Basic sciences Flashcards
MRI
- Def application of strong magnetic field and application of strong radio frequency excitatory pulse to manipulate hydrogen protons to generate high contrast imaging
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How it is produced -
- Nuclear spin - assumes every living tissue has got water content and has for hydrogen atom which is constantly spinning on their axis at rest. When place in a magnet two things happen
- Magnetisation vector atoms align in the direction of the magnet - longitudinal magnetisation vector
- Precession - protons spin on their axis - Out of phase Apply radio frequency pulse application direction of magnetisation changes - from longitudinal to transverse magnetisation vector precession - changes from out of phase to in phase ( synchronised fashion)
- Take away the pulse - traverse magnetisation vector changes to longitudinal magnetisation vectors Precession goes back to out of phase In this process it releases energy
- RF coil detects energy emitted and converts in to signals and eventually an image
- T1 relaxation time - time taken for longitudinal magnetisation vector to recover to 63% of normal once the pulse stops
- T1 weighted image Good for anatomy.
- Short TR ( <1000 msec) , short TE ( < 60 msec)
- T2 - time taken for transverse magnetisation vector to decay to 37% of normal
- T2 weighted image Good for pathology ,
- long TR ( > 1000 msec) , long TE ( > 60 msec )
- Fat suppression image - if fluid / oedema within bone marrow or fat needs to be isolated
- Water appear dark on T1 and light on T2 Fat appear light on both T1 and T2 Low water content ( collagen , bone , tendon ) appear dark on both T1 and T2 Sequences
- Spin echos - an echo is produced by a 90 degrees radio frequency pulse followed by one or more 180 degrees pulse .
- `Both T1 and T2 weighted images can be obtained with the SE sequence
- Nuclear spin - assumes every living tissue has got water content and has for hydrogen atom which is constantly spinning on their axis at rest. When place in a magnet two things happen
- STIR sequence - fat suppression sequence
- MARS
- TR - time to repetition between two radio frequency pulsations in milli seconds
- A long TR -allows full recovery of T1 phase before next pulsation starts
- TE - time to echo - time between middle of excitation pulse and the middle of spin echo
- Fat suppression sequence
- Gadolinium - a pramagnetic agent with plasma half life of 2 hrs. It strongly reduces T1 times of the tissue and leads to increased signal on T1 image . Used to differentiate solid mass from fluid filled tissues.
X rays
X rays - x rays are high frequency energy from electromagnetic spectrum with shorter wavelength than visible light Buzz words
- Thermionic emission - Tungsten ( negative cathode) heated in vacuum to 2200 degrees and this generates electrons.
- They fire away in vacuum and hits another tungsten piece anode and generate energy.
- The electrons hit the anode about half the speed of light on focal spot
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breaking radiation
- Outer electron of the target nucleus - generating heat
- Inner electron - knocking off out of the orbit - X ray generation
- The nucleus - causing electron to slow down
- x rays in the body -
- absorbed
- attenuated
- reflected -
- X ray receipts
- Conventional Phosphor crystals( barium lead sulphate and gadolinium oxyzsulphade) stains black - more energy exposed more stain black
- Digital radiography - Direct radiography - pixelated elements
- Computed radiography
- Fluoroscopic receptors - real time images and converts transmitted x rays in to a brightened and visible light images.
- Input window – often convex shaped (minimizes patient distance) and made from aluminium or titanium.
- Input phosphor plate (caesium iodide) – fluorescent function by absorbing X-ray beam and producing light.
- Photocathode – conversion of light photons to electrons.
- Accelerating anode – a series of electrostatic focusing electrodes that accelerate electrons towards the output phosphor screen.
- Output phosphor screen (silver-activated zinc–cadmium sulphide) – conversion of electrons to light photons which are then captured by an imaging device.
- Low beam attenuation - Water / air
- High beam attenuation
- Scattering Precaution
- Time - reduce the time
- Distance - increase the distance
- Shield -
- IRMER 2000 ( ionising radiation ( medical exposure ) regulations 2000 -
- Duty holders Employer - provides frame work
- Referrer - orthopaedics clinicians
- Practitioner - involve justifying and authorising each exposure undertaken
- Operators - carries our any practice aspect of the radiological investigations
Consent
Valid consent
Section 1 (2) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 states that ‘a person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he lacks capacity’ Given by a person with the capacity to make the decision in question •
Given voluntarily
Based on appropriate information (informed) and understood
The consent discussion
In practice, this means that surgeons should provide information about:
- The patient’s diagnosis and prognosis
- The right of the patient to refuse treatment and make their own decisions about their care
- Alternative options for treatment, including non-operative care and no treatment
- Advice on lifestyle that may moderate the disease process
- The purpose and expected benefit of the treatment
- The nature of the treatment (what it involves)
- The likelihood of success
- The clinicians involved in their treatment
- Potential follow-up treatment
- The material risks inherent in the procedure and in the alternative options discussed (for materiality, see Section 4.3)
- For private patients, costs of treatment and potential future costs in the event of complications.
MATERIAL RISK
- The Bolam test is whether the person seeking consent ‘has acted in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of medical men skilled in that particular art’. This placed the opinion of medical practitioners at the centre of any judgement about the breach of duty.
- The new test for materiality is ‘whether, in the circumstances of the particular case, a reasonable person in the patient’s position would be likely to attach significance to the risk, or the doctor is or should reasonably be aware that the particular patient would likely attach significance to it’
KEY PRINCIPLES
- The aim of the discussion about consent is to give the patient the information they need to make a decision about what treatment or procedure (if any) they want
- The discussion has to be tailored to the individual patient. This requires time to get to know the patient well enough to understand their views and values
- All reasonable treatment options, along with their implications, should be explained to the patient
- Material risks for each option should be discussed with the patient. The test of materiality is twofold: whether, in the circumstances of the particular case, a reasonable person in the patient’s position would be likely to attach significance to the risk,or the doctor is or should reasonably be aware that the particular patient would likely attach significance to it.
- Consent should be written and recorded. If the patient has made a decision, the consent form should be signed at the end of the discussion. The signed form is part of the evidence that the discussion has taken place, but provides no meaningful information about the quality of the discussion
- In addition to the consent form, a record of the discussion (including contemporaneous documentation of the key points of the discussion, hard copies or web links of any further information provided to the patient, and the patient’s decision) should be included in the patient’s case notes. This is important even if the patient chooses not to undergo treatment.
- Bone is a composite dynamic form of specialised connective tissue
- Comprised of cells 10% and Matrix 90%
- Cells include
- Osteoblasts - Osteoblasts are derived from undifferentiated mesenchymal cells, they are bone forming and lay down osteiod (type 1 collagen) Activate Osteoclasts to resorb bone via the RANK Ligand system. These processes is controlled by cytokines, growth factors and BMP.
- cytes
- clasts - Osteoclasts are from heamopoetic monocyte cell lineage – they are multinuclated giant cells that resorp bone. They have a ruffled brush border. They can sit in small pits called Howships Lacunae, on the bone surface, or lead cutting cones that tunnel through the bone.
- Matrix has organic and inorganic components
- The organic matrix resists tension forces and is mainly made up of type 1 collagen. This is a triple helix structure made within osteoblasts and fibroblasts.
- The inorganic matrix resists compression forces and is mainly calcium hydroxyapatite crystals. Ca10 (PO4)6 OH2
The crystals are formed during mineralization at specific pore and hole regions of the collagen fibrils.
The other osteocalcium phosphate (brushite is also present)
Muscle fibre types
Type 1 – slow oxidative fibres:
- slow contraction velocity – low myosin ATPase activity; • high concentration of myoglobin (red in colour);
- • high concentration of mitochondria;
- • high capillary density;
- • oxidative;
- • very fatigue resistant;
- • low force generation – small diameter fibres.
Type 2a – fast oxidative fibres:
- fast contraction velocity – high myosin ATPase activity; • intermediate myoglobin concentration;
- high mitochondria concentration;
- intermediate capillary density;
- oxidative and glycolytic;
- fatigue-resistant;
- high force generation – large diameter fibres.
• Type 2b – fast glycolytic fibres:
- • very fast contraction velocity – high myosin ATPase activity; • low myoglobin concentration (relatively white in colour);
- • low mitochondria concentration;
- • low capillary density;
- • glycolytic;
- • fatiguable;
- • very high force generation – large diameter fibres.
Calcium metabolism
Bone screw
Stage I
Haematoma and inflammation
Up to 1 week
- Haematoma from ruptured blood vessels forms a fibrin clot. Damaged tissue and degranulated platelets release signalling molecules, growth factors and cytokines Migration of inflammatory cells into the haematoma occurs, responding to local growth factors and cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, TGF-β superfamily including BMPs, PDGF, FGF, IGF)
- Proliferation, differentiation and matrix synthesis as haematoma is replaced by granulation tissue. There is capillary in-growth (angiogenesis), recruitment of fibroblasts, mesenchymal cells and osteoprogenitor cells. The periosteum plays an important role in this process
- Cell types involved include polymorphonuclear neutrophils, macrophages and then fibroblasts
- At the necrotic bone ends, bone resorption is mediated by osteoclasts and removal of tissue debris by macrophages
Bone healing
Stage II
Soft callus
1–4 weeks
- Increased cellularity with proliferation, differentiation and neovascularization
- Callus is a combination of fibrous tissue, cartilage and woven bone Intramembranous (bony/periosteal) callus is a primary callus response: Type I collagen (osteoid) is laid down from periosteal osteoblasts in the cambium layer as periosteal bony callus or woven bone. This is hard callus, but it does not bridge the fracture
- Endochondral (fibrocartilaginous/bridging) callus is a bridging external callus: Multipotential cells differentiate to form chondroblasts and fibroblasts within the granulating callus that produce the type II cartilaginous and fibrous elements of the matrix (chondroid). Chondroblasts then calcify the chondroid matrix they have produced, creating calcified fibro-cartilage or soft callus Medullary callus: This is a later process and can slowly unite the fracture if external callus fails
Stage III
Hard callus
1–4 months
- Calcified soft callus is then resorbed by chondroclasts and invaded by new blood vessels. These bring with them osteoblast precursors that produce the bony (type I) elements of the matrix (osteoid) and then mineralize it to form woven bone
- Soft calcified chondroid callus becomes hard mineralized osteoid callus.
- Bony bridging continues peripherally as subperiosteal new bone formation. At this point the fracture is united; it is solid and painless on movement
Stage IV
Remodelling
Up to several years
- Once the fracture has united, the hard callus is remodelled from woven bone to hard, dense lamellar bone by a process of osteoclastic resorption, followed by osteoblastic bone formation. The medullary canal reforms at the end of this process This is the same mechanism as for direct cortical, osteonal or primary bone healing, seen following fracture fixation with absolute stability
- Bone assumes a configuration and shape based on stresses acting on it (Wolff’s law)
- Electrical fields may play a role in Wolff’s law, with osteoclastic activity being predominant on the electropositive tension side of bone and osteoblastic activity on the electronegative compression side
diamond concept
- Mechanical stability
- Osteoprogenitor cells
- growth factors
- an adequate scaffold to create a ‘biological chamber’ active enough to support efficiently all the necessary physiological processes for successful union
Bone graft substitutes
- Cell-based - bone marrow aspirate contains osteogenic precursors, but this is an inefficient method as most of what is obtained is red blood cells
- Factor-based, e.g. BMP-7 and BMP-2 are now produced and sold commercially. Platelet-rich plasma as an autologous additive to bone grafts has been used predominantly in maxillofacial surgery, theoretically supplementing the levels of growth factors.
- Calcium phosphates:
- bulk, e.g. tricalcium phosphate (which undergoes partial conversion to hydroxyapatite in vivo), hydroxyapatite and combinations of the two. These materials degrade at a very slow rate
- injectable, e.g. Norian SRS:
- Calcium carbonates, e.g. BiocoraTM: chemically unaltered marine coral that is resorbed and replaced by bone.
- Coralline hydroxyapatite, e.g. Pro-OsteonTM: calcium carbonate skeleton undergoes a thermo-exchange process to convert this into calcium phosphate.
- Calcium sulphate, e.g. OsteosetTM: osteoconductive calcium sulphate pellets.
- Silicon-based, e.g. bioactive glasses, glass-ionomer cement: used as delivery systems for osteoinductive compounds.
- Synthetic polymers, e.g. polylactic acid and polyglycolic acid: problems include the production of acidic degradation products.
- Ceramic composites, the primary inorganic component of bone is hydroxyapatite, and calcium phosphate-based ceramics attempt to mimic this material, e.g. CollagraftTM: calcium–collagen graft material – an osteoconductive composite of hydroxyapatite, tricalcium phosphate and collagen used as a bone graft substitute or expander, mixed with autologous bone marrow to provide cells and growth factors.