Minimally invasive

At present there is only one commercially available tissue adhesive with approved on-label indications for skin closure. 2-Octyl-cyanoacrylate (Dermabond, Ethicon, Inc., Somerville, NJ) is presently indicated for skin closure in wounds which are not under extreme tension. This tissue adhesive is approved for topical skin application only. It is not indicated for internal use. The material is useful in closing traumatic skin lacerations [4,5] after wounds have been thoroughly cleaned as well as for minimally invasive surgical incisions and even larger surgical incisions in elective cases. The cyanoacrylate is applied while the skin... 

Percutaneous coronary intervention A minimally invasive procedure whereby access to the coronary arteries is obtained through the femoral artery up the aorta to the coronary os. Contrast media is used to visualize the coronary artery stenosis using a coronary angiogram. A guidewire is used to cross the stenosis and a small balloon is inflated and/or stent is deployed to break up atherosclerotic plaque and restore coronary artery blood flow. The stent is left in place to prevent acute closure and restenosis of the coronary artery. Newer stents are coated with antiproliferative drugs, such as paclitaxel and sirolimus, which further reduce the risk of restenosis of the coronary artery. 

Intensified metabolic control, especially in case of diabetes, demands minimal-invasive or non-invasive methods of analytical measurement. For this goal, a method has been developed to measure the blood glucose content in vivo, in direct contact with the skin, by means of diffuse reflection near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy on the basis of multivariate calibration and neural networks (Muller et al. [1997] Fischbacher et al. [1997] Danzer et al. [1998]). Because no patients with any standard blood glucose value are available in principle, a method of indirect calibration has... 

Fehr, M., Ehrhardt, D. W., Lalonde, S. and Frommer, W. B. (2004a). Minimally invasive dynamic imaging of ions and metabolites in living cells. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 7, 345-51. 

Future studies in this field should focus on better understanding the biology of NP cells, the functional interactions between IVD components, and the pathobiol-ogy of the IDD process in humans, so that early non-surgical interventions can be tested. Use of adult stem cells pre-differentiated under physiologically relevant conditions on 3D scaffolds prior to implantation by minimally invasive procedures may prove most advantageous. 

Perez-Cruet MJ, Khoo LT, Fessler RG (eds) (2006) An anatomical approach to minimally invasive spine surgery. Quality Medical Publishing, St. Louis... 

The term non-invasive is misleading since intravenous injection of the radiopharmacentical is required. Rather the term minimally invasive is preferred. 

While still preliminary, this study demonstrates the feasibility of evaluating the renal status in real-time by optical modality. This continuous renal function monitoring by the optical modality represents a new and minimally invasive method to detect kidney malfunctions. In addition to using relatively harmless radiation, the simplicity and portability of the equipment make this approach compatible for use in ambulatory and critical care. However, further studies... 

Thrasher JB, Frazier HA, Robertson JE, Paulson DF. Does a stage pTO cystectomy specimen confer a survival advantage in patients with minimally invasive bladder cancer J Urol 1994 152 393-396. 

Currently available devices are able to provide left ventricular support for a short duration only. Development of percutaneously or minimally invasive long-term support devices is also underway. At least three such devices are undergoing preclinical evaluation. The Synergy device (CircuLite, Inc., Hackensack, NJ) is being developed as a pocket circulatory assist (PAC) device that would sit in a subcuatenous pocket over the chest wall and use a micro-pump with cannulas in the subclavian artery and vein to withdraw blood from the left atrium through a transseptal approach and deliver it to the subclavian artery. The device is connected to a power... 

For a host of reasons, nonlinear optical spectroscopy is a valuable tool for biochemical applications v/here minimally invasive diagnostics is desired. Biochemical Applications of Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy presents the latest technological advances and offers a perspective on future directions in this important field. 

There is also a trend toward performing minimally invasive biopsy techniques such as needle/core biopsies and fine needle aspirates (FNAs). The amount of material available from such techniques, even if the bulk (non-microdissected) sample were to be used, can be very small. Traditional DNA microarray analysis requires a fairly substantial amount of material for analysis some 5-10 p.g of total RNA is usually required for analysis in the absence of amplification. In order to obtain this quantity of RNA from typical epithelial cells, as many as 5 x 10 or 1 x 10 cells are required. Clearly, this total RNA requirement poses a challenge when studying microdissected samples, but it also presents a challenge when using small, unique clinical samples, such as FNA biopsies. 

Biotinidase has been detected in all tissues and body fluids investigated so far [6, 20] with highest specific activities measured in kidney, liver and adrenal gland, and also plasma, allowing the use of this easily available and minimally invasive material for diagnostic purposes. 

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