Models for COVID-19 Early Cardiac Pathology Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Improving Chest Monitoring through Magnetic Resonance Angiogram Image Contrast Enhancement

Magnetic resonance angiography is a medical procedure used to offer an image of the blood vessels and organs of the body. Given the worldwide spread of cardiovascular diseases, more and more resources are invested in treating them. One of the most modern treatments involves the acquisition of images of the heart. Sometimes the contrast of these images is not satisfactory. Injecting invasive enhancement substances to obtain a better view of the cardiac route is not advisable. However, software algorithms can solve the problem. This study proposes and tests a local adaptive contrast-adjustment algorithm using the dual-tree complex wavelet transform. The method has been tested with medical data from a public database to allow comparisons to other methods. The selected algorithm further improved the contrast of images. The performances are given for evaluation, both visually (to help doctors make accurate diagnoses) and in parametric form (to show engineers which parts of the algorithm might need improvement). Compared to other contrast enhancement methods, the proposed wavelet algorithm shows good results and greater stability. Thus, we aim to avoid future pointless complications due to unnecessary contrast substances.

Molecular Mechanisms of Multi-Organ Failure in COVID-19 and Potential of Stem Cell Therapy

As the number of confirmed cases and deaths occurring from Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surges worldwide, health experts are striving hard to fully comprehend the extent of damage caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although COVID-19 primarily manifests itself in the form of severe respiratory distress, it is also known to cause systemic damage to almost all major organs and organ systems within the body. In this review, we discuss the molecular mechanisms leading to multi-organ failure seen in COVID-19 patients. We also examine the potential of stem cell therapy in treating COVID-19 multi-organ failure cases.