time,0.6 mm collimation);60 of them also underwent conventional coronary angiography(CCA).Patients with heart rates above 70 bpm received oral?-blockade before the scan. Enhanced scan was performed with an intravenous injection of 60-70 ml contrast agent (370 mg l/ml) and 50 ml saline chaser bolus at 4 ml/s.Images were retrospectively reconstructed under different reformations multiplanar reconstruse-tion(MPR),maximum intensity projection(MIP)and volume rendering technology (VRT)and reviewed by two observers.Image quality was assessed using a 3-point grading scale(excellent, sufficient and non-diagnostic)and the visibility of coronary branches was evaluated.The left main,left anterior descending,left circumflex and right coronary arteries were screened for the presence of over 50% stenosis.Results Sixty-nine percent of the included patients received?-bloekade.The average heart rate was 61?8 bpm and the scan time was 11.9?1.3 s.In the evaluation of image quality with VRT images, 77% patients′images were excellent,18% sufficient,and 5% non-diagnostic.All of the first,most of the second and third,and parts of the fourth subsegment branches could be shown with MPR,MIP and VRT reconstruction images.MPR and MIP displayed better visualization than VRT in showing small branches. Compared with CCA,the sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive value of CTA to identify over 50% stenosis were 93%,98%,87% and 99%,respectively.Conclusion 64-slice spiral CT coronary angiography is a noninvasive and fast method that allows reliable diagnosis of coronary artery stenosis with high image quality.