Customized three-dimensionally printed mandibular external fixator

The advent of customized three-dimensional (3D) printing allows the affordable manufacturing of sophisticated medical devices, thereby providing swift and simple solutions to specific needs in modern healthcare. Meanwhile, certain devices such as industrial mandibular external fixators (EFs) have become less and less available from medical device companies because of decreased indications. What is more, their handling is often complex. The authors report, step by step, the original design and uneventful clinical use of a 3D-printed, customized mandibular EF. This device was designed together with a positioning and drilling guide for the fixation of a septic mandibular pseudarthrosis. It provided an adequate and satisfactory balance between lightness and rigidity. A simple, accurate and safe placement of the EF was achieved thanks to the skin-supported positioner and drilling guide, thereby making the procedure minimally invasive and time-efficient. To our knowledge, this is the first reported clinical use of a 3D-printed, customized mandibular EF to date. Because such 3D technology is becoming increasingly available to a large number of surgeons, the authors believe that the present innovation could become an alternative to reusable standard EFs.     

Why We Need Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and How to Make It Happen

We make the case for why continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing is essential, what the barriers are, and how to overcome them. To overcome them, government action is needed in terms of tax incentives or regulatory incentives that affect time.     

Current status and challenges of Additive manufacturing in orthopaedics: An overview

Additive manufacturing is a rapidly emerging technology which is being successfully implemented in the various field of medicine as well as in orthopaedics, where it has applications in reducing cartilage defects and treatments of bones. The technology helps through systematic collection of information about the shape of the "defects" and precise fabrication of complex 3D constructs such as cartilage, heart valve, trachea, myocardial bone tissue and blood vessels. In this paper, a large number of the relevant research papers on the additive manufacturing and its application in medical specifically orthopaedics are identified through Scopus had been studied using Bibliometric analysis and application analysis is undertaken. The bibliometric analysis shows that there is an increasing trend in the research reports on additive manufacturing applications in the field of orthopaedics. Discussions are on using technological advancement like scanning techniques and various challenges of the orthopaedic being met by additive manufacturing technology. For patient-specific orthopaedic applications, these techniques incorporate clinical practice and use for effective planning. 3D printed models printed by this technology are accepted for orthopaedic surgery such as revision of lumbar discectomy, pelvic surgery and large scapular osteochondroma. The applications of additive manufacturing in orthopaedics will experience a rapid translation in future. An orthopaedic surgeon can convert need/idea into a reality by using computer-aided design (CAD) software, analysis software to facilitate the manufacturing. Thus, AM provides a comprehensive opportunity to manufacture orthopaedic implantable medical devices.     

Evaluating the transparency of pharmaceutical company disclosure of payments to patient organisations in the UK

Patient organisations contribute to many areas of pharmaceutical policy. In developing their organisational capacity, many turn to financial support from pharmaceutical companies, which may create conflicts of interests. However, the transparency of the industry’s self-regulatory approach to the disclosure of payments to patient organisations has evaded scrutiny. Using company reports disclosing payments to UK patient organisations in 2012–2016, we evaluate the transparency of reporting using indicators derived from industry’s European patient organisation Code. We found a large proportion of companies did not have any disclosure reports available despite many having made payments, confirmed by comparing with annual financial accounts of patient organisations registered as charities. Where disclosure reports were available, many payments were not adequately described, resulting in large portions of money being disclosed without clarity as to the payment type and purpose. We found companies were clearer regarding whether payments were financial or benefits-in-kind, but transparency was particularly inadequate as to whether it could be determined if payments were indirect or direct and restricted or unrestricted, and almost no companies mentioned the VAT status of payments. Our findings suggest that the industry’s self-regulatory approach to transparency has not been working efficiently. We suggest ways for standardising and increasing the precision of information by pharmaceutical companies and advocate for the introduction of a centralised, and easily accessible national-level payment database.     

从产业组织学角度看中国医疗广告

随着医疗卫生体制改革的全面推行,医疗行业竞争日趋激烈,众多医院采取不同的策略组合以提高其核心竞争力,而广告正是其主要的营销策略之一.本文在对医疗广告特性、类别、作用进行分析的基础上,从产业组织学角度阐述了医疗广告与医疗市场结构、市场效益的关系,提出了中国医疗广告的发展趋势.     

化工行业职业性机械伤害危险因素的病例-交叉方法研究

目的 研究化工行业机械伤害的有关诱发因素，估计其作用强度。方法 采用病例-交叉设计的方法。以操作和检修时受伤的化工工人为研究对象，每个对象在受伤后2d内完成调查，收集他们受伤前10min、上一工作日同一段时间和受伤前1周内有关诱发因素暴露的信息，用配对时间段方法和一般频数法进行分析，评估各种诱发因素的危险度。结果 一般频数法分析的结构表明，操作方法异常、设备工具缺陷、工作紧迫、注意力不集中、不使用防护用品、精神状况较差、与同事配合不协调、工作环境发生变化等瞬时危害因素的RR值及95%可信限的下限均大于1。配对时间段方法分析的结果与其相拟，但95%可信限较宽。结论 化工行业职业性机械伤害的发生存在着诸多诱发因素。病例-交叉研究中的一般频数法与配对时间段方法相比，前者所得结果较为可靠，研究的相对效率较高。建议进一步使用多个时间段方法进行研究，以减小混杂因素的影响。     

参七胶囊的制备及质量控制

目的 建立参七胶囊的制备工艺及其质量控制的薄层色谱(TLC)法。方法 将三七、人参、丹参用适宜的方法提取并制成胶囊。采用TLC法，对参七胶囊进行定性鉴别。以三氯甲烷-甲醇-水(65：35：10)为展开剂，10％硫酸乙醇溶液为显色剂，检测人参皂苷Rb1、Rg1，三七皂苷R1；以甲苯-醋酸乙酯-甲酸(8：5：0．8)为展开剂，2％三氯化铁溶液与1％铁氰化钾溶液(1：1)为显色剂，检测原几茶醛。结果 用TLC法分别检出参七胶囊中含人参皂苷Rb1、Rg1，三七皂苷R1及原儿茶醛。结论 本品制备工艺可靠，质量可控。     

集成电路芯片生产的职业病危害特点

目的 研究集成电路芯片制造中作业人员的操作特点、接触职业病危害种类以及事故类型。方法 对集成电路芯片制造的生产流程、职业病危害及接触状况的资料进行收集整理。结果 根据生产流程中使用的设备及芯片制造所用原辅材料，论述了生产过程中各设备和操作工序涉及的各类高度、中度毒性化学物质、工艺特殊气体以及电离辐射和非电离辐射等职业病危害因素、作业人员操作特点和易发事故种类。结论 集成电路芯片制造中职业病危害问题值得关注。     

化工废水中N-亚硝基二正丙胺的吹扫捕集-GC-MS测定法

目的建立简单快速提取并测定N-亚硝基二正丙胺(NDPA)的方法。方法采用Trap3捕集管,利用标准吹扫捕集程序(吹扫气体流速40ml/min,吹扫时间11min,解吸温度225℃,解吸时间4min,烘烤温度230℃,烘烤时间10min),有效富集了化工废水中μg/L级的NDPA,建立了吹扫捕集(P&T)气相色谱质谱联用(GC-MS)化学源(CI)选择离子模式(uSIS)快速、准确分析废水中NDPA的分析方法。结果方法的相对标准偏差为7.5%;废水的加标回收率在62.60%～96.31%;在5～30μg/L范围内线性良好,线性回归系数为0.978;方法的最低检出限为3μg/L。结论采用P&T-GC-MS/CI/uSIS法可用于化工废水中半挥发性有机物NDPA的测定。