Time-domain analysis of scrotal thermoregulatory impairment in varicocele

Reference value of testicular temperature measured by finite element analysis after first staged inguinal orchidopexy in children with abdominal testis and short spermatic cord

PURPOSE

This study aims to build a 3D reconstruction computed simulation model and to establish a regression equation for detecting the testis's temperature by its location after first staged open orchidopexy in children with abdominal undescended testis (UDT) and short spermatic cords.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 31 children with abdominal UDT and short spermatic cords who underwent first staged orchiopexy between 2017 and 2020. Using ultrasonography to obtain the testis's location distance from the skin surface (X1), external iliac vessel (X2), and internal inguinal ring (X3), we input the data into a 3D reconstruction computed simulation along with COMSOL to calculate the testicular temperature. We also used multivariate regression to establish the testicular temperature regression equation from the gathered data.

RESULT

The mean age of the participants was 4.47 ± 1.21 years. The mean size of the operated testis was 0.39 ± 0.13 cc. The mean distance of the testis from X1, X2, and X3 was 3.27 ± 1.25 mm, 21.06 ± 6.42 mm, and 27.19 ± 10.09 mm, respectively. The testicular temperature regression equation derived from testis location was calculated by the formula: 34.57 + 0.0236 X12 - 0.0105 X2 - 0.0018 X3. The concordance for testis temperature calculated via the computational method and regression equation was 83%.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study provided a reference value for the testicular temperature of children with abdominal UDT and short spermatic cords after the first stage of orchiopexy. A testicular temperature regression equation can be established based on the testis location, which will provide relevant information for the testicular development assessment, disease diagnosis, and follow-up, and possibly determination of the time of the second stage of orchiopexy.

Intraoperative thermal infrared imaging in neurosurgery: machine learning approaches for advanced segmentation of tumors

Surgical resection is one of the most relevant practices in neurosurgery. Finding the correct surgical extent of the tumor is a key question and so far several techniques have been employed to assist the neurosurgeon in preserving the maximum amount of healthy tissue. Some of these methods are invasive for patients, not always allowing high precision in the detection of the tumor area. The aim of this study is to overcome these limitations, developing machine learning based models, relying on features obtained from a contactless and non-invasive technique, the thermal infrared (IR) imaging. The thermal IR videos of thirteen patients with heterogeneous tumors were recorded in the intraoperative context. Time (TD)- and frequency (FD)-domain features were extracted and fed different machine learning models. Models relying on FD features have proven to be the best solutions for the optimal detection of the tumor area (Average Accuracy = 90.45%; Average Sensitivity = 84.64%; Average Specificity = 93,74%). The obtained results highlight the possibility to accurately detect the tumor lesion boundary with a completely non-invasive, contactless, and portable technology, revealing thermal IR imaging as a very promising tool for the neurosurgeon.

An Assessment of Men Semen Alterations in SARS-CoV-2: Is Fever the Principal Concern?

The SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) was identified as a pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization. The virus spreads primarily through saliva droplets or nasal discharges, in addition to coughing or sneezing from an infected person. The most common symptom at the onset of illness is fever, which may appear within 2-14 days after exposure. The high fever (above 38 °C) can persist from one to 4 days. The febrile illness usually has a variable negative impact on sperm characteristics such as sperm output, motility, morphology, and DNA fragmentation. These defects proliferated due to an increase in testicular temperature, and disturbance in the thermoregulatory systems that are responsible for the testicular heat loss. Coronavirus studies suggest that fever from SARS-CoV-2 virus infection induces a reversible negative effect on the sperm parameters until one cycle (74 days) of spermatogenesis. We believe that SARS-CoV-2 can have long-term adverse effects on testicles via immune or inflammatory reactions after the patient has fully recovered. This evidence could be added to the list of the long-term post-COVID-19 syndromes. Long-term follow-up and evaluation of the sperm parameters are necessary for all recovered male patients, especially the young ones.

Functional-thermoregulatory model for the differential diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis

Introduction

Psoriasis arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory arthritis of joints of uncertain pathogenesis. PsA may lead to severe disabilities even in the absence of any clinical symptom. Therefore, PsA diagnosis in its early stages is critical.

Material and methods

This study uses Control System theory to model finger skin thermoregulatory processes overlying the hand joint in response to an isometric exercise. The proposed model is based on a homeostatic negative feedback loop characterized by four distinct parameters that describe how the control mechanisms are activated and maintained. Thermal infrared imaging was used to record a total of 280 temperature curves of 14 finger joints for each of 11 PsA patients and 9 healthy controls.

Result and conclusion

PsA patients presented delayed and prolonged re-warming processes characterized by the undershoot onset after the end of the isometric exercise followed by a faster temperature increase. Region classification on the basis of the model parameters demonstrated that the interphalageal joint region of thumb better discriminates between patients and controls, providing 100% true-positive discrimination for PsA affected regions and 88.89% of correct classification of healthy regions. Even proved over a limited number of subjects, the proposed method may provide useful hints for early differential diagnosis in the IR assessment of PsA disease.